Visiting THE BALLROOM

At the 2012 RWA National Conference I attended a workshop called "Have a Ball with Your Blog: Fostering an Online Community for Readers" where six fabulous historical romance writers (Sarah MacLean, Tessa Dare, Miranda Neville, Sabrina Darby, Lauren Willig and Kate Noble) talked about their blog, The Ballroom. 

 All of these authors write Regency Romances, stories set in England in the early 19^th century and the most popular of historical genres. In these romances, much of the action is likely to take place in ballrooms where lovely young women and dashing aristocratic men meet under the scrutiny of the ton. By a stroke of creative genius, these authors have created a blog ballroom supervised by an ever-gracious hostess, Lady B, and visited by authors and the characters in their books in a fun mash-up of time and cultures.

Each author has adopted a Ballroom personality while remaining herself. Occasionally the hero of a book scandalizes Lady B or or a heroine enlists help in catching the eye of a handsome young lord. There are polls,quizzes, parlor games, holiday parties and guest posts by visiting authors. Last week, Sophie Jordan and Cleo Hadley (the heroine of LESSONS FROM A SCANDALOUS BRIDE) joined Sarah MacLean and Lady B to find Cleo a match. 

Each post is a story in itself--interaction between author, characters and Ballroom regulars that anyone can join in. I was delighted by the wit, not only of the poster, but also in the comments as authors and visitors get into the spirit of Regency romance.

There are thousands of blogs out there with all kinds of purposes and themes. The Ballroom stands out for me as a place to enjoy the whimsy and creativity of a brilliant group of writers who invite us to hang out with them in the imaginary world of their books and an era that has inspired an entire genre of romance. If you enjoy historicals, check it out!

Are there any blogs you find especially fun to visit? Please share!

LARK'S LIST OF LISTS 2011

The last week of December is a boon for those of us who love Top/Best/Worst lists. On the serious side the media recognizes Notable Deaths and Those We Lost  reminding us of the all the people who passed away during the year. And, of course, there are reviews of top world events that point out how our lives have been affected by recent history. But for pop-culture junkies (we know who we are), this time of year the web is a treasure trove of fascinating lists.

NPR’s website offers its assessment of the Best Books of 2011 in a wide range of categories from literature to poetry to sci-fi/fantasy but I’ll admit the one that I had to click on was Best Celebrity Tell-Alls.  Steven Tyler, Jane Lynch and Rob Lowe made that list and thus into my possibly-to-be-downloaded queue.

NPR also reviews The Year in Music listing 100 Favorite Songs Of 2011 , most of which I’ve never heard. But don’t worry, you can listen to them online for free before downloading anything to the iPad you got for Christmas. Prepare to spend hours on this one.

Looking for material to use at that New Years Eve party where you know no one but the host? No problem. There are lists of Favorite Vampires, Most Shocking Guy Makeovers (Ben Affleck with lot of hair, Matt Damon with none), Year’s Biggest Break-ups (not that I know who half these people are), and Pop Culture’s Tastiest Bits. 

 Wired’s Gear of the Year  tells you what’s techno-cool, and Booklist Online’s Top Ten Romance Novels of 2011 tells you what really hot. And Moviefone's 50 Best Movies of 2011 summarizes all those flicks you planned to see and didn’t so your eyes don’t glaze over when someone mentions “We Bought a Zoo.”

In case you prefer a one-stop source, TIME humbly lists the Top 10 of Everything of 2011. Okay, I’ll admit I clicked Worst Fashion Moments  and was delighted to see Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie at That Wedding followed by the Kardashians at the Wedding-ganza. And who can resist Ridiculously Obvious Study Findings? I never would have guessed that “Under Money Strains, Some Older Adults May Turn to Alcohol”. Well, duh.

TIME’s The Best Blogs of 2011  gives links to what it considers the 25 best blogs while noting a few it can do without…sorry, Kirstie Alley, you made the latter. 

Do we need all these Best of 2011 lists? Probably not. Still, I’m itching to find out who’s being lauded and panned on MTV’s and Entertainment Weekly’s lists. What else can I do while waiting for the Academy Awards nominations announcement?

Happy New Year! May 2012 be your best year ever!!