Chick Lit Goddess

...because every author wants to feel like a goddess!

Guest Post

Anita Kushwaha

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About author, Anita Kushwaha: I was born on Spring Equinox, on the cusp of Aries and Pisces. I’m also a Monkey. (According to the Chinese Zodiac.)

I love the creative process in its various manifestations. I enjoy spending my time writing and teaching yoga. I’ve usually got a couple of books on the go. Baking gets me out of my head. (My remedy for writer’s block.) I’m also a loving wife, devoted auntie and proud cat mom. (My cat’s name is Noodles. He looks a bit like Garfield.)

I love trees, whales and elephants. My favorite color is green. I eat plants. I have no desire to travel to space. But a trip around the world ranks high on my bucket list. Writing has been my chosen method of self-expression from a young age. Last but not least, I bleed red and white, as any proud Canuck.

INTERVIEW

Describe your writing style in five words: Personal. Reflective. Witty. Touching. Memorable.

What made you want to be a writer? Writing has always been my chosen mode of self-expression from a young age. I started out with journaling and poetry—I have drawers full of notebooks—but then branched out to short stories and novels. For me, writing is more of a compulsion. It’s a drive that I can’t deny.

What was your writing/editing/publishing process like for your first book? The writing process FOR THE LOVE OF CUPCAKES was very enjoyable. I had a lot of fun writing it. I think it was that sense of joyfulness which made its way into the book and is part of the reason why it’s such a light-hearted read. The editing process was an interesting process. I’m always focused on making the manuscript as good as it can be. In other words, I take my ego out of the equation and take any constructive criticism that helps to refine the manuscript. It’s always interesting to see how it grows and charges with every iteration. I found the publishing process quite nerve-racking. It’s difficult to put yourself out there and see how others respond you your work. But, I’m pleased that the feedback I’ve received about the book has been positive.

Hard/paperbacks or eBooks? I happen to love all three for different reasons. When a book really speaks to me, I love to get it in hardcover and let it shine on my bookshelf. Paperbacks are probably my favorite because of the way they feel. And ebooks are great because they are so convenient.

What inspired you to write “For the Love of Cupcakes”? Seeds of inspiration for the story came from my own experiences working at a bakery for a couple of months—although my experiences were nothing like the ones Priya faces in the book. As a self-taught baker, I’d always imagined that working in a bakery would be the ideal job. So, when I was experiencing some ambivalence about graduate school, I took on a part-time job at a bakery. But, it was nothing like I had imagined it would be. Shortly after I had left the position, the idea for the book popped into my head. I scribbled down my ideas and didn’t do anything with them for about a year. Later, when I was waiting to hear about my doctoral dissertation revisions, I found myself with some time on my hands and lots of nervous energy to contend with. Feeling the need for some light-heartedness and fun in my own life, I picked up my old writing notes and started the book. When I started, I wanted to be entertained and so I set out to write a story that was entertaining.

What are you reading right now? ORYX AND CRAKE by Margaret Atwood.

How did you celebrate your book being published? I went out for dinner with my husband and ordered a glass of champagne. He has always been my greatest supporter, so it felt right to have an intimate celebration with just the two of us.

When writing, do you listen to music or watch TV? I always envy people who can listen to music or have the television on in the background while they write. In order for me to be able to concentrate, however, silence must prevail! Music, film and of course writing inspire me before and after I sit down at my computer.

What do you want your readers to take away from your books? Through my writing I hope to share stories that inspire and resonate with readers. With FOR THE LOVE OF CUPCAKES, I hope readers are inspired by the protagonist, Priya Patel, to dream, to act, and to persevere.

If you could meet any author, who would it be? That’s such a tough question! If I had to choose one, however, it would be Margaret Atwood. She’s a formidable Canadian writer whom I admire and who has had a great influence on me. So far the closest I’ve gotten is sitting in the front row when she was a speaker at a local book festival. Needless to say, I was awestruck.

What’s the best advice you’ve been given? The best advice I’ve ever been given with regards to writing is to read A LOT, and to learn how to read like a writer. Other pieces of advice that have helped me are: to write what you know, to keep writing (also known as the ass in chair method), and to approach writing with discipline like any other job.

Can you tell us about any upcoming projects? I’ve recently completed a novel that merges my love of writing and yoga entitled, FINDING OM. My current project is a collection of short stories that deal with the themes of tradition, belonging and identity.

GUEST POST

Your National Novel Writing Month Survival Guide

By Anita Kushwaha, Author of FOR THE LOVE OF CUPCAKES

So, you’ve decided this is the year that you’re finally going to get the novel that’s been kicking around your head onto paper. You’ve committed to National Novel Writing Month (i.e. NaNoWriMo). First of all, good for you! It’s a courageous step with the potential for a big payoff—your novel out in the world! In this guest post, I’ve provided some helpful tips to keep you motivated and on track.

  1. Outline: Having a clear idea of what you want to write about will certainly help you get started at the initial stages of your project. Get back to basics and ask yourself: Who am I writing about? What is the main story arch or conflict about? Where is the story taking place? Why is this story compelling? How does the protagonist resolve the conflict, if at all? You might toss out your outline later. But at least you won’t start off with the nail-biting, sweat-inducing question: What am I going to write about?
  2. Daily Word Count: Have an idea of how long you want your manuscript to be and set a daily word goal. Are you planning on writing a novella of 20,000 words? Or a 100,000 behemoth? While it’s hard to predict exactly, having a general idea will help to guide your daily progress.
  3. Edit later: The goal for such an endeavor isn’t to produce a perfect manuscript at your first try. (Although, that would be nice, wouldn’t it? Sadly, it doesn’t exist.) Your task is to type your words out as efficiently as possible. Worry about the grammar and punctuation later.
  4. Ass in Chair: In order to achieve your goal, it’s important to stay motivated and get the work done. That’s right, writing is work. And writing a novel in a month is grueling work. So get to it!
  5. Reward yourself: While you want to stay on track and achieve your goal, you also don’t want to suffer a burnout along the way. So, find ways of rewarding yourself. For instance, if and when you reach your daily writing goal, treat yourself to a walk around the block. (Physical activity can do wonders for creativity.)
  6. Find Support: Writing is a solitary process. And chances are that those around you won’t understand why the heck you are doing this to yourself! But there are writers out there who understand you. The National Novel Writing Month website (http://nanowrimo.org/) is a wonderful resource and has links to help you find a community of like-minded word warriors.
  7. Celebrate: Give yourself time to enjoy your achievement. It’s always a good idea to let your manuscript sit in the drawer or on your USB drive for a couple of weeks before revisiting it for revisions. Enjoy rejoining the land of the living and then come back to your manuscript with fresh eyes.

BOOK FEATURE

ForTheLoveOfCupcakes

“For the Love of Cupcakes” by Anita Kushwaha

Blurb of “For the Love of Cupcakes”:

Priya Patel has wanted to become a baker since the first time she saw the light of her Easy Bake Oven. However, working as an assistant baker at Sugarplum Fairy Cakes isn’t the glamorous life she dreamed about. Priya tries to impress her boss, Helen Bouffant, with creative twists on traditional recipes but her culinary skills are completely ignored as she is forced to scrub toilets and clean up everyone else’s mess. After Priya is blamed for a major screw up at Sugarplum Fairy Cakes, she decides to throw in her apron. With the support of her husband, Arj, and a kick in the pants from her best friend, Mae, she decides to start her own cupcakery.

Just when Priya thinks she’s washed her hands of Helen once and for all, they both enter a charity bake off with a grand prize of $10,000. Priya will have to cook the most creative, delicious cupcakes of her life and defend herself against Helen, who will stop at nothing to see Priya and her cupcakery fail. The competition gets heated but there is one thing that will keep Priya going- the love of cupcakes. Does she have what it takes to win the bake-off? Whose talent will prevail?

