Readers: Beyond Her Book Blog Virtual Party (win free books!)

Publisher's Weekly blogger Barbara Vey (right) and me, 2011

Just a little note here to promote a cool online reader event hosted by Publisher's Weekly blogger Barbara Vey (who I met in person at a Wisconsin book festival in 2011--see pic!). She hosts a virtual party on her blog the first week in March with theme days. The  more you comment (and interact with other readers/commenters about the theme) the more chances you have to win books and loot provided by authors. I won books both years I participated--a mix of e-books and hardbacks/paperbacks sent directly to me. Click here for details..

Her blog and virtual party are partly responsible for my involvement in Romance Writers of America; Barbara attends a lot of RWA chapter meetings, and she showed up at a regional RWA conference I attended last year. She is a reader first, and loves to promote authors through her connections with PW. In the virtual party forum, I admitted I thought romance novels were cheesy and I preferred fiction with more "going on" than just romance. Lots of readers suggested authors to me who have transcended the stereotypical romance fiction conventions, and I found a few new favorite authors because of it (Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Jennifer Crusie for example).

UPDATE: The virtual party was postponed to March 11-16! Beyond Her Book

Sidenote, for you midwestern folk, she is hosting a Reader Appreciation Lunch in Milwuakee on April 27 with a bunch of authors. I have a wedding to go to, but this sounds super cool.