Recently, a woman (non reader of course) asked me about the "trashy little books" I write. She thought she was being nice. She was certainly smiling. This has become the norm for romance writers and readers - except where Romantic Times is concerned.
They've been very vocal, visual and active in their love of romance novels and their respect of romance authors. They deserve a tribute for their wonderful, unending support. RT hasn't always loved my books, but they have always been fair, which is more than any author can ask for. It proves their professionalism, and supports the fact that all of their reviews are from the heart.
They've forwarded reader questions on to me, given me an outlet to support personal causes (like the South Florida Firefighter's Calendar ) given me advance notice when a manuscript wasn't turned in for review, affording me the chance to correct the problem. They give numerous awards to authors, supply a forum for readers to get together, and in general make their love of romance shown again and again.
My sincerest, and heartfelt thanks to everyone at RT. - Lori Foster
December 9th 2003
06:29:06 AM
Name: Judy Flohr
Comments:
I got hooked on Romantic Times magazine a little over a year ago. I would see people talking in emails on the loops about it and I had to go check it out for myself. I was sold after my first issue and now happily it comes to my home every month. I love the fact that it gives excellent reviews and it has directed me to books I wouldn't have normally look into to buy. As soon as I get it I do a go through then I go back and do a much longer look see and start marking books I am interested in.
I couldn't be without it.
Thanks RT
December 7th 2003
01:10:34 PM
Name: Jewell Mason
Comments:
RT? Oh heavens, what does RT mean to me?
Picture, my very first convention of any sort. The RT convention in Kansas City this past October. I walk in, a newly published author, for a newly launching publishing house (thank you Medallion, I adore each and every person there.)
So, I walk throught Author's row, and just before I get into the signin table, I see a huge poster of my coverart! (Again, bless you Medallion.) Well, I about fell on the floor. But when I went up to the signing table and started blabbering that, that's my book, that's my book, this beautiful, grinning woman asked if I had a camera to take a picture. I did, and she did.
That picture will be cherished for the rest of my life for more than one reason. Not only was it a picture of my bookcover in 6 foot glory (with me grinning like an idiot beside it), but the person holding my little box camera and grinning as much as I was, was none other than Kathryn Falk.
I didn't know it at the time, she was just so down to earth that it never occurred to me that this was Lady Barrow. I will cherish this picture as long as I live, not just for the fact of the bookcover surprise, but to know that Ms. Falk is a wonderful person who truly loves to help and promote the romance genre.
Okay, tearing up here,
Happy writing and reading all,
Jewell Mason
December 7th 2003
11:47:03 AM
Name: Kathryn R. Blake
Comments:
I have been receiving and reading Romantic Times since the early 80s. Back then, as I recall, the magazine was published every other month in a newspaper format, the Romance industry was still in its infancy and the publishing world was dismissing it as a "fad."
I can remember reading a book on writing in the early 80s that suggested would-be-authors not waste their time trying to write a romance since the fad would most likely be over by the time the book reached an editor's desk. Romantic Times was convinced back then that the romance market was a thriving industry that deserved far more attention than it received.
Romance readers were and still are among the most loyal and prolific readers around, and Romantic Times has been instrumental in keeping these readers entertained and informed in the most imaginative and delightful ways possible. I salute Kathryn Falk and the staff of Romantic Times for never giving up their dream. - Kathryn R. Blake
December 6th 2003
08:38:38 PM
Name: cynjun
Comments:
I can only ditto what everyone else has said. I don't wait until RT is at the store, cause what if they're out by the time I get there!!! So I subscribe, and not only that, I get it in about 4 days rather than the 2 weeks or so the stores get it. Color me impatient. I love reading my magazine page by page. And mostly I love at the end of the magazine seeing what's coming up in the next 2 months TOO FUN! I love the reviews, I love the updates. It's just as much fun getting my RT each month as it is getting a new book! Thank you RT!!
December 6th 2003
03:37:42 PM
Name: Linda Turner
Comments:
I have all the Rt maz. and lots of the free stuff before the maz. was put out. It is a must buy for me every month. Just like my Bible of romance. I love all the reviews and have found alot of new authors thur RT help. My mother and my 3 sister's have gone to 3 of the conventions and hope to go to more.
Keep up the good work: RT ROCKS!!!
December 6th 2003
01:25:04 PM
Name: Maxi Michaels
Comments:
Living in Australia, especially in the early 90s, and finding any sort of information about romance writing was almost impossible. Then somehow I came across a magazine called Romantic Times and subscribed to it, and it was like manna from heaven. Reading the reviews, being able to know about the authors, and learning about the industry was just unbelievable. I was an RT subscriber even before joining RWA and RWAustralia.
I still have my collection of magazines from back then and I love to read through them every so often, seeing how authors' careers have developed over the decade. I still have the 100th issue with Fabio on the cover and dated July 1992.
