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Author Profile: Natalie Aaron and Marla Schwartz

Author Names: Natalie Aaron & Marla Schwartz
Website: www.unscriptedbook.com
Bios: NATALIE AARON was born in Kansas, moved to L.A. and based solely on her astrological sign, was hired as a PA on commercials and music videos – only confirming what she’d heard about L.A. was true. Natalie went on to such critically acclaimed shows as Taxicab Confessions, Behind the Music and Movies That Shook the World, where she learned how to coax interviews from reluctant celebrities. Her recent producing credits include The Judds, Ruby, Sweet Home Alabama and Little People, Big World. Natalie lives in L.A. and hardly ever wonders how she wound up doing this for a living.
MARLA SCHWARTZ was born in L.A. but moved to England to pursue a graduate degree in Medieval Studies. After working as Head Researcher for both Dreamworks Animation and writer/director Andrew Niccol, she began working as a television producer. Marla’s producing credits include Blind Date, Starting Over, Making the Band, Bad Girls Club, Dane Cook’s Tourgasm, and Wanted: Ted or Alive, an assignment that required her to screen footage of a deer being shot, gutted, and cooked. Marla lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter and hardly ever wonders how she wound up doing this for a living.
Title: Unscripted
See my 4. 5 star review for Unscripted!
Visit the Unscripted tour page on CLP Blog Tours!
Connect with Natalie and Marla!

Visit their website at www.unscriptedbook.com
Like them on FB https://www.facebook.com/unscriptedbook?sk=wall
Follow them @Unscriptedbook

Buy the book!

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Unscripted-ebook/dp/B005UPRLM0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1326141966&sr=8-2

B&N
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/unscripted-natalie-aaron/1105486508

Itunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/unscripted/id477827479?mt=11

Author of the Month: June: Suzan Battah

Chick Lit Plus is pleased to announce the Author of the Month for June is Suzan Battah, author of Mad About the Boy and BaSatai:…

Interview with Jacqueline Sheehan

1. Can you give a short description of you latest novel, Picture This?
Picture This begins where Lost & Found left off, back on Peaks Island, Maine, Devastated by her young husband’s sudden death, she had been on a downward spiral until she took a job as an animal control warden (a far cry from her career as a psychologist) and she saves a black lab, Cooper. Now she’s ready to try at love again with Hill, the gentle archery instructor. But a phone call from a troubled girl looking for her biological father shakes Rocky’s newfound joy. Could the girl hold a tendril of her husband, or is something else happening that Rocky is unable to see?
2. Do you have a lot of input on your covers? If so, how do you choose the final dog?
Harper Collins is collaborative about covers. However, the people who design the covers are specialists at design and marketing and I bow to their expertise. I write books and they live in the world of design. We looked at 100’s of photos of dogs. The chosen dog had to carry himself in a certain heroic manner that one could see in a photo. I also really wanted eye contact with the dog since this is one of the truly disarming characteristics of dogs; they seek out eye contact with humans to transmit information.

3. How important are dogs in your personal life?
Cooper is a combination of two spectacular dogs in my life. I had a golden retriever that was a true companion on my hiking and camping expeditions as well as being comfortable on the streets of Chicago. He was loyal, sensitive (he once nursed a stray Siamese cat back to health), and hilarious. The second dog belonged to my sister. He was a black lab and he had a very heroic personality, as well as being able to dribble a soccer ball between his front feet while running full speed. I do not currently have a dog because I travel far too much. I do have two cats, one of whom acts more like a dog than most dogs.
4. You write both fiction and historical fiction. Is it difficult to switch from writing in the different time periods?
In a weird way, most fiction is historical fiction unless we are writing exclusively about the present or the future. Most of what memoirists write could be called a type of historical fiction. But I do see what you’re asking since I’ve written two books set in the 19th century and two books in contemporary times. Most writing requires research, but contemporary literature has the luxury of being the recipient of daily news, dialogue, experiences, etc. When I’ve written about the 19th Century, I’m exacting about details that are time/culture sensitive and I do have to immerse myself in the time period. It can be jarring to spend all day writing about starvation in 1844 Ireland and then go grocery shopping at the mega market at the end of the day.
5. Are you working on a new project?
I am now working on the book that was set aside for two years. I am re-introducing myself to the characters, and I find that in my absence, some of them have continued on without me and I’m rushing to catch up. The first part of the book is set in 1990 Guatemala in the Mayan highlands.

