Contest Winner!!!

We've tallied up all the entries from our Blogoversary celebration and used random.org to pick the winner for us. And the winner of the $100 gift certificate to Amazon is. . . Parisa! Parisa please send us an e-mail at thenovelgirls@gmail.com with your contact info.

Thanks so much to all our old and new followers and to everyone else who entered and commented on our posts all month long!

Cheers!
The Novel Girls

Best Of: Where would the world be . . .

without our animals?

Now that I've come down a little from the high of last week, I'm back to the real world. Aside from catching a little cold I'm still reeling from my launch party which, by the way, was very special. I was lucky enough to have two very young and handsome dates! Here's a pic of a proud mama. That's Michael on the right and Will on my left.



I want to extend a heartfelt thanks to everyone who has bought my book! I really appreciate it and I hope you enjoy.

In continuing our "Best Of" week, my post on animals is still one of my faves. . .

Pet Day. Ahhhh, I've been looking forward to this one. I'm one of those pet people. Well, that's an understatement. I don't think I've gone a day in my life without a pet at home. Even while away at college, I had a full fishbowl.

Hopefully, you'll remember my post on the passing of my beloved 13-year-old cat, Snowball, only two weeks ago. I'm still very sad about it. I even find myself calling her name - just because. My little Rosie, (see below) has been melancholy, as well. The night before Snowball died, Rosie could sense something was terribly wrong. She put her little head only an inch away from Snowball's and laid down right next to her. Rosie never left Snowball's side the whole night. It was one of the most precious, tender acts of love I've ever experienced.



And thank God for Rosie. She lifts my spirits. Rosie's a fireball - energetic and full of herself. She's hilarious, really. A feisty little thing, my Rosie or Rosebud as I frequently call her, is a natural born comedian and has no idea of her comedic talent. After she's been lying down for awhile, her beard gets smashed to one side and stays that way until she shakes herself out. She's sneaky, too. Since she lived with a cat for the last two years, she fancies herself a feline. Rosie thinks nothing of getting up on the counter (when I'm not looking of course) and as soon as she hears my footsteps, she scrambles to get down and all I hear is a big thump on the kitchen floor. When I walk in, she struts over to her water bowl acting as if she's as innocent as the day she was born.

I can't trust her with an open coffee cup, either. If I leave the room - only for a second - I return to an empty cup and Rosie licking her lips. She looks up at me like, "What?"

Rosie goes ballistic when I come home. Jumping all over me, and three feet off the ground, she turns into a little show-off. She walks all the way across the floor on her back legs and twirls around in hopes of a snagging a good treat. When my next-door neighbor, Kathy, comes over Rosie gets so excited she starts running all over the house. Up on the couch, down the hall, up onto my bed, and back again. I'll open the patio door and she leaps off the top step and starts racing around the yard in figure eights. I call it her greyhound run.

My novel, Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'easter, stars a 14-year-old Yorkie by the name of Princess Grace Kelly or Gracie, for short. Gracie gets herself into all kinds of trouble, like pooping in the dining room of Leelee's crowded Vermont inn.

Animals sure do make the whole world a lot sweeter - and funnier. Please feel free to reply with your own animal anecdotes! I'm sure we'd all love to hear them.

And I'm thrilled to announce that the winner of a signed copy of Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'easter is Carol at The Writer's Porch. I assigned everyone a number who made comments and then entered them at Random.org. Carol's number 12 came up! So please, Carol, send me your address so I can send you my book!

Hope to see you next week!

Best of: Book on Submission + Colicky Baby = Writer on the Edge

OK, so here is my "Best of" blog post. It's about The CALL--what else? Writing is so filled with difficult moments, that we have to hold on to, remember and celebrate the amazing ones!

So here goes:

"Your day is about to get a whole lot better."

Those were the words my agent said on Monday, December 3, 2007. I was at work, of course, with coworkers lingering outside my office, wondering why I was jumping up and down and pumping my fists into the air. I mean, did we just get a huge discount on our copier paper or something?

It was the end of a six month process that nearly shook my faith in my writing ability to its core.

