Challenge 2012:Post Reviews:July
July Reviews See past reviews January Reviews February Reviews March Reviews April Reviews May Reviews June Reviews Please note this is not the sign up…
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
Novel Spotlight: The Cowboy Singer by Paula Tiberius
April Connors figured her love life was on hold indefinitely now that she was about to have a baby while temporarily staying at her grandmother’s…
My First 5K: Week Three
I talked last week about running outside for the first time in my 5K training, and how difficult I thought it was versus the treadmill. Now I feel like I’ve scared myself from running outside again! This week, it was all treadmill. I am such a chicken, and super embarrassed to admit that I’ve intimidated myself on running outdoors. I know I have to get outside again this week though. There’s no way around it! One thing I noticed this week was giving myself an okay to take a breather when running. I had a twenty minute run planned, and each time I’ve ran I’ve told myself no breaks – no stopping, no getting a drink of water, just running. But on Saturday when I was running, I got to about fifteen minutes in and just needed to stop. I had a side cramp and my breathing was not so hot. I stopped for about forty seconds, just catching my breath and trying not to feel too down on myself for the break. I started running again, and to my surprise – I felt ten times better. I finished the rest of the run with no desire for a break. So when I run again this week, if I feel like I need to take a quick breath, I will give myself one. The difference that forty second break made was a huge one for me.
Here is what my workout schedule looked like this week. The bolded items are what I would normally do, and my new running schedule is added on.
Monday: Walk 3 minutes, run 12 minutes, walk 3 minutes, 30 minute yoga DVD
Tuesday: Walk 15 minutes, 10 sit-ups, Shape magazine workout – 15 minutes, Zumba DVD – 15 minutes
Wednesday: Walk 4 minutes, run 16 minutes, walk 4 minutes
Thursday: Walk 15 minutes, 15 sit-ups, 60 minute elliptical
Friday: Day Off
Saturday: Walk 5 minutes, run 20 minutes, walk 5 minutes
Sunday: Day Off
In My Mailbox: Week of July 1
In Samantha’s Mailbox:
Title: Rum Punch Regrets
Author: Anne Kemp
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: In just a few short weeks, thirty something Abby George has endured the death of her mother, was dumped by her fiancé, and got laid off from her job.
Stunned and seeking a shoulder to cry on, she turns to her perfect older sister, Leigh. But instead of comfort, Abby receives a surprise: Leigh needs her in the Caribbean to help with some mysterious personal business.
While assisting in the sale and repair of a bed-and-breakfast, Abby uncovers a few huge family secrets as she juggles an unexpected roommate, quirky locals, and nasty centipedes.
Abby’s world is further complicated when two potential suitors enter her life. Can Abby get beyond her own psycho drama long enough to open her heart to someone new? Or will she neurotically make her romantic life worse?
Packing nothing but her suitcases and a sense of humor, Abby George travels down an unfamiliar road, but it’s all she can do to hang on for the ride…
Or will she wake up with “Rum Punch Regrets?”
“Humor, mystery, romance and a beautiful island paradise. Throw in a lovable and spirited protagonist and you have Rum Punch Regrets, the perfect summer read.” – Kyra Davis, Women’s Fiction Author
Title: Haole Wood
Author: Dee DeTarsio
Received: From Dee DeTarsio
Synopsis: When San Diego weathercaster, Jaswinder Park, is mysteriously summoned to the island of Maui in Hawaii to help her grandmother, she ends up losing her job. This fair-haired, light-skinned foreigner, called haole by the natives, decides to stay in Maui for a couple of days until she can figure out what to do with her life. She realizes that her quick trip to Maui may not be all she’s hoping for when:
-She has to bail her Hawaiian/Korean grandmother out of jail for possession of pakalolo.
-The only thing she can understand her grandmother say is: “Not that.”
-She can’t decide which hurts worse, her sunburn, hangover, or memories of the night before.
-She’s labeled the “Liquor Licker” on the front page of the Maui News in a photo that shows
her doing a shot of tequila with a hunky Hawaiian who’s been found dead.
-It seems she’s had orgasms that have lasted longer than her career.
-She scrapes the bottom of the barrel to find her guardian angel.
