Dr. Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson’s person physician, was charged Monday with involuntary manslaughter for allegedly giving Jackson lethal levels of an anesthetic while treating the King of Pop at his bedside for insomnia. The charge filed by the Los Angeles District Attorney alleges Murray “did unlawfully, and without malice, kill Michael Joseph Jackson,” according to People.com. Murray, 57, surrendered today at a courthouse and was quickly handcuffed upon arrival.
Q: Why did you decide to do a dual narrative book? We feel readers (like us!) enjoy getting inside the head of more than one key player in a story. And there’s also the fact that we can barely compose a joint email without debating each word, (don’t even get us started on the play we tried to co-write back in college!) so we thought it would make things a wee bit easier if we each wrote our own character. But luckily, we have a very collaborative editing process and we each take feedback from the other about our character, plot points, etc…(Our motto: once the book is written, anything is fair game!) Q: Do either of you want to write a novel on your own? Right now, we’re having so much fun collaborating that it would feel like we were missing a limb if we tried to do it on our own. Q: Where did you get the idea for I’ll Have Who She’s Having? We had talked about writing a book for TEN years, but we hadn’t decided on the plot. It wasn’t until Lisa went on vacation to Maui and brought home a chapter about a girl named Kate that we decided it was now or never and we developed the storyline and wrote our book. Q: Can you give any details about your second novel in works? Anther dual narrative, it’s about two women who never expected to find themselves in the complicated world of divorce. Q: I am such a fan of your website. How do you keep up with all the posts and get the ideas for each piece? Thanks so much! We have a lot of fun with Chick Lit Is Not Dead. And honestly, we find the best material comes from the simplest things in our lives, like painting the house with your spouse (major no no!) or watching and wanting to try out for The Amazing Race (Liz says, “Yes”. Lisa says, “No!”). The only downside? Our friends now begin sentences with, “This better not end up on your blog!” Q: What are some of your favorite hobbies (besides reading and writing!) Liz likes to play tennis or shop in all her (non-existent!) spare time. And Lisa is a workout and reality TV junkie (not necessarily in that order). Q: Who are some of your favorite authors that you have been able to interview? We loved our series “25 Things Liz and Lisa want to know about….” And now we’re equally excited about our latest feature, “5 things Liz and Lisa didn’t know about…” because our favorite authors give us juicy nuggets about themselves that we wouldn’t otherwise know. They share their favorite coffee order, what they’d be doing if they weren’t a writer, who they crush on…And we feel lucky that so many of our favorite authors like Jennifer Weiner and Allison Winn Scotch have played along. And we nearly died when our writing partner role models, the authors of THE NANNY DIARIES, not only gave us an interview but also interviewed us! We’re still coming down from that high! Q: And what authors have you yet to interview that you are most excited about? Because of her obsession with The Hills, Liz is pretty pumped about Lauren Conrad. And Lisa is very excited about Wendy Wax. Wendy’s novel, “The Accidental Bestseller” is one of her all-time fav’s. Lisa just finished her soon to be released novel, “Magnolia Wednesdays” which was also fantastic! Q: What advice can you give to others like me, wanting to get published and be so involved with the chick lit world? Write the book you want to write. Always stay true to the person you are because publishing trends come and go. (We can’t tell you how many times agents we queried told us that Chick Lit was dead!) There will always be an audience that wants to read good books about engaging characters. And most importantly, don’t forget to have fun! Q: Have you been on any great trips, together or separately? What would be your favorite? We had a blast on our writer’s retreat to Palm Springs last fall. Let’s just say that warm weather + Hot Latin cabana boys= low word count.
Chantel Simmons, Winnipeg Free Press bestselling author, was born in St. Catherine’s and graduated from Ryerson with a Bachelors Degree in Journalism. After graduation, Simmons went on to be an assistant to a literary agent, and made the decision that she wanted to become a freelance writer. While spending her time writing, she helped pay the bills by assisting photographers at the Toronto Sun, and in 2002 landed a position as editorial assistant at ELLE Canada. While working at ELLE, Simmons was offered a position at TV Guide as assistant editor and after that went on to work as editor to Elevate magazine, where she got her inspiration for her first novel. After getting married in 2005, Simmons’ husband convinced her that she actually needed to write her novel in order to get published, and after writing and securing an agent, Stuck in Downward Dog was published in the US and Canada, and went on to be a Winnipeg Free Press bestseller. Her second novel, Love Struck will be released February 15, 2010. Chantel Simmons now works at Sweetspot.ca as editorial director and works on two blogs: The Cherry on Top and Make-it-Session.