To Kathryn and Carol and all the staff at RT, thank you so much. You'll never know how much your magazine means to me.
Maxi Michaels
December 5th 2003
07:12:47 AM
Name: Crystal Wilson Harris
Comments:
RT has been an amazing resource and support for all lovers of romantic fiction. I am especially grateful for the unending, trend-setting support RT has always given to African-American romance and its writers. RT was probably the first national publication to recognize, review, and promote the emerging A-A sub genre, and its support has helped lift the genre to even higher heights. Thank you, RT, for all that you do and all that you are.
With best wishes for continued success,
Crystal Wilson Harris
December 4th 2003
07:14:57 PM
Name: Nichole L
Comments:
I love RT. Their reviews are always fair and they never ever bash an author even if they didn't like the book. And instead of just saying they didn't like it they tell you why. I always go to my RT magazine for their review before buying a book by a new author.
December 3rd 2003
07:08:17 PM
Name: Stacy A
Comments:
I thought I'd died and gone to heaven when I first came across RT magazine in a bookstore about 5 years ago. For a diehard fan of romance, it was truly a treasure. And it just keeps getting better and better. Without RT magazine, I would have missed out on many great books and wonderfully gifted writers. It is also a great source of information for aspiring writers, offering how-to tips and monthly lessons that are invaluable.
RT stays on top of new and changing genres, and that's definitely widened my reading range. From the new releases to treasured classics, from up and coming authors to long-time favorites, from Regency to SciFi to erotica to mystery, RT offers something for everyone.
One thing that I think sets RT apart is that the magazine doesn't forget to celebrate its roots, and honor the trailblazers who brought romance to what it is today. I really love this magazine.
Stacy ~
December 3rd 2003
03:44:18 PM
Name: Dianne Castell
Comments:
RT is incredible! The true voice of the romance genre. Readers and authors are lucky to have this magazine that offers so much.
On a personal note... Last year Giselle saved me. She e-mailed me wanting to know if I intended to take out an ad for my April book. What April book, I asked!
My publisher had changed the release date and didn't tell me. Surprise, surprise!! Thanks Giselle and everyone at RT.
Sincerely, Dianne
December 3rd 2003
06:20:37 AM
Name: Nina Davis
Comments:
I've been reading RT for 11 years. As a newbie to the genre all those years ago, it was an oasis of information. As a writer and librarian today, it is still my source for industry news and reviews. Long live RT!
December 2nd 2003
08:04:08 PM
Name: Lucy Monroe
Comments:
I'll never forget my first phone call to the staff at RT Bookclub. I wanted to ask about advertising in the magazine for my first book. Not only did Gisele answer my questions about ad opportunities with RT, she took the time to give me some very good advice about promoting my work in general. Here I was (am ) this total newbie author and she was so patient with me...so nice. It really touched me and when I met her in New York at the RWA National Conference, she was just as lovely and lucid in person. I'm really impressed by the efforts all the RT staff makes on behalf of the genre I love so much.
December 2nd 2003
02:06:57 PM
Name: Erin McCarthy
Comments:
I want to thank RT for their enthusiastic and wonderful support of romance readers and authors! They truly "get it" when it comes to why so many of us love reading and writing romance, and I can't imagine not getting RT BookClub to devour every month. RT also takes the time to introduce new authors to readers, myself included, and that keeps the genre fresh and exciting. Here's to another 20 years!
December 2nd 2003
12:30:23 PM
Name: Pat Rouse
Comments:
Without RT, I wouldn't be so well educated in the romance genre and considered an expert romance reader having purchased my first copy of the magazine at a Book Rack in Cincinnati, OH in the late 1980s.
Without RT, I wouldn't have been able to meet so many of the fantastic romance authors I've admired through the years having attended my first RT Convention in San Antonio, TX in 1990 strickly as a romance fan!
Without RT, I wouldn't have discovered so many terrific authors, who were new or unfamiliar to me!
Without RT, I wouldn't have had a venue to be "the reader's voice" in a national magazine with my monthly columns about Readers Groups and Personal Keepers (admired authors & their beloved books) from December 1994-June 2002.
Without RT, I wouldn't have made so many wonderful author, bookseller, reader and reviewer friends!
Without RT, I wouldn't have made so many great contacts in the romance industry that I was able to pursue my dream of starting my own author PR business in 2002!
Needless to say Romantic Times BOOKClub is my favorite magazine and I want to thank Kathryn Falk, Carol Stacy and the rest of the RT staff for their wonderful efforts and support, for the opportunities they've given me and for making a huge impact on my life!
December 2nd 2003
10:55:03 AM
Name: Toni Blake
Comments:
I can only echo what others have already said - it's wonderful to have a publication that promotes and supports romance the way RT does, especially in a business where we're so often maligned. Thanks, RT!
