RITA with a side of jalapenos, please

Leila and I were having lunch together the other day when she piped up with "This is my favorite Mexican restaurant!" We were eating at Adelante, a place I like to take her to because it's a kind of healthy Mexican, if such a thing exists. They use local and organic veggies, whole wheat and stone ground corn tortillas and have a no-lard policy. The food is surprisingly good and the friendly atmosphere is terrific. But in a city like San Antonio, where there is a Mexican eatery on nearly every corner, picking a "favorite" is not something I would want to do.

You can't get a better breakfast taco than the ones at Twin Sisters.

That hot orange salsa at Cafe Salsita is good enough to drink from a cup.

Don't miss the tomatillo quesadilla at Betos.

Or the yucca chips at Urban Taco.

And any day is the day to try the special at Blanco Cafe.

You haven't lived to you've eaten a tlayuda at La Gloria Ice House.

I wouldn't eat cabrito any place but Mexican Manhattan. And margaritas are too die for at La Fogata.

La Barrios, MiTierra, Jacala, Pico de Gallo or El Mirasol if you're hungry for some some spicy south of the border flavor, this is the place to come.

How could anybody choose just one?

That got me to thinking. Most of my writing buddies are busy this week in New York City. It's the national Romance Writers of America conference and tons of people you and I like to read have shown up there to meet with their editors, schmooze with important people in publishing and attend workshops and business meetings.

Tonight, with much pomp and circumstance they will award the 2010 RITAs for the best romance fiction of the year. There are twelve different categories for the award, so short contemporaries don't have to compete with long historicals or midlength Christian inspirationals. But among 12,000 titles entered, only a dozen will be judged as this year's best.

I am not a finalist for 2010. Yes, of course I am bummed about that. I'm always a little bummed. I've been a finalist at least a half dozen times and I've won twice, but still I kind of always want my books to be labeled as THE BEST. But I'm just greedy. There are so many fantastic writers turning out wonderful books everyday. Tonight some of the authors of the best will be taking home a statue and some of the authors of the best will be plastering a smile across the face and saying, "It's an honor just to be nominated."

With so many wonderful books out there and so many tastes and preferences in reading matter, choosing a BEST is not only impossible, it's almost an exercise in failure. Some really incredible novels will somehow miss the golden ring. And some so-so stories can win by being sentimental favorites where the author's reputations give them the leg-up that their writing didn't. But mostly, every book in the running tonight is a winner for the readers that are lucky enough to pick them up.

I won't be there to see who, among my friends, take home the trophy. I'll be here in San Antonio. Maybe we'll go out for Mexican food.