Dear Author: Romance Book Reviews, Author Interviews, and Commentary

And the random integer generator has spoken. Over 80 people spread the word, and many a person mentioned their hope that the contemporary romance will not die but flourish happily. We certainly hope so.

Without further ado, or any ado at all, the winner is:

Margay! at http://www.myspace.com/margay1122

Congrats - please email Sarah or Jane or both, and we’ll make arrangements for a massive Amazon gift certificate to the tune of $100 to be delivered unto the inbox of your choice. Thanks for spreading the word, and stay tuned for more from Dear Author and Smart Bitches as we try to Save the Contemporary.

Oh, so many snarky comments to be made in reference to past published work, but I’ll refrain. The winner of the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest is 41 year old Garrison Spik.

Theirs was a New York love, a checkered taxi ride burning rubber, and like the city their passion was open 24/7, steam rising from their bodies like slick streets exhaling warm, moist, white breath through manhole covers stamped “Forged by DeLaney Bros., Piscataway, N.J.”

In the romance category, we have this priceless gem:

Bill swore the affair had ended, but Louise knew he was lying, after discovering Tupperware containers under the seat of his car, which were not the off-brand containers that she bought to save money, but authentic, burpable, lidded Tupperware; and she knew he would see that woman again, because unlike the flimsy, fake containers that should always be recycled responsibly, real Tupperware must be returned to its rightful owner.

Jeanne Villa
Novato, CA

Read more purple prose and bad fiction entries here.

We hosted a giveaway for 15 copies of Kresley Cole’s delicious upcoming May release, Dark Needs at Night’s Edge. The winners are as follows. Please send me (jane @ dearauthor. com) your snail mail address.

# 92 Little Lamb Lost
# 36 Miss Kitty
# 14 Ana
# 50 Emily
# 107 Josie
# 97 Dani
# 67 Shreela
# 64 limecello
# 79 Liviania
# 111 Ashley
# 15 DS
# 87 Wendy
# 114 Candice
# 116 Nikki
# 103 ChRiStY

We also celebrated Signet/NAL who stood up for the integrity of publishing and the readers. The winners of a $5 gift certificate from Fictionwise are below. Please email me (jane @ dearauthor. com) with the email address where the GC should be sent.

# 41 A. Hashi
# 33 ms aggie
# 10 Jane A
# 23 Meriam
# 31 willaful