Alison Kent's Blah Blog

Just pointing you to another thought-provoking post at The Naked Page.

Jamie Sobrato reports that in the recent first round judging of the RITA competition, one of her books published by Harlequin Blaze was marked as having “no strong romantic elements,” AKA not a romance novel.

Yes, that’s right. A published author – a peer of Jamie’s – who is a member of RWA has now determined that a novel published by THE biggest romance publisher on the planet is publishing books that are not romances. Uh-huh. Right. A series romance novel published by a series romance publisher released in a series romance line and entered in a series romance category = not a romance.

Methinks someone’s knickers are in a big fat wad over being exposed to explicit sexual activity instead of hearts and flowers and euphemistic purple-helmeted warriors of love. Because no PUBLISHED AUTHOR in her RIGHT MIND would judge a book published by HARLEQUIN as being NOT A ROMANCE – unless insulting an editor who buys ROMANCES for a publisher who publishes ROMANCES is how she gets her kicks.

Give me a fackin’ break!

Jane Porter adds in her JaneBlog of April 25th

Ladies, little girls, little girls who seem to enjoy hurting other people—stop judging contests. Get out. Take a vacation. Find a new hobby. Rediscover sex. Just please, stop judging the Ritas if you can’t be fair and impartial.

You’re not helping the Ritas by skewering certain authors, or a certain line, you’re hurting it. I don’t want to be part of a contest, or an organization, that smears select authors, or specific lines, simply because you don’t get it, or like it.

Yep. RWA members. Right there on the cutting edge of the market. Uh-huh.

Jo Leigh made me do it:

1. I’ll eat almost any vegetable (yes, including brussel sprouts *g*), but rarely eat fruit. The fruit sugar just puts me into a coma and I fall right asleep. Lately I’ve been eating a spinach salad for dinner every night. The dh throws in onions and tomatoes and sometimes olives, sometimes arugula, sometimes dill. Total yumminess. (Oh, and right now we have a 4 foot tomato plant in the backyard with almost 30 tomatoes on it, yay, and one banana pepper plant that has peppers curling all over the place.)

2. I can’t sleep with light or noise. I have to have a pitch black, silent room. I also sleep all year with a sheet and a quilt. I can’t sleep with only a sheet, or without covers. I also have only 3 sets of sheets for my bed, but only use 1 – over and over again. It’s a deep olive color, so it fits with my need for darkness.

3. I can sew, but I rarely do. I’ve made everything from a bridesmaid’s dress to a man’s dress shirt to a woman’s wool blend business suit to intricate Halloween costumes for kids. I also still have (and use) the sewing machine my grandmother gave me for my high school graduation 30 years ago – and it has never been oiled.

4. The only piece of jewelry I own is my James Avery wedding band, but if I were to lust over accessories, it would be watches. Years ago I had a fetish for monstrously gaudy earrings. And I still have the piercings I got at 16 when my brother stuck a sewing needle through both of my earlobes. But I dislike gold, and precious gems are totally off my radar.

5. I’m uncomfortable getting gifts, even from family members. I hate being surprised. I love watching everyone open their things on Christmas morning, but always set my gifts aside until someone forces me to dig in.

6. I love apocalyptic-larger-than-life-the-world-as-you-know-it-is changing movies more than anything, but I hate straight horror and rarely watch comedies or dramas. It’s big action all the way – whether S/F or fantasy or historical epics. The Stand, The Postman, Serenity, Waterworld, Constantine, Queen Margot – love ‘em all! I missed Night Watch’s short run but will pick it up on DVD eventually. Just saw a new trailer for Pathfinder that looks amazing (but knowing my luck won’t be!).

Caro has posted her piece on DEEP BREATH for my viral blogging blitz:

If this sounds like tried and true suspense plotting, it’s not. The writing is crisp and fast-moving, drawing you right into the story and not letting go. Georgia’s got secrets, Harry’s got secret — and just about everyone they have to deal with has secrets of their own. Despite an attraction only aggravated (yes, that’s the word) by proximity, they spend most the book talking past one another because they aren’t being honest with one another. When the honesty does come, it’s at the moment when the stakes are highest and success depends on Georgia and Harry being able to trust one another.

UPDATE: The winners of the copies of Deep Breath are Shelly, Lisa, Sharon C, Jeanne and Nancy.

Sorry about the long absence but expect more of the same for the next few weeks. LOTS of writing to get finished up and that’s ALL I’m doing right now. (I was doing most of it outside until we hit the low 90’s this last week and my allergies flared up along with the humidity. This morning it’s 60, as what is probably our last cold front of the season blew through, so we’ll have a short week of low 80’s that I plan to soak up before a steady rise in the heat. Anyone else’s daily writing routine include sunscreen? *g*)

Quickly, here is Sybil’s review of DEEP BREATH, and here is Laurie’s blog post. Thanks, ladies! I’ll be contacting the winners of my DEEP BREATH contest today and posting them later on the contest page which you can access via the good stuff link. I’ve also put up a new contest which will run until Memorial Day. If you’re looking for a particular book of mine, this is your chance to perhaps win it.

