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Debbie Macomber Wins First Annual Quill Award for Romance Category
Published: Thu, 13 Oct 2005, 10:58 EDT
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By Aria C. Munro
Staff Writer, Publishers Newswire
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NEW YORK, NY /Publishers Newswire/ -- New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber won the inaugural Quill Award for excellence in romance fiction for her September 2004 novel, 44 CRANBERRY POINT, at a black-tie ceremony in New York last night. The Quills are a new book award program that pairs a populist sensibility with Hollywood-style glitz to bestow the first literary prizes reflecting the tastes of the people who matter most - readers.
The Quills celebrate the best books of the year in 19 popular categories, ranging from romance to biography to graphic novels and beyond.
44 CRANBERRY POINT was chosen as Best Romance Novel of 2004 over Blue Dahlia and Northern Lights, both by Nora Roberts, The Rocky Road to Romance by Janet Evanovich and Undead and Unemployed by MaryJanice Davidson.
"On behalf of the Harlequin team, we would like to congratulate Debbie on this outstanding achievement," said Donna Hayes, CEO and Publisher of Harlequin Enterprises Limited.
Other winners from last night's inaugural black-tie ceremony include J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame, Stephen King and The Daily Show's Jon Stewart.
The awards, organized by NBC-TV and Reed Business Information, which issues Variety and Publishers Weekly, were started this year as a way of getting the public more interested in book prizes.
Writers were chosen by a panel of booksellers and librarians and were required to meet one of several possible criteria, such as an appearance on the bestseller list of Barnes & Noble or a starred review in Publishers Weekly. There are no cash prizes.
The winners were chosen by the readers of America through a one-month voting period. Readers were able to vote at Borders stores nationally, as well as by an e-ballot available at http://www.quillsvote.com.
Last night's award ceremony, hosted by NBC news anchor Brian Williams and featuring Jon Stewart, Kim Cattrall and Robert Klein, will be broadcast nationally on NBC on Saturday, October 22.
WIRE SOURCE: PRN
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