**Click HERE to download the first two chapters**

**Contact Anita:

Email: kushwaha.anita21@gmail.com   Website   Amazon   Facebook   Twitter   Take Two Publishing

The Fussy Librarian

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Hello and Happy Friday, Friends! Today, I’m proud to bring you an awesome guest post by chick Lit author, Dee DeTarsio!

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Author, Dee DeTarsio

The Fussy Librarian

There’s a new kid on the block trying to give marketing sites like BookBub and Book Gorilla a run for their indie author money, The Fussy Librarian: http://www.thefussylibrarian.com/

“The Fussy Librarian is the first website to match readers not only with the genre of books they like but also their preferences about content. Do you only read mysteries without profanity, violence and sex? Then we’ll tell you only about cozy mysteries. Read just memoirs and gory horror novels? No problem.

We also only bother with the good stuff so you know you’ll see great reads every time you open our daily email. There’s a reason we’re called The Fussy Librarian, after all.

So sign up today and start enjoying great books. We’ll take care of the rest!”

Authors, The Fussy Librarian seems to be a user friendly (and cute!) site. As they try to grow their reader list, they are looking for authors and are promoting books for FREE, for a limited time.

In exchange for not charging a submission fee, The Fussy Librarian is asking authors to paste the following paragraph on their Facebook page, or blog, if you don’t have an author’s page. They have found that posting on FB, blogs and reader discussion groups is more effective for them than Twitter — and they say it drives a ton of traffic to their website, which means more readers!

Chick Lit author Dee DeTarsio shared The Fussy Librarian’s Pitch to readers:

There’s a new website that gives readers their very own personal librarian. You type in your email, tell them what kind of books you like to read and how you feel about profanity, violence and sex in novels. Then a daily email comes with your ebook recommendations. They’re featuring my book soon and they’re supportive of authors like me, so I hope you’ll support them and sign up! www.thefussylibrarian.com

By posting the pitch to readers, The Fussy Librarian is offering “a free submission after we start charging. You can use it when we have 50,000 readers or wait until we have 500,000. (Limit: One free submission per author.) We look forward to working with you in the future to help you find new readers!”

**Dee’s novel, Ros, will be featured on The Fussy Librarian, Friday, October 25th (TODAY), for a special price of $0.99. She’ll keep us posted how it goes! Good luck!**

**Click HERE to buy “Ros” on Amazon!

Georgina Troy

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About author, Georgina Troy: Georgina Troy lives in Jersey near the sea – well, most people do in an island only 9 miles x 5 miles – she’s always wanted to write and being an impossible romantic is always falling in love with heroes both real (hopefully), in fiction (definitely) and those of her own creation (absolutely).

A Jersey Kiss is the first in a series of stand-alone romances based in Jersey, which Georgina hopes you’ll read, enjoy and maybe tell your friends all about.

INTERVIEW

Describe yourself in five words: Happy, diligent, generous, honest and fun.

When did you know you were a writer? When I received a typewriter from Father Christmas/Santa when I was seven-years-old.

Tell us about your book, “Jersey Kiss”: A Jersey kiss is about a newly-separated thirty-year-old who is recovering from her god-mother’s unexpected death. As well as being left her aunt’s run-down house, which she’s attempting to renovate with the help of a gorgeous, but difficult builder, she’s also trying to find a mysterious legacy. Unfortunately her aunt hasn’t left any clues as to what ‘A Jersey Kiss’ actually is…

What was your writing/editing/publishing process like? I initially wrote A Jersey Kiss without plotting or planning very much, but have since rewritten it, developing it and changing it quite a lot. My book has been professionally edited and I was very lucky with the cover, which is gorgeous. I admire anyone who formats their own books because I don’t think I’d ever have the patience, or know-how to do it myself. It was nerve-wracking when A Jersey Kiss was initially published, yet great fun, and knowing I’ve actually got a book published that others have read and thankfully enjoyed is awesome!

If you could meet another author, who would it be? Ooh, there are so many, but if I had to choose it would be Jane Austen. I love her books and have read most of them many times, especially Pride and Prejudice.

Where do you get your ideas for you books? From so many places, but it could be a comment I’ve heard, a piece I’ve read in a newspaper, or even a picture.

What inspires you? All the above, and emotions that I might feel from watching a film, or listening to a piece of music.

Where is your favorite place to write? I love writing outside whenever the weather is good, but especially in a beautiful hillside park in St Brelade Bay overlooking the beach.

Hard/paperbacks or e-Books? Paperbacks and e-books! I love both.

Every writer must have a…: a good proofreader!

What’s the best advice you’ve been given? Write, rewrite, edit, then proofread several times.

Can you tell us about any of your upcoming projects? Happily. My second stand-alone book in the Jersey Romance Series, A Jersey Affair, is due out in e-book and paperback in January 2014 and that will be followed by a third book in Autumn 2014.

GUEST POST

Thanks for inviting me onto your fantastic site, Isabella. I have to say that before I became involved in the world of social networking although I assumed I would ‘meet’ up with other like-minded writers, it never occurred to me how incredibly supportive and generous with their time other authors would be.

Writing is usually a solitary job and although I love getting lost in a fictional world and developing the characters, plotlines and feel of my novels, it’s also fun to break away from the work in progress occasionally and mingle, albeit online with other writers. I’ve learnt so much from my online friends, from the best way of developing the structure of my books, making my characters more three dimensional and working through plot holes, to formatting, publishing and other technical advice. There is so much to learn and always, it seems someone kind enough to help with any advice.

I hadn’t come across any chick lit set in Jersey and it’s such a beautiful island with so much character and history that I thought it would be fun to write a series of romances based here. It has been great fun setting scenes in places that are so familiar to me and others who live or have visited here. I’ve had so much positive feedback from people who have enjoyed visiting Jersey through the story, either for the first time, or revisiting places that they already know. I always love hearing from readers about their own memories of trips to the places where scenes from A Jersey Kiss are carried out.

I initially wrote A Jersey Kiss with a vague idea, the name of my two main characters and a lot of enthusiasm. It has undergone several drafts and each time I rewrite or edit the book I make improvements. I’ve enjoyed developing the layers and structure of my book and working on giving the characters, plot and subplots a lot of thought. In fact, I’m not sure what aspect of writing I like best – I love writing the first draft and also enjoy returning to the work in progress and developing it further still.

For the next book in the standalone series, A Jersey Affair, I’ve still got to work through edits and ensure that the layers of the story are interwoven so that I engage my readers as much as possible. Strange though it may seem, it doesn’t matter how many times I return to A Jersey Kiss, I still love Luke, and in A Jersey Affair, my hero, Sebastian is a character that I hope others will also enjoy getting to know.

A Jersey Kiss is the first in a series of stand-alone romances based in Jersey, which I hope people will read, enjoy and maybe tell their friends about. It’s out now in Kindle and will be out soon in paperback. A Jersey Affair will follow in e-book format and in paperback in Spring 2014.

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Blurb of “A Jersey Kiss”:

‘Living in the ‘sunny isle’ it’s hard not to fall in love and even though Bea Philips is still reeling from a nasty divorce, the loss of her beloved god-mother and inheriting a legacy that includes something mysterious no one seems able to locate, she still has to find a way to fight a court case that threatens to take away everything she owns. The last thing Bea needs is a distraction in the form of surly builder Luke, or old flame Tom.

Will Bea find a way to keep her dream home and maybe fall in love? And what exactly is, A Jersey Kiss?

Teaser — Chapter 1

June – Blowing Dandelion Clocks

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Bea shouted breathlessly, stepping out of the shower and almost losing her balance as she slipped on the mat. She grabbed hold of the shower curtain, in an attempt to stay upright, snapping it from its rings in the process before wrapping the nearest towel she could reach around her dripping body and running down the stairs.

“Bloody builders,” she cursed stubbing her toe on the oak banister. Why did they choose today to arrive early, the one time she was running late? She pulled open the heavy front door.