And since I don’t have a lot of blogging time right now, I’m going to throw out a survey/discussion topic: Series/Category Romances.

When I first began reading romance, the Harlequin and Silhouette category romances were my books of choice, and I chose the books I wanted to read in a very specific way. I’m curious if you all do the same, so I’m throwing out a few questions.

• Do you subscribe to a direct mail bookclub? If your subscription service only delivers 4 out of a line with 6 books, do you pick up the others in stores or just read what’s been delivered?
• Do you buy your category romances by line? Or do you buy by author and mix and match?
• If you read an author in single title, do you read her categories, too? Vice versa?
• If you buy a particular line, is it because you know to expect a certain tone to the books? (Superromance = heartwarming family stories / Intimate Moments = suspenseful dramatic stories / Presents = alpha males and fantasy stories, etc.)
• If you buy a particular line for another reason, what is it?

For fun (and in my continuing effort to reach 100 readers *g*), I’ll give away five copies of DEEP BREATH by randomly drawing names from those who participate in the discussion. I’m going to say I’ll draw on May 5th at noon central; I should have a spare moment to breathe by then!

I posted this in the comments to the entry below, thinking I had already posted it to the main page, but there’s a good possibility I never have, and I’m too lazy tired to go look and see. This is the back copy and the front cover (click for a larger version)*g* for BEYOND A SHADOW, coming to a bookstore near you in December. After I write it. *g*

Strangers in the night—what could be hotter? With this newest addition to her dangerously sexy SG-5 series, Alison Kent delivers a sizzling story of one woman in search of excitement, a man all too willing to provide it, and a love worth risking everything for…

Most people come to Comfort Bay, Oregon in search of a little peace and quiet. But neither is on the agenda for undercover operative Ezra Moore. He’s got ten days to unload a shipment of illegal weapons–and take down Spectra IT, the international crime syndicate he’s managed to infiltrate. He knows Spectra’s man, Warren Aceveda, is playing dirty pool, and if he’s going to beat him and stay alive, he’s got to play even dirtier. But even the best-laid crimes can blow up in your face, and Ezra is about to find out just how badly…

Alexa Counsel likes her calm, and ok, sometimes, boring life in Comfort Bay. But there’s nothing boring about the hot new handyman who’s just started working at the Bed and Breakfast. Great with his hands? Oh, yes. But there’s something much deeper running under those still waters. Something she’s not sure she understands or she can trust. No one is going to use her as a cover, no matter how irresistible he may be. But Ezra is the only man who’s ever made her feel like a real woman, and she’s already in way too deep to turn back now…

Playing cat and mouse with one of the world’s fiercest criminals, Alexa and Ezra are about to find out just how dangerous and delicious starting a new life—and finding a new love—can be…

I’m working. I’m writing. That’s all I have time for. That’s all I can say. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Feel free to ask me anything in the comments here, or mention anything you’ve got on your mind. I’ll pop in when I can!

UPDATE: Winners of the Denise Hamilton books are: KimW, Joelle, Jessie, Briana, and Cherie.

A recent AP article touched on the issue of book titles, how they are often chosen or recycled. I love titles. And I rarely title my own books because I don’t have the gift for doing so, for coming up with that hook that will grab you when you’re staring at the shelves. (Okay, Goes Down Easy was my idea and Steph tells me it qualifies, but that’s one hook out of a career of titles.) So, yes. A title more than anything will have me picking up a book, checking out the jacket copy, the first few pages.

This happened to me in 2001 with a book called The Jasmine Trade. I picked it up . . . and devoured it. I even handed it off to my son to read as it dealt with a very gritty Los Angeles and “parachute kids,” the rich Asian teens who live alone in California while their parents run businesses in Hong Kong. I was an instant fangirl, unhappy that I had to wait two years for the next Denise Hamilton book, Sugar Skull. I couldn’t resist. A book that used sugar skulls—little confections for the Mexican Day of the Dead holiday on the cover *and* as the title!

Next up? Last Lullaby. Then Savage Garden. And now, Prisoner of Memory – my copy showed up in a nifty Amazon box last week, whoo-hoo!

Here’s what I love about the Eve Diamond novels. To this day I can remember scenes in each of the books. Individual scenes. Vividly drawn scenes that sucked me in emotionally. Settings with details that I haven’t let go. Denise is an amazing author. I just can’t say enough about her work.

So, guess how excited I was a couple of weeks ago to see that I had an email from *the* Denise Hamilton in my inbox! She’d seen a mention I’d made of her on my blog and sent me a note about it – and I immediately snagged her for a guest blog! We’d tried to get together last week, but life got in the way, and then the long holiday weekend. I told her I’d save her for Monday when more of y’all would be around to enjoy her entry.

