Northern Librarian of the Year: This year’s Northern Librarian of the Year is Amy Alessio of the Schaumburg Township District Library, for her work in the young adult and romance genres. *** Golden Heart Finalists: Sonali Dev’s “The Bollywood Bad Boy” and India Powers’ “Demon’s Bane” are finalists in the Golden Heart Contest of the Romance Writers of America. *** J. Leigh Bailey: “Guyliner” ranked first in the young adult category in the Golden Rose contest of the Rose City Romance Writers. It also finalled in the Golden Acorn Contest from the Charter Oak Romance Writers of Connecticut. Leigh has signed with agent Sartiza Hernandez at the Corvisiero Agency. *** Regena Bryant: Was selected as Debut Author of the Year in the Shades of Romance Readers Choice Awards. *** Mary Jo Burke: Her Private Collection is coming out from Musa Publishing in June. Mother Nature's Man from the Wild Rose Press came out in January. *** Lori Burrell: “Flirting with Fire” was a finalist of the 2013 Yosemite Romance Writers The Smooch contest. *** Wendy Byrne: Mama Said . . . was a finalist in the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence Contest, Southern Magic RWA. *** Kristin Daniels: My Tye was released April 10th through Ellora’s Cave. It will come out in e-book first, and later in trade paperback. *** Dyanne Davis: Has republished Another Man’s Baby from her backlist and has a new book, An Imperfect Life, out in both eformat and POD. *** Sonali Dev: In addition to her Golden Heart final, Sonali has sold two books to Kensington Publishing. The Bollywood Bride comes out in November 2014. The Bollywood Bad Boy will come out later. “The Bride” finalled in both the Molly Contest of the Heart of Denver Romance Writers and the Finally a Bride Contest of the Oklahoma RWA in 2011. *** Tracey Devlyn: The Romance Reviews nominated her debut novel, A Lady’s Revenge, for Best Historical Romance of 2012. The book was a finalist in the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence Contest of Southern Magic RWA. Her latest, Checkmate, My Lord, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. *** Karen Doornebos: Was a finalist in the traditional fiction category of the Chicago Writers Association's 2nd Annual Book of the Year Awards for Definitely Not Mr. Darcy. Her next book, Undressing Mr. Darcy, comes out in Fall 2013. *** Kelly Garcia: “The Magic of Matchmaking,” a time-travel story, finalled in the young adult category in the Golden Rose contest of the Rose City Romance Writers. *** Blythe Gifford: The Brunson Clan trilogy was released from Harlequin Historical this winter. The books are November 2012, Return Of The Border Warrior; January 2013, Captive Of The Border Lord; March 2013, Taken By The Border Rebel. A related free serial, Tempted By The Border Captain, was published on the Harlequin website in February. Blythe has signed a new, two-book contract with Harlequin. *** Bonnie Gill: Won first place in Western Pennsylvania Romance Writer's Flash Fiction Bump in the Night Short Story Contest 2012 with her entry “The Spelling Contest.” *** Adrienne Giordano: Her romantic suspense Risking Trust, the first book in the Private Protectors series, was a finalist in the 2013 EPIC eBook Awards. Her romantic suspense novella Negotiating Point was a finalist in the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence Contest. *** Lyndee Henderson: Has signed with Mary Sue Seymour of The Seymour Agency. *** Nancy Hurst: “Edward Rochester: The Master of Thornfield” is a finalist in the historical and inspirational categories of the Northwest Texas Great Expectations Contest. *** Vanessa M. Knight: “Second Time’s The Charm” won the Single Title category of the Great Expectations contest, North Texas RWA. *** DL Larson: Her historical novel, Promises My Love, is available at the end of April in hardback and e-book format. *** Nicole Leiren: For her manuscript “Unfinished Business,” Nicole accepted representation by Dawn Dowdle of the Blue Ridge Literary Agency. *** Cathie Linz writing as Cat Devon: Her new paranormal series, writing as Cat Devon for St. Martin's Press, kicks off with back-to-back releases of Sleeping with the Entity (June 4th) and The Entity Within (July 2nd). Love Your Entity is tentatively scheduled for a Dec. 31 release. Find Cat at catdevon.com and as catdevonauthor on Facebook and Twitter. *** Ann Macela: Has a new two-ebook series, Wolves in Business, out on all the usual ebook sites. The two are Wolf in Jester’s Clothing and Wolf on Thin Ice. No, they’re not shapeshifters, just alpha businessmen! *** Kate Meader: Sold her 3-book foodie romance series called “Hot in the Kitchen” to Lauren Plude at Grand Central in September 2012. The first book, Feel The Heat will be released May 7, 2013, with the second in the series, All Fired Up, releasing August 6, 2013. *** Allie Pleiter: Has three books out in 2013: Family Lessons in April, The Fireman’s Homecoming in June, and The Firefighter’s Match in November, all Harlequin. *** India Powers: In addition to the Golden Heart final, “Demon’s Bane” won the Emily from West Houston RWA and finalled in The Gateway to the Best contest of Missouri RWA and Launching a Star from Florida’s SpacecoasT Authors of Romance. *** Kelle Z. Riley: “Read My Lips” came in third in the The 2012 Golden Gateway Contest's Published Division from From The Heart RWA. Her contemporary single title, “Royally Screwed,” finalled in the Catherine Contest of the Toronto Romance Writers. In the MARA Fiction from the Heartland contest, four of her manuscripts finalled: “Read My Lips,” “Royally Screwed,” “Counterfeit Commoner,” and “The Second Chance Club: A Diva's Do-Over.” *** Stephanie Scott: “The Astronaut’s Daughter,” a 1960s-set YA romance, won first place in Northwest Houston RWA's Lonestar Contest, Young Adult category. She has also accepted representation with Sarah LaPolla at Curtis Brown. *** Denise Swanson: The Mystery Guild has selected her next Dime Store book, Nickeled-and-Dimed to Death, as their alternate selection. This is the first of her books that they’ve optioned. Also, Murder of the Cat's Meow was #20 on the New York Times Bestselling List. *** Julie Ann Walker: Hell on Wheels made iBookstore’s 10-Best Romances of 2012 List. Hell on Wheels and In Rides Trouble received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, and Julie Ann made the New York Times with her Sourcebook stories. The latest, Thrill Ride, came out this month. ***