Beautiful fabric found in her grandmother’s closet unfolds a future for Jaswinder as she designs sensuous silky wraps called sunshminas that provide sun protection. She tries for a Hollywood connection, but her company, Haole Wood, has some growing pains. From trying to find a killer, to selling her sunshminas, to lusting after Dr. Jac, the island dermatologist, to trying to ignore her so-called guardian angel, can Jaswinder learn to embrace the island way of life? Aloha!
Title: Don’t Let Me Go
Author: Catherine Ryan Hyde
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis:
Former Broadway dancer and current agoraphobic Billy Shine has not set foot outside his apartment in almost a decade. He has glimpsed his neighbors—beautiful manicurist Rayleen, lonely old Ms. Hinman, bigoted and angry Mr. Lafferty, kind-hearted Felipe, and 9-year-old Grace and her former addict mother Eileen.
But most of them have never seen Billy. Not until Grace begins to sit outside on the building’s front stoop for hours every day, inches from Billy’s patio. Troubled by this change in the natural order, Billy makes it far enough out onto his porch to ask Grace why she doesn’t sit inside where it’s safe. Her answer: “If I sit inside, then nobody will know I’m in trouble. And then nobody will help me.”
Her answer changes everything.
By the bestselling author of WHEN I FOUND YOU, SECOND HAND HEART, and PAY IT FORWARD, DON’T LET ME GO is the heart-breaking, funny, and life-affirming story of a building full of loners and misfits who come together to help a little girl survive—and thrive—against all odds.
Title: India’s Summer
Author: Thérèse
Received: From BookSparks PR
Synopsis: India Butler, single and about to turn forty, travels to LA in an attempt to reinvent her life.
In a world rarely illuminated by the flashbulbs of the paparazzi, she discovers the true meaning of “having it all.”
In Sara’s Mailbox:
Title: Before I Met You
Author: Lisa Jewell
Received: Najma @Cornerstone Publicity
Synopsis: Having grown up on the quiet island of Guernsey, Elizabeth Dean can’t wait to start her new life in London. On a mission to find Clara Pickle – the mysterious beneficiary in her grandmother’s will – she arrives in bustling and grungy 1990s Soho, filled with hope, excitement and dreams. She has the world at her feet and is ready for whatever life has to throw at her. Or so she thinks…In 1920s bohemian London, Arlette – Elizabeth’s grandmother – is starting her new life in a time of post-war change. Beautiful and charismatic, Arlette is soon drawn into the hedonistic world of the Bright Young People. But less than two years later, tragedy strikes and she flees back to Guernsey for the rest of her life. As Elizabeth searches for Clara, she is taken on a journey through Arlette’s extraordinary time in London, uncovering a tale of love, loss and heartbreak. Will the secrets of Arlette’s past help Elizabeth on her path to happiness?
Title: Free Gift With Purchase
Author: Jackie Pilossoph
Received: CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Emma and Laura are about as different as two sisters can be. Emma’s always been the party girl, Laura, the hardworking doctor. But now, the two have something in common. Both are newly single and trying out the dating scene after marriage.
Emma’s a widow and a single mother with a guilty secret she can’t let go. Laura’s husband just dumped her for one of four women he’s been sleeping with. A dispute over the house forces Laura to move in with her sister and that’s when the fun begins.
Go on some dates with these 42 and 44 year-old adorable sisters who are both looking for love and your jaw will surely drop! Laura’s mixed bag includes Dan, a selfish womanizer, Ari, a stalker, and Tim, a compulsive liar. For Emma there’s gorgeous, sexy Preston, a self-proclaiming “fun guy,” beautiful Alice, who’s a lesbian, and a string of Matts who go from bad to worse. Then there’s separated, charismatic, wealthy Luke Sullivan. Luke’s carrying some baggage, but he makes Emma’s heart stop every time he appears. Free Gift With Purchase is a book about two sisters who have always seen things from an entirely different perspective, but who as women in need of each other learn to consider that instead of judging, looking through each other’s eyes might make their lives a lot richer. In other words, when you buy into opening your heart and believing in yourself, you might just end up with a Free Gift With Purchase.
Adele is Pregnant!
Well, good news comes out of Hollywood! After hearing about the split between Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, I was a bit bummed, I’ll admit…
Katie Holmes Files For Divorce
I have to say this bit of news surprised me – which I can’t say is typical when it comes to celebrity divorces. It was…
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.
