2002 Rita Award Winners Announced

Posted on August 6, 2002

The winners of this year's RITA awards have been announced by the Romance Writers of America (RWA), a professional organization for romance writers. The golden statuette presented to the winners is named after RWA�s first president, Rita Clay Estrada. The awards were announced at the RWA's "Writing in the Rockies" conference in Denver this July.

Every fall, more than 1,000 romance novels are entered in the RITA contest by authors and editors. Romance-author judges begin the process of critiquing and ranking the entrants. In mid-spring approximately 75 books are named the year�s "RITA finalists." The finalist books go on to be further scrutinized by judges. In July -- when RWA hosts its annual Conference -- the judges� marks are tabulated to reveal the top score getters.

2002 Rita Award Winners

Contemporary Single Title True Confessions by Rachel Gibson (Avon)

First Book The Border Bride by Elizabeth English (Berkley/Jove)

Inspirational Beneath a Southern Sky by Deborah Raney (WaterBrook Press)

Long Contemporary Series Coming Home To You by Fay Robinson (Harlequin)

Long Historical The Bridal Season by Connie Brockway (Dell)

Paranormal Heart Mate by Robin D. Owens (Jove)

Regency Much Obliged by Jessica Benson (Kensington)

Romantic Suspense The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen (Ballantine)

Short Contemporary Series A Long Hot Christmas by Barbara Daly (Harlequin)

Short Historical Tempt Me Twice by Barbara Dawson Smith (St. Martin's Press)

Traditional Quinn's Complete Seduction by Sandra Steffen (Silhouette)