Alison Kent

I may not have made the RITA finals or been nominated this year for the RT Awards - but I just got an email from my agent that THE BEACH ALIBI has been nominated for THE QUILL AWARDS! The awards show will be broadcast on NBC in October. It’s really much bigger and much more involved than I can convey here, so check out the site. But briefly . . .

The Quill Awards are a consumer-driven celebration of the written word created to inspire reading while promoting literacy. The goals of The Quills are to:

Celebrate Excellence in Writing and Publishing
Recognize and praise the creators of important books and great literature
Interest more consumers in acquiring books and reading
Act as a bellwether for literacy initiatives

Seems there are currently 121 romances nominated by The Quills Nominating Board which is “comprised of approximately 6,000 invited booksellers and librarians” and who “will establish the consumer short list from those English language books published in North America and marketed to the United States between August 1, 2004 through July 31, 2005 that meet one of the following criteria:

Starred reviews in Publishers Weekly
Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Program
BookSense Picks
Borders Original Voices
Bestseller lists from Publishers Weekly, Book Sense, Barnes & Noble, and Borders

Nominating Board members will select 1 finalist in each of the 19 categories and then the top 5 titles in each category will become the consumer short list on which consumers will vote. (Does this mean I have to campaign? *g*)

“It is an honor just to have been nominated,” is quite apropos in this case when I look at the company Kelly John Beach is keeping. Many Bravas (Yay!) and more excellent books by Nora and others, LOL, have made the list!

Hey, I’m jazzed! Just too much fun. A Quill Awards Nominee!!! (Wonder if I can get that stamped on my forehead, LOL!)

Check out the FAB new design of the DreamForge Media site! As Emma says:

The old site was absolutely gorgeous, but we realized that it wasn’t all that representative of the kind of sites we do now (and if someone had contacted us wanting a design just like that one, we would have been in BIG trouble!). So this time we went for a simpler and less graphic intensive look.

I can hardly believe we’ve done so many sites in just a couple of years!! Wowza!!

Since the word coming down from Harlequin includes the following:

Please share this news with your friends (. . .) and (. . .) As of June 15, 2005, we invite submissions from both published and unpublished writers.

. . . I’m doing that right here. Click through for guidelines for Epic Romance, the new series from Harlequin launching in 09/06.

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This will test your knowledge of the SG-5 series - the women specifically. The giveaway rules are as follows. I will post five questions. You must email your answers using this link only: Contest Email. (reviews @ alisonkent.com) The answers are not found on my website. (Yes, I’m making you work!) You will have to have read the books - or know someone who has! On May 31st, noon CST, I will draw ten winners from all correct entries to receive their choice of either LARGER THAN LIFE or BEACH BLANKET BAD BOYS.

Here are the questions:

#1) What kind of cookies does Katrina Flurry eat?
#2) What scent of bubble bath does Glory Brighton use?
#3) What flavor of tea does Natasha Gaudet drink?
#4) What designer satchel does Emma Webster carry?
#5) What make of binoculars does Stella Banks have?

Good luck!

It seems like time for a long catch-up post covering everything under the sun, especially since I probably won’t be making another one for awhile!
Too. Much. Work.

What’s been under the sun lately, is me. How did it get to be summer so fast? I spent a good chunk of yesterday at the park writing. Got hot, went to the mall, forgot it was the last day of school, sigh. Rather than sharing the food court with all the kids, I opted to sit in Joe Muggs and crank out a few pages. While I was there, I had to check out the bookshelves, of course! One copy of THE BANE AFFAIR, one copy of THE SHAUGHNESSEY ACCORD, two copies of THE MCKENZIE ARTIFACT, and three of THE BEACH ALIBI. The best part, however? One big fat copy of LARGER THAN LIFE! Yes, it’s in stores now, whoo-hoo! At least in Books A Million - which is the only store I ever visit and rarely at that. So, your assignment is to let me know if you spot it in your area. I’m curious, as it’s not supposed to be out until June 5th!

What was so cool, though, was realizing that I had books in the bookstore! Books that didn’t disappear a couple of weeks after their release. Books that are re-ordered and kept in stock. Books on the “special” *g* trade-sized shelf. And I wrote them! LOL! (Yes, it takes very little at times to tickle me!)

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UPDATE:
Lost - Okay. I’m panicked. What’s up with stealing children? Poor Walt!
Alias- That ending kicked ass! No one else can POSSIBLY live up to that! Whoo-hoo!!

A quick review of the finales I’ve watched for several TV shows:

CSI- Spookily and grossly Tarantino
Without A Trace - Ripped from the big screen, aka, The Interpreter, blech
Numbers - Sigh, love the show, can’t even remember the episode.
Grey’s Anatomy - Ooops!
24 - What happened to Burns?
CSI Miami - Good-bye Emily Procter, please don’t come back.
NCIS - Called it from the second line of dialogue. Ari = Best Villain Ever
House - Sela Ward on staff? Say it isn’t so, argh!

No time for much more than this today as I’m on my way to the park to write, but I had to share this tidbit.

Patti Fischer of Romance Reviews Today says about my novella:

Sara Smiles is like a montage of Scenes From A Marriage by director Ingmar Bergman.

I love it!

MOVE OVER BRIDGET JONES! DORCHESTER PUBLISHING RELEASES FIRST EVER CHICK LIT TIME TRAVEL NOVEL! WIN A COPY HERE!

