The Romance Writers of America announced this week the finalists in its two very popular annual contests: The RITA® Awards and the Golden Heart® Awards.

The RITA recognizes excellence in published romance fiction. The Golden Heart recognizes excellence in unpublished romance manuscripts. The winners in each category are announced each year at the RWA’s national conference, to be held this year in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Golden Heart is particularly interesting to agents and publishers looking for new talent. An exciting RITA category, and a great suggestion for new romance authors to consider, is the Best First Book Category. The finalists this year in that RITA category are:

• The Anatomist’s Wife by Anna Lee Huber; Penguin Group USA, Berkley Publishing Group; Michelle Vega, editor
•  Crazy Little Thing by Tracy Brogan; Amazon Publishing, Montlake Romance; Kelli Martin, editor
•  Firelight by Kristen Callihan; Grand Central Publishing, Forever; Alex Logan, editor
• Forged in Fire by Trish McCallan; Amazon Publishing, Montlake Romance; Lindsay Guzzardo, editor 
•  Ghost Planet by Sharon Lynn Fisher; Tom Doherty Associates, Tor Books; Whitney Ross, editor
• The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James; Penguin Group USA, New American Library; Ellen Edwards, editor
• My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick; Penguin Group USA, Dial Books for Young Readers; Jessica Garrison, editor
• Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry; Harlequin, Harlequin Teen; Margo Lipschultz, editor

The other RITA categories for 2013 are:

• Contemporary Single Title Romance
• Historical Romance
• Inspirational Romance
• Long Contemporary Series Romance
• Novel with Strong Romantic Elements
• Paranormal Romance
• Romance Novella
• Romantic Suspense
• Short Contemporary Series Romance
• Young Adult Romance

This year’s Golden Heart categories are:

• Contemporary Series Romance
• Contemporary Single Title Romance
• Historical Romance
• Paranormal Romance
• Romantic Suspense
• Young Adult Romance

A complete list of the finalists in each category is available at RWA’s site. Each finalist deserves warm congratulations, as do the thousands of writers each year that submit exemplary work. The competition for these contests tough.