Sometimes, in the summer, I completely lose my attention span. I can only read in short bursts, which makes anything with more than 50 pages of plot virtually impossible to get through. For those of you who also suffer from this affliction, you'll be happy to know that FOUR DUKES AND A DEVIL will suit your summer reading needs.

Five great stories by five wonderful authors who all reside in the Washington, D.C. area. You might ask, "Why Washington?" Well, next week, as I'm sure you all know, we'll be heading lock, stock, and Blackberries down to Washington, D.C. for the Romance Writers of America convention. We thought it might be fun to celebrate the conference by having a collection ready, written by authors from the host-city.

RWA is a moveable feast, and is held in a different town every year. The first RWA I ever attended was in Atlanta, Georgia--I really don't remember the hotel. But I do remember that The Ritas were then called "The Golden Medallions" and they were handed out at a luncheon. Later, they were renamed the Ritas and were handed out with dinner, which is why the ceremony is still occasionally called "the banquet," by those of us who've been around for a long time.

One year, dessert came out in what I called "the parade of cakes"--the waiters marched around the room with sparklers. There is a part of me that still misses the "banquet," which was sort of like attending a mapcap wedding without many men. Even though it was the usual conference fare (chicken or steak), and the mad grab for seats (getting your table organized was a job unto itself), there was something festive about it all.