Retired NFL player and former Dancing With the Stars contestant Warren Sapp was arrested Saturday after reportedly attacking his girlfriend at Miami Beach's Shore Club hotel. Usmagazine reports that police were called by Sapp’s girlfriend of two years (not named by authorities) around noon to report the 5 am attack, and was later taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center and treated for a swollen knee and bruising on her neck. According to Miami Beach police, the victim reported that she and Sapp became engaged in an argument about her hanging around other men, and that Sapp choked and pushed her down on the couch while they were arguing. Sapp, 37, was in Miami to appear as an analyst for Super Bowl XLIV on the NFL Network. The network did release a statement saying that Sapp is relieved of his analyst duties for Sunday and will no longer appear on-air.
Sheryl Crow- a cougar? I’m not sure about that, but the Grammy winning singer/songwriter did grab a recurring role on the popular ABC show Cougar Town. Usmagazine reports that Crow will play the love interest of Courteney Cox’s character’s recently divorced neighbor, Grayson. Crow, 47, has also appeared on another popular comedy, 30 Rock. The exact date and number of episodes she will appear on has not been released.
The writing process is pretty long; especially for a historical romance. From the first draft to the final book, there's a lot of editing and rewrites. I write all by hand first. Then I type it on my computer, print it out and then make corrections. I rewrite a few times before I'm satisfied with the final draft. The most fun is doing the research. I watch WWII movies and read so many nice stories on the net. The hardest part about writing is the editing and re-editing. Sometimes I think I would never finish writing a manuscript. But, I'm writing my fourth. Here's a few links I'd like to share with you http://jmsmithromanceauthor.blogspot.com/ http://jackiemsmith.weebly.com/ http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xbz8tg_forever-yours-book-trailer_creation http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xbz9vv_a-soldiers-vow-book-trailer_creation My second book, a historical romance called A Soldier's Vow. Its a love story set in World War I France and Belgium(book trailer link included).
Living in Iowa during the looong (and never ending) winter months can really cause havoc on a person- especially a girl! My hair gets brittle, skin is dry and cracked, and I have to go through tube after tube of Carmax because my lips are so chapped. I started deep conditioning my hair once a week, slathering on moisturizing lotion immediately after stepping out of the shower, but couldn’t figure out a way to get over my chapped lips dilemma. Luckily, a co-worker overheard me complaining about my problem (waking up to dry bloody lips is not fun!) and suggested for me to try putting Vaseline on my lips before going to bed. And it works! Just dabbing the Vaseline over my lips helps prevent them from cracking in the middle of the night, and even helps keep them softer throughout the day, causing me to use less chapstick. I would try out this little trick if you are suffering from chapped lips!
Sisters Rose and Maggie Feller couldn’t be more different. Rose is the “Plain Jane” responsible sister, working as a successful lawyer with a lackluster love life, while Maggie is the wild child, using her good looks and sexuality to get whatever she wants. When Maggie is evicted from her apartment and loses another job, Rose feels she has no choice but to take her little sister in- a choice she highly regrets after Maggie starts “borrowing” money and credit cards, ruining Rose’s expensive designer shoes, and sleeping with her boyfriend. Rose has had enough of Maggie’s inconsideration for other people, and kicks her out after the boyfriend incident, but after weeks of not hearing from her, begins to worry what exactly could have happened to her baby sister. Maggie goes on the run, first finding refuge at Princeton while posing as a student, stealing money and credit cards from the other students to get by. She learns about her long-lost grandmother that is living in Miami and decides to take a trip to visit the woman she never had a relationship with. After Maggie and Rose’s mother died when they were young in what they believed to be an innocent car crash, all ties with their mother’s mother was cut off by their father and his new demanding wife. While Maggie is learning that she actually has a brain though she has been plagued with dyslexia all her life, Rose is going through her own struggles with her career. She had been dating her boss that slept with her sister, and decides to take an indefinite leave of absence from her high paying career and become- a dog sitter. In Her Shoes, the best seller turned feature film by Jennifer Weiner takes on more than sister rivalry. I found this novel to be a wave of emotions, especially with Maggie’s case. I was furious with her because of the way she carelessly lived life, but then felt incredibly sad for her because of the curveballs that was throw her way. Some of the plot twists- Rose’s giving up her law career for a dog sitter- seemed a little unbelievable, but with Weiner’s gifted way with words, made me understand why someone would make that choice. I enjoyed following each girls’ path and being able to somewhat relate to their struggles, but In Her Shoes wasn’t a favorite for me. Still a fun read and I enjoyed the movie as well.