See, I got my agent fairly quickly--I probably only sent out about 20-30 queries, and only for about a month, before I snagged Holly. After what she called, "Possibly the Shortest Edit Letter Ever," my baby was sent out into the universe in mid-June.

Immediately, we got several good reads, and my agent whispered "auction." Then...nothing. Everything fell through--the voice was too chick-lit, the voice was too young-sounding, one publisher backed out because another imprint at the same house was interested.

All that excitement and, by mid-July, we were left with...zero. Thankfully, I had more than enough to distract me, since I was nine months pregnant. And through the sleepless nights right after my son was born and those first few weeks with a colicky baby, Holly kept right on submitting. And I kept the faith. Faith that my writing was worthy, that it was relevant, that writing was something I was MEANT to do.

Towards the end of my maternity leave, I started to panic, because I really, really wanted to stay home and write. And damn it, if someone would just BUY my damn book...

But, as we know, that never really works. So, we found a wonderful nanny and I went back to work in early November. And, after a couple of weeks, realized how much I enjoy my job and my coworkers. Now, I barely had time to wrap my mind around THAT revelation before my cell phone rang and heard the news that someone wanted to buy my book AND the sequel.

And so I went home, opened a bottle of wine (that I have since saved and put on display in my kitchen) and stayed up until the wee hours of the morning, alternating between freaking out and jumping up and down.

***
Just reading over that makes me giddy! Stay tuned, folks, because we're going to announce the winner of the $100 Amazon gift card as soon as we tally up all the entries!

IT'S HERE!! WHISTLIN' DIXIE IS IN STORES TUESDAY!

Well, it's hard to believe. Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'easter will be released tomorrow! It's quite an emotional moment for me, to say the least. I have been dreaming of this day for 14 years. Waiting on that was worse than an August drive across the United States in a beat-up pick-up truck with no air conditioning. But pushing all that old angst aside, we're no longer worrying about the past . . . the book will be IN THE STORES ON TUESDAY!!



I'm beside myself, really. And not just because of the book release. I'm the one who thought of this crazy topic, "The Craziest Thing We've Ever Done" and now I'm realizing sharing the details with the whole world about 99 percent of my crazy antics is impossible. Plus, the odds are you wouldn't believe me anyway! I could talk about the time a dear friend of mine and I climbed over Lucile Ball's wall, but even if you did believe me the details are just too incriminating.

Then there was another college escapade, this time at summer school at the University of Hawaii when another friend and I dressed in black and tried to sneak up to a teacher's office in the middle of the night to slide a slightly overdue paper under her door. Or the time I walked into the Sugar Bowl without a ticket, simply by acting like I knew what I was doing. Or backed my way into the exit line that was coming out of Pat O'Brien's in New Orleans to be able to have a rip-roaring New Year's Eve.

I suppose it's safe to share a crazy thing that my girlfriends from college and I used to do in the wee hours of the morn. I'm going to go ahead and admit right now, I stole it and used it in my book that releases tomorrow, Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'easter.

It goes like this. Like any college kids, we'd decide to go out for food around one or two o'clock in the morning. Usually this was after a fun evening, a pledge swap or a frat party. At this point in my life, I'm not sure who dreamed up this crazy prank in the first place but that's inconsequential to the story. The night it all started we were in my friend Alice's car. As usual, we'd pull in through the drive-through and snicker at all the people inside with their books propped in front of them. (I'm not proud of that now, but such is life.) As we exited the drive-through line at the local Krystal fast-food restaurant, we'd decide to wake up the students inside. We'd dip a Tampax in whatever liquid happened to be in the car and the person seated in the back seat - driver's side would hurl it though the air toward the huge plate glass window in the front of the store. Then we'd watch it slam into the window. The best part was when it slid down the glass. We'd be laughing so hard at the reactions on the faces of the folks inside that we'd inevitably forget to hurry off. This meant we'd have to screech out of the parking lot and hurry back to the dorm.

We called that "pooning." And there's a similar pooning scene in my novel. Crazy, crazy, right?