December 2nd 2003
08:04:45 AM
Name: Carol Stacy, Publisher of RT BOOKclub
Comments:
Dear Lori and friends,
I am humbled by your tribute and kind words and thank you from the bottom of my heart. When you are putting out a monthly magazine it's hard to see anything beyond the deadline before you (I know you authors can relate!) so knowing that we are appreciated means so much to me, the hardworking staff and especially Kathryn Falk.
I believe the reason we have been around for twenty-two years is because each and every issue is a labor of love. Our mission has always been to give authors a place to showcase their books but more importantly, it's a place where we give the reader a voice and keep them in touch with the industry news.
So on behalf of the editorial staff, Giselle in advertising, Nancy the great in customer service, our dedicated review staff (which now numbers over 30!!) and all who help produce and ship this wonderful magazine thank you for your kind words and loyal support.
Sincerely,
Carol Stacy
December 2nd 2003
07:19:04 AM
Name: Rosemary Laurey
Comments:
Oh, Lori!
I so agree with you. RT is marvelous for its coverage of romance, and support of both readers and writers, and in highlighting the many sub genres: paranormal, SF, futuristics etc. that so often get overlooked. And the cons aren't half bad either. I'm already looking forward to New York.
December 2nd 2003
06:02:09 AM
Name: LuAnn McLane
Comments:
I can't think of anything more important to romance readers and authors than Romantic Times Magazine. Thank you for your years of support to the genre. I gobble the magazine up each and every month. Someday, I will make it to the convention!
December 1st 2003
09:52:41 PM
Name: Trish
Comments:
Well, I'm a just a little ole reader, not a writer, like these wonderful ladies above, but I do have an appreciation for RT also. They have wonderful reviewers, a sincere and helpful staff, (as I witnessed first hand, at the Houston Convention) and thier magazines are so interesting, and full of fun writeups, and reviews!
Like Lori said, they have been there for the romance community, and it is nice to see us readers and writers paying them respects for their dilligent hard work. Keep up the awesome work RT!!!!!!!!
December 1st 2003
03:35:06 PM
Name: Becky Barker
Comments:
I've been in the writing business for more than 15 years and have learned that Romantic Times is an unfailing champion of the romance genre. A big thanks to Kathryn and her staff for years of enthusiasm and support!
December 1st 2003
11:19:02 AM
Name: Morgan Leigh
Comments:
Each month, I can't wait to get my RT! I've only just started going to the site online (I know, i'm horribly computer illiterate), but i pop in there all the time now. I check the reviews and comments from readers. There is a wonderful balance of professionalism and friendliness that keeps me coming back.
I also have Kathryn's book, How To Write A Romance For The New Markets...and get published. Volume One. It was the first book on writing I ever owned. A Christmas gift from my mother. I love the quotes and comments in it. I cherish it as a gift, and a wonderful tool.
I've yet to attend a convention, but i will! It sounds like a wonderful time is had by all every year!
So thank you Kathryn Falk and every single one of you at Romantic Times! It's a wonderful reference, guide, and entertainment to those who write and read the genre. You do romance a great service, and we're very lucky to have it as a source of information and reading pleasure!
~Morgan Leigh
December 1st 2003
09:23:58 AM
Name: J.C. Wilder / Dominique Adair
Comments:
I was first introduced to RT in 1994. I'd been writing romance for several years at the point and someone mentioned Kathryn's HOW TO WRITE A ROMANCE AND GET IT PUBLISHED. I purchaed a copy and received a lovely handwritten note from Kathryn asking me to join her in Nashville for one of the RT conferences.
I was an unpublished writer and I can remember sitting at the awards ceremony thinking, "In five years I want to be walking up there to get an award."
Okay - so my math is off a bit (hey, I'm a writer not an accountant) but here it is nine years and 14 published books later and all I can say is THANKS to Kathryn and RT for being so supportive of the romance genre and all the unpublished writers out there.
J.C. Wilder
http://www.jcwilder.com
December 1st 2003
08:15:45 AM
Name: Alison Kent
Comments:
I actually met one of my long-time writing friends through Romantic Times. A woman had written a Letter to the Editor asking for other authors interested in forming a critique group. This was way back in the days of electric typewriters and snail mail. I met Janelle Denison via the group that eventually formed, and we traded critiques and long letters through the good ol' USPS. Thank goodness the world has evolved and we now have email! Without Romantic Times, I doubt Janelle and I would have ever became such close friends!
December 1st 2003
08:05:14 AM
Name: Lynn Miller aka Meg Lacey
Comments:
Since their beginning, RT has supported writers and informed readers about the women's fiction industry. RT has had a great impact on all of us. Many writers started writing because of this magazine. Plus, RT is fun to read. What could be better than that.!
Lynn Miller aka Meg Lacey
