Blogs I Frequent

2 B Read – the blog of The Published Authors Special Interest Chapter (PASIC) http://toberead.blogspot.com/

The Aphrodisia Authors blog http://theaphrodisiaauthors.blogspot.com

Books

I’m in the midst of judging books for the 2005 Rita awards, so I’m not touching any of my other to-be-read piles.  But I recently did an interview for ‘Wickedly Yours’ and spoke about some of my favorite authors.  I thought it would be fun to post it here.

“Choosing favorites is very tough.  In historical romance, I’d say Amanda Quick, Jo Beverley, and Stephanie Laurens.  Another favorite is Kathryn Smith who writes sensual, emotional historical romances.  While these authors don’t realize it, they have been my mentors, and I’ve learned so much about the craft from studying the way they blend lush prose, heroes to die for, and heroines to root for.   As a huge Agatha Christie fan, I was inspired by the way these authors combine mystery and suspense in romance.  I’ll be doing that myself in my next book.”

“In hot paranormal romance, I love Sherrilyn Kenyon.  My personal fave is ‘Dance with Devil’ in which the author deftly turns a ‘villainous’ man from a previous book into a hero and the reader completely falls in love with him.”

On a personal note, I met Jayne Ann Krentz (Amanda Quick) at the literacy book signing held at the Romance Writers of America 2005 conference in Reno.  Completely star-struck, I told her how her workshops and books had been such an inspiration for me, and then I mentioned that I had just sold to Kensington.  She gave me a congratulatory hug.  That was so great of her.  So many published romance authors are wonderfully giving of their knowledge, support, advice, and time!  

Look for new favorites coming soon.

Links

My Agent and Publishers:

Jessica Faust of BookEnds, LLC http://www.bookends-inc.com

Kensington Books www.kensingtonbooks.com

Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc. http://www.ellorascave.com

Ellora's Cave Reader's Group at YahooGroups

ottawaromancewriters.com - Web site of Sharon's RWA chapter.

www.kathryn-smith.com -Sharon says, "Her historicals are beautifully emotional, gloriously romantic and seductive!"

www.pornokrates.com - a fabulous website detailing historical pornography!

Miscellaneous

Associations I belong to:

Romance Writers of America  https://www.rwanational.org
“Romance Writers of America is a national non-profit genre writers association—the largest of its kind in the world. It provides networking and support to individuals seriously pursuing a career in romance fiction.” (From the RWA website) 

Published Authors Special Interest Chapter (PASIC) – a chapter of Romance Writers of America.  Even if you aren’t a published author, check out our blog—2 B Read http://toberead.blogspot.com/.  Forty-six published authors chat about the industry, publishing, great books, and give the scoop on what to read next.

Passionate Ink http://www.passionateink.org A special interest chapter of Romance Writers of America for erotic romance writers, who write varying levels of sensuality. 

The Beau Monde www.thebeaumonde.com  A chapter of RWA. “Our purpose is to promote excellence in romantic fiction, set primarily in the Regency period (1811-1820).” (From the Beau Monde website)

Kiss of Death http://www.rwamysterysuspense.org/about.htm A chapter of RWA, specially for the romantic suspense writer, with over 1000 members.

Futuristic, Fantasy & Paranormal RWA  (FF&P) http://www.romance-ffp.com  A special interest chapter of RWA, promoting “excellence in romantic, futuristic, fantasy, time travel and paranormal fiction.”

Sisters in Crime http://www.sistersincrime.org  “We are 3400 members in 48 chapters world-wide, offering networking, advice and support to mystery authors. We are authors, readers, publishers, agents, booksellers and librarians bound by our affection for the mystery genre and our support of women who write mysteries.” (From the Sisters in Crime website)