“Sorry, love,” a man in paint-spattered overalls said, his eyes widening as he took in her lack of clothing. “We, um, seem to have caught you on the ’op.”

“Yes, well, I’m in a bit of a rush.” She held the door open for the builder and his apprentice to enter the hallway. Making sure she held on tightly to the front of her towel with one hand, Bea pushed back a stray lock of her blonde hair with the other. “I’ll take you up to my bedroom.” The spotty-faced boy stifled a giggle, raising a pierced eyebrow at his boss until he was nudged sharply in the ribs. Bea cleared her throat. Realising what she’d just said, she added, “So that I can show you the work I need you to quote for.”

“Right you are, love.”

She could hear the builder grumbling under his breath to his apprentice and led the two men up the carved oak staircase trying not to think about how little her towel was covering and hoping they couldn’t see her bottom. “My bathroom is en-suite, or at least I hope it soon will be,” she explained, her face hot and cheeks pink at the thought of what she’d just said. “So I thought the best place to start would be my room.”

“Righty oh.”

“I’ll need the wall from this room knocked through, and a doorway put in down that end.” She pointed across the room, noticing her knickers and bra had dropped off the chair and onto the floor. Kicking them under the bed, she took a breath to continue.

“Can’t be done,” said a gruff voice from the hallway.

She took a backwards step out of her room to see who was talking. “Why not?” she asked, her intended rant immediately catching in her throat when she came face-to-face with the owner of a pair of the most piercing blue eyes she’d ever seen. Bea was sure he must be handsome under all that facial hair and despite her annoyance with him couldn’t help staring.

“This is a very old house, and that, young lady, is a load bearing wall,” he said, his perfect lips drawing back into a slight smile she instinctively knew was more amusement than appreciation of her appearance. He cleared his throat before tapping the wall for emphasis. “I wouldn’t advise you to knock through it.”

Young lady? He couldn’t be much older than her, she mused. Then again, thought Bea, he could almost be any age under all those whiskers. “But I’d planned to,” Bea argued, not liking his condescending manner or his amused gaze. He may be used to women being stunned into submission by his overpowering presence, but she had just got rid of a bullying husband and wasn’t about to replace him with a bossy builder.

“And you are?” she asked, wishing she wasn’t in such a compromising position. Being late was one thing, but not being dressed in front of this scowling builder was another entirely.

“Luke Thornton,” he said studying the wall. “I was a bit delayed so I asked Bill to come ahead.” He motioned for Bea to follow him and walked down the hallway to another bedroom the other side of hers. “This would be a better option.” He narrowed his eyes, contemplating the wall in front of him. “This box room would make a perfect en-suite.” He peered out of the window. “Imagine soaking in your bath and staring across the fields at that view of Corbiére lighthouse.” He stepped back making room for Bea to have a look. She leant forward and gazed at the uninterrupted view across the fields to the white tower perched at the edge of the sea. He was right. She always enjoyed looking at this majestic building on the rocks at one end of St Ouen’s Bay.

“Pretty spectacular, don’t you think?” he said, coming to stand behind her.

Bea gripped her towel wishing she’d at least taken the time to put on her underwear and nodded. He was right of course.

“Then,” he continued without waiting for her to answer, “you could keep the other as the house bathroom. It’s bigger, after all, and closer to the rest of the bedrooms.”

She thought through his suggestion for a moment. “I see what you’re saying, but I’d got the whole set up planned out in detail,” she said, not wishing to give in to him too readily, but desperate to put on some clothes. “It doesn’t sound like I have much of a choice really, so I suppose I’ll have to go with your suggestion.”

Luke shrugged. “You can do as you like, it’s your house.” He studied the clipboard Bill handed to him. “According to my secretary, apart from replacing the house bathroom and creating an en-suite, you also need the downstairs cloakroom to be refitted, some plastering in the hall, and a bit of painting and decorating throughout the rest of the house.”

Bea nodded silently. It sounded as if this was going to be mammoth when he listed everything like that. Luke withdrew a biro from the top of the clipboard and began making notes. “You two can get going if you like, I’ll catch up with you later.” He walked slowly down the stairs, his hand grazing paint surfaces as he passed the walls.

“Don’t mind him, love,” whispered Bill from behind her. “He doesn’t mean to be so abrasive, it’s just his manner.”

“He’s had a lot goin’ on,” the apprentice added, before receiving another nudge in his bruised ribs. “Ouch, what was that one for?”

“You can get in the van.” The builder shook his head and frowned. “Bloody kid is too ready to give his opinion when it’s not needed.” He tilted his head in Luke’s direction. “He’s a grand chap though.”

Bea glanced at Luke’s broad back as he stepped into the downstairs cloakroom. “He hides it well, doesn’t he?” she murmured before hurrying to her bedroom to dress. Once clothed, she slipped on her shoes and went to wait for him in the kitchen at the back of the house. What was his problem with her anyway? He made her earlier moodiness seem positively chirpy.

Bea checked the time and wished he would hurry up. She didn’t have long and it would take at least fifteen minutes to get to her appointment, even if she took the open road all the way along St Ouen’s Bay past the sand dunes and over by the Golf Course to St Brelade’s Bay. She took out a small mirror from her handbag and re-applied her cherry lip-gloss. Butterflies imitated kanga-hammers in her stomach; she wasn’t looking forward to this meeting. Business associates were one thing, but dealing with the spoilt wife of her biggest client was another entirely.

“Wow, this room’s a shrine to orange Formica,” Luke announced from the doorway.

Bea frowned. He was right, but there was no need to be rude. “It is a bit, but I can’t afford to do everything I want with the house, unfortunately. It’s functional, even if it is a little, um, orange, so it’ll have to wait until I can find enough money to fit in a new one.”

Luke raked a hand through his messy brown fringe. “It’s not too bad.”

She noticed the glint of merriment in his eyes. “I think that’s a matter of opinion.” Bea raised her eyebrows, unable to help glancing up at the kitchen clock and checking the time once again.

“Right,” he said, smiling down at her. “You obviously have to be somewhere and I’ve made all the notes I should need. I’ll pass this on to my secretary in the morning, and she’ll post a quote on to you.”

Bea couldn’t help noticing how his smile seemed to light up his entire face, or what she could see of it through his stubble. Her stomach did an involuntary flip when his dark blue eyes gave away his amusement, and looking away from him, she pushed her hand deep into her bag. She wished her aunt was still with her; they’d have laughed about his stunned expression on seeing the kitchen for the first time. “I can never find anything in here,” she said, aware of him watching her as she rummaged around trying to locate her car keys.

“I know better than to comment on women’s handbags.” He shrugged. “Was there anything else you need me to add to this list before I go?”

Flea jumped out of his basket and started barking. He trotted over to the French doors and tapped the glass with his paw, frantic to be let out. “Stop it,” Bea snapped, knowing the aging Miniature Schnauzer her aunt had adored wasn’t listening to her.

“What’s wrong with him? Did he see something do you think?” He squinted out of the window in the same direction as the dog.

Bea bent to pick Flea up and put him down in his basket. “Stay there. You know you can’t catch the birds.” She looked over at Luke. “He goes mad if a bird comes into the garden. He also does the same in the autumn if a leaf dares to blow past the window. It can get a little exhausting at times.”

Luke shook his head and smiled. “Silly boy.” He stroked Flea’s soft fur. “He’s a character though, I’ll bet?”

Bea nodded. “He can also be a pain in the bum, but I love him to bits.” She remembered the time and tried not to panic. “Right, about that work?” Bea mulled over what she’d asked Luke to price for, and picking up her suit jacket from the back of her chair, she hesitated for a moment. “This is a bit awkward,” she said. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to afford to have all the work done at once.” She chewed her lower lip. “When I spoke to my sister about contacting you I’d hoped to be able to take out a loan for the work.”