6. Is there a certain area where you do the majority of your writing?
Yes. I recently added a writing studio to my house that over looks my garden, and further on, a meadow. I think it is important for the eyes to be able to rest on something beautiful and that is exactly what I have.

7. You are a New Englander—what could you say to persuade us to visit New England.
Only one thing. Lobster rolls. I just returned from touring in Maine and in 24 hours, I had two lobster rolls. I would have had three except for a thieving sea gull who stole one.

Author Q&A: Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

How do the two of you go about writing a book together? Is it a lot of back and forth, or more of a collaboration?

We only had our first taste of writing separately last year when we took our maternity leaves back-to-back. And it sucked—we share a creative brain and don’t take that for granted.

We stumbled onto a process with our first novel, The Nanny Diaries, that has essentially remained the same. We work together every week day, beginning with coffee like we’re on a talk-show. We catch each other up on what we’re reading, watching, and listening to. We talk about what’s capturing the Zeitgeist and are particularly interested in those aspects people are not talking about and why that is. The themes of our books are born in the conversations we find ourselves returning back to. Once we have the seed of an idea, we spend several weeks outlining the core elements of the story—primary and periphery characters, each of their arcs, A and B plots, and timeframe. We then break this outline into chapters, go off and generate them, edit them for each other and then string them into one document. Once we have this first draft we sit together and go over it line by line on the computer, on paper, and frequently out loud, until it is ready to go to print. And of course, our editor gets to weigh in at multiple junctures along the way.

How would you describe your book?

It’s our imagining of what it would be like to be in the passenger seat for a celebrity’s nervous breakdown. And that person isn’t just your boss, isn’t just your best friend, but is your family.

What was the hardest part of the writing process for each of you and what are your biggest distractions?

The two hardest parts are outlining, because we liken it to playing Barbies in the dark. Everything is in flux and it’s maddening. Then that phase of editing where you know something isn’t working but you have to bang your head into the carpet until you figure out what it is.

Our biggest distraction is YouTube. We can get sucked down a Sondheim portal until we’re watching sock puppets sing, “I Feel Pretty.”

What are your favorite genres to read?

Anything gripping. We have small children now so when we find time to read we need to be entertained with a capital E. The Hunger Games, One Day, It Happens Every Day. Give us a page-turning plot.

What do you want readers to take away from your story?

That the tabloids tell half the story, if that.

What is the one thing that you want readers to know about both of you as authors?

We think about our readers’ enjoyment to the point that would make them uncomfortable.

How important do you think social media is for authors these days?

It’s crucial. As book stores disappear it’s the only way to stay connected with readers. We love going on tour, but we only do that once a year. Facebook, Goodreads & Twitter allow us to talk to our readers every day.

What does your daily schedule look like?

We try to get our dogs, laundry, groceries, and children sorted by 11—grab coffee and muffins—and then keep our butts in the chair until 5, when we run to preschool pickup. Glam, right?

What would be your advice to aspiring writers?

Don’t edit yourself when you’re creating a first draft. If you do you’ll judge yourself straight to a blinking cursor. Just vomit it all down. Step away for a few weeks. Then come back, read it through, and start editing the ‘f’ out of it. Be open. There is ALWAYS more than one way to tell a story.

What advice would you give yourself ten years ago?

You really might want to write a sequel to The Nanny Diaries one day.

Any words of wisdom?

Everything is subjective. Nanny Diaries was rejected by 11 publishers and picked by 1. It just takes one.

Are either of you actually Britney Spears fans?

HUGE. We don’t work out without her.

What inspired you to model your book after her life?

She is a fully-functional mother of two who is legally controlled by her father—and now soon-to-be husband. How is this happening in this day and age?

What’s next for the two of you?


Our next YA novel, Over You, is out in August, about a teen breakup coach who can get anyone over anyone in four weeks—or less. Look for an excerpt in September’s Teen Vogue.