The Girlfriends’ Cyber Circuit Presents:

Imagine a Bridget Jones like character spiraling back in time to the days of Camelot. That’s the unique premise behind the latest chick lit offering from Dorchester Publishing. “A Connecticut Fashionista in King Arthur’s Court” (May 2005) combines, for the first time ever, chick lit attitude with a time travel plot. Debut author Marianne Mancusi, an Emmy Award winning television news producer for the NBC affiliate in Boston, pens a sexy, magical, laugh-out-loud romp through the legend you only thought you knew.

“I love the voice of Chick Lit,” says Mancusi. “But I felt the same old plotlines about a girl in the city with a bad boss and good shoes were getting old. I wanted to do something a little different.”

Connecticut Fashionista features an outspoken fashion editor named Kat, who’s certainly not your typical damsel in distress. But when a gypsy curse sends her back in time to the days of King Arthur, she’ll need every ounce of her 21st century wits (and pop culture references) to navigate the legend. After all, surviving a magical plot, an evil prince, and a case of mistaken identity–all without changing history or scuffing your Manolos–takes some doing!

So slip on your stilettos and clutch your Cosmos tight, as Dorchester Publishing and Marianne Mancusi send you on a wild, wacky, and oh-so-fashionable trip back in time.

Marianne Mancusi is a multiple Emmy Award winning television news producer for WHDH-TV in Boston, Massachusetts. She has worked for news stations in Orlando and San Diego. A Massachusetts native, she currently lives in Massachusetts with her British husband Aaron and their dog Molly. She has six other adult and teen chick lit novels under contract with Dorchester and Berkley.

From Publishers Weekly
At the start of Mancusi’s sparkling debut, a Gypsy curse propels feisty 29-year-old Kat Jones, associate fashion editor at La Style magazine, from King Arthur’s Faire back in time to the real King Arthur’s court, where her cell phone doesn’t work and the menu doesn’t accommodate her low-carb diet. Kat’s strange speech (peppered generously with “like” and “totally”) makes Merlin and King Arthur suspicious enough to lock her up in a tower, despite the protests of kind Queen Guinevere. Luckily, the gorgeous Lancelot helps her escape. Could this noble knight finally be the remedy to all the 21st-century creeps she dates? Kat is determined to find a way back to the present and to save Camelot from its impending doom, while introducing such novelties as the “Round Table” and modern dance. The interactions between the acerbically sassy protagonist and the stoic knights and royalty amuse, though the difficult and sarcastic Kat can also be annoying. Still, Kat’s efforts to figure out the real story of Camelot’s destruction intrigue, while her romance with Lancelot puts a nice twist on the modern girl’s search for prince charming.

To win a copy, head to Marianne’s site and read the excerpt then come back here and email me the answer to this question:

What does $5.95 get you at Ye Locale Eatery?

(Entrants limited to U.S. residents. Winner will be picked Tuesday, May 24, 2005, 10:00 p.m. CST. All entries must be sent using this link or the one above; others will be deleted.)

Coming in November 2005 from Benbella Books. My essay is called:

Good Witches Need Love, Too!

From Cole’s downfall and Phoebe’s somewhat questionable fashion sense to the power of three in history and literature and a magical tourist’s guide to the Halliwells’s hometown of San Francisco, this clever, lighthearted essay collection offers a fun and funny look at the world of the WB hit series Charmed. Edited by New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Crusie, these accessible and entertaining essays apply the wit and insight of one of today’s leading romance authors to the stylish, occasionally campy fan favorite known for its scandalous outfits, revolving door of love interests, and the magical mayhem of three otherwise normal sisters who must fight against evil as they deal with the challenges of everyday life.

LOST: Keeping afloat on a hit drama

“You can’t have Sawyer without Jack,” supervising producer Javier Grillo-Marxuach says. “The thankless job that Jack has is to be the straight man. They’re the duality. They’re one of the most important character axes on the show.

“Everyone talks about Jack and Kate and the romance, but it’s really Jack and Sawyer. Sawyer represents everything Jack can’t be. He’s the id, and Jack is the superego . . .”

I was tagged by Emma who knows I’ve gone underground, but no. She had to do it anyway! *g* I was also tagged by Wendy, which I found when I went tag her to balance my tagees, dammit. *g*

Total Number of Books I Own:

1000+?+?+?

Last Books I Bought

Non-fiction: Essential Eating, A Cookbook
(Unless college text books count????)

Fiction:
Bought and received: Home Killings (Vanessa Jaye’s fault)
Bought and not yet received: Black Ice

Last Books I Read

Non-fiction: Zen in the Art of Writing
(The n/f books I buy are primarily writing related, and I read them in fits and starts as I need the oomph.)

Fiction:
Finished: gods in Alabama
Still Reading: The Bitch Posse

5 Books That Mean A Lot To Me:

The Thorn Birds
I named my daughter Megan.
Getting Rid of Bradley
Made me decide to try my hand at writing for Temptation.
Heart of the West
I couldn’t breathe, think, eat, sleep.
Honeymoon
Two romances in one book! Imagine that!
Slow Heat in Heaven
Sex, sex, and more sex, and it’s okay to write it!

I’m tagging (and apologize if any of you have already been tagged; I only checked back a week or so!):

Wendy
Mariann
Sheila
Marianne
Wendy

Found when browsing Amazon . . . I can’t decide if I’m more intrigued by the cover or the title . . .

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