Florida Author, Linnea Sinclair, Wins National Book Award

Science Fiction Romantic Thriller, Gabriel's Ghost, takes the coveted Romance Writers of America's RITA Award for Best Pararnormal Romance.

Naples, Florida (PRWEB) August 7, 2006

With bookshelves full of top-notch vampire and werewolf romance stories, who would have thought a starship-based intergalactic romantic thriller would take the coveted RITA (c) award for Best Paranormal Romance of 2006? Certainly not Bantam Spectra author and Naples, Florida resident, Linnea Sinclair, who never prepared an acceptance speech, even though she was a finalist.

"I was thrilled just to have my name up there with the likes of best selling authors Catherine Asaro, Teresa Medeiros, and Heather Graham," Sinclair said, admitting she fought the urge to genuflect when those authors' photos came on the ballroom's screens in the Atlanta Marriott Marquis on July 29. "I honestly don't know how the judges could decide a winner."

The RITA(c), according to RWA public relations manager, Nicole Kennedy, is the most sought-after award in romance publishing today. Over 1,000 entries were narrowed down to 94 finalists in 13 categories. Sinclair's Gabriel's Ghost was one of the lucky 13 winners. Her Finders Keepers,

also a romance-based science fiction novel, was a RITA finalist in the Best First Book category.

Sinclair's winning novel about a disgraced fleet captain and her mysterious rescuer has garnered many five-star reviews but is not, despite its title, a ghost story. "Captain Chasidah 'Chaz' Bergren finds herself fighting for her life on a desolate prison planet when her former, now supposedly dead, nemesis comes to rescue her," Sinclair explained. "But mercenary Gabriel 'Sully' Sullivan isn't quite what he seems, nor is he honest about his reasons for wanting Chaz by his side. It's an intense, very fast-paced story which literally wrote itself in thirty-four days a few years ago. The original idea for the story blossomed during an adult creative writing class I took at a local high school here in Naples."

Sinclair said after the awards ceremony, that had over 2,000 attendees, one of the judges told her it was the engaging personality of her hero, Sully, that cinched her winning vote. "He was that way when I was writing him, too!" Sinclair admitted. "He wouldn't let me sleep and kept waking me up at 5 a.m., pushing me to 'go write! go write!.'"

Sully will get another chance to prod her in Chasida's Choice, the sequel to Gabriel's Ghost, due out from Bantam Spectra in late 2007 or early 2008.

Find excerpts from Sinclair's books, and more, at her website: http://www.linneasinclair.com

300 dpi images of book covers and author photos are available upon request.

Linnea Sinclair http://www.linneasinclair.com

linnea@linneasinclair.com

RITA(c) Award Winning Science Fiction Romance

Bantam-Spectra 2005: Finders Keepers, Gabriel's Ghost, An Accidental Goddess

Coming 2007: Games of Command (February), Chasidah’s Choice, The Down Home Zombie Blues

Publicist, Carla S. Arpin

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