wendywoowho | "Reba MacKenzie stood stiffly in the center of Mrs. Walker's parlor, waiting for eternity to end."

Reba MacKenzie stood stiffly in the center of Mrs. Walker's parlor, waiting for eternity to end.

Isn't that a helluva first line for a book?

Jessica Darago, also known

justjayj, is a finalist in the American Title V competition -- think "American Idol" but for romance novels. The winner gets published.

Help her survive the first round, send an email to:
votes@romantictimes.com
with the subject line:
The Serpent's Tooth

Full details here: http://www.romantictimes.com/news_amtitle3.php

Her novel is great, but you don't have to read it to vote for her. Just vote for her!

And, please, spread the news. Help the authors out, vote early, vote in every round, and rally behind your favorite. I'm betting your favorite will be the same as mine: Jessica Darago's "The Serpent's Tooth."

ETA:
Jessica's also running a contest for those who help get the word out!

THE AMERICAN TITLE V CONTEST HAS BEGUN!

The American Title contest is a joint project between Romantic Times Magazine and Dorchester Publishing. Each year, Dorchester selects a handful of submissions to compete for a publishing contract, and YOU, the readers, get to choose the winner.

To spread the word about the contest, finalist Jessica Darago (author of The Serpent's Tooth, a gothic historical), is raffling a $10 bookstore gift certificate to anyone who copies this message into his/her own blog. You don't have to vote for Jessica, or vote at all, to win. (But Jessica sure hopes you will!)

The winner may choose a gift certificate from Amazon, Powells, Fictionwise, or even iTunes (because audiobooks deserve love too).

To enter, copy this message to your own blog and leave a link to your post at http://justjayj.livejournal.com/259245.html

To vote for Jessica, send a blank email to votes@romantictimes.com with "The Serpent's Tooth" in the subject line.

Visit Jessica at http://justjayj.livejournal.com for more information and a link to read all of the American Title entries.