Presenters, winners, and more

God knows who did the voiceover, but his voice had all the iconic bombast of the Oscars announcers. Great fun. UPDATE via Laura Hayden in the comments: The voiceovers at the awards ceremony (the intros and the "Peachtree Road" parody) were done by Steve Meredith of MeWe Productions. He was the gentleman in the production booth calling all the production cues. (Thanks Laura!)

The mistress of ceremonies was Nora Roberts. The pic I took of her at this point was too horrendous, even for me, to post. She was funny, sexy, with the voice and presence of a 1920s chanteuse. They then switched to a movie made for the evening called "Fact or Fiction," which traced the evolution of stereotypes about romance authors, agents, editors, publishers and fans to their depiction in the movies.

The movie opened with cops racing to an old mansion where they discovered the body of an old stereotype floating in the pool.


Then they showed clips from movies featuring writers including the much beloved and loudly cheered, Romancing The Stone


And Paperback Hero (that's the back of Hugh Jackman's head, curse me!)


And now, without further ado, here are photos of the presenters and winners of the Golden Hearts and RITAs (I am sure I mixed up half of the photos, names, and categories, so please correct me, but be gentle :) )

GOLDEN HEARTS
P: presenter
W: winner
ABF: winner not present, accepted by friend
NPA: no picture available (or it's one of the mystery photos)

Best Short Contemporary Romance (P: Nina Bruhns, W: Yvonne Harris ABF Kathleen Long)


Best Long Contemporary Romance Manuscript (P: Gail Barrett W: Laurie Kellogg)




Missing pics of the paranormal presenter and winner for now, will post later (long story about me and my idiocy with cameras)

Best Inspirational Romance (P: Myra Johnson W: Lora Bale) larger pic




Best Short Historical Romance (P: Chris Merrill W: Christine Diehm NPA)


Best Long Historical Romance (P: Victoria Dahl W: Donna MacMeans)




Help me with the next bunch please.

Mystery Photo #1


Heather Koenig, winner of GH for Young Adult Romance


Best Novel with Strong Romantic Elements (P: Gemma Halliday W: Kathleen Beaver)




Holli Bertram


Jo Robertson, winner of the GH Romantic Suspense category

Best Contemporary Single Title Romance (P: Lorelle Marinello W: Donna Meier ABF/NPA)


RITAs

Best Traditional Romance (P: Nicole Burnham W: Marion Lennox NPA?)


Best Short Contemporary Romance Novel (P: Barbara McCauley W: Liz Fielding ABF/NPA)


Best Long Contemporary Romance (P: Inglath Cooper W: Dianna Love Snell)




Best Paranormal Romance (P: Lori Handeland W: Linnea Sinclair)




Best Inspirational Romance (P: Gayle Roper W: Beth Pattillo)




Best Romantic Novella (P: Christie Ridway W: Alesia Holliday)




Best First Book (P: Susan Crandall W: Stephanie Feagan)




Best Regency Romance (P: Sophia Nash W: Diane Gaston)




Best Short Historical Romance (W: Christina Dodd P: Jodi Thomas)


(Jodi was also inducted into the RWA Hall of Fame for winning her third RITA in the same category)


Best Long Historical Romance (P: Madeline Hunter W: Liz Carlyle NPA/NBF)


Best Novel with Strong Romantic Elements (P: Evelyn Vaughn W: Barbara Samuel)




Best Romantic Suspense (P: Linda Howard W: Nora Roberts w/a JD Robb)


(Click on Nora pics for a little more commentary)




Best Contemporary Single Title (P: Jenny Crusie W: Susan Wiggs ABF)