We've got an entire week left to celebrate the Novel Girl Blogoversary. I hope that you all enter by continuing your posts this week. I'd love to send the winner a signed copy of my book! Thank you all for the wonderful posts over the last month and mostly for following us. It's because of you that we're here and we love hearing from you. Tell us about some of your own crazy stories. And don't forget everyone is eligible to win the $100.00 gift certificate from Amazon. See you next week!!

"The Whirlwind of Passion"...

When I was in Grade 9, my english teacher gave our class an assignment. Pick a soliloquy from Romeo and Juliet and present it in front of the other students. I dare say you can imagine how this went over with the majority of the class...

I will admit to initial trepidation myself, even. This Shakespeare stuff was weird and awkward and didn't make any sense was the general consensus and I had no reason to believe to the contrary. Until I actually started to read the stuff, that is.

I can't explain it. But those words SPOKE to me. The rhthym, the music, the way the lines of text even looked on the page of my school-assigned purple-covered paperback edition (which, larcenously, I don't think I ever actually gave back at the end of the year, so enamoured was I). Something about the language just hit me. I chose Juliet's speech in the so-called 'balcony scene' (the one that starts out 'Thou knowst the mask of night is on my face') and... I memorized it.

I was the only one in the class who did that. Learned it 'by heart' as it were.

It set off a chain reaction that has culminated in my life's passion. It also got me a week's worth of 'weirdo' stares from my classmates (but also earned me bonus marks from the teacher - heh!). That one speech - and performing (in however small a way) that one speech - put my little sneakered feet squarely on the path of reader/writer/actor/storyteller. It imparted, with one swift blow, a profound, passionate, undeniable love of language - specifically of words meant to shape a story, tell a tale, move an audience, ellicit emotion - that sticks with me to this day.

I love it when I encounter the phenomenon. I can get lost in a story for days at at time, or for moments. Reading this week's entries from my fellow Girls was particularly wonderful for me. Because even brief blog entries can spark that passion in me -- although earlier in the week, they were also - admittedly - sparking hunger pangs, too, ladies! (Evocative food writing? That's pretty cool. *salivates*)

So my passion, at its most basic I suppose, is story. But - and here's an important distinction - it's not just the need to write. Or the need to perform. It's the act, itself, of creating something that can be inhabited by someone else's imagination. (Great art or photography or dance or - yes absolutely! cooking! - does it, too.) But it's not just the force of passion at work in most cases where something is truly extraordinary. Because when a piece of art really moves you, it's not just the passion working behind it. It can't be. It's also the craftsmanship and care and skill used to shape and hone that initial raw passion that is so vital to both the process and the outcome.

With the celebration this week of my WONDROUS STRANGE paperback release - and with me being smack in the middle of writing the 3rd book in the trilogy - I've been thinking about this idea of passion a lot. Particularly in terms of my character, Kelley. We have a shared background in the theatre and the passion that goes with it. And I worry a little bit about her because of it. Probably in much the same way my parents worried about me when I announced that it was the Theatre Or Bust for me. You have to be a little crazy to be in the acting business - I think I might have said that before - and you have to be committed. But you all so have to be disciplined. Passions are all very marvelous - but not if you let them run away with you. Let's face it - most of the time that just leads to over-writing, self-indulgence and plain old hamming-it-up-ery!

Like Hamlet says, upon giving instructions to the actors of his play:

"... use all gently;

for in the very torrent, tempest, and, as I may say,

the whirlwind of passion, you must acquire and beget

a temperance that may give it smoothness."

I hope that's a lesson Kelley learns. Girl's full of passion at the moment. Temperance? Er... not so much.

So what do you guys think? Am I full of hot air? Is Hamlet? Is pure passion by itself ever sufficient in the act of creation? Is art better left undiluted by craft? Leave your wisdom in the comments - which (ooh! Multi-tasking!) automatically enters you in our Novel Girls Blogoversary Contest-o-Wonder! This week I'm giving away a signed-n-shiny copy of the WS paperback, plus you'll be entered for the grand prize of $100 Amazon Gift Card with which to indulge passions of your very own!! (details on the side bar of how to passionately increase your chances ot win win win!)

