'Parachutist' Finals in 2012 Molly Contest

I recently got word my manuscript, The Parachutist, is a finalist in the 2012 Molly contest sponsored by the Heart of Denver Romance Writers.

The frosting on the cake is that my heroine, Manon, a parachutist inspired by a real French woman who lived in the early 1800s, is up for the Unsinkable Molly award, which judges spunk, imagination, creativity and unsinkability.

Here is the complete list of finalists:

Contemporary
Southern Comforts by Nan Dixon  
The Inconvenient Mistress by Mary Oldham         
Clear as Glass by Lynn Kellan            

Paranormal
Bound by Traci Douglass
To Catch a Fetch by Melonie Johnson
Must Love Breeches by Angela Quarles

Romantic Suspense
Grown Up and Still Running by Shelley Wall
The Distance Between Us by Linda Bond

Single Title
Murder, Curlers, and Cream by Arlene McFarlane        
Mesmerized in Madagascar by George & Noi Guthridge 
Emma's Treasure by Judith Luke

Young Adult
Chimera by Laura Alford
Shadowman by Linda Kelley

Heart of the Molly
Beauty for Ashes by C. Elizabeth Carroll    
Death Whisperer by Katherine Matzen
Emma's Treasure by Judith Luke                        

Unsinkable Heroine
A Scandalous Gentleman by Renee Ann Miller       
The Parachutist by Diana Quincy
Murder, Curlers, and Cream by Arlene McFarlane

UPDATE: I''ve taken the plunge and developed an author website that I actually have to pay for! I hope you'll start visiting me there; that's where I'll be blogging from now on! Come along and have a look! Click here.

 



Behind the Scenes at a Romance Cover Shoot

Discover a New Love, by Sourcebooks, is back with one of my favorite regular blog features - behind the scenes at its latest romance cover video shoot.

It's a lot of fun. One model says his grandmother encouraged him to take the job. Check it out!

Gen Y Buys More Titles; Ebook Prices Drop

Move over Baby Boomers. A new report finds Generation Y - people born between 1979 and 1989 - is spending more money on books than you are.

The report, the 2012 U.S. Book Consumer Demographics & Buying Behaviors Annual Review, says  Gen Y bought 30 percent of all titles in 2011, up from 24 percent in 2010. Baby Boomers, who have historically spent the most on books, have a 25 percent share.

 Forty-three percent of Gen Y’s purchases are made online, which is helping push the industry's shift to digital. 

The report, prepared by Bowker Market Research, also finds ebook prices fell between 2010 and 2011.

It puts the average price of a fiction ebook at $5.24 in 2011, down from $5.69 in 2010. In nonfiction,  the average price fell from $9.04 to $6.47. In the juvenile segment, it dropped to $4.47 in 2011 from $4.88.

The reports finds ebooks have the most impact in the Mystery genre, accounting for 17 percent of spending, followed by Romance and Science Fiction, which accounted for 15 percent of dollars spent.

UPDATE: I''ve taken the plunge and developed an author website that I actually have to pay for! I hope you'll start visiting me there; that's where I'll be blogging from now on! Come along and have a look! Click here.