Susan Snarks the Golden Globes

by Susan Sey

I realize this is no secret but I'll go ahead & confess: I'm a celebrity gossip junkie. Which means, of course, that my favorite season has just kicked off.

Awards season.

I don't know why I love awards shows so much. If there was ever a group of people who needed to congratulate themselves less, it's celebrities. These are fabulously gorgeous people who get professionally dressed up every stinkin' day. Do they really need to do it again on their night off?

Apparently so.

Of course, the Academy Awards are the big deal & I wouldn't miss it for the world. But my favorite, without question?

The Golden Globes.

Why the GGs? For one thing, it's the first major awards show of the season. We're all fresh & interested.

But second--and far more important--celebrities can drink at the Golden Globes. Considering the endless bottles of champagne at their tables, one might conclude they're practically encouraged to drink. And when celebrities drink, they give tipsy, ill-advised acceptance speeches.

I love the Golden Globes.

My husband, however, feels about the awards season the way I feel about the football season: Meh.

So I watch a great many of these shows alone. Which is not all bad. I'm probably as irritating as an armchair quarterback. In fact, I know I am. I have proof.

Here is a record of my brilliant & witty commentary on the whole thing, from the red carpet action straight through host Ricky Gervais' final acid-dipped salvo. You can ignore me any old time.

Hey, Christian Bale. Are you preparing to play Jesus next, or Barry Gibb?

Michelle William’s daisy dress. I dunno. Not working for me.

Is the sound cutting out, or are people really cursing that much?

This is the most gentle play-off/stop-talking music I’ve ever heard.

Ricky Gervais just introduced Bruce Willis as Ashton Kutcher’s dad. Hee.

Helen Mirrin is just hot. I’m sorry, she is.

And Chris Colfer is adorable. I want to put him in my pocket. I think he’d fit.

Am I alone in wondering if Lea Michele is really crying happy tears for Chris Colfer? Or is she just hogging camera time again?

Michelle Pfeiffer has a bangin’ body. Why, oh WHY would she wear saddle bags?

Wowza, Helena Bonham Carter. Still wearing your Bellatrix LeStrange hair?

I hope Tony Parker is at home gnashing his teeth because Eva Longoria is polished to a fine gleam.

What is it about Steve Buscemi’s wizened little self I find so appealing? He’s like a skinny little turtle inexplicably walking on his hind legs, and yet…I can’t look away.

Whoa, Jenny from the block. Not feeling the spangled poncho. You look like you’re wearing a harem girl’s skirt around your neck.

Justin Bieber is just snack sized, isn’t he?

I love it that Ricky Gervais just brings his drink out to the podium with him.

Anne Hathaway’s shoulder pads are like mini storage units.

Good lord, Al Pacino. Is Snooki doing your hair?

What is wrong with Dennis Quaid’s hair? It’s gone the way of Meg Ryan’s face.

On a side note, what the HELL is Tilda Swinton wearing? She looks like a nurse/nun as channeled by Maria from the Sound of Music. Maybe she made it herself out of old curtains?

Hey, dang, there’s Temple Grandin, hugging and kissing Claire Danes a little longer than Claire finds comfortable. Heh. And Jennifer Love Hewitt is looking like she’s already started drinking her disappointment away. Sorry, J Love.

I think Helena Bonham Carter has a crow trapped in her bosom. It looks sharp.

Ooooooh, Zac Efron cut his hair and packed on some muscle. When did that happen?

Hey, Aaron Sorkin. Boy, do I miss the West Wing. Did you know he has a degree in musical theatre? And occasionally dates Kristin Chenoweth? I wonder if he’s still occasionally dating cocaine?

Wow, Olivia Wilde went full out princess sparkly. I like it.

Blair Underwood….is that a leather jacket? A leather tuxedo jacket? Bold move, Mr. L A Law.

Melissa Leo just ended her speech with a heart-felt woohoo. Nice.

It would be tough to make a figure like January Jone’s look dumpy but damn, that dress made it happen.

Aw. They bleeped out the first few seconds of Paul Giamatti’s speech. I bet he cusses funny.

I don’t know how I feel about the sequined rose crowning Natalie Portman’s bosom. I think it’s pretty? Maybe if the dress weren’t such a blah color? A little awkward, though, when she announces her boyfriend totally wants to sleep with her, which is obvious because, hello, she’s preggers. Hmmm.