A One Passion Kind of Girl

Before I get into my post, let me wrap up some unfinished business from last week and announce the winner of THE LIFE OF GLASS ARC! I used random.org to select for me, and the winner is . . . Lauren! Lauren, I’ve sent you an e-mail, so please write back with your address so I can get the book out to you. And if you entered and didn’t win, don’t worry, you’ll still be entered into the drawing for the $100 gift card to Amazon at the end of the month.

Now onto this week’s topic – passions. This is a tough one for me, and I’ve been racking my brain to come up with something other than writing because saying that writing is my passion kind of feels like a cop-out. Obviously, that’s my passion, right? But the thing is, I don’t know that there’s anything else I really feel passionate about, the same way I do about writing.

There are other things in my life that are amazing, and I feel so lucky to have a wonderful husband, wonderful children, terrific friends and family. There are things I enjoy like books and movies and good food and taking walks. But without the writing, there’s a part of me that feels a little lost, a little hollow. I know this because there have been times in my life when I’ve stopped writing, times when I’ve given up. And in those spaces in my life, I felt a certain sense of dullness that I never feel when writing is a part of my life.

There was one time in particular, after my oldest son was first born, and I’d been through a lot of rejection on the writing front. This time, I said, of writing, eh, who needs it? I’m better off without it. Instead I spent evenings teaching college classes and days taking care of my son. And after a few months of this, I felt like a robot, moving through the motions of life. I had a boring job which I wanted nothing more than to quit; I got to watch my son grow, which was amazing, but I began to feel that there was something lacking in my life, something I felt really passionate about. With writing out of the equation my brain felt a little numb.

And then once I finally decided to start writing again, I felt more alive. I don’t know what it is about writing, but I do know that I have to do it. I must do it. I love to do it. (Which is a good and necessary thing, because as any writer will tell you, there is a lot of rejection and heartache involved in the actual business of writing.)

It’s not that writing never feels like work (because sometimes it does) or that, like with anything else, I don’t sometimes procrastinate when I’m facing a deadline (I do! Thank you, Twitter!). But unlike other jobs, other hobbies, other things I love, writing is the only thing (outside of my family) that I MUST have in my life for it to feel complete. That, to me, is a passion.

So what’s your passion? Comment to win a signed paperback copy of Lesley Livingston’s WONDROUS STRANGE and to be entered to win $100 to Amazon. (And check out the sidebar for other ways to enter as well.) And if you haven’t already read it, the fabulous WONDROUS STRANGE is out in paperback this week, so be sure and check it out!!

Ahh, Passion!

Our Blogoversary continues and this week we're celebrating the paperback release of WONDROUS STRANGE. Congratulations Lesley! You must feel fabulous. One thing's for sure WS is a passionate piece of art. A must read for any age! So please run - and hurry hurry - to your favorite bookstore and purchase it. Lesley is giving away a signed copy this week, so please leave your comments. Look to the sidebar on the right for more ways to win. Also, everyone who comments will be entered to win a $100 Amazon gift card, to be given away at the end of the month!

Just knowing Lesley through cyberspace has me not surprised that she would pick passion as this week's topic. Passion is pretty close to a perfect emotion. Any time euphoria is the outcome, I'd say it's mighty fine to be passionate about anything. Passion is what drives me. It enhances my life. Without it I'd be a mess and I certainly wouldn't be here writing this post. The single reason I was able to write a novel is because passion envelops my heart.

