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Sarah Louise Smith

October Guest Blogger: Sarah Louise Smith

October 26, 2016 Leave a Comment

My Perfect Fall Day 

Firstly, thank you to Isabella, the ultimate Chick Lit Goddess, for having me on her blog for this awesome ‘Fall’ themed month. Here in the UK, we call ‘Fall’ Autumn, but I always prefer the American term, myself 🙂

My perfect fall day involves my dogs; you see they love to walk – it’s their favourite thing, right up there with eating, cuddles, sleeping and playing. And autumn… fall… is the perfect time to go for a walk. The leaves are so beautiful at this time of year; especially in my local woods. Reds, oranges, yellows, golds… I’ve been lucky enough to visit NYC, Niagara Falls, and Washington DC in autumn too, and it was just so, so lovely – so many gorgeous colours.

So, step one on my perfect fall day: dog walk, probably through my local woods. There’s really tall trees there, and with even just a little sunshine, it’s wonderful.

Next, I would come home and have a nice cup of hot chocolate (Cadbury’s, preferably), and sit down with my Kindle to read whatever Chick Lit I’m into that day. Right now I’m reading Dream a Little Dream by Giovanna Fletcher; it’s very good.

I’d stop for lunch; maybe some pumpkin soup – I LOVE pumpkin… you know what, I’ve never tried pumpkin pie (I think we seriously need to start a Thanksgiving tradition in the UK, but that’s a whole different topic) … with some rustic bread. I love keeping warm when the weather is turning.

Next, I would sit down and write – invigorated from my walk, and inspired from my reading – and work on my next book.

I guess my perfect fall dinner would be something warm too, maybe I’d go to a traditional British pub, and have a vegetarian lasagne – followed by a hot comforting pudding! …and a nice glass of red wine.

Fall is probably my favourite time of year; between the gorgeous leaves, the fun of Halloween and Christmas plans starting to get underway … and the fact that it’s cool, but not too cold yet. You can enjoy a little outdoors time without freezing your butt off 🙂

Thanks again to Isabella for having me over to talk about my Perfect Fall Day, that was fun!If you’d like to read more of my writing, head over to my website and check out my blog, my books, and sign up to my mailing list…

If you’d like to read more of my writing, head over to my website and check out my blog, my books, and sign up to my mailing list…www.sarahlouisesmith.com


About the author: Sarah Louise Smith is a chick-lit writer, completely in love with that feel-good factor you get from romantic comedy novels (and movies!). She’s British, an animal lover, and likes to travel around the world while eating good food, reading good books and dreaming up her next novel.


**Books by Sarah, with one on the way:

Amy & Zach – about an English girl who meets an American guy and they both tell a lie or two…

Izzy’s Cold Feet – Izzy is about to get married, but she’s not sure she’s with the right man…

Independent Jenny – what would you do if your husband cheated on you?

The Truth About Ellen – it’s only natural to pretend you’re not a fan when you meet your celeb crush, right?

…and coming soon, Unrequited Alice – about a bridesmaid in love with the groom…

**Contact Sarah: Amazon   Amazon.co.uk


 

Filed Under: Sarah Louise Smith Tagged With: #GoddessLit, My Perfect Fall Day, October Guest Blogger, Sarah Louise Smith, Seasons

BOOK FEATURE: “The Truth About Ellen”

May 27, 2015 Leave a Comment

TheTruthAboutEllenCoverPic

“The Truth About Ellen” by Sarah Louise Smith

Blurb: It’s every girl’s dream to date a pop star…

When Ellen starts dating Tom, a member of the band she adored as a teenager, she can’t believe how lucky she is.

She neglects to mention that she’s a huge fan because that just wouldn’t be cool, would it?

Ellen also keeps quiet about how she once spent an evening with Tom’s ex-bandmate/ex-best friend Jasper, her long-term celebrity crush. Tom doesn’t need to know about that, it’s all in the past.

That is until Tom and Jasper get back in touch… and the truth threatens to ruin everything Ellen has ever dreamed of…

* * * * *

Hello! Thanks so much to Isabella for letting me guest on her blog today. If you haven’t heard of me before, I’m Sarah Louise Smith, a British chick-lit author with a passion for the colour yellow, eating lobster and watching romantic comedies.

Read on for a sneak preview of the first chapter in my new novel, “The Truth About Ellen”

EXCERPT

I’ve always been the clumsiest person in any given room. When I was 16, I was at a Four Ape concert (my favourite band) and I actually fell down the stairs on the way out of the arena and broke my wrist. Another time, when I was 24, I was out shopping with my mum and I tripped, sprained an ankle and broke two ribs.

I’m always tripping, falling, slipping, dropping, breaking and losing things. The fact that I’d made it to 28 with a mostly intact body, still functioning and breathing and going about a fairly normal existence, was a miracle of epic proportions.