His expression softened. “Yes, I was sorry to hear about your aunt. I heard she was a remarkable lady.”

Bea swallowed. It was too soon to hope to be brave when talking about Aunt Annabel, but she needed to at least try. “She was.” She cleared her throat determined to draw her mind away from her heartache. She couldn’t afford to mess up her mascara now; she didn’t have time to fix her face before leaving. “If you wouldn’t mind only quoting for the bathrooms and plastering for now, I’ll probably have to do the rest myself.”

Luke nodded and scribbled something in his notebook. “Not a problem. Give me a call if you’re happy with the quote. The guys should be able to start early next week.”

Bea was surprised they would be beginning the work so soon, but didn’t like to say so. “Okay, thank you.” She walked through to the front door with him. He’d seemed so gentle then for a moment. “Sorry to rush you, but I’m a little late for an appointment and need to get a move on.”

She waited for him to go out and step into his blue pickup truck and watched in silence as he disappeared down her long gravel driveway in a cloud of dust. It was like blowing a dandelion clock, she mused, you never knew where the seeds would end up. She sighed heavily. This was no time to start panicking about the massive responsibility she was taking on. How many people would swap places with her in a second if they could own a house and garden as grand as The Brae, she wondered. Bea glanced around the large panelled hallway. This house should be enjoyed by a family though, not a solitary, newly separated, grieving thirty-year-old. Was she mad to try so hard to keep this place?

She walked back to the kitchen to check Flea was calmer and still in his bed. “Good boy,” she soothed. “I won’t be long.”

As she walked through the hallway to the front door, Bea looked up at the assortment of paintings hanging from the panelling. “Are any of you A Jersey Kiss?” she asked, doubting it very much. None of them looked like they could be. What was A Jersey Kiss anyway and why hadn’t her aunt left some sort of clue in her will?

Buy “A Jersey Kiss”:

Amazon – US   Amazon – UK

Contact Georgina Troy:

Email: troygeorgina@gmail.com   Website   Facebook   Twitter

Addison Westlake

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Addison Westlake

About author, Addison Westlake: Addison Westlake made her debut as an author at age 13 by rewriting the “Sweet Valley High” series. Despite copyright violations, she maintains that her rendition of Elisabeth and Jessica Wakefield as preteens in a British orphanage is a classic. Between then and now she went to some fancy schools, swapped out the East Coast for the West Coast, and had oodles of kids. Some of her favorite things in life include coffee, Aretha Franklin’s inauguration hat and the sleepwalking scene in “Step Brothers.”

INTERVIEW

Welcome back! What have you been up to since your first appearance on Chick Lit Goddess? I’ve been enjoying some success with my first self-published chick lit book “Christmas in Wine Country,” out in November 2012. With 25 copies downloaded, it spent six weeks as a best seller on Amazon in women’s fiction, contemporary romance, humorous fiction and humor.

My new chick lit book “Facebook Jeanie” came out 10/1 and is ready to join the party.

Tell us about your new book, “Facebook Jeanie”: It’s Bridget Jones meets “Groundhog Day” as 31-year-old Clara uses a new Facebook app to go back in time for a ‘do over’ with her college boyfriend, The One That Got Away. Ever wonder if you made the right choice? What if you could find out? Back in the world of frat parties, BFFs, and long-suffering, overlooked lab partners, join Clara as she discovers what it really means to hit the reset button on life. What could possibly go wrong? And, this time, can she get it right?

Where did you get the concept for this book? I think we all have those moments when we wonder… what if? What if our lives hadn’t followed the path we chose? What if we did take that job offer in another city or if we did decide to marry that ex-boyfriend? “Facebook Jeanie” came out of that universal experience. I imagined what if there were some way for a character to have a ‘do over’ with the one that got away.

Who or what inspires you? My mom inspires me because of how much she enjoys life, my husband because of how hard he works for the family, and my kids because of how much they’re learning every day.

Describe what the writing/editing/publishing process was like for you? Writing is lovely, like eating chocolates or spending time with loved ones. I can’t get enough of it. Publishing is much more complicated. The technical aspects of formatting and cover design can confusing, and marketing can feel scary and daunting. But when I remember that getting the word out about my book is essentially about connecting with like-minded authors and readers and sharing our love of chick lit, it feels fun again.

What are you reading right now? “The Next Best Thing” by Kristan Higgins.

How did you come up with “Facebook Jeanie”? I started with that ‘what if’ question, then I added in a dash of the magic of social media. I find Facebook fascinating—it both connects and disconnects you. You can keep in touch with friends and family, and you can spend two hours on it not paying any attention to the friends and family in the room with you. I created a character stuck in a Facebook rut, engaging more with photos of someone in her past than anyone in her present. And then I imagined a new Facebook app that lets her travel back in time, making her past her present. The rest is in the book!

If this book were turned into a movie, who would you want to play the parts? I could see Alek being played by Jake Gyllenhaal or James Franco. Clara could be Hayden Panettiere or Teresa Palmer (Warm Bodies). I could see Anna Faris being pretty funny as Jeanie; she’d bring a “House Bunny” element to the role. And Brad? Any good-lucking but vacant & bland guy would do!!!

What is your favorite line from the book? “This is just like Bella and Edward!” Jeanie declared. “Only Brad’s not a vampire, so it’s even better!”

How has social media helped you with your career? As an indie author, I don’t think any of us would be able to publish without social media. In some ways, Amazon is one big social media site—a place to share and interact with content. Without social media, we’d all be waiting to be asked to the dance by an agent. Instead, we’re all rocking out on the dance floor.

What’s the best advice you’ve been given? Relax. My husband says it a lot.

Can you tell us about any upcoming projects? I’m excited to start work on “The Never Been Kissed Club” series. Four friends band together at 13 years old. In the midst of all the braces and glasses and gawkiness, they take an oath to stay friends forever and remind each other that—just like Josie from their favorite movie “Never Been Kissed”—no matter how bad things get they have to keep believing in true love and have faith in happy endings.

The first book, “Just Between Us,” is about one of these four friends. Molly Bridget Anderson has become a 28-year-old accountant who likes to keep things orderly. Which is why chaos—in the form a 2-year-old nephew she suddenly has to look after and a tattooed rock star writing songs for her—is just what she needs to get her life on track. Look for “Just Between Us” in 2014!

GUEST POST

FUN WITH FLAWS

For ChickLit Goddess

I love flawed characters. I think it’s a big reason why I love chick lit. I like romances, too, but sometimes everything in a typical romance is just a little too neat. It can get boring.

After all, they say “write what you know.” I write chick lit perhaps because I, myself, am nothing if not flawed. I make mistakes all day long. I forget names even when I’ve met the person a thousand times. I arrive late despite my best efforts. Lately, I’m trying to drink a lot of healthy shakes (shout out to my Nutribullet!). Even though I don’t know what chia seeds actually are and I still remember the jingle for Chia Pets “Ch-ch-ch-chia!” I put them in my shakes because someone told me that they’re healthy. The problem is that the seeds get caught in my teeth. I don’t realize it and then I go around talking to people with insane brown spots all over my mouth. It’s an excellent look.

Which brings me back to my main point: flaws. When I’m cooking up a new book, I like my heroines a bit nuts and my heros with a nice side helping of imperfect. It makes everything so much more satisfying, a story you can actually feel and relate to as it unfolds. I like my happy endings, I just like mine with some “we’ve all been there” laughs along the way.

Classic romances are fun, too. I can get swept away by the Edward types with their out-of-this-world good looks and superhuman ability to protect. I can enjoy a typical regency romance with the 18-year-old in pale blue chiffon making her first debut to the ton where she meets Rake McRakerton, Duke of Rakenhurst. I like my cowboys workin’ hard on the homestead with a hankerin’ for a ‘lil slip of a thing in calico. Christian Grey has some appeal, too, especially now that that Sons of Anarchy guy is going to play him. Even all those 50 Shades knock-offs on the bestseller list can be entertaining with their 27-year-old self-made billionaires who also have enough time away from running their global conglomerate to train their bodies into pro-fighter caliber shape, perfect cooking techniques, and shop for their ladies picking out the perfect designer gowns, lingerie and, of course, bling.