I'm extremely passionate about the people I love, all animals and of course, music. Antiques qualify as my passion as does vintage jewelry. It's hard to imagine passion as anything but wonderful but for obvious reasons an unfortunate passion of mine is beautiful designer clothes. I'm not proud of this mind you, it's actually quite troubling. And so is the following . . . my passion for expensive champagne. I'm not exactly sure when that last one developed. I do remember having my first sip of Perrier Jouet and thinking Uh, oh. I'm in trouble. If you haven't tried expensive champagne you should go for it. You'll see what I mean. It's silky smooth and it slides down your throat like it's a healing tonic. Great champagne goes with your throat like ketchup goes with french fries. Like it's meant to be there. Maybe it's something about the fizziness, I don't know but it's fabulous. Now before anyone thinks I have a problem here, let me clarify, it's nothing of the sort. In fact, I've only had expensive champagne a handful of times in my life. In fact, I hardly drink at all. But when I do, it's going to be delicious. That's for sure.

And here's a new one on me. 150-year-old Grand Marnier (the other spirit I'm passionate about) actually exists! I had no idea. I mean that's pre-Civil War! A very nice friend offered to treat me to a sip of it after my first book signing at Davis-Kidd in Nashville. I hope he's serious because that sounds like a passionate experience for sure! Now the unfortunate reality about all these passions is my pocketbook, or lack there of. But that's what dreaming is for, right?

I'm passionate about beautiful flowers. In particular I love gardenias. Just one bloom will freshen up a whole room. My culinary passions include homegrown tomatoes, Alaskan king crab legs, caramel cake and anything cooked from a recipe out of Fine Cooking Magazine.

I suppose there is a flip-side to passion. I'm one of those overly passionate people who cries at the drop of a hat. My heart bleeds when I feel sorrow or injustice and especially loss.

I could go on and on about my other passions but I've already taken up too much room here and I have to go on to my day job. I love hearing about what ignites a special spark in others. Please tell me about what makes your heart pound!

And don't forget next week is FINALLY THE RELEASE OF WHISTLIN' DIXIE IN A NOR'EASTER. I'll be giving away a signed hardcover copy so please come back next week and enter to win. Have a great week everyone!!

Lazy Passions

Hey there noble blog readers! I hope you all have had a chance to pick up Lesley's book, Wondrous Strange. It's beautifully written with exciting plot twists and some really neat mythology running through the story fabric. This week marks our party for the paperback release of the book.

So, if you missed the chance to enjoy this fab book in hardcover, make sure to pick it up in paperback! You won't be sorry, I promise!

And to celebrate, Lesley is giving away a signed paperback copy of Wondrous Strange! So, same rules apply this week. Leave a comment on any post this week to be entered. Look to the sidebar on the right for more ways to win. Also, everyone who comments will be entered to win a $100 Amazon gift card, to be given away at the end of the month!

As Tracy mentioned, Lesley picked the topic of "passions" for this week. And my passion is somewhat similar to Tracy's. But while I do enjoy cooking and eating more than I should, I'm going to focus on my passionate love of The Food Network in this post.

I write everyday when I put my son down for a nap. And as I'm type-type-typin' away (or, you know, staring at a blinking cursor), I always have The Food Network on in the background. There's something so comforting about watching Paula Deen add another stick of butter into a casserole or Rachael Ray say "E.V.O.O." It's all so predictable and inviting. And their dishes always look perfect, and they make it look so easy and totally do-able thanks to the soft music and precise editing.

For awhile, I tried to translate this passion into my own cooking, to very little success. I found that while I enjoyed watching other people make delicious risotto, I often either screwed it up, got bored or was so tired by the time I finished that all I wanted to do was order a pizza. Of course, that's not to say everything I made was a disaster--but it was nothing like the visceral experience of watching someone else cook and taste their food at the end of the show.

(Side note: It always cracks me up when the host tries their own creation at the end. They always say, "YUM! OMG!" As if they're going to be all, "Ew! Sick! This is awful! Don't try this one, folks!")

So, my passion, if you could call it that, is good food like Tracy.

I just want you to cook it for me.

Don't Be Afraid!

I want to thank all The Novel Girls for their awesome posts last week, and a special thanks to Jillian for jumping on last Monday. It is much appreciated! I wish I could enter to win an ARC of THE LIFE OF GLASS...I'm so ready to read this book. But, alas, I will have to wait. *SIGH*

This week's topic is brought to us by Lesley! In addition, this week marks the paperback release of WONDROUS STRANGE. Listen up: if you haven't read WONDROUS STRANGE yet, why not? Stop reading this blog NOW, go get a copy, and then read that. Trust me, you'll love the story that Lesley has crafted.

