From the SFWA:
The 13th annual RITA Awards will be announced on July 29, 2006 at the Romance Writers of America’s 26th National Conference, which will be held in Atlanta, Georgia. The award catagories include Best Paranormal (Science Fiction and Fantasy) Romance.
Best Paranormal (Science Fiction and Fantasy) Romance Finalists:
The Misted Cliffs by Catherine Asaro
Ghost Walk by Heather Graham
My Shadow Warrior by Jen Holling
Spirited Away by Pamela Labud
A Taste of Crimson by Marjorie Liu
After Midnight by Teresa Medeiros
Gabriel’s Ghost by Linnea Sinclair
Dark Lover by J. R. Ward
The frightening thing is that Asaro actually won the Nebula award a few years ago. Fortunately, it was just a popularity contest that year – she also won the Presidency – but it’s not a good sign for the future that publishers – and readers – have so enthusiastically embraced the romance novelization of the genre.
Speaking of real science fiction, I’m sorry to learn that David Feintuch has died. While I did not know him well, I met him at my first book signing; we sat next to each other all day and he was kind enough to give me signed copies of four of his books. As others have described him, he was a big, gentle man and a decent human being. His Nicholas Seafort books are worth checking out if you haven’t read them yet, a sort of Aubrey-Maturin in space, albeit minus the Maturin.