And, yes. I’m going to give away a copy of each of her books. I love her books. I want all of you to love her books, too! Each of the title links above goes to a page on Denise’s site where you can read for yourself if you’d be interested.

Here’s how the giveaway works. At the end of the week, on Friday at noon central time, I’ll randomly draw five names from those of you who have participated in the discussion here. What I want to talk about is the romance in mysteries, and the mysteries in romances. What sort of balance do you enjoy? Going into a mystery, what do you expect from a possible relationship the lead character finds herself in? Do you want the same emotional depth and sexual intimacy that you get in a romance? Or are you more wrapped up in the mystery and less inclined to want to see the lead character’s private world?

Part of the reason this interests me is that readers of my books have said more than once that they’re too light on the romance and too heavy on the action/suspense. But I also love the idea of an ongoing relationship that develops over time with recurring characters. I’d love to hear what the rest of you think!

And now . . . Denise Hamilton!

I’m really excited that Alison asked me to guest blog on her site. Alison and I have decided to form a mutual admiration society. I have lots of romantic suspense in my crime novels and she’s including more mystery elements in her romance novels. So perhaps this was meant to be. I’m just sorry she’s not going to the Romantic Times Convention in Dayton Beach in May so we can meet in person. If any of you are, please look me up and say hello, as I love to meet readers.

When I created my reporter sleuth Eve Diamond and began writing my first mystery novel, I knew I wanted to include a lot of romantic suspense. Eve is a single young woman living in contemporary, multicultural Los Angeles. She works hard and doesn’t have much time to go out for fun. But since the series is set in the City of Angels, I can send her to fun restaurants and nightclubs and driving all over Southern California in pursuit of clues, which allows her to mix business and pleasure and met lots of interesting men. “Savage Garden,” for instance, is set in the Los Angeles theater world. “Last Lullaby” has a very successful husband-and-wife duo who own a cutting edge Asian fusion restaurant (think Spago and Wolfgang Puck). “Sugar Skull” deals with a family of millionaire music promoters.

Read the rest of this entry �

Want to win the first season of LOST on DVD? Click here!

In the mood for some wild monkey fun? Click here! (I’ve spent two days playing with the girls and tweaking the site, and it’s just about ready for prime time. The first true blog goes up on Monday, but you can take a look around in the meantime as we polish up the place!)

I also have another viral blogging blitz post from Alyssa:

I’ve read and enjoyed Alison Kent’s SG-5 series since reading The Bane Affair, so I was excited to read the latest book, Deep Breath. I wasn’t disappointed: 4 out of 5. (…) The suspense thread in Deep Breath is a little stronger than the romance (I usually prefer the opposite), but the romance is satisfying nonetheless.

Be sure and come back Monday (yeah, I know I said I wouldn’t be back till then, heh) for a FIVE BOOK GIVEAWAY from a fabulous guest blogger! (I’m a fangirl and so excited!)

I’m writing. Is there a better reason than that?

HAPPY EASTER WEEKEND to everyone, and I’ll see you next week with – hopefully – a couple of excellent guest bloggers in addition to my regular repartee. *g*

Don’t forget to buy DEEP BREATH by tomorrow and send me the receipt to be eligible for the $250 Amazon gift certificate – or send me a postcard per the instructions. Proof of purchases and postcards have to be to me by the 25th.

A couple of links to check out: Biting the Hand that Feeds You and Common Sense. Now, I’ve made known that I have no problem with authors reviewing books critically. These discussions cover the dissing, bashing angle – and doing so in a forum where the editor you want to sell to participates. Not a good idea to say her authors get a “bye” . . .

And the viral blogging blitz goes on . . .

From Emma Sinclair:

So from me, all in all, 2 thumbs up for Deep Breath! If you like a quick by long, action adventure story with some romance thrown in for good measure and some hot lovin’ click on the picture below to buy Deep Breath.

From the Pink Pen Papers:

I’m a big fan of Alison Kent’s stuff. (…) So, when she sent out a call for people to get the word out, blog-wise, about her new book that just launched, Deep Breath, I was all over the idea. Waaaaayyyyy back in March, I ordered the book from Amazon, so I’d have it in time for this whole marketing campaign. Well, guess what… I’m still waiting for it.

I’ve got an awesome guest blogger stopping by in a day or so, but until then . . . if you’re not reading agent Kristin Nelson’s blog (my FAVORITE agent blog), stop by. She’s in NYC this week talking to editors and is sharing details (from the horse’s mouths) about what they’re looking for and how the market swings.

Also, if you’re entering the DEEP BREATH contest, the deadline is Saturday, the 15th, to buy your copy – though you have until the 25th to send in your receipt or a postcard per the instructions!