Alison Kent

And here I thought I was getting fan mail . . .

From: “Fangyuan Nan”
To: alisonkentwebsite@yahoo.com
Subject: DO not sin
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2003 11:39:50 -0500

Sinners: stop sinning! Pornorgraphic is sin! Sin leads to death! — Bible!

Repent to God and Be Holy!

See if you can figure it out!! (Hint on next page!)

Dinosaur Food
1/4 cup dirt
1/2 cup fat
1/2 cup swamp water
2 cups grass
2 cups crushed bones
1/2 cup squished bugs
——————————————————————————–

Mix dirt and swamp water
Add crushed bones & fat
Heat to a boil and add grass
Remove from heat and add bugs
Cook and place on waxed paper by teaspoonfuls
Eat & enjoy!
Read the rest of this entry »

Turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese, I really think so!

Edited to add:

I now have Japanese copies of both ALL TIED UP and NO STRINGS ATTACHED in my hot little hands! Very very cool!!

I have had no time these days to update my site. I beg your forgiveness. Especially as those of you subscribed to the Blaze Reader Service will be receiving your copy of INDISCREET any day now. Of course, it would be nice to have my own author copies . . .

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about sacrifice, damage, and goals. Not with any particular connection or in any particular order. Today I was thinking mostly about sacrifice as I sat in my living room at 4:00 a.m., wrapped in a blanket head to toe (literally), my laptop where it belonged, and wearing sunglasses. Yes. I have this eye thing if I don’t get enough sleep and the air in the house is too dry, and it was like a hot poker stabbing me to look at the screen. So, there I sat, drinking an entire pot of coffee (which I have never done before) and thinking about an author I know while I tried to wake up.

I met her years ago as we both live in the Houston area. When I met her, she had just won the Emily contest and hadn’t yet sold. She worked full-time and took care of her husband who had been handicapped in an accident. She told me then that she got up every morning at 3:00 to write before she went to work. She also wrote at work when on her breaks and during her lunch. She sold not long after, and then had a baby, and continued to keep up the same insane schedule. We critiqued together in a larger group for a couple of years until, well, until who knows what happened! Life, I suppose!

She sold to Silhouette Shadows, Love & Laughter, later to Duets, Temptation and Blaze. She also sold to Leisure, writing horror novels under one name, and time-travels under another. While doing all of this, she turned thirty years old, having sold when in her mid-twenties. She wanted success desperately and was willing to make those insane sacrifices. Writing at all hours, in all places, under all conditions while working and taking care of her husband and son.

She did slow down during the last few years due to treatment for a serious illness, a divorce and remarriage, and another child. Yet she has another book coming out from Blaze this spring, and has signed a multi-book contract with Warner books for a contemporary series. She was finally able to give up the day job!

I always wonder what calls an author to write. The need for creative expression? For personal success? Public success? Validation? I started writing for escape. And I wonder if I still use my writing as a vehicle to get away from whatever I don’t want to deal with. Of course, these days, the only thing I want to get away from is writing because I’m on deadline and it eats up my life! But it’s an interesting concept to consider, don’t you think?

In just talking to my editor, I find that my Brava series will launch in October 2004, rather than the December 2004 I had thought! I am SOOOOO out of my own loop! But YahOO and YaY for me!!