Alison Kent

Yes, I have seen Serenity. Yes, I will be seeing it again. And, no. You do not have to have watched Firefly to understand the story universe/world building. It is all there from the beginning, and brilliantly done.

What I loved most of all? Joss did not cheat. He did not make things easy on the crew. He made them suffer. He made them work. He gave them hard, painful choices. He took them to the edge, and was faithful to his creation. As a storyteller, I was in awe - and honestly can’t even pick out anything in particular to talk about.

I have, however, been wanting for a long time to talk about chemistry in a cast of characters. How chemistry (and brilliant writing) is what makes House work. How the lack of chemistry (and horrific writing) is what is going to kill the failure that is Bones. The chemistry in the cast of Serenity that was originally there in Firefly is only amplified.

Characters, characters, characters. That’s what story is.

Last night, the dh and I went grocery shopping. Just a quick trip because I’m still decompressing and don’t want to do anything more than read, sleep, or watch tv. *g* But we had no milk, no bread but nasty white Sunbeam, so off we went. Now, remember. From last Thursday/Friday until Sunday or so, our area was shut down. No gas to be found in any stations. No stores open anywhere. No fast food, no restaurants. And we didn’t even get hit by the storm! Our suburban area has two main exits off of Interstate 10, and at one point over the weekend, the shopping centers there were nothing but evacuee centers, the parking lots packed, the stores themselves closed. Just a big mass of sweltering humanity. (BTW, on Tuesday? Our heat index was 112!)

But back to the grocery buying trip.

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The trip to Fort Worth had actually been planned by my daughter for weeks. She was registered to attend the Southwest Veterinary Symposium with a co-worker, and they had their hotel room reserved for last Thursday and Friday nights. When last Wednesday our area was threatened so strongly with Rita’s arrival, the FVT’s co-worker’s mother-in-law reserved a room in Fort Worth for the whole family, leaving the FVT to make the trip alone. And when last Wednesday our area was threatened so strongly with Rita’s arrival, the dh urged me and my other daughter to make the trip with her 1) just in case and 2) so she wouldn’t have to make that five hour drive in the middle of the night on her own.

We left Wednesday night at 11:00 p.m. and arrived in Fort Worth on Thursday at 4:30 a.m. There was only minor traffic on the road then, and we had mapped out the trip using small back highways - we never touched the dreaded Interstate 10 or Interstate 45 that made the news. We easily found gas in Hempstead (a just in case stop) and again in Hillsboro. What we couldn’t find - and wasn’t a surprise - was a hotel room. Meaning, the FVT was going to have to go to her symposium at 7:00 with very little sleep since her room wouldn’t be available until 3:00.

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I’ll tell the whole story soon, promise!

I live 75 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico, not 2 miles like Larissa did. Current computer models show the eye of Rita passing, oh, between ten and thirty miles to the west of my hometown once ashore. Local forecasters are saying 100 mph winds even here. On the dirty side. Sigh. Since the FVT has a veterinary conference in Fort Worth starting tomorrow, she and I and my other daughter and the dog are heading out. The menfolk are staying put. We’re 140 feet above sea level, and above the Addicks dam as well. Our subdivision will take on water, but it will drain. I fear the wind. The projectiles. The monstrous Arizona Ash in our backyard, the brittle maple in the front. Could we be finished with hurricane season already please?

My how time slips away when one is NOT having fun, sigh. I had no idea that the reissue of JINGLE BELL ROCK was out already. I’m sure every household needs a copy. After all, listen to what one Amazon reviewer has to say:

I bought this book thinking it was going to be sweet and something to bring a smile to my lips during the Christmas holidays. Unfortunately, all I found was filthy and obscene sex. At first I thought it was only the author, but after flipping through the next stories, I found that it was all of them. Unless you like reading lewd stories filled with sex and nothing romantic about them, I suggest you skip this one and don’t waste your time on it.

Since I pimped Amy below, I’ll do a bit more for the cause. I don’t talk much about my agent, but I will throw this out. She generously donated a critique for Larissa’s fundraiser. And in case you don’t know this about Karen:

She was previously associated with Writers House where she worked for nearly seven years; Prior to her years as an agent Solem had 25 years of corporate publishing experience. She was most recently Associate Publisher and Editorial Director of Harper Paperbacks and, earlier, Editor in Chief of Silhouette Books.

Got that? ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, EDITOR IN CHIEF. In addition to being a kick ass agent, the woman knows the biz. TWENTY-FIVE YEARS of corporate publishing experience. ‘Nuff said. *g*

If you were one of the 5 winners of my Brava library last month, please send me your mailing info again! (I will continue to post as I recall everything that was on my To Do list!)

The third and final batch of Larissa’s auction items are up. I hope anyone who is an aspiring author is checking out the amazing critique offerings from so many pros! (BTW, Amy Garvey, author use to be Amy Garvey, editor *g* so I’d count her as a double pro!) I’m offering a couple of items for readers: Deep Breath galleys and a combo pack of Call Me and The Heartbreak Kid. Deep Breath won’t be released until April 2006 and is the next SG-5 installment. Call Me and The Heartbreak Kid are my first two Temptations and long out of print. They’re also my only two “cowboy” books. I love cowboy books. I don’t know why I’ve never written more. I suppose my SG-5 guys are cowboys in their own right . . .

You may have surmised by the graphic below and the link to Emma’s post, that I did indeed have a hard drive crash a week ago. It is an eerie feeling to know how many things I relied upon daily are gone. My address book is the big one. Thank goodness the dh had a cd of all my book folders (though we didn’t know it at the time resulting in copious tears), so all of those w-i-p’s I thought gone are not. They may not be in their most up-to-date version, but I can live with that as long as I have the core of the stories!

Here are a few things I thought of last night that I need help with, and what I hate most of all is not even knowing people’s names and addys to get in touch directly!

Gina - You emailed me about Christmas things; if you read this can you e again?

Tawny - I’ve lost your proposal and all my critique notes; can you send again?

I owe Carol & Robin books from my Access Romance chat; I need the mailing info!

I have more things that I’d promised to do/send out. As those come to me, I’ll sing out! I really do have an amazing memory, it’s just that I’m winding down DEEP BREATH to get it out of here by Tuesday, meaning I only have a few brain cells not engaged in remembering all the threads I need to tie up in the book!