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Today my brain is scattered — and almost as chaotic and busy as the ballroom pictured here, which so crowds poor Mr. Darcy — so my post here will be scattered and chaotic as well.

AWARDS

Don’t forget to vote in All About Romance‘s 2005 Reader Poll! Just go to:

www.allaboutromance.com/ballot2005.html

Ignore the list of books near the top — those are THEIR favorites, not yours — and vote your opinions!


OSCARS

This morning it was announced that the recent film of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE was nominated for four Oscars! Of course, the serious films got the nods for best picture, but P&P got nominations for costume design, art direction, original score, plus a best actress nomination for Keira Knightley! (Well deserved, in my opinion!)


OBSERVATIONS

My first novel (MY LADY GAMESTER) was released on November 1. Looking back, it’s been an interesting and educational three months for me.

So . . .

First, my thank-yous.

1) Thank you to the many members of my family, and my husband’s family, who bought my book.

2) A particular thank-you to my mother, my uncle’s mother-in-law, and Todd’s parents and their spouses, for making the supreme sacrifice of actually reading it.

3) An extra-special thank-you to my mother-in-law, her husband, and my father-in-law’s wife, for sharing their thoughts on my book, and what they liked about it.

4) Thank you to my friends who took the time to buy and read my book.

5) An extra special thank you to the two members of my local RWA chapter who went the extra mile, and reviewed my book on Amazon. I am eternally grateful.

6) Thank you to pretty much everyone I’ve mentioned my book to, for not calling romances trash, or making snide or patronizing remarks about the genre, or my book.

Now, what I have learned…

1) Most of my relatives, and some of my friends, will never read my book. They may read other books, or they may not, but they won’t read mine. They would probably be more interested in hearing about my attempts at cooking, my cat’s bad habits, the last movie I saw, or the details of my mortgage, than hearing about the book that took me years (and blood, toil, tears, and sweat) to write. That’s life.

2) The most common question I will get on my book is “How is it selling?” (I guess this is a question my relatives can ask without having read my book.)

3) Some of my friends who read my book will decide the most useful thing they can do is to list for me any errors they believe they have found in it. I confess I do not know why they think this is a good idea.

4) Even if the theme of my satiric holiday letter is the fact that almost no one has reviewed my book on Amazon, no one I send the letter to will be persuaded by it to review my book on Amazon. I hereby resolve to learn to be happy with my two good reviews, and stop nagging my relatives (who haven’t read my book anyway.)

So . . . does anyone else have any similar observations to share?? All opinions (and venting of your own) very welcome! (You can also comment on the AAR poll or the Oscar nominations!)

Cara
Cara King, www.caraking.com
MY LADY GAMESTER — out now from Signet Regency!!!!

Ah, the weekend of the Oscars, always a not-to-be-missed event. Oh the suspense, the celebrities, the FASHION!

I’ll leave the fashion to our Risky fashionista, Amanda.

Young Victoria’s costume designer won, speaking of fashion.

Much as I like Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, I yearned for Hugh Jackman…but then, don’t I always? At least I got a brief Gerard Butler fix. He was subdued and very handsome.

Cute moment when Gerard meets Gabourey Sidibe on the Red Carpet.

I could have done without the dance performance, not Gerard, the one during the Oscars….

I haven’t seen hardly any of the movies nominated, but that never prevents me from having my opinions and my favorites.

For example, I was disappointed Christopher Plummer did not win, and very happy Mo’Nique won. Her performance reminded me of people I once knew in my social worker days. And I suppose I’ve loved Christopher Plummer every since The Sound of Music, not to mention his performance as Wellington in Waterloo.

And, of course, I would have liked Colin Firth to win. I mean, he was DARCY…but the Best Actor category was filled with great actors. They all should have won.

Carey Mulligan! Kitty Bennett in the “other” Pride & Prejudice. I knew she wouldn’t win, but how great to see her there. It was nice for Sandra Bullock to win. She gave such a good speech.

Kathryn Bigelow! First time for a woman to win Best Director. What a remarkable film for a woman to direct. Nice to see Barbara Striesand, too. She looks good!

And BEST PICTURE!! The Hurt Locker. To win over Avatar was remarkable.

I think the distribution of wins over so many wonderful films was pretty well balanced. It really was a great year for movies, I think. I’m inspired to go to the cinema postehaste and to hone my Netflix membership.

I just finished judging my RITA books (The Romance Writers of America’s “Oscars”). Like the Oscars, I suspect there will be many wonderful finalists, all deserving to win. I also think there will be several books that don’t make the finals that are also wonderful, but not to everyone’s taste. (Friends of mine HATED Avatar, for example). You just can’t avoid subjective scoring. That is why I always say that not reaching the finals doesn’t mean you haven’t written a great book.

Now that I’ve finished my RITA books, I get to start on Venetia! Don’t forget. This Wednesday Carolyn kicks off our very first Risky Regency Read Along. We’re supposed to read Chapters 1 to 7 of Venetia by Wednesday, March 17 so we can DISCUSS. I am so very sure this will be lots of fun. Who doesn’t love talking about a book with other friends who’ve read the same book?

We’re even going to guest visit at Sue Grimshaw’s Borders True Romance Blog Saturday March 13 to talk about the Read Along. Sue Grimshaw, Borders Books Romance buyer, is such a constant and enthusiastic supporter of Romance. Visit her blog and see what she’s offering this week.

Sue has a day Janet will enjoy. Thurday is Male Romance Cover Review day!
This month my Gallant Officer, Forbidden Lady is available on MillsandBoon.co.uk or you can pre-order at a discount at Bookdepository.com. And A Reputable Rake is released in the UK in an anthology, Regency High Society Affairs, v 13, also at Book Depository. A Reputable Rake is my RITA winner!

What did you think of the Academy Awards? Were there any disappointments for you? Didn’t you think Gerard Butler looked handsome?

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