Poor Ricky Gervais is taking some jabs from the crowd tonight. Huh. It doesn’t seem like lighthearted fun, either. Would love to be a fly on the wall at the after parties tonight.

I like Sandra Bullock. I like her so much I want to kick Jesse James in the nuts myself. But oh, honey, those bangs are doing you no favors. Somewhere Kat Von D is smirking into her beer.

So how about you? Do watch the awards shows? Do you keep track of the awards or are you just in it for the fashion faux pas & the awkward moments? Will you watch the Oscars this year? What did you think of the Oscar nominees just announced? Exciting!

The BIG Awards Ceremony!

posted by Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy

Tonight's the night! Saturday night of RWA's National Conference is the BIG awards ceremony! This is the ceremony where romance writers honor their own with the Rita and Golden Heart awards, our industry's equivalent of the Oscars, Emmys, or Grammys.

As you know, the Banditas were all finalists in the 2006 Golden Heart contest. That is where we "found" each other, and so this award has a very special place in all our hearts! In case you didn't know, the Golden Heart contest recognizes outstanding unpublished romance manuscripts in ten different categories. Up to 1200 entries are judged by members of RWA and are narrowed down to around 100 finalists. Editors from acquiring romance publishers judge the final round, and winners receive a beautiful pendant.

This year, our Bandita KJ Howe is a finalist in the Contemporary Series Suspense/Adventure category. KJ is a fantastic writer and we are all pulling for her to be the BIG WINNER in her category tonight!

Did you know the Rita award was named for RWA's first president Rita Clay Estrada? (Be sure to file that away for future trivia contests.) This award is for outstanding published romance novels and novellas and the contest has twelve categories. Once again, approximately 1200 entries are narrowed by judges to about 100 finalists. Winners receive a beautiful statuette much like an Oscar or Emmy.

This year A Not-So-Perfect Past by our Bandita Beth Andrews is a Rita finalist in the Contemporary Series Romance category. So many of us Banditas and BBs LOVED Nina and Dillon's story and we will all be hoping that our Wonder-Beth will be the first Bandita to bring home the lovely Rita statue!

There are many wonderful writers and books up for Golden Heart and Rita awards this year. By this time tomorrow, it will all be over and the winners will be announced. We'll get to see all the fabulous pictures and share the triumphs. But they are ALL WINNERS just to have been finalists!

Awards are so much fun! We all deserve to win one once in awhile. For instance, Posh, Jo-Mama, and I, along with Lars, Marcus, Zach, and Paolo all deserve a "Holding-Down-The -Fort" award! What about you? What kind of award would you create and who would win it?

Hitting the High Points Down Under

posted by Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy

Last Sunday was a very special Valentine's Day for yer olde Aunty. Yes, my DH came through with a lovely bouquet of flowers, and my son even managed to buy me some candy. Both of these gifts were nice but not in comparison to the VERY SPECIAL email I received late that afternoon.

The email was from Margaret Mason, the Awards Coordinator for the Australian Romance Readers Association, congratulating me because "...The Treasures of Venice has reached the final round of the 2nd annual Australian Romance Readers Awards in the Favourite Romantic Suspense category."

WOW! REALLY?!?!

I'm sure I let out a squeal heard all around my neighborhood. Then I went to the website (http://www.australianromancereaders.com.au/awards.html ), looked at the list of finalists and went into full-blown hyperventilation! I mean, look at the list for just romantic suspense:

Favourite Romantic Suspense

• Burn / Linda Howard
• Dark Country / Bronwyn Parry
• Dark of Night / Suzanne Brockmann
• Feel the Heat / Cindy Gerard
• Hidden Fire / Jo Davis
• Kindred in Death / JD Robb
• Made to be Broken / Kelley Armstrong
• Shoot to Thrill / Nina Bruhns
• Stolen Heat / Elisabeth Naughton
• The Treasures of Venice / Loucinda McGary

Way back in 2004 when I first started writing the manuscript that eventually became The Treasures of Venice, I never dared to DREAM of being included in such exhaulted company!

SERIOUSLY!

Even today, the idea that readers as far away as Australia are reading my books, enjoying my stories and loving my characters stretches the limits of my imagination (and you all know I do NOT lack for imagination)!

Truly, being a finalist for this award is the greatest honor of my writing career thus far. And the fact that I am sharing this honor with my fellow Banditas Anna Campbell and Christine Wells (both finalists in the historical category and Favourite Australian Author) just makes it that much more special!