So, it was no surprise to me that as I peeled the foil off my mini Easter egg and took a small bite that the whole thing crumbled in my hands, leaving my chin, work desk and lap covered in rapidly melting shards of chocolate.

“Yummy aren’t they?” said my co-worker, Darby, taking a dainty bite of hers without creating any mess whatsoever.

Darby was pretty much the opposite of me. I couldn’t imagine that she’d ever tripped up the stairs, lost her mother’s favourite necklace, forgotten her best friend’s birthday, or even had a single hair out of place her entire life. She always came into the office looking like she’d just stepped out of a glossy magazine. Her face was made up with just the right amount of make-up to give her that naturally stunning look, and her clothes always fit beautifully as if designed and made to measure (which they probably were). And her sing-song voice never uttered a word that wasn’t worth the whole office hearing. I hated her. I wasn’t jealous … honest. I just didn’t need someone that perfect in my life, thank you very much.

Oscar, our boss, had left a small egg on each of our desks as a token thanks for our ‘hard work’. As I’d only been with the company for five months, and my last boss had barely muttered ‘good morning’ to me when she arrived each day, I thought this was pretty generous.

My co-workers had, however, complained that he’d given them much larger eggs the year before.

I sat in a pod of four desks with Darby, plus another two girls – Margot and Tammy. Margot was nearing retirement and kept quiet most of the day, until anyone started talking about television and then she piped up and gave her opinion on what had been on the night before. Darby and Tammy were close friends who talked all day about their love-lives, gossiped about their mutual chums and other col- leagues, or debated fashion and celebrities. In fact they chatted all day about anything they could think of. I mostly kept myself to myself and tried to work hard; I was still on probation and I needed this job. I had rent and bills to pay, a car to run, and a cat to feed. Plus there was always shed-loads of work to be getting on with.

Today was no exception; I had a report to prepare for Oscar, and as it was the last day before the East- er break we were all leaving after lunch. I blocked out the others’ chitter-chatter, trying to concentrate on what I was working on, but then something Darby said caught my attention and I couldn’t ignore it.

“I hear Four Ape are rumoured to be getting back together.”

Four Ape. My favourite band. Ever. I was 13 when they burst onto the music scene with a cool blend of indie-rock. I was at just the right age to develop a huge celebrity crush and Four Ape were the perfect band for me to become fanatical about.

I went to their concerts, I donned their t-shirts, and I wore out lots of VHS cassette tapes by recording all their television appearances. Every square inch of my bedroom walls and ceiling was covered in posters and magazine cut-outs. I doodled their logo every time a pen and slip of paper presented itself.

Laura, my best friend back then, was also a huge fan. Her favourite was George, who was the eldest and the drummer. Then there was Alex who played the keyboard; Tom the bass guitarist, who wrote most of the songs. But while I loved them all, I was totally in love with Jasper, the bad boy and lead singer. I would scowl each time I saw paparazzi shots of him coming out of a bar with his arm around a stunning skinny girl, who no doubt didn’t realise just how wonderful he was. That should’ve been me.

Then one day, when I was about 18, the band split up and went their separate ways. Jasper launched a huge solo career, which I’d also followed closely, buying every album and seeing him live every time he went on tour. I even met him once. My heart fluttered at the memory.

The rest of Four Ape hadn’t really been heard of much since; they’d just faded into obscurity.
Until now.
“Did you just say Four Ape are getting back together?” I asked Darby, hoping I’d be able to hide my over-excitement.
“Well, that’s what I read. I don’t know if it’s true.”
I turned back to my computer screen and wondered if the world would be graced with another amazing album. I hadn’t been in touch with Laura for years; we were friends on Facebook but we’d drifted apart. She had a husband and two kids now, and I was still a kid myself, so our lives were very different. I wondered if she’d heard this gossip and thought of me, too. How crazy we were for those four boys back then, although of course they were men now.

“Ellen, can I see you for a moment?” Oscar called from his office. I took another bite of chocolate – more carefully this time – and made my way to his little room. It was bright and clean, not a pencil out of place. I glanced at the framed photo of his wife and children, and smiled. They always looked like such a cute little family.

“So, you’ve been here five months now, yes?”

Oh. I’d thought this was about some work I’d been doing for him. Didn’t he like me? Was my probation over already? What would I do if he let me go? Would my parents be able to help me pay the bills?

“Yes,” I said, working out how much of a parental loan I’d need to request. Maybe I could get a temp job. If I went to an agency right now, how soon could they get me some contract work?

“And do you like it?”

“Yes,” I said, feeling my hands turn sweaty. Why does that always happen to me? Wet hands are not what I need in times of crisis. Stupid body.

