I understand the media’s fascination with the whole Tiger Woods sex scandal. I respect your need to report about it and know that stories like this draw interest. I myself waited around this morning to hear the Today Show segment about the recent Vanity Fair article regarding Tiger’s mistresses. What I don’t respect, or understand, is your need to link a $1.37 billion dollar industry, one that comprises the largest share of the consumer fiction market at 13.5%, and the 74.8 million people who read romance novels to Tiger Woods and his scandalous affairs.
If you read a romance novel, you would know that Tiger Woods is not romance novel material, nor is his sex scandal or his trail of mistresses. If you read a romance novel, you would know that romances are centered around two individuals falling in love and the trials and tribulations they go through along the way to grow and develop that relationship. If you read a romance novel, you would know that romances have an emotionally satisfying and positive ending where sacrifices are made by one or both characters to ensure the continuation of that relationship. And finally, if you read a romance novel, you would know that scorned mistresses, lying, cheating celebrities and hurting one’s family all in the name of selfishness are not elements of a romance novel.
Before you make a blanket statement linking romance fiction with Tiger Woods, perhaps you should do your research. The majority of romance readers are highly educated, smart, savvy women who don’t appreciate their fiction of choice being linked to Tiger Woods. Comments like yours are the type that perpetuate the negative stereotype of romance novels. I for one can tell you, you didn’t hit the mark. Not by a long shot.
For more information about romance novels and the romance genre, I invite you to visit Romance Writers of America®, a non-profit trade association dedicated to advancing the professionalism of career-focused romance writers in this country. And if you’d like to read a real romance novel that perpetuates a lasting, committed relationship, email me and I’ll be happy to send you a book. Nowhere in a romance novel will you find “Tiger Woods”.
Sincerely,
Elisabeth Naughton PROUD Romance Reader & Author of Romantic Suspense and Paranormal Novels
The full article by Peter Alexander via the Today Show 3/31/10:
Yes, LAST Thursday. I’m finally getting around to blogging about my crazy couple of days.
Thanks to everyone who sent me RITA® congrats the past few days. I have to say, Thursday was one of those whirlwind days that will live in my mind forever. Most days I get up, throw on sweats, write, take care of kids, write some more. Being an author isn’t the glamorous lifestyle most people think it is, but Thursday was that day for me.
It started at 8:15 in the morning when the phone rang. I was in bed, watching the Today Show, drinking my tea, ignoring my kids because it was spring break and no one had to be up and out of the house anywhere early. The only people who call me in the morning are my mother (who was out of town) and my running partner (who was also out of town). But I still didn’t expect anything. I mean, odds were good the call was for my hubby, not me. Even when my man handed me the phone and said “It’s for you,” I still didn’t expect anything. And then I heard the news – STOLEN FURY was nominated in the RITA® for Best First Book. After nodding a lot (which poor Terri Brisbin with RWA couldn’t see on the other end of the line), I hung up, quickly explained to the DH what the call was about, then flew downstairs to find my cell phone and call my CP.
By the time I got off the phone with Joan, I had to be up and moving because I was scheduled to speak at the Public Librarians Association Conference in Portland, OR later that day. I sent off a couple of quick emails – to my agent, to my editor, to my close friends – and twittered. (Who could forget that?) Then I jumped in the shower and gathered all my stuff to take up with me to Portland. I was just about to walk out the door around 10:30 when I got the second call. This time when the caller said, “I’m with RWA,” I about fell over. I don’t remember the caller’s name. Don’t remember what I said. I do remember shaking just a little when I found out STOLEN FURY was also nominated for Romantic Suspense, but that was about it.
An hour later I was sitting in the RWA booth at PLA signing copies of STOLEN SEDUCTION and still trying to absorb it all. Allison Kelley and Stephanie Fry (“womanning” the RWA booth) were very sweet and excited when they heard my RITA news – they didn’t have wifi in the booth and hadn’t seen the final lists. I think they told just about everyone who came up to the booth that I was a double RITA nominee.