But while I enjoy my airbrushed realities where nothing embarrassing happens, my favorite books to read and write all have scenes that make you blush or tear up or clasp your hand over your mouth—no, she didn’t just do that! I like to make myself laugh out loud while I’m writing. And a book that can make me both laugh and swoon? Those are the best. It’s why Kristan Higgins is one of my favorite writers; she always manages to tie everything up in a bow with a dreamy guy even when she starts out with a scene in which the heroine’s sweater gets sucked down a power flush toilet.

The best characters are a bit rumpled. Sometimes grumpy. They get distracted and trip. They make ridiculous mistakes. After all, the best stories are built around conflict, and what better conflict arises than from characters who need to grow? A character with flaws has somewhere to go, a destination, and guess who they meet along the way?

Like so many things, it all brings me back to Darcy. Fitzwilliam Darcy, what a name. Stuffy, stiff, a bit full of himself. It’s so satisfying when Elizabeth Bennet takes him down a peg. And then all the more perfect that she’s clueless, too. They can both learn from each other. Of course, it is nice that Darcy happens to be darkly handsome and impossibly wealthy as well. But there’s no way I would have read Pride and Prejudice over and over again if Darcy hadn’t been an ass at the beginning. I guess we can all take comfort from that: it’s the flaws in ourselves and in our characters that make things the most enjoyable.

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Blurb for “Facebook Jeanie” by Addison Westlake

It’s Bridget Jones meets “Groundhog Day”…

Ever wonder if you made the right choice? What if you could go back and find out?

31-year-old Clara is in a steady relationship—with Facebook. Every night after her depressing bureaucratic job (so much for saving the world), Clara comes home to her empty apartment (yes, she was dumped) and settles down with a pint of ice cream for some good, old-fashioned Facebook stalking. It’s her college boyfriend, The One Who Got Away. With the bod of a God and a net worth of umpteen bamillion, he now has the perfect life—everything she could have had if she hadn’t been so, so stupid.

But, wait. Jeanie from Facebook shows up at Clara’s job. There’s a new app they’re beta-testing and Clara’s perfect for it. That night she clicks on it and… nothing happens. But the next morning when Clara wakes up at noon, hung over, listening to her roommate blow-drying her hair and singing “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It”, she realizes she’s back in college. With the chance to do it all over again.

Back in the world of frat parties, BFFs, and long-suffering, overlooked lab partners, join Clara as she discovers what it really means to hit the reset button on life. What could possibly go wrong? And, this time, can she get it right?

EXCERPT of “FACEBOOK JEANIE” by ADDISON WESTLAKE

Chapter 1 Excerpt

Once Upon a Time

Clara clicked on the lower-case f icon along the base of her laptop. Laser-like focus, plowing past Facebook status updates, notifications and sponsored ads, she clicked over to friends, then selected him. Mr. Right. The One Who Got Away: Brad Wilkins.

Beach photos first. Because she’d had a long, hard day. She clicked on the album titled Summer.

Blond hair kissed by the sun and tousled by the wind, he stood like a Norse god on the beach. He flashed a rugged, knowing smile. The bright aquamarine of his eyes matched the ocean, the sky and the color of dreams. Move over Chris Hemsworth, there was a new Thor in town. And he’d hit the beach, tanned, rested and ready for the ladies.

An entire paragraph needed to be devoted to his chest. He had the shoulders of a lumberjack accustomed to hauling telephone poles. Pecs so hard and defined a girl could eat dinner off of them, or simply make them the meal. A six pack that mocked other men’s six packs. Put it all together and it made you want to petition NBC to bring back Baywatch, this time starring Brad Wilkins. Millions would tune in each week for the new episode, holding their collective breaths for the moment he took off in a run, shirtless, on the beach. In slow-motion he’d rescue… no one could ever tell you who because every ounce of attention would be riveted to those ripped muscles in action, the way his bicep bulged when he cradled the victim, the way the sunlight almost seemed to magnify the flexing. The man could not possibly ooze more sex appeal. She could practically hear Robin Thicke singing into her ear, “You know you want it.”

But wait, there was more. Clara clicked onto some new photos. Brad in a tux, debonair and polished yet still with the hint of the rake. Brad holding a beer and looking like a long, tall, cool drink himself in a crisp, dark blue pinstripe suit. The designer should pay him for wearing it, showing other men how it should be done, filling it out with sheer male prowess. You could put a suit on the man, but you’d never tame him.

Brad wore suits because he didn’t just play around at the beach all day. The man earned six maybe seven figures a year as an investment banker in New York City. Net worth, including the trust fund? Somewhere near upteenbamillion. The man pulled it down, brought home the bacon and the pan to fry it in. Then made you forget about dinner, anyway, because, there, he just took off his shirt.

Not for the first time, Clara reflected on the sad lack of a soundtrack to accompany clicking through Facebook photos. Because if anyone deserved the romantic, symphonic swells that enhanced the viewing pleasure of a Nicholas Sparks film, it was Brad.

Click. Those pearly whites never failed. Clara put a hand to her chest to still her beating heart.

Should have been. Click. Could have been. Click. Would have been. Click.

What she wouldn’t give for just one wish. She didn’t need three like Aladdin, no flying carpet and rich, elaborate entourage. Just one.

If she only had one wish, just one, she’d go back to college and set things right. She closed her eyes, seeing nothing but Brad, almost convincing herself that if she cleared everything else from her mind, focused intently enough, maybe somehow she could be transported back in time. Back to college. Because this time, she’d do everything different. And this time, she knew she’d get it right.

**GIVEAWAY**

Prize: One (1) eBook copy of “Facebook Jeanie”, two (2) winners!

To enter and win, please leave a comment below, ALONG WITH YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS!

**Contact Addison:

Email: addisonwestlake@gmail.com   Blog   Facebook   Goodreads   Google Plus   Twitter

**Click HERE to purchase a copy of Addison’s first book, “Christmas in Wine Country” — it’s only $0.99!

Jaimie Admans

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jaimieadmans2About author, Jaimie Admans: Jaimie is a 28-year-old English-sounding Welsh girl with an awkward-to-spell name. She lives in South Wales and enjoys writing, gardening, drinking tea and watching horror movies. She hates spiders and cheese & onion crisps.

She has been writing for years, but has never before plucked up the courage to tell people.

She is the author of chick-lit romantic comedy Kismetology and YA romantic comedies Afterlife Academy and Not Pretty Enough, and the soon-to-be-released North Pole Reform School.

GUEST POST

The Process Of Writing Not Pretty Enough

I learned a valuable lesson while writing Not Pretty Enough. My usual process of writing is in chronological and linear order – I start at the beginning and work my way forwards, through until the end. If I’m truly stuck on a certain part then I will either cut it completely or write it quite badly with the intention of editing it later. I don’t skip bits because I don’t feel like writing them, I write the next scene no matter what I feel like.

I decided to do something different with Not Pretty Enough. I had a beginning and an end to the story – I do know that I can’t start writing a book without at least that much – but the middle was a different matter. All I had for the middle was a long list of potential scenes I’d thought of, and after writing the beginning, I decided to try a different approach to writing this book. Rather than writing from beginning to end, I decided to have a look at the list of potential scenes each morning and choose whichever one I felt like working on that day. I usually wrote them in separate Word documents, and it was definitely a change from my usual one-long-document way of writing a book. I quite enjoyed it at first, it was fun, and interesting to start work each morning without a pre-determined starting point, up until then I had always started work knowing I’d be continuing with the part I ended on the night before.

