My fellow playpal from the Writers At Play group blog Terri Garey has finaled in the RITA for paranormal and Best First Book for DEAD GIRLS ARE EASY.

What’s a RITA? It’s the romance-publishing industry’s highest award of distinction sponsored by the Romance Writers of America to honor RWA’s first president, Rita Clay Estrada, and has become the symbol for the best in published romance fiction.
Up to 1,200 romance novels from 12 different categories are entered each year in the RITA competition. Novels can be entered either by their authors or by the books’ publisher. After the first round of judging by fellow published romance authors, the competition narrows to approximately 100 finalists. Click here to see the whole list of nominations at the SBTB web site. Garey is up against another favorite of mine in the Paranormal category: Linnea Sinclair for her book GAMES OF COMMAND. Good luck to both of you!

Double whammie! This was a great book and I can’t wait to see what happens next for Nikki Styx. Obviously, I’m not the only one who feels that way too:

“Nicki Styx is a heroine to die for in this witty and wonderful new series. DEAD GIRLS ARE EASY will both thrill and chill you as talented Terri Garey brings to life a fresh and funny cast of characters.” —Teresa Medeiros, NYT bestselling author

From Terri’s site:

What do you get when you cross a hip young woman with a dark side
with some uninvited ghosts?

You get Nicki Styx and her very strange life in Dead Girls Are Easy.

Poor Nicki just wanted to earn a living with her vintage clothing store in Little Five Points, Georgia, and maybe have a little fun on the side. One near death experience later, and Nicki’s life is changed forever by the ability to see and hear spirits.

It’s dark humor with a Southern slant – the angst of a young woman on the edge, a healthy dash of sex and voodoo, a sprinkling of spookiness.