After my signing, I caught lunch with fellow author (and 2007 GHer) Kristina McMorris where we celebrated with wine and chit chat. Then it was back to the Convention Center for my 4pm workshop, What’s Love Got To Do With It? put together by John Charles of Booklist/Chicago Tribune and fellow authors, Christina Dodd, Elizabeth Boyle & Niki Burnham.
The panel went better than expected and we had a full room. A great recap of the presentation can be found here. My editor arrived right before the workshop panel and was as excited about the RITA noms as I was. And little did I know, my husband snuck into the back of the room and listened to the presentation as well. Afterwards, we had a group signing event where I went through another case of STOLEN SEDUCTION and then all of us went out to dinner at The Portland City Grill.
The day is still a blur in my mind, but the excitement hasn’t diminished at all. I have to thank John Charles for putting together a wonderful workshop and inviting me to participate. And also for announcing my RITA news to everyone in the room. I remember my very first RWA conference, in Reno in 2005. I sat in the back of the Hilton amphitheatre with a smile on my face as I watched the RITA/GH® Awards ceremony and I thought, “Someday I want to be there.” I really had no idea it would happen quite so soon.
I didn’t get a chance to see the full list of nominees until nearly 11pm that night when I got home, but I have to send a big shout out to my fellow Dorchester authors who were also nominated for a RITA® – Gemma Halliday, Alissa Johnson, Marjorie Liu & Joy Nash. I’ll be cheering for you all in Nashville! And to my 007 Bond Girls up for RITAs as well – Carla Capshaw, Beth Andrews, Deb Marlowe & Bronwyn Parry. You ladies rock!
And finally, a GREAT BIG shout out to my dear friend Kendra Elliot, who finaled in the Romantic Suspense Category of the GH. Squee! I’m so excited for you, Kendra!
Things are pretty much back to normal here at my house. The kids don’t care about my big news, and I’m back to working on TEMPTED. Next up on my to-do list though…finding a killer dress for the awards ceremony. I’m thinking orange. What do you think?
If you haven’t heard of Lucy Monroe’s Readers at Home Conference yet, you are missing out!!! During the week of RT, Lucy is hosting a FANTABULOUS online conference for those readers who can’t attend RT. I have to admit, I was bummed when I realized RT conflicted with a prior family commitment and that I wouldn’t be able to attend after all. But now I won’t be missing out. I’m signed up as one of Lucy’s attending authors and I’ll be giving away an autographed Stolen Trilogy – Stolen Fury, Stolen Heat & Stolen Seduction. Check out all the deets below, then head over and register for this free online conference. Trust me, you don’t want to miss this one!!
Okay, so you all know I’m going to RT, but *I* know a bunch of you aren’t and I got to thinking what I could do to make the week of RT fun for you all and any other readers who might be feeling a little left out. Then I hit on it – I would host a Readers at Home Conference here on my blog. We’d have tons of authors, tons of “door” prizes (more than 50!!!), tons of hotties (cover models, hero inspiration…just plain yum factor) and tons of fun!!!
I wanted something really special, something that made this a true conference and my friends helped me make it happen! We are giving away Swag Bags to the first 50 readers who register for the conference. To register, all you have to do is send an email to me [lucymonroe @ lucymonroe dot com] with your name and mailing address (for the Swag Bag) stating your intention to attend the RAH Conference. The Swag Bags are for conference attendees only and we are trusting that if you register, you truly intend to attend the conference and interact with the authors and other readers on the blog. I’m shipping the Swag Bags at my own expense, but many authors have donated loot for you all, and each Swag Bag will have a free book inside.
Yes, that’s right – the Reader at Home Conference is FREE. How cool is that?
