Alison Kent

Sergeant Gabriel Caruso arrived in the remote Yukon wilderness with one goal: to erase all memories of the serial killer who had ruined his life. But he soon discovered that the madman was hot on his heels—and after anything that touched Gabe’s heart. Including local tracker Silver Karvonen.

WILD COUNTRY … everyone comes searching for something

Post a comment here if you’d like to be entered to win a copy of MANHUNTER from Loreth Anne White. Winner will be drawn, Sunday night, November 30, 2008, at 8:00 p.m.ish CST. (Authors interested in having their books advertised, click here.)

Update: The page with the items that will be auctioned is now online. Click this link or the button to the right to view it.

I have made the first listing to test eBay’s Turbo Loader (which I’ve never before used) and it worked! The first item is now live, and you can view it by clicking here. Later tonight I will be back to post a link to the page of items that will be going up for auction, and will continue to update you guys as the actual auctions go live. There are so many cool things that have been donated. You are going to be amazed!

Oh, the feast! Smoked turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, broccoli rice casserole, scalloped potatoes, yams, green beans in bacon, green bean casserole, cranberries, butternut squash puree, yellow squash casserole, cornbread stuffing, beer bread stuffing, spinach artichoke dip with homemade ciabatta bread, deviled eggs, veggie tray and dip, homemade wheat rolls with honey butter, pink fruity jello salad, chocolate cake, pear apple pie. Man oh man, am I missing anything?

There were 15 of us, including 2 one-year olds, and enough food for friends who came by to take home big pans full. Other big pans were packed to take to Taylor’s grandmother and sister who weren’t able to make the trip from San Antonio. Politics were talked, though those discussions quickly halted. Books and movies were talked. Computers were talked. The Incredibles played in the background on NBC while stories of marital snoring were shared.

#1 and #2 daughters had a hair-off, and #1 still wins. Hers grows straight naturally, while #2’s curls and she has to straighten it for a comparison. She’s worn hers short off and on, so doesn’t have the years of growing #1 has, though #1 once wore the underside of hers shaved off to the tops of her ears, so that part is still playing catch-up, but is hidden beneath that long fall of red. Casey, whose head is shaved (and who gave Sam a Mohawk), kindly told me I was getting gray. These are the things that happen when you work from home and don’t look in a mirror and put off seeing your stylist to get books written. I’ll be calling her on Monday . . .

How was everyone else’s Thanksgiving? Quiet and solitary, or as boisterous and exhausting as ours? Oh, and I actually managed to write half a page yesterday! I also wore makeup for the first time in, uh, well, let’s just say a LONG time!

I love the smell of bell peppers whirring in my food processor! And the broccoli rice casserole is done! It will refrigerate tonight and bake tomorrow and then be gone! What are your favorite cooking smells? Bubbly hot cheese or sugar and spices baking or roasting meat or herbed stuffing? Or do you love all the tang and zest of veggies being chopped and sauteed? I think I’m hungry! Off to bake cornbread for stuffing!

This is what I wish I could be doing today, what Snickers was doing yesterday while I was writing, but I’m up at a very early crack of dawn (okay, early for me), having already cleaned the kitchen in preparation for messing it up in a very big way throughout the day. We’re eating Thanksgiving dinner at Casey & Taylor’s place, but the husband and I have been asked to bring some fave family dishes, which means we’re doing almost as much cooking as if we were hosting the gig, except not. No turkey and no desserts, and no cleaning! That’s the best part! I do love hosting family get-togethers because it means I have to clean, but right now as busy as I am, the husband, too, not hosting is a nice break! #1 daughter’s boyfriend is in Baton Rouge with his family, and #2 daughter’s boyfriend may be in and out as he visits his two family gatherings. But the husband and I, along with #1 and #2, Casey, Taylor & Sam, and Taylor’s parents and brother will be parking our rear ends and feeding our faces and enjoying a day of good company. Snickers will snooze at home in the sun.

So what will we be cooking you ask? Well, the husband will be doing his famous no-recipe and most requested dishes: squash casserole and spinach artichoke dip. He just makes them up as he goes along, and every time they’re awesome and gobbled down, and the house smells like heaven while he’s futzing in the kitchen. I’ll be making fresh mashed yams with all the gooey butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup I can fit in, along with cornbread dressing, and the broccoli rice casserole that’s been a holiday staple in our home for years. It’s a mix of chopped steamed broccoli (a bag of frozen cuts), steamed rice (a cup of raw to two cups of water), chopped and sauteed onion and celery (sometimes a bit of green bell pepper), a can (hmm, or is it two?) of cream of mushroom soup, a jar (15 oz) of Cheese Whiz - jalapeno version preferred. This year, I’ll be chopping jalapenos since only plain Cheese Whiz (and is it really cheese at all?) was to be found. I like to assemble the day before and refrigerate so all the flavors do their melding thing, then bake until hot and cheesy bubbly the day of.

What are you guys cooking today in advance, or do you do all your cooking tomorrow? Any family favorite recipes you can’t wait to get your mouth on? Are you traveling? Hosting? Staying in and snuggling up to enjoy the day of thanks?

