Blog Tour Sign Up: Ripple the Twine by Jenn Flynn-Shon
Jenn will be on tour in August with her chick lit novel Ripple the Twine. Please use the sign up form below if you would…
Future Tour: Write from the Heart by Heather Hummel
Heather will be on tour February 27- March 19 with her novel Write from the Heart Journals are a woman’s best friend… When Samantha Sounder…
Interview with Irene Woodbury
Hi Irene! Below are my interview questions. Thanks!
Can you describe A Slot Machine Ate My Midlife Crisis in twenty words or less?
A bizarre girls’ weekend in Las Vegas evolves into the darkly funny midlife crisis of forty-something newlywed Wendy Sinclair.
What made you want to write this story?
I always wondered what it would be like to go on a weekend trip and not go home. What would I do? What would the people back home say? Where would I live? Would I get a job? What kinds of people would I meet? Instead of actually doing this, I wrote a novel about someone who does it. I got to live out my fantasies through Wendy.
Why did you choose Las Vegas as the setting?
I spent a lot of time there as a travel writer. I found the city incredibly interesting and wanted to learn more about it. Writing this book gave me the opportunity to do that. Plus, I think the characters have traits in common with Las Vegas. They have attractive surfaces, but are complex and troubled underneath. Las Vegas is like that: a glitzy, frivolous surface with plenty of deeper, darker aspects to it. So, the characters and the setting complement each other.
What was the most difficult part of the writing process for you?
Writing with my heart and my head. You have to think everything the characters think, and feel everything they feel. It was hard to sustain that level of focus and intensity day in, day out, for five years.
Do you think you want to write a sequel?
I would love to pick up the characters at the end of Slot and take them further. I miss the creative-writing process–escaping into a make-believe world for hours each day. But it’s a big commitment. It would probably take three to five years, so I’d have to think it through.
How did you get started in travel writing?
On a vacation trip to London in 2000, my husband talked me into helping him with a travel story. I took over and wrote 40 pages. I never thought I’d enjoy travel writing, but I loved it. A couple of months later, the story ran in the Los Angeles Times. So the credit, or responsibility, goes to my husband.
What are you currently reading?
Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
What are some top Vegas attractions you would recommend?
The Lion Habitat at MGM Grand
The Conservatory at Bellagio
Jersey Boys show at Palazzo
Love show at Mirage
Spa Mandalay at Mandalay Bay
View of the Las Vegas valley from Eiffel Tower at Paris
What have been some of your favorite travel destinations, either to visit or write about?
London was my Number One destination for a few years. The stories I did there are some of my favorites. I also loved working in Las Vegas, Paris, Dublin and Madrid.
What is your advice to aspiring writers?
Find out the preferred length of whatever it is you’re going to write, and stick to it! Don’t do what I did and write a 175,000-word novel that has to cut by 35,000 words so that agents or publishers will be interested. It just adds extra work and anguish.
On Tour: Voices on the Waves by Jessica Chambers
Jessica Chambers is on tour May 2-16 with her novel Voices on the Waves. When Faye Wakefield runs a competition offering nine lucky winners a…
These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf
These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf gave me chills throughout the entire story. It begins with Allison Glenn, a 21 year old Iowa native who is serving time in prison for a crime that is not immediately known. Allison is about to be released, and will finish out her sentence at a halfway house in her hometown. Once the golden girl of her family, excellent grades, good at sports, a college future in mind, Allison’s family has now shunned her very existence. But the one person Allison is desperate to talk to is her little sister Brynn. Brynn was there that night, she is the only other person who knows what really happened. And when Allison unexpectedly finds a missing puzzle piece from that horrendous night, she needs Brynn more than ever.
This story is deliciously thrilling, covering Allison’s point of view, Brynn’s, and even more characters that add to the mystery. The characters haunted me when I had to stop reading, making this book absolutely impossible to put down for long periods of time. Halfway through the story I thought I had it all figured out, and then another twist would be thrown in, completely catching me off guard. It wasn’t until the very last chapter that the entire mystery is laid out for you, and Gudenkauf did a magnificent job at weaving in so many plot points and keeping the suspense at a high level throughout. These Things Hidden is a mystery, a thriller, but also a beautifully touching story on family, innocence, and the bond of sisters.
[Rating: 5]
The Christmas Journey by Donna VanLiere
The Christmas Journey by Donna VanLiere relieves the story of Mary and Joseph and their journey to Bethlehem. It is a very thin book, with water colorings by Michael Storrings. It took me about an hour to read, and I found it interesting to find a story that made Mary and Joseph seem very real. The emotions were evident, the journey was heartwarming, and I think readers can enjoy the story, even not around the holiday times. VanLiere makes Mary and Joseph very human in the modern world, and lets us remember what the Christmas spirit is all about.