But, trouble began when I decided I felt like writing the ending. I had a very clear picture of how I wanted the book to end, I kept imagining it in my mind, and I was desperate to write it, so one day quite early on in the writing process, I wrote the final scene.

And then I struggled.

Because in my head, the end had already happened. The characters had already ended the journey they were on, Chessie already knew what she discovers at the end, so I then found it hard to write the middle because I knew what was coming. Obviously as the author you probably know what’s going to happen anyway, but there was a big difference for me between knowing how it was going to end and having already written the ending. The character’s journey had ended before it had even been written, and I found it hard to go backwards. Chessie grows a lot over the course of the book, and it was hard to carry on writing her as she used to be when I had already written her as a much more mature character.

It also led to a lot of confusion for me in terms of timeline. The book is set over the course of Chessie’s school year, so what had happened when and did that incident come before or after this incident? It actually took me days of work to get it into some sort of logical order, and I had to re-write certain parts to fit in with the timescale and change the timing or month that certain things were supposed to take place.

So I learned a valuable lesson when writing Not Pretty Enough. While everyone’s writing process is different, for me the only way is to start at the beginning and finish at the end!

npe-cover-done-400**Contact Jaimie:

Website   Facebook   Twitter

Between Friends

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Book review of “Between Friends”

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“Between Friends” by Amanda Cowen

Book Description:

The only way to have a friend is to be one…especially between the sheets…

When neurotically challenged and unlucky in love Megan Daniels is propositioned by her life-long friend Ben Romano with a coin toss (heads, they sleep together, tails, they don’t) the night before they are about to attend a destination wedding, she drunkenly accepts his challenge. But when Megan wakes up the next morning with a bad hang-over and Ben in her bed, she is more than mortified. It isn’t until the tropical heat begins to ignite emotions Megan never believed or thought she could possibly have, when she starts to question if risking their friendship is the answer to finding true love.

A cute and contemporary debut novel, BETWEEN FRIENDS faces one girl’s struggle between the fine lines of friendship and love and the risk of opening up her heart to the possibility of forever.

My Review:

When I picked this book up, it reminded me of one of my favorite movies, “When Harry Met Sally,” where we all wonder if men and women can truly be friends. The subject highly interests me, because I did marry a guy who I, for years, considered to be a friend, so I was eager to read this book.

I found Megan and Ben’s story in “Between Friends” to be a cute, likable one. Would I ever participated in the coin toss, probably not, but that’s what I liked about their friendship — they were willing take a chance (even after having a few drinks), even Megan who tended to over think and worry.

During the weekend of friendly wedding festivities, I thought their alone time was special, and it seemed like they really cared for each other, especially when nobody was looking. I liked how Ben seemed to take charge, even though he had a temper at times, and punched a guy, it was understandable to see where he was coming from. However, I thought Megan’s girlfriends were very immature, and weren’t supportive, especially when a secret is found out a secret about one of the them girls and Ben…(no, I’m not going to spoil it for you).

Overall, “Between Friends” was a fun, and enjoyable, weekend read. While, at times, somewhat predictable, I loved the happy ending!

I give this book 4 stars!

GUEST POST

Writing New Adult Contemporary with Mature Content

Sex, sex and more sex? Isn’t that what’s it all about? Not really, but it sure does keep things spicy.

Although writing New Adult Contemporary Novels with Mature Content gives the author the ability to heighten their story between the sheets, trust me, it is so much more than that. Having a protagonist in the 18 -25 age bracket opens up a whole new world for a writer, and allows their characters to tackle all those coming of age issues such as, breaking out into the job market, starting college, weddings and engagements, and living away from home for the first time etc. And along with those many things that plague us in early adulthood, it is also our sexuality and figuring out who we are, when it is at its peak.

As an author who writes in this genre, New Adult Contemporary Fiction is able to capture life and it’s not so pretty moments when it comes to love, sex and relationships. I love the whole “coming of age” bit and being able to incorporate mature content into my writing. For me, it is just a perk to share my characters intimate moments through sexual encounters to help develop their chemistry.

AmandaCowenPicAbout author, Amanda Cowen:

Amanda Cowen can be found eating cupcakes, singing off-key, or watching a good RomCom when she isn’t trapped on her computer writing stories and delighting her imagination. She has been writing since the ripe age of twelve about ponies and princesses in brightly colored duo-tangs with metallic pens. Thankfully, she now has a Mac with a keyboard where she can write about love, sex and relationships. She is an “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” fanatic, a hater of roller-coasters and a country music junkie. She lives in Thunder Bay, ON where the summers are short and the winters are long.

Amanda loves to hear from her readers! You can contact her via her website, http://www. amandacowen.com, become a fan on Facebook, follow her on Goodreads, or visit her blog.

Buy “Between Friends”!:  Amazon   Smashwords

**Click HERE to see other stops on Amanda’s Chick Lit Plus Blog Tour

**Everyone who leaves a comment on the tour page will be entered to win a $20 Amazon gift card! Anyone who purchases their copy of Between Friends before  August 19 and sends their receipt to Samantha (at) ChickLitPlus (dot) com, will get five bonus entries.**

Beth Albright

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About author, Beth Albright:  After knowing Beth Albright for just a few short seconds you are sure to learn she is from Alabama. No, its not the lilt of magnolia you can still catch in her voice, or even the way she lovingly describes her undying love for her famous alma mater’s football champions. She will tell you she loves Tuscaloosa, even after living quite literally all over the country. Though Beth has had a remarkable career, from New York City to Hollywood, and all points in between, she has never forgotten where she came from…and what she loves. That’s why when it came time to write, Beth had no choice but to write about Tuscaloosa and The University of Alabama, and all the quirky people she still calls family, though some do not actually share her bloodline!

Beth Albright has always been a storyteller. After spending nearly 15 years in talk radio, as a talk show host, playing the part of a principal character on the soap opera, DAYS OF OUR LIVES, owning her own acting school and children’s theater, and raising a son who was a nationally ranked figure skater, Beth has decided to return to her roots; storytelling. When she was in the sixth grade, her teacher gave her the floor every Friday to tell her stories. See, Beth was a talker, a future talk show host in the making, and she was telling stories so much that her teacher couldn’t teach. The teacher told 12 year old Beth if she would begin writing her stories down, she would be allowed time to share those stories with the class. And she’s been writing, AND talking ever since. Beth has interviewed Bob Hope, Oprah Winfrey, Betty White, Wolfgang Puck and George Burns live from the Chinese Theatre, as well as numerous other celebrities, and authors. Then Beth became a principal character on Days of Our Lives. But through all of the excitement of talk shows and soap operas, Beth loved telling stories to her audience the most. With a degree in Journalism from her beloved University of Alabama, She remains true to her roots and has never forgotten where she comes from. Born and raised in Tuscaloosa, “My grandfather was the play by play announcer for the Crimson Tide in the 50s!” Beth will proudly tell you.   She is a down homespun girl, although she currently lives in San Francisco with her TV producer husband and her brilliant son. But her heart is always in Alabama. She has just completed new series, The Sassy Belles.

INTERVIEW

People would be surprised to know that you…:  Were a drummer in your high school marching band!

What is the writing/editing/publishing process like for you?  I like the writing process best of the three. The editing is always hard for me. My husband has always told me I am “raw footage” So I know even in life, I give too much information, too many details. So I need editing. But it is really hard to decipher what is necessary and what isn’t. So it can be painful. The publishing part is great…I can just sit back and wait for the “BIRTHday”

Every writer must have a…: Sense of humor!  If I couldn’t laugh at myself and some of the things I write before revising, I couldn’t survive! And in the tough times, my lap kitty is an absolute necessity. Of course my family is my rock and they put up with a lot too! But seriously, with being able to laugh, it would all be impossible.