It should be obvious from that photo that I REALLY need a new fountain pen. All I did was take off the cap to cross off several items from my to do list. Yeah. That happened. So keep it in mind while doing your naughty and nice thing, kthxbai!

Today you can win a copy of MAXIMUM EXPOSURE at the PlotMonkeys blog (where I’ve posted an exclusive excerpt) and at Writeminded. HelenKay Dimon still has a giveaway going on, and my Fresh Fiction contest is also running. If you’re not a member of my newsletter list, sign up as I’ll be sending out a MAXIMUM EXPOSURE newsletter soon with a chance for one subscriber to win a prize!

I have comments from a few more early readers of the book! I had linked to Laurie Damron’s contest, but Laurie also gave the book a review, saying:

“This book has teeth. Finn and Olivia don’t simply become romantically involved, there’s a connection of hearts and souls; their emotions are meticulously written.”

Phoebe Jordan was a winner of one of my early ARCs, and she says:

Overall I can honestly say I was glad that I had the opportunity of reading and reviewing Alison Kent’s ARC of Maximum Exposure because even though I had a hard time with the beginning by the middle of the novel I couldn’t wait to find out the characters Happily Ever After.”

Another ARC winner, M.G. Braden said this:

“So, here’s the thing - the storyline between Olivia and Finn is fantastic and I loved it, BUT, for me, the storyline between Roman and Jodi made the book. Seriously, there’s a pool scene that… go buy the book and read it yourself, this blog is rated PG . Ooh, there’s also a warehouse scene (this time Finn and Olivia, very hot) and a… Really, you have to go buy the book, if only to read these scenes.”

And Jillyan, a reader at the eHarlequin community chose MAXIMUM EXPOSURE as her 100th read of the year, saying:

The characters of Maximum Exposure have flaws and feel real. Finn managed to capture my heart from the first chapter. And I found myself wanting to reach through the pages and give Olivia a hug after a soul-spilling moment.

Today is release day, so go out and buy a copy for yourself and for a friend! ;)

The winner of Tracy Wolff’s A CHRISTMAS WEDDING is: Colleen! Send me your mailing info, Colleen, and I’ll forward it to Tracy! And you guys check in with HelenKay Dimon today where I believe you’ll get a chance to win a copy of MAXIMUM EXPOSURE.

I was going to write a post about what I had in my mind when writing MAXIMUM EXPOSURE, but think I’ll hold off until tomorrow. I spent a ton of time yesterday researching forensic hypnosis and the Texas Rangers and hit the mother lode of information, so need to get back to writing. I stopped yesterday because I had too many holes to fill and nothing to put there, and I’m not a writer that can do that.

Leave holes.

I have to know what goes in there or else I can’t logically move on. When I’m writing deep in a character’s viewpoint, it doesn’t work for me not to know what he’s supposed to know. How can I follow his thought processes or make his dialogue ring true if his knowledge is not my knowledge? To make his character come alive, be believable, real and true, I must know how his brain clicks. I’ve never understood the advice to leave a hole, move on, and come back to it once the research is done.

I get that no writer wants to stop forward motion. What I don’t get is how any forward motion can be made when the author, in the point of view of a character, doesn’t know what he knows in order to make him look like he knows what he’s doing. In this case, I had to know how forensic hypnosis works in Texas, where memory refreshed in such a manner is admissible in criminal and civil court trials, though it most states it is not. My hero, being in Texas law enforcement, would live and breathe the state’s rules, policies and guidelines. I, unfortunately, had to find them and read up as part of MY job.

Anyhow, instead of talking more about MAXIMUM EXPOSURE (which is shipping from B&N and will start shipping tomorrow from Amazon, meaning it should be on store shelves near you even as we speak!), I wanted to revisit the state of the publishing industry and economy, but take a different tack, and share what others are saying.

Toni McGee-Causey’s post at Murderati on why, at this time, with so much bad news swirling around, we need more than ever to write is particularly brilliant. And if you don’t tear up reading her post, you’re a better woman than I.

Story-telling has been around for millennia for a reason–we need to connect. We need to both transport somewhere other than our own daily circumstances and to connect to others, to know that someone out there understands us. Understands our fears, our desires. We need to escape, without physically abandoning our family and friends. Stories do that. We need the hope, the connection, the dream.

And Barbara Samuel posts on not giving up on the writing dream, saying:

But, remember: books tend to do well during downturns in the economy. Publishers will still need to fill their lists. They will still need to publish new material for all of us to read. The industry is not doomed. We are not doomed, as readers or writers. If you still have a dream of publication, don’t give up. If you’re midlist and worried that it’s all going to come tumbling down, don’t freak. You can make this economy work, too.

Think about it. Vacations, clubs, dinners out, even movies and Starbucks’ lattes. They’re all outside of many budgets right now. But books? This is what we as authors give readers during this time, a way to escape, to go dancing, to experience incredible meals - and maybe we give a bit of that same escapism to ourselves!

Don’t forget to comment to win Tracy Wolff’s A CHRISTMAS WEDDING!