In case you haven't seen it, USA Today ran a fabulous article yesterday on the Romance genre. Balanced, thoughtful, positive. Fabulous. Quoted are Eloisa James, Julia Quinn, and Sarah Wendell of Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, among others. It's a must-read!

And speaking of must reads, my friend and RWA chaptermate DeAnna Cameron celebrates her very first release day today! The Belly Dancer (Berkley) is historical fiction with, as they say, "strong romantic elements." Here is the blurb:

At the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, the modern, the exotic, and the ground-breaking collide. When Dora Chambers, an aspiring socialite, is charged with the task of enforcing proper conduct at the Egyptian belly dancing exhibition, she finds herself captivated by these marvelous women. And as her eyes are opened to the world beyond a life of social expectations, she finds the courage to break free and discover the truth about her own heart.

Doesn't that just sound fascinating? And look at that beautiful cover!

Congratulations, DeAnna - I can't wait to read the book.

Goddess of the Hunt releases this month! I'm still floating from the starred reviews in both Publisher's Weekly and Library Journal, as well as the Top Pick from Romantic Times. On July 15th, I'll be signing early copies at the RWA Literacy Signing in Washington, DC. If you can't make it, enter my new contest to win an autographed copy of your own!

I got two copies in the mail this morning from my editor's assistant. (You can click on the picture for a bigger view.) I have since accomplished very little besides gazing into the shiny gold foil and fondling the embossing. It's real! It's really real! There are 384 pages inside, and my words are on each and every one!

Goddess of the Hunt got some lovely bloggage this week. Michelle Buonfiglio listed it as a Top Ten Beach Read over at BarnesandNoble.com's "Unabashedly Bookish" blog, and on Barbara Vey's "Beyond Her Book" blog at Publisher's Weekly, Stacey gave it a fabulous writeup (scroll down to the bottom). I'm in the process of writing up all sorts of promo letters, interviews, and guest blog posts for the coming month. Prepare to get sick of me.

AND - I had awesome news yesterday in the form of an email from my editor. Rights to all three books in the trilogy have been sold to publisher IKAR, for hardcover Slovak-language editions. I'll be in translation! I can't believe it.

Needless to say, it's been a great week. I hope it's been great for you, too. Have a wonderful holiday weekend, for those who live in the USA!