RWA Names Rita Award Winners

Posted on August 6, 2004

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 conference in Dallas 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.

2004 Rita Award Winners

Contemporary Single Title Birthright by Nora Roberts (Putnam)

First Book Back Roads by Susan Crandall (Warner Books)

Inspirational Autumn Dreams by Gayle Roper

Long Contemporary Series The Top Gun's Return by Kathleen Creighton (Harlequin)

Long Historical The Destiny by Kathleen Givens (Warner Books)

Paranormal Shades of Midnight by Linda Fallon (Kensington)

Regency Prospero's Daughter by Nancy Butler (Signet)

Romantic Novella "Prisoner of the Tower" in The Wedding Chase by Gayle Wilson (Harlequin)

Romantic Suspense Remember When - Part 1 by Nora Roberts (Putnam)

Short Contemporary Series The Knight's Kiss by Nicole Burnham (Silhouette)

Short Historical Worth Any Price by Lisa Kleypas (Avon Books)

Traditional Her Royal Baby by Marion Lennox (Harlequin)

The author-members of Romance Writers of America write the romance novels that represent 55% of all popular paperback fiction sold in the United States, and that generate more than $1 billion yearly. Romance Writers of America, a non-profit association, meets in a different U.S. city every July to network, discuss the industry, toast the best romances of the year, and raise money for literacy.