Way To Go, Jill!

I can't talk about The Life Of Glass Release week without first taking a moment to give Jillian Cantor a huge, heartfelt congratulations. I'm always telling her she's the real deal. She can pump out a beautiful story in no time flat. Her writing is, well, superb and it seems to me that prose flows out of that girl as effortlessly as love does from a mom.

I'm going to head to Davis-Kidd, our Nashville indie, to pick up a copy of The Life of Glass today. The cover is ingenious but I'm sure it doesn't even compare to the brilliance inside. And every one of our wonderful NG followers has a chance to win a signed copy. All you have to do is post a comment. The more you post, the better chance you have of winning. So post, post, post!

Since "Love Stories" is the topic that Jillian has chosen for us to talk about this week, here's my two cents.

When I hear the words Love Story I can't help but think about Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal. I know it shows my age, but honestly if you grew up in the 70s this was THE movie of the decade. It evoked sobs, you know the messy-cry kind that before you know it, has your whole face smeared with nose fluid. Love Story's got all the makings of the perfect star-crossed, tragedy. Oliver, a Harvard pre-law, blue-blooded, hockey player and Jenny, an Italian/American, blue-collared, Radcliffe music student fall in love. Oliver's father is hell-bent to put the kibosh on the relationship. Then the unthinkable happens.

We know how the love story will end from the opening line of the film. Oliver narrates, looking back:

What can you say about a twenty-five-year-old girl who died? That she was beautiful and brilliant? That she loved Mozart and Bach, the Beatles, and me?

It's a little sappy, but if you like love stories, it's definitely worth a trip to Blockbuster or the 99 cent investment at Netflix. Or by all means, read the novel. I read it in a day, if I remember correctly.

This just dawned on me. Maybe my real Novel Girl roll is to educate all of our young followers on the comings and goings of the 70s. Tell me, has anyone out there seen Love Story? Does anyone out there even care about seeing Love Story? Go ahead and post. You'll be happy you did when The Life of Glass shows up in your mailbox!

Quote me!

I'm late . . . again. I'm thinking back to all the free time I used to have and I never even appreciated it. In fact, because I'm simply not a planner (instead I'm a crammer) I'm paying for every single stressful second. My spare minutes are gone, over, finished. Goodbye relaxation and hello craziness.

But isn't this a wonderful problem to have? I have waited for this two-week-countdown for much too long. In fact, I dreamed up the title to my upcoming book, Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'easter, just about 14 years ago. It's a mighty fine feeling to see my dream finally coming true. It's a beautiful thing!

And since Jillian's topic is about beauty, I've scoured the internet for some of my favorite quotes on the subject.

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
~ Eleanor Roosevelt

"Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart." ~Kahlil Gibran

"Our hearts are drunk with a beauty our eyes could never see." ~George W. Russell

"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." ~ Confucius

"Do I love you because you're beautiful,
Or are you beautiful because I love you?"
~Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, Cinderella

The most beautiful thing I've seen in a long time is the look upon my son's face while he's playing the piano. With his eyes closed and his head tilted to the side, he gets lost in the melody as his fingers travel effortlessly across the keys. His face exudes peace and joy. And that's beautiful to a mother's heart. Especially after the unrest he has endured these last few weeks.

As for me - The fairest form of beauty is that of a kind and forgiving heart. Feel free to quote me on that one!

Thanks to everyone who entered our contest last week--and don't worry, you're all still entered to win a $100 Amazon gift card. Keep the comments up and we'll announce the winner at the end of the month!

Be sure to leave a comment this week to win a signed ARC of Jillian's new book: THE LIFE OF GLASS. I'm jealous that Maureen has been able to read it already. There's no doubt in my mind that it's fabulous. We all know by now the Jillian girl can write.

So, do you have a favorite quote about beauty? If so, comment and quote away!

The Little Things

First off, we have some unfinished business to take care of from last week. The winner of a signed copy of my book, A BUMP IN THE ROAD, is cait045! Congrats! Please shoot us an email at thenovelgirls@gmail.com with your address and how you would like your book personalized and I'll send it out!

Thanks to everyone who entered our contest last week--and don't worry, you're all still entered to win a $100 Amazon gift card. Keep the comments up and we'll announce the winner at the end of the month!

Be sure to leave a comment this week to win a signed ARC of Jillian's new book: THE LIFE OF GLASS. I cajoled and begged Jill until she was basically forced to send me a copy of this book, and let me just say, it's brilliant. Beautiful and lyrical, it kind of made me hate her since it was so freakin' good. So, folks, you want this one.

OK, so, onto this week's topic: beauty. At first, Jill had me stumped with this topic--should I write about beauty in literary characters? Real-life beauty? The beauty of paying off my car last week? But then, as I took my son for a walk to the park yesterday morning, I realized I can talk about a different kind of beauty: nature.

See, I've never been a nature-girl. It's always been strictly city-living for me. When my mother-in-law would suggest a family camping trip, I'd recoil in horror. Because, you know, bugs and wild animals and stuff. Yet, I've been writing at home full-time since June, so I've had lots of opportunities lately to go outside and let my toddler run around while I enjoy the weather.

Before this summer, I was always working full-time in an office environment, so I barely noticed the change of seasons. All that summer meant to me was that I had to crank up the air-conditioning in my car a bit and winter meant scraping off my car in the wee morning hours.

Just last week, I called my mom and asked her why there are so many bees outside right now. It seems like we can't go to the park, grocery store or on a walk without being attacked by yellow jackets searching for a morsel of food. (And of course it results in some hysterical shrieking, arm flailing and running. It's quite possible my neighbors think I have some kind of disorder.) My mom reminded me that late August/early September is bee season, and that it's totally normal.

I was somewhat struck by this, since I realized that I'd never had the opportunity to be outside much in the past, oh, twenty years, so I didn't even notice the living creatures all around me. Now, mostly thanks to a rambunctious toddler, I'm outside every day. And I not only notice the little things, but look for them.

In honor of the impending change of seasons, what's your favorite time of year?