In 2006 when this same story (then titled Jewels of the Madonna) became a finalist in the Golden Heart contest, I believed it just couldn't get any better!

I was wrong.

Having my book recognized and singled out by readers is THE BEST FEELING EVER! My only regret is that (barring a lottery win) I won't be able to attend the Awards Ceremony and dinner on May 15th in Sydney. But I will definitely be there in spirit, raising my glass of bubbly high, and I know that Fo and Madame and so many of our wonderful BBs and other readers will be there cheering when my name is announced!

And one of these days, I hope in the not-too-distance future, I WILL be there to attend, whether I'm lucky enough to final again or not. After all, I haven't been Down Under since 1999. I think I'm past due for another visit!

My very best and sincere good wishes to ALL the finalists and kudos to the winners!

Okay, Aunty will stop gushing now and let the rest of you have a turn. Let's celebrate some High Points today! Please share some of your greatest honors! Don't be shy, step right up and have some cyber-bubbly.

The Tyranny of the Blank Page

by Anna Campbell

After Jo's beautiful post yesterday, I wasn't sure what I could follow it up with today. Anything after that would just seem banal.

Anyway, I thought I'd share with you something I've been thinking about a bit lately.
As a lot of you know, life chez Anna Campbell has been pretty exciting lately. It's awards season and to my delight and surprise, both UNTOUCHED and CLAIMING THE COURTESAN have appeared on several lists of the year's best. A great thrill, because it's based on reader votes, was being chosen as Best New Author of 2007 in the All About Romance Annual Reader Poll. Another great thrill because it's such a prestigious award was seeing CLAIMING THE COURTESAN nominated (along with my talented fellow Bandita Donna MacMeans's THE EDUCATION OF MRS. BRIMLEY) for Best First Historical Romance in the Romantic Times 2007 Reviewers Choice Awards. Michelle Buonfiglio at Lifetime TV chose CLAIMING THE COURTESAN not only as Debut of 2007 but also Book of the Year! Wow!

But as most romance writers, aspiring or published, will tell you - the one you really, REALLY want to final in is Romance Writers of America's RITA Awards. It was one of the dreams that kept me going through my years in the wilderness before I sold. The hope that one day I'd be able to say I was nominated for a RITA! You need such dreams when you're struggling against self-doubt and rejection and a world which keeps telling you to be sensible and give up trying to get what you want because it's impossible to achieve.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, this impossible dream came true. I received a phone call in the middle of the afternoon from megastar Lorraine Heath to let me know that BOTH my books had finaled in the Best Regency Historical Romance category. It took quite a while for the news to sink in! One of the loveliest things about that moment is Lorraine was among the first people to read CTC and she gave me a great quote which appeared on the cover. So there was a fantastic feeling of artistic balance about the whole occasion!

As you can imagine, I've been excited and happy and pleased and grateful and... You know the drill! I've had several riotous celebrations, including one with my local writer friends that I talk about here. And for a week or so there, the house was fragrant with the bunches of flowers wonderful wellwishers sent me.

But in between all this hoopla, my REAL life continues. And my real life is writing my fourth historical romance for Avon.

With all of this positive reinforcement, you'd think writing the next book would be a doddle, wouldn't you?

Well, the answer is a resounding...

NO!!!!!

The awards and the praise have been absolutely amazing and I'll always be grateful for the lovely things that have happened to me over the last few weeks. But the stark truth is that filling blank pages with my stories, finding out what I want to say and saying it as well as I possibly can, bringing characters who are alive in my head alive on paper, that never gets easier.

Which I've decided is a GOOD thing!

Well, I think it's a good thing...

There's something scary but unerringly honest about trying to tell the best story you can. I think the process makes you honest. It's just you and the writing, nothing else. It's ruthless, occasionally rewarding, often terrifying. But it keeps me grounded the way very few other things do. And each book turns out to be as big a challenge - or sometimes a bigger challenge - than the book before. Because each book presents its own world and its own problems and requires its own solutions that you only reach through painful effort and more ups and downs than your common or garden rollercoaster.

And at the end of all that anguish and hard graft, you hopefully get a book that you're proud to see on a shelf somewhere. And hopefully that other people will like and tell you that they like! So long live awards season!

What keeps you grounded through good and bad times? What makes it all worthwhile for you? Can we help you celebrate anything? You know we love a party in the lair!