“Good, because I’ve been really impressed with you so far.”
What? Oh. I relaxed into my seat a little more and tried to subtly rub my sticky hands on my skirt. “Thank you.”
“So we’d like to offer you a permanent contract now. And assuming you want to accept, there’s an induction training course every permanent employee has to go on, so we’ll get you booked on that.”
I’d heard about these training courses from the others; they usually put you in some hellish hotel and you spent five days watching lifeless colleagues tell you about the business you’d already been working in for several months, staring at presentation slides and wishing you’d turned the offer down.
But it was a week away from home; maybe it’d be good for me. Anyway, I needed the job. A permanent contract – yay!
“That’s great. Thank you so much Oscar.”
“No, thank you. You’ve fitted in well and worked hard. I’m really impressed.”
I smiled and felt myself blush. “Thank you.”

“Right, okay, I’ll sort the paperwork.”
I wondered how I’d managed to work hard and do well at a career I’d never planned, wanted, or dreamt about. I was proud of myself. Bergman and Strauss was a large company with a great reputation and I’d worked hard to get the job I was in. Yet I was kind of disappointed that this had become my life. Surely no one ever dreamt of working in an office all day long as a kid? But then again, my dream of be- coming a tooth fairy had been just a tad unrealistic. And I had no idea what I’d do instead.

I went back to my desk and told the others my news.

“Oh, my induction was in a dingy hotel in Birmingham,” Darby told me, repeating what she’d said on my first day. “It was totes boring.”

“I went to the Dublin office for mine,” Margot told us. She mustn’t have been around on my first day because I’d have remembered that. Dublin wouldn’t be so bad.

“Mine was in the German office in Frankfurt,” Tammy told me for the second time. “They rotate it every time.”

“Well, let’s hope there’s an office right next to a sandy beach in Greece,” I said, sitting down at my desk and thinking that it was probably this office and I’d not get to go anywhere, not even Birmingham.

“There’s no Greek office,” Darby told me solemnly. I knew that already but didn’t bother to point it out. “There’s one in Spain though, so you might get lucky. Or California!”

“Henry in sales got to go to the LA office last time,” Tammy chipped in. “But he said there wasn’t much time for sightseeing with all the boring stuff they make you do.”
Wow, now I really couldn’t wait to go. It sounded worse than being at my desk.

**Buy “The Truth About Ellen” now: Amazon – UK   Amazon – US

* * * * *

SarahLouiseSmithPic3**About author, Sarah Louise Smith:

Sarah Louise Smith lives in Milton Keynes, England with her husband, step-daughter, loopy golden retriever and cheeky tortie cat.

Sarah has been writing stories since she can remember and has so far completed four chick-lit novels, all published by Crooked Cat: Amy & Zach, Izzy’s Cold Feet, Independent Jenny, and The Truth About Ellen.

**Contact Sarah: Website   Facebook   Twitter

Filed Under: The Truth About Ellen Tagged With: Books, Chick-Lit, Excerpt, New Release, Sarah Louise Smith, The Truth About Ellen, Women's Fiction

Sarah Louise Smith

July 15, 2013 2 Comments

SONY DSC

About author, Sarah Louise Smith:  Sarah Louise Smith lives in Milton Keynes, UK, with her husband, two cute cats and a loopy golden retriever. She has an extremely lovely step-daughter and spends most of her free time writing, reading, cooking, and taking long walks.

She’s the author of two chick-lit novels: Amy & Zach and Izzy’s Cold Feet, both published by Crooked Cat. Read Sarah’s blog at: www.sarahlouisesmith.com.

INTERVIEW

Welcome back, Sarah!  What have you been up to since our first interview?  Thank you, it’s lovely to be back! I’ve been very busy promoting my first novel, and also finishing and editing my second. It’s been hard work but a lot of fun!

Congratulations on your upcoming book, “Izzy’s Cold Feet”!  How excited are you?  Thank you so much … Very excited! It was a dream come true to have one book published so it’s a real pleasure to have a second.

What is the book about?  Izzy is about to get married, but she’s not sure her fiancé is the man she wants. She takes the reader on a journey through her past, recounting the stories of her past loves, and comparing each one. As each of her ex-boyfriends turn up unexpectedly in the week before her wedding, her feet grow ever colder… then there’s the added complication that her sister has been missing since Izzy was 12.

How long did it take you to write this one?  It’s hard to say, I started it before I was offered a contract for Amy & Zach, so then it went on hold while I went through the editing process, then I came back to it. But I’d say in total probably about six months.

How does “Izzy’s Cold Feet” compare to your other book, “Amy & Zach”?  There are similarities in my style of writing but it’s obviously a very different story. I feel this has a little more depth perhaps… Two characters from Amy & Zach do make a cameo appearance though!