Every day there will be multiple authors visiting and guest blogging, with new blogs posting every 3 hours between 6 AM and 6 PM. And cover models? We’ve got ‘em – with behind the scenes action as well as hero
inspiration. There will be daily drawings for multiple prizes, including dozens of signed books, a B&N gift card, a t-shirt, 3 prize tote bags filled with books & goodies (donated by Sue Grimshaw from BTRB and Becke Martin), free online subscirptions to Affaire de Couer magazine and 2 more Swag Bags given away each day.
So, while a bunch of us are at RT going crazy, you can be visiting with some of your favorite and some brand new authors – wearing casual clothes, ditching the makeup and your shoes. Oh, that? I envy!
Wow, I can’t believe it’s Saturday already! This has been a really crazy (but good!) week for me. The awesome Publisher’s Weekly review of MARKED, the anthology invitation from Kensington, the RITA nominations (squee!!!) for STOLEN FURY and finally the PLA Conference. Last night I had dinner with my editor at this cute little Irish pub in North Portland and it was so much fun. A great topper to the entire week. She was very excited about the RITA news and is even more excited about the RELEASE of MARKED in just a few short weeks. This awesome energy is going to propel me into finishing TEMPTED (book 3, Eternal Guardians) and I’m looking forward to getting back to work next week when the Gremlins go back to school.
In the meantime, today is Saturday Snippet Day! And the topic is Fight Scenes. This comes from MARKED, which releases SOON!! I hope you enjoy!
***
MARKED
Eternal Guardians Book 1
Release Date: 4/27/10
Acacia’s scream brought Theron’s head around. The daemon he’d been fighting clocked him in the jaw. Theron roared and lashed out with his blade, slicing the beast across the chest. A rush of liquid sprayed over his skin, but in the chaos he didn’t know if it was his blood or the daemon’s.
He whirled around and kicked the second creature in the chest, then plunged his parazonium, the ancient Greek dagger he’d gotten from his father, deep into the unholy’s side. The beast went down with a howl, all twelve inches of the blade disappearing inside the daemon’s flesh, but Theron knew neither one was dead, just dazed and seconds from pouncing again.
He didn’t have time to finish either of them off, though. He turned to look for Acacia, only to see she’d crambled behind the counter and was throwing books and office supplies at the third daemon, who kept advancing on her, as if that would keep him back. When that didn’t work, she jumped to her feet and yanked the fire extinguisher from the wall, pointed it at the daemon and turned it on full blast.
The daemon was temporarily blinded by the gush of white foam, but with a roar he charged again. Theron raced across the room and reached the counter just as Acacia swung the canister and nailed the daemon in the side of the head. She climbed to the top of the counter and did it again, this time using her leverage from above to nail him hard.
The beast went down. Theron drew his blade. And was kidney-punched from behind as one of the other two found its footing again. Claws flashed, Theron whipped around, his blade slicing through flesh and air, but still the daemon came, seven feet and three hundred pounds of unending muscle.
From behind him he could hear Acacia swinging the fire extinguisher at the other beast. A growl from the front of the store indicated the third was back on his feet.
Skata. They were in serious trouble. Two he could handle easily. Three if he were by himself. But not with Acacia. And even if he could manage to figure a way out of this one and get her far enough away to concentrate and open the portal, she had to willingly go with him. Because she was human, he couldn’t force her across the threshold. And in her current state of hysteria? Wasn’t gonna happen. Which meant they were well and truly screwed.
The daemon flipped him to the ground and lunged. Theron cracked his head against the daemon and threw the beast off him as if it weighed nothing. The daemon crashed into a shelving unit. Books rained down on top of him, but the monster scrambled to its feet and charged as if he hadn’t even felt the blow. Theron jumped to his feet as well, and in one mighty sweep his blade ripped through flesh and bone. With a sickening crack, the head was severed from the daemon’s body and rolled across the blood- soaked carpet.