Tell us about your “Belles” series:  I love these women! This is a group of women who live in Tuscaloosa. They consist of Blake, our narrator, her mother Kitty, her spit-fire grandmother, Meridee, her best friend, Vivi, and her ex-step sister-arch-nemesis, Dallas. Think of this group as a “Sex and The City Meets Steel Magnolias” group! They are smart, sexy and hilarious. And as I say in The Sassy Belles. “ We take care of each other, we stand our ground, and we do it in high heels, big hair and lots of lipstick.” They love college football as does everyone in Tuscaloosa so University of Alabama football, the Crimson Tide, is a big part of the series too. Blake is an attorney and she really has her work cut out for her in the series. The main point of this series is to say ANYONE can be a Sassy Belle: any age, any size, any color. It’s all about attitude and taking care of your “sisters”.

Where is your dream place to write?  I am a romantic at heart, so I love a comfy chair and a fireplace. Anything in nature is always good too…a place with an ocean view or a lush forest view is perfect too.

What is your favorite word?  Well, my son’s name is brooks so of course that is number one! But I love the word, tapestry…because it helps us feel the layers upon which I like to write. Stardust is great too, as we all possess a little to add to the tapestry.

Hard/paperback or eBooks?  And don’t forget, audiobooks! I love them all. To me they are just different mediums in which to share my stories. Personally I like the trade paperback, perfect to stick in my purse. But I am old-fashioned and still do buy the hardbacks too.

What do you want your readers to take away from reading your books?  Fun and a major sense of sisterhood. Plus to know it’s never to late to LIVE. Meridee turns 80 at the end of book one and throws herself a Hollywood Nights themed party complete with shirtless men carrying her in on a Persian cot! Readers are telling me they are laughing out loud through the books! We need that right now. We ALWAYS need laughter.

You’ve had the pleasure of interviewing celebrities, who was your favorite and why?  Oh, what a tough question! I have so many favorites! Oprah really stands out. She makes you feel like you’ve known her and she is your new BFF! I loved the icons, George Burns, Betty White and Bob Hope. They were full of fun and advice. I interviewed all The Golden Girls and really hit it off with Rue McClanahan. There are seriously just too many to pick just one…but I did just LOVE Oprah!

How has the social media helped your career?  I seriously don’t know how anyone could make it as a writer these days without social media. I know I have my Facebook base, then my books page, then twitter to help me get the word out about blogs, reviews, and contests too. I feel it is the reason we got such a huge bounce with The Sassy Belles! It has remained an Amazon bestseller since the first week. But I did a lot of Facebook advertising and lots of tweeting too! I think it is paying off.

What is the best advice you’ve been given?  My mom always says, “Keep you eye on the ball” and that helps. I tend to be a worrier so I start thinking about everything all at once. She reminds me, one thing at a time and keep your eye on the ball. Also my mother has been wonderful as a motivator and cheerleader too. If I dreamed a big dream, she never laughed, she’d say, “Ok, what do we need to do to make that happen?” So most all my great advice comes from my mother! “If someone else can do it, then you can too”

Can you tell us about any upcoming projects?  My book is currently being packaged to pitch as a TV show! So fingers crossed, we’ll see! Also, I am busy writing a new Sassy Belle series. New Belles, and the original ones too, all taking place in Tuscaloosa at an INN the girls will open!

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GUEST POST

Songs of the Deep South

They say you write what you know and for me there is no truer statement. I know the Deep South. I have a love for it that pulses deep in my veins. My legacy is thick with my alma mater, the University of Alabama too, as my grandfather was the “voice” of the Crimson Tide in the 1950s. I am a southerner to the bone, though I have lived all over the country.

My Love Affair With Tuscaloosa Alabama

The South is like nowhere else on Earth.  I learned this lesson the hard way; by leaving. I have lived in New York City, Los Angeles California, and nearly everywhere in between. From both coasts, two of the Great Lakes, and the land locked mid-west and even the deserts of Phoenix, I have called them all home over the last 30 years. And I stay in the perpetual suspended state of HOMESICK for Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

When I was 10 years old we moved to Oklahoma. And while I loved it there and made life long friends during my four years there, I was, even then, perpetually homesick, grieving away for my familiar surroundings of the misty liquid sunsets on the Warrior River and the rich history of The University of Alabama campus. Tuscaloosa is a pre-Civil War town, with much of the architecture dating long before the War Between the States.  Old antebellum homes still stand watching over the city from one end of it to the other.

The kudzu creeps and crawls over everything standing still. Summers were miserable if you were measuring it by the humidity. With sticky skin and frizzy hair was the way I spent them.  But I wouldn’t trade them for anything.  Slow and happy and sweaty.  Red cheeks coming in from long bike rides on half paved /dirt roads, slamming screen doors and window unit air conditioners. And beauty pageants, complete with crowns and banners pinned from shoulder to hip across the front of your beaded gown, Tuscaloosa is made up of so many things, even when I’m not there I can see it, feel it, and taste it. So I wanted to be there. Writing was the way I could.

Life was easier in a small town down south. All the neighbors watch out for each other and everyone’s kids were like your own. The men are still chivalrous and the women still act like ladies, with make-up done to perfection and a string of pearls. That may be my favorite part—well next to the food!

The Deep South is special. It’s unique in all the most perfect ways.  I feel I am an authority on this because I have been able to compare it to, well, almost everywhere. I actually left my soap opera, Days of Our Lives in LA as a principle character and drove across the country, pregnant, with morning sickness that lasted all day, to make sure my only baby was born at HOME…Tuscaloosa! In typical Belle fashion, I didn’t pack light either. It took two cars! Halfway there, around El Paso, Texas, my husband actually had the nerve to say, “We really don’t HAVE to go have the baby in Alabama, do we?” I nearly burst into tears and called my mother– and a divorce lawyer—just as any southern belle in a crisis does! Luckily, I calmed down by the time we crossed The Mighty Mississippi.

And then there’s Alabama football. You have never seen anything like Game-Day in Tuscaloosa! The crowds under the largest tent city on the quad, everyone cooking out, the smell of barbequed pork in the air, the students dressed up in sundresses and bow ties. You KNOW you’re in the south! And when Sweet Home Alabama is played over the loud speakers, everyone stops in their tracks and sings along! It’s a priceless feeling.

In Tuscaloosa you can still sit out on a summer’s night and talk to your neighbors or on your front porch telling stories on a glider swing while a million lightening bugs glitter in the front yard under a gillion stars.  And when someone ” has passed” a line of traffic will form on your street of folks with covered dishes. You’ll have more pound cake and potato salad than you’ll know what to do with! And at least 30 boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts! Everyone who shows up on your doorstep to offer condolences will have a box of the delicious confections!

Tuscaloosa has it’s own special brand of Small Town America. It is in the HEART OF DIXIE, being in Alabama. It is a classy place with mostly classy people. And Southern Hospitality seems to have gotten its very definition from here.  Every “Hey Y’all,” and  “fixin’ to” is inside my spirit and when I am home it shines a little brighter.

When I come home it’s like I never left.  I am hugged and kissed and loved. I go out with my friends and see my Mother and eat like I have been starving in a desert. I have. For the SOUTH… and its way.

When it came time to write, of course, I would write about the place I love most, my hometown in the Deep South. My heart is always in Dixie.

Maybe I can always go home, because truth be told, I never really left.

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BethAlbrightPic**Contact Beth:

The Sassy Belles   Email: Beth@thesassyBelles.com   Facebook   Twitter

Pauline Wiles

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About author, Pauline Wiles:  British by birth, Pauline Wiles moved to California eight years ago and, apart from a yearning for afternoon tea and historic homes, has never looked back. Her first novel, Saving Saffron Sweeting, was published in spring 2013. When not writing, she can be found getting the steps wrong in a zumba class or calculating how many miles she has to run to justify an extra piece of cake. Her ambition is to sell enough books to cover the cost of flying herself and a reader to London for tea.