What made you want to write this story?  The story is an amalgamation of ideas that came to me, like several separate love stories, merged into one. So Izzy has four different boyfriends (and therefore love stories) over a time span of about ten years.

Is anything in your new book based on reality?  No, but I’m sure some of my past relationships and experiences are in there somehow if you look closely enough! 🙂

What do you and Izzy have in common?  We both love to cook. And, I think, we both over-analyze and take a while to figure out what we want.

People would be surprised to know that you:  Changed the ending of this book… I actually had a different plan in mind when I set out to write the book but Izzy didn’t like it, and changed it to suit her!

What advice can you give to someone who’s writing their second book and feel under pressure to make it as good as their first?  Only that I really do believe that each sentence you write is better than the last. All the time you’re learning and improving, whether it be as you write or as you absorb feedback from readers. Having said that, although I do feel ICF is better than A&Z myself, I’m very nervous that readers will not agree!

How do you plan to celebrate the release of “Izzy’s Cold Feet”?  There’s an online launch party on Facebook on the day, and then a few weeks later I’m going out for a meal and drinks with some close family and friends.

What are you working on now?  My third novel is in note-form and hasn’t really got a full developed plot yet, but I’m working on it.

Izzy'sColdFeetCoverPic**Blurb of “Izzy’s Cold Feet”:

One bride to be. Three ex-boyfriends.

Izzy is engaged to Greg, who is everything a girl could want.

The trouble is – all she can think about is the men she loved before she met him: sexy Ewan, the first love of her life; dependable Jason, who loved her more than she deserved; and irresistible Dexter, who broke her heart…

Then there’s the fact that her sister has been missing since Izzy was twelve. After such a traumatic childhood all Izzy wants is a normal, happy, settled life, but love is never simple.

In the week leading up to her wedding day, Izzy is forced to ask herself who she loves the most. And, given the choice, who would she want to spend her life with?

**Contact Sarah:

Website   Facebook   Twitter

**Buy “Izzy’s Cold Feet”:

Amazon – US   Amazon – UK

**Buy Sarah’s first book, “Amy & Zach”:

Amazon – US   Amazon – UK

Filed Under: Sarah Louise Smith Tagged With: Books, Chick-Lit, Guest Author, Izzy's Cold Feet, Sarah Louise Smith

Sarah Louise Smith

January 21, 2013 2 Comments

SONY DSCAbout author, Sarah Louise Smith:  Sarah Louise Smith is a thirty-something, married, pet-loving writer from Milton Keynes, England. She’s been writing stories since she can remember and dreaming of being a published authors since high school. Her first novel Amy & Zach is published by Crooked Cat Publishing.

INTERVIEW

Congratulations on your book!  How does it feel to be an author?  Thank you so much! It’s amazing, a dream come true. In fact, pinch me!

Paper/hardbacks or Ebooks?  Paperback and e-books are both available.

Tell us a little bit about “Amy & Zach”:  Amy is a British girl who moves to Boston, USA, hoping to find her father. She meets Zach, who sweeps her off her feet and they fall in love quickly, but Zach has a secret which threatens to ruin everything. It’s more than just a ‘slushy’ romance though; it’s about people and family relationships, lies, betrayal and trust with a splash of humour.

Where is your favorite writing space?  Usually at my dining table… one day I hope to have my own office space, I dream that I’ll paint it yellow and put up quotes and images that inspire me. One day!

How did you come up with the title of your book?  I’m terrible at book titles. How can I sum up a whole novel in a few words? So I went with the characters names; but as the narratives alternatives between Amy & Zach, I think it fits quite well.

Walk us through your typical day:  Dog walking, work (I’m a marketing executive), cooking, writing, reading/movie/tv watching, cuddles with my family… that’s a weekday. A weekend involves more of all of the above without the work 🙂

What other authors inspire you?  Jane Austen is my all-time hero… I also love Lisa Jewell, Paige Toon, Marian Keyes.

Where is your favorite writing space?  See above 🙂

Describe what the writing, editing and publishing process was like for you?  The writing involved a lot of notes (inspiration seems to strike when I’m unable to actually write), converting those notes into something coherent, and then re-writing over and over. The editing process was great, my editor was fantastic and so helpful, and the publishing again, a great experience, my publisher walked me through everything. I’m very fortunate and grateful to them.

What is your favorite romantic comedy to watch?  Love Actually. I also love The Holiday.

In your career as a writer, where do you want to be five years from now?  I’d like to have written and published several more books…

Can you tell us about any upcoming projects?  I’m working on my second novel, more chick-lit, which is untitled so far… I’ve also got a third and a fourth in note form!

Amy&ZachCoverPic**Contact Sarah!

Sarah Louise Smith

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Filed Under: Sarah Louise Smith Tagged With: Amy & Zach, Books, Chick-Lit, Sarah Louise Smith

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