A horrendous roar echoed through the store. The daemon Theron had left bloodied by the door plowed into him and took him down to the carpet. His blade flew out of his hand and clanged against the counter. Theron’s face was pressed into the carpet as claws ripped across the jacket on at his back.
Fuck. Now they were really screwed.
Then he heard a thud, and a swoosh. Felt a gush of something warm across his back and heard a mighty howl as the daemon fell off him.
Theron was on his feet in a fl ash, only to realize Acacia had his blade plunged deep into the daemon’s chest. She pulled the weapon out. The daemon fell back, shook himself and seemed to regather his strength. Theron quickly took the weapon from Acacia and pushed her behind him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the second daemon, covered in foam, rising slowly to his feet. “Get back!”
“Oh, shit,” she muttered.
He crouched down in his fighter’s stance, lunged toward the first and sensed the second circling around to advance on Acacia. He had microseconds to decide his next move, and then suddenly the tide shifted.
I’m so excited to announce that STOLEN FURY finaled in the RITA®!!! For those of you outside the romance writing world, the RITA® awards are the Oscars for romantic fiction. STOLEN FURY finaled in both the Best First Book category and the Romantic Suspense category. Winners will be announced on July 31, 2010 at the RWA® National Convention in Nashville, TN.
You can find the full list of RITA® finalists here.
It’s spring break here, which means my gremlins are home 24/7 until next Monday. I’m trying to get some writing done while they’re home, but it’s a struggle. Over the weekend we were here (see photo on right) at Black Butte Ranch in Central Oregon with friends who own a house there. Saturday the guys took the kids golfing (it was 66 degrees). Sunday my girlfriend and I took them snowboarding 15 miles up the road at the Hoodoo Ski Area. Where else but in Oregon can you go golfing one day and skiing the next, all within 15 miles of each other?
This week is a wild one for me. On top of writing, I’m speaking at the PLA Conference in Portland on Thursday with John Charles from the Chicago Tribune/Booklist, Elizabeth Boyle, Christina Dodd & Nicole Burnham. My editor’s flying in for the conference as well, so she and I are gonna grab dinner one night, which I’m really looking forward to. Tomorrow I have an “online appt” to get my computer fixed (grrr…it’s still giving me fits) and I’m hoping that takes care of my tech issues. And somewhere in there I promised my kids I’d take them to see the Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie, which opened last weekend.
I also have some good news, but I can’t share yet. Kinda waiting for the official announcement. Will let you know more when I can (hopefully soon!)
In the meantime, if you’re browsing for something to read, I’m over at the Bradford Bunch talking about reviews. And if you haven’t signed up for my newsletter yet, go do it. I still have MARKED ARCs and I’m going to draw a name from my newsletter and send someone a lucky book. Friday. Let’s say I’ll do it on Friday! So go sign up!
Thanks to all who played along yesterday. It was great to see all the answers (and comments!).
Most of you got the answers correct, so these are no surprise, but here they are “officially”:
1. Who is considered the greatest of the Greek heroes?HERACLES
(Yes, the roman name is Hercules, so I allowed that, but the Greek name is Heracles. And I hear some of you grumbling, “Eh, no. Achilles.” Valid argument, but not the one I was looking for (remember, I gave the hint it had something to do with MARKED. And Hercules/Heracles is mentioned in the back cover copy). However, lucky for you, my guy Zander (ENTWINED, Aug, 2010) is a descendant of Achilles, so you’ll get both heroes very soon!)
2. Who is Hades’s consort?PERSEPHONE
3. Which hero led the Argonauts?JASON
4. Who are the “big three” gods of the pantheon?ZEUS, POSEIDON, & HADES
5. Can you name the three Furies?ALECTO, TISIPHONE & MAGAERA
Next time I think I’ll have to pick harder questions!
So without further adieu…the winner of the ARC of MARKED (by random number generator) is…
Comment #5 – Melissa!
Melissa, email me at elisabeth@elisabethnaughton.com with your snail mail addy and I’ll get your ARC in the mail to you!