GUEST POST

The Five Stages of Dealing with Bad Reviews

I’m not for one moment suggesting that receiving bad reviews is equivalent to losing a loved one. However, I have noticed a tendency in myself and others to progress through certain stages when our precious writing is cruelly criticised. It occurred to me that, just as grief often has five stages, so too does our journey through the dark valley of negative reviews.

1. Denial

This is the stage where you can’t quite believe the words you’re seeing on your screen. You gasp, look away, peek through your fingers, search for the missing “only joking – I loved this book.” You double check the review is meant for you, and wonder if the reviewer simply pasted their comments in the wrong place.

You go away and eat half a pint of ice cream, convinced there must be some terrible mistake. Your insides feel like they’ve been scooped out, too.

2. Anger

Nope, you find the reviewer is definitely talking about your book and he/she definitely hated it. How dare they? Do they simply dislike this whole genre?  Didn’t they “get” that a certain character was supposed to be ironic? They obviously didn’t read it carefully enough.  They clearly don’t appreciate good storytelling. What right do they have to point out one tiny typo in your whole book, when they’ve spelled 3 words wrong in their single paragraph?

In a minor fury, you begin googling this person, looking for their photo, their other reviews, their Twitter indiscretions and other evidence of an exceptionally low IQ. You entertain graphic fantasies of getting even.

3. Bargaining

For the wounded author, this is a dangerous phase. I’m assuming you resist the temptation to discover where your reviewer lives and show up with a bucket full of stink-bombs. Instead, you begin to craft your written response to the arrogant twit who tore your precious book to shreds. You spend a whole day’s writing time composing the most bitingly sarcastic prose you’ve ever penned. In your rebuttal, you defend your genre, grammar, antagonist, protagonist, plot and possibly your proofreader. You correct every erroneous assumption your reviewer has made, and make a detailed account of every single point where they missed the, err, point.

Do not, whatever you do, post this response anywhere public. If you must, share it with a close writer friend and wallow in their certain sympathy. Then, proceed straight to the freezer, eat the remaining half pint of ice cream, and await stage 4.

4. Depression

With great weariness and reluctance, you begin to wonder if your reviewer is right. Maybe your protagonist is irrational and unlikeable. Maybe your use of the past-perfect is pathetic. Maybe your plot was lame. Maybe your six months spent on beta reading, editing and proofreading was slapdash. Maybe… you should just forget this writing lark and go back to your wearisome day job. You should have known you’d never be any good at this.

Don’t panic, dear writer. Dig out a few reviews from people who loved your book. You’re almost ready for stage 5.

5. Acceptance

A little time has passed. In the interim, you’ve also received some positive feedback, and you are now able to see your persecutor’s review as just-one-opinion. You know your books can’t possibly appeal to everyone, you take comfort and strength from the readers who love you, and maybe, just maybe, you identified a constructive nugget in the harsh words you received.  Your skin is a fraction thicker, you accept that criticism goes with the job, and you are ready to continue your writing. Recalling the emotions you felt, you begin to craft a scene where your heroine receives a painful shock. In the midst of her horror, you type a nice line about her feeling like she’s been hollowed out with an ice cream scoop.

Pat yourself on the back: not only have you survived a bad review, you’ve harnessed its power and turned it into something useful in your next book. Now, take a break to go and buy groceries. Something tells me you’re all out of ice cream.

SavingSaffronSweeting**Contact Pauline:

Website   Email: paulinewiles@gmail.com   Facebook   Goodreads   Twitter

**Click HERE to buy “Saving Saffron Sweeting” on Amazon!

Lori Verni-Fogarsi (LoriTheAuthor)

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About, Lori Verni-Fogarsi (LoriTheAuthor):  Lori Verni-Fogarsi has been an author, speaker, and small business consultant since 1995. She has been featured in major media including “Lifetime Women’s Network,” the “My Carolina Today Show,” and “Boston Globe Forums Live.” Her public speaking has occurred at many prestigious venues including “North Carolina State University,” “Nassau Community College,” and more. She has received two awards for her novel, “Momnesia,” and her nonfiction, “Everything You Need to Know About House Training Puppies and Adult Dogs,” continues to be one of the most highly recommended in its genre since 2005. Lori is a happily married mom of two, step mom of two more, and has two cats, both rotten. She is very excited about the release of “Unexpecting,” and enjoys getting to know her readers via social media and in person. She invites you to learn more at www.LoriTheAuthor.com.

GUEST POST

When I was invited to be a guest on Chick Lit Goddess, my first thought was, “This is so validating… now I’m an ‘official’ goddess instead of only in my head!” At least that’s what I’ve been trying to convince myself for the past several years.

The fact is, we ladies tend to be way too hard on ourselves. It seems like no matter how much we do, or what all we accomplish, we never seem to feel like it’s enough—even if others think we’re fabulous! A few years ago, I decided that enough is enough (pun intended), and that I would strive to appreciate myself for all the good things I do do, instead of torturing myself about the few things I don’t.

This inspired part of the storyline in my novel, “Momnesia.” For example, the main character comes to the realization that instead of focusing on her “Chicken Belly Flap Thing” that is the direct result of bearing children, she’d try to get her sexy back by appreciating the positive traits she does possess, right now, today. I mean, really? How long can we sit around lamenting the high school figure we no longer have—which is completely unrealistic and unattainable anyway? Are we going to look back in ten years and think we look better then? Um, probably not. Better to try and appreciate ourselves today.

This is just one example, but there is a common thread throughout both “Momnesia” and my new release, “Unexpecting,” about the perfectionistic demands we women tend to place on ourselves. One of my hopes is that my readers will embrace their inner goddesses and strive for a life balance that allows for being a happy person while also taking good care of our families and other responsibilities.

In “Unexpecting,” Shelley and David’s kids are just about grown and off to college when Alexandra, seventeen and pregnant, shows up on their doorstep and announces that she’s the daughter he never knew he had! She’s got nowhere else to go and the couple end up helping her raise another baby “from scratch,” right when they were about to start having free time.

The story progresses to include all sorts of family drama, problems when Alexandra turns to drugs, and strains on the marriage. And Shelley, as is typical of we women, often feels like even though she’s doing so much, it’s still never enough. Not to mention that she also feels like she no longer fits in anywhere, and struggles to forgive her husband after he nearly destroys their marriage.

“Momnesia” is definitely written in more of a true chick lit tone, as it’s very funny while still being thought provoking. “Unexpecting” has more of a women’s fiction tone with some humor here and there.

If you decide that you’d like to read my books, (thank you!) now would be a great time to get them! From 5/14 – 5/20/2013, all of my books are on sale (Kindle version) for only $1.99 each!

If you’d like to preview “Momnesia,” you can read the first two chapters free at: http://www.loritheauthor.com/loris-books/momnesia/

If you’d like to preview “Unexpecting,” you can read the first chapter free here: http://www.loritheauthor.com/unexpecting/chapter/

One of my favorite things about being an author is interacting with my readers. Let’s face it, being an author is a rather solitary job! So, in appreciation of my fans as well as to maintain my social sanity, I often host fun giveaways, special online events, and more. Perhaps you’ll connect with me via social media? I look forward to getting to know you!

Books by Lori Verni-Fogarsi (LoriTheAuthor)

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**Click HERE to buy “Momnesia”

UnexpectingCoverPic

**Click HERE to buy “Unexpecting”

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**Click HERE to buy  “Everything You Need to Know About House Training Puppies and Adult Dogs”

LoriTheAuthor**Contact Lori Verni-Fogarsi (LoriTheAuthor)

Email:  LoriTheAuthor “at” gmail “dot” com

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Like other social media? Look for her at LoriTheAuthor everywhere!

**Additional comments by Lori Verni-Fogarsi (LoriTheAuthor):

Thank you so much for inviting me to Chick Lit Goddess! I look forward to getting to know everyone, and their thoughts about being goddesses who are good to ourselves, perhaps through comments below!