Challenge:Post Reviews:January
January Challenge Reviews Please note this is not the sign up page. To sign up, click HERE Only signed up challengers are eligible to win…
In My Mailbox: Week of October 17
In My Mailbox: Week of October 17th
Title: Four Thousand Miles
Author: Jesi Lea Ryan
Received: From Jesi Lea Ryan
Synopsis: When Natalie Spencer loses both her career and marriage in the same morning, the emotional shock sends her on a spontaneous journey to England. There, she is nearly mugged in a Tube station, but an introverted songwriter named Gavin Ashby scares off her attackers. Recognizing Natalie’s fragile state, Gavin offers help and invites her to recuperate from her trauma at his country home.
As she adjusts to her new role and surroundings, Natalie finds healing by helping others. Gavin and his family begin to accept Natalie into their hearts, leading her to a choice…abandon her old life in the States and trust in a new chance at love, or flee once again?
Title: Her Latest Supporting Role
Author: Cynthia Ashworth
Received: From Cynthia Ashworth
Synopsis: Jill Barber is a failed former actress and almost-MFA…or so she thinks. A botched exam and her reluctance to submit to a lecherous lecturer’s proposal—sleep with him for a passing grade—land her in summer school, taking a class taught by hot young novelist Jonathan Wunder.
Jill’s nights are spent working to finish her degree, her days at a large Madison Avenue ad agency trying desperately to hang onto its largest account. Tellco Toys’ business is about to walk out the door, and Constable, the agency’s mercurial President, is making everyone’s life miserable: Jill’s bosses, the Über-Producers Sandi and Nick; Petra and Robin (a hip and friendly creative team with a knack for giving Jill the wrong advice); and client-service guy Graham, who has taken quite a shine to Jill. And against her better judgment, she soon finds herself in an ambiguous romantic relationship with her instructor, while trying to deflect the attentions of her straight-laced and smitten co-worker without hurting her budding career.
HER LATEST SUPPORTING ROLE is a romantic comedy set in the funny and frantic world of New York advertising. Jill’s romantic missteps—as she maneuvers between her enigmatic instructor and a charming but hapless colleague—and the agency’s increasingly desperate attempts to save the big account (and everyone’s jobs) are parallel stories that drive toward a surprising climax.
Title: Falling Home
Author: Karen White
Received: From Joy Strazza with Joan Schulhafer Publishing & Media Consulting
Synopsis: Falling Home is a coming home story about forgiveness and acceptance, and of finding love in the most unexpected of places. Home is where the heart is, but Cassie Madison prefers to think of it as a place where one is born, then outgrows, along with skinned knees and childhood dreams. A humiliated Cassie left Walton, Georgia for Manhattan fifteen years before, vowing never to return.
And then her sister calls. Their father is dying and wants Cassie to come back home. When Cassie’s father dies, saddling her with the family’s antebellum home and letters hinting of an unknown sibling, Cassie finds herself sinking into the red Georgia clay like quicksand. Reluctantly, Cassie is pulled into the lives of her sister and family, and that of Sam Parker, the town doctor.
When tragedy strikes, Cassie is led to discover that home is a place that lives in one’s heart, waiting with open arms to be rediscovered.
Waxed by Robert Rave
I don’t usually get many chick lit books sent my way by male authors, but the few I have, I really enjoyed them. When I read the synopsis for Waxed by Robert Rave and saw that a male author was taking on three sisters who run their own waxing salon and specialize in waxing “lady bits” I couldn’t help but be surprised. A male discussing failed relationships, cheating scandals- and bikini waxes?
From just a few pages in, I was sold. Carolina Impresario, the oldest of the three sisters and owner of Impresarios, seems to have everything under control. But her no nonsense attitude and how she unapologetically runs her salon and personal life is only a façade. When she has to choose between her boyfriend and previous lover, readers can connect with Carolina on a more personal journey, beyond money, success, and glamour. The middle sister, Anna, is the domestic one, trying to raise her three children by herself after her husband left the family. Anna struggles to get back to work at Impresarios, and takes on a job with an older client who teaches Anna more about experiencing life that she ever knew was possible. With one of her children choosing to lead an unconventional lifestyle, Anna finds in increasingly difficult to be a single parent to her three children, but doesn’t know how to act when her ex appears back in her life. And Sophia is the youngest, recently married and faithfully in love with her husband. When a gay client befriends Sophia, she learns more about love, marriage, and commitment than she bargained for.
The three sisters struggle through their personal issues, and I sped quickly through the pages trying to soak it all in. Rave does an excellent job at giving each sister her own unique voice, and though their situations are definitely out there, I felt I could relate in some way to each sister. I was invested in each one and wanted to see them succeed, and I just love novels that can make me feel a personal connection with the characters. Rave managed to do this with not only one heroine, but three. I can’t sing enough praises about Waxed, the characters were flawless, the writing smooth, and the setting of an upscale New York waxing salon brought in the comedy. Five stars!
Rating: 5/5