Stay tuned because I have more ARCs to give away before the release on April 27, 2010! And if you just can’t wait, check out Juliana Stone’s blog and Ann Aguirre’s blog. Both these fabulous authors are also giving away copies of MARKED this week!
It’s not the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, BUT…I feel like giving away an ARC of MARKED today in honor of the holiday! (My Eternal Guardians are definitely not Irish, but I am, so what I say goes.)
Here’s how we’ll do it. I’m going to list off five questions. You have to find the answers. (Google, anyone?) Come back here, post your answers in the comment section. Everyone who posts the five correct answers will be entered into the drawing. Easy stuff.
Since my “guys” are Greek (not Irish), the five questions deal with Greek Mythology.
Ready? Here we go.
***
1. Who is considered the greatest of the Greek heroes?
(Hint: This has something to do with MARKED!)
2. Who is Hades’s consort?
(Hint: She’s also known as the Queen of the Underworld.)
3. Which hero led the Argonauts?
(Hint: Think – The Golden Fleece.)
4. Who are the “big three” gods of the pantheon?
(Hint: One rules the sky, one rules the ocean and one rules the Underworld. Oh, and they’re brothers.)
5. Can you name the three Furies?
(Hint: This should be a no-brainer if you read STOLEN FURY. If not, you should easily be able to find it.)
That’s it. Five questions. I’ll choose a winner tomorrow from all who comment with the correct answers today.
Finish the end of the sentence. Go on, I dare you.
I just have to say right now that I have never been a big vampire fan. I mean, the blood, the immortality, the whole biting thing…ick. I have a hard enough time donating blood. I can’t imagine voluntarily allowing two giant fangs to pierce my skin.
That said…my relatives on my mother’s side come from that famed region in (what used to be) Hungary known as Transylvania. Yes, you heard that right. Somewhere back in my lineage there’s probably a link to Dracula, the king of all vampires. Being the paranormal author I am, I’ve had fun with this little bit of info. You see, when my 5 yr old was little, we used to tease him that he was a vampire, and the link to Transylvania? Fodder for the story. He hated the sun (still does), he had the sharpest little fangs you ever saw (they’re worn down now but not gone) and he used to growl at people he’d meet in the grocery store or on the street or, heck, anyone he knew for that matter. Little vampire. That was him. However lately, it’s gotten out of control.
Over the weekend my daughter was watching Twilight. I came downstairs and sat on the couch and watched with her for a bit, and after a few minutes the 5 yr old sauntered into the room. He snuggled in next to me, watched for a while and then said, “Mamma?”
“Yes?”
“Why don’t we sparkle?”
It took me a minute to figure out what he was asking. And then bingo, I realized, I have teased him so mercilously that he now believes we are real vampires.
There are two reactions a mother would have to this. The first (and most logical) is to say, “Oh, honey, mommy was only teasing. We’re not real vampires.”
But that wasn’t my reaction. Oh, no, what came out of my mouth was,
“Not all vampires sparkle.”
At this point my husband, who was also in the room, looked over at me with raised eyebrow and said, “Oh, there are different kinds of vampires now?”
“Yes,” I answered. “It’s all up to the author, you know.”
This, of course, would all be fun and comical if the 5 yr old hadn’t then leaned over to me and whispered, “Daddy doesn’t get it cuz he’s not a vampire like us.”
And my response?
“I know. Just ignore him.”
You Know You’re A Paranormal Author When…you convince your 5 yr old he’s a vampire.
Egad.
Your turn. Make me feel better. Change it up based on whether you’re a reader or writer:
I’m thrilled to unveil my revamped website. What do you think? I’ve got 1st chapter sample booklets of MARKED (May 2010) for everyone who leaves a comment today!
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I’m shipping the Swag Bags at my own expense, but many authors have donated loot for you all, and each Swag Bag will have a free book inside.