THANK YOU SO MUCH, EMMA AND NICOLE, FOR JOINING US ON CHICK LIT PLUS. PLEASE CHECK OUT THEIR LATEST MUST READ, BETWEEN YOU AND ME.

Debut Author of the Month: June: Samantha Stroh Bailey

Chick Lit Plus is pleased to announce the Debut Author of the Month for June is Samantha Stroh Bailey, author of Finding Lucas. Can you…

Guest Post by Lauren Clark

If you enjoy Dancing Naked in Dixie ….  Dancing Naked in Dixie, set in the real-life city of Eufaula, Alabama, is the story of magazine…

Author Profile: Lauren Clark

Author Name: Lauren Clark
Website: www.laurenclarkbooks.com.
Bio: Lauren Clark is the author of Stay Tuned and Dancing Naked in Dixie. She writes contemporary novels set in the Deep South; stories sprinkled with sunshine, suspense, and secrets.

A former TV news anchor, Lauren adores flavored coffee, local book stores, and anywhere she can stick her toes in the sand. Her big loves are her family, paying it forward, and true-blue friends. Check out her website at www.laurenclarkbooks.com.
Titles: Stay Tuned, Dancing Naked in Dixie
See my reviews for Stay Tuned and Dancing Naked in Dixie
Visit’s Lauren’s tour page on CLP Blog Tours!
To get a copy of Dixie or Stay Tuned:

Dancing Naked in Dixie for Kindle
Dixie for Nook
Stay Tuned

Dancing Naked in Paperback

Dancing Naked for iTunes, iPad, iPhone
Find more about Lauren here:

Lauren Clark Books Website
GoodReads Lauren Clark
Twitter Lauren Clark
Facebook Lauren Clark

Interview with Samantha Stroh Bailey

 When did you know writing was for you? Ever since I was a little girl, I have always written. I actually send my first chick…

Guest Post from Suzan Battah

Some More Meanings and Fun Stuff about the BaSatai World

Thank you Samantha for allowing me on your blog, I love chatting about the BaSatai World and people often ask me how I remember so much about the world I’ve created and it’s simple because I love it, visualize it and feel and know the characters so well.

About the Title and What it Means – BaSatai: Outside In

BaSatai is referring to the supernatural people from the parallel world
H-Trae. The main character in the book Armani is a BaSatai hidden away on earth. Outside In refers to the way Armani feels like an outsider, different, singled out in the book there is a section where Rafael tells her ‘why are you always looking from the outside in?’. This book is mainly about Armani’s struggle with looking from the outside in.

About the Main Character Armani

Armani is plagued with a curse in her blood designed to break the parallel divide between H-Trae and earth when her blood spills and she dies. As she comes closer to turning 18, the elite BaSatai warriors and her Guardian have come to train her and take her home where she can be better protected. Yet Armani does not accept the curse in her blood nor does she accept the BaSatai and her Guardian giving up their lives just to protect her. Armani is suffering from human emotions and struggles to understand her purpose and identity in life. Her Guardian Karhl also arrives to guide her through the process of crossing over with Rafael, an elite BaSatai Warrior, who stirs up more confusion, emotions and guilt in Armani. She refuses to fall into line and doesn’t want to go back. She’s a walking target for her enemies crossing the divide to find her as the blood curse matures, the Supernatural’s are following the scent and willing to kill her to fulfill the curse.

Armani really struggles in this first book. She is a BaSatai suffering from human emotions and her stubborn belief she isn’t really cursed. She has a bad attitude and real vulnerbility. For Armani, the BaSatai coming for her mean the loss of her freedom and the guilt on her conscious if they die to protect her. It’s a tough struggle and she complains and fights it all the way. She’s like any normal teenager with usual issues but a more serious part of her life is that her death can destroy humanity.

The Music that Inspired BaSatai
Music is a big part of my writing life. I love Within Temptation, Kanye, Rihanna, Evanescence, Gobsmack and any type of Classical music helps me to write especially emotional scenes. All I Need by Within Temptation is the song for Rafael and Armani.

The Characters and My Favourite
I love all my characters in my books, each has such distinct personalities when it comes to the choices they make and the reasons behind it. But a favourite is surprisingly not a main character in book 1 and that is Valko, he’s annoying and rude but so much fun to write and certainly honest when maybe he shouldn’t be.