So what's the topic on the agenda? Passions.

I have to admit this topic flummoxed me for a while, because my passions are fairly recognizable by anyone who knows me at all. Writing (Check), Reading (Check), Family (Check), and Friends (Check). And seeing as I've already dished on all of those passions on this blog at one time or another, I had to really think about what else in my life makes me smile.

It took longer than it should've, but that's because this is a passion I haven't truly been able to indulge in a while. I love...Love...LOVE to cook for friends and family and have everyone over for a get-together. But Tracy, you might say, how is this different than cooking for your family every night at the dinner time? Because that's not the type of cooking I'm talking about.

I'm talking about far more than throwing something on the table to feed my hungry brood, though that's fulfilling in its own way. What fires me up in the kitchen is when I go that extra mile and create a really special menu, and then when I can share that menu with those I'm closest with. I love making people smile, and I love hearing the "oohs" and "ahhs" from those enjoying whatever I've prepared.

Good food is such a great medium for socializing with the important people in your life, those connected by love, memories, and friendship. And yep, sometimes ordering a pizza works too, but I love planning a menu, choosing the perfect appetizers, main dish, side dishes, and desserts, and then going all out.

I used to do this often, for birthdays and holidays and just for fun. Lately, though, everyone in my life (including me) has been so busy, that this little passion of mine has fallen by the wayside. But hey, the holidays are approaching fast, so for November and December, I'll be able to indulge again. Hm, that makes me start thinking of menus...

And for anyone trying to connect the title of this post with my passion, "Don't be afraid!" is a quote from Julia Child, who, as everyone knows, had a true passion for cooking incredible food.

Remember to post a comment to enter both this week's giveaway (which Lesley will announce) AND the chance at a $100 Amazon Gift Card!

Blinded by the... Lite-Beer Girls

Beauty can be a beast, sometimes.

Now... it's a particularly well-kept secret that the entertainment and advertising industries can, at times, be somewhat superficial. I pause here while you gasp, clutch your hands to your bosom in disbelief, and perhaps swoon upon a fainting couch or two.

**........**

You okay now? Need I fetch the smelling salts?

I know. This is not a well-known fact but, gentle reader, it is true. "Looks" occasionally trump "talent" in the casting process. Unbelievable.

Okay, okay, enough funnin' with ya. But, as most regular blog readers here at TNG know, I am an actress. Have been for some time. And, no, I'm not jaded, nor am I jealous of other, prettier actresses - er - most of the time. Heh. At least, I try not to be. I will, however, admit to the odd twinge now and then, especially when I'm sitting in a waiting lounge at a casting house - where I'm about to audition for the part described as "quirky best-friend type; a little on the nerdy side, 'real' person not 'model' pretty, should have excellent sense of comic timing"... while in the studio next door, they're auditioning girls for a beer commercial.

It's kinda funny, actually. The "quirky" girls on one bank of chairs, sitting there, watching (with varying degrees of wry facial expressions) the parade of lovely, leggy, youth-dewy beasties in belt-length "skirts" and six inch heels stalk precariously past on their way to be judged entirely on their looks. And I sometimes feel a little sad. "Of course you do," some will say. "You are not even from the same species as these ethereal creatures." "You are a wee crawly troll-girl by comparison. Of course you feel sad." "They are incandescent - you are quirky. You have every right to feel --

Okay okay! I get your point.

But no. The sad-feeling isn't for me. You see, I usually wander over to the cork-boards and check out the breakdowns for the various spots being auditioned for. And the "character" descriptions for the beer commercials are usually something like "dorky guys try to get it on with three models in club wear."

Personally? I'll take "quirky, nerdy, excellent sense of comic timing" over "model in club wear" as a character description any day. And it's not intellectual snobbery making me say that. I've been in this business long enough to be pretty secure with my own particular strengths. The thing is, I've chatted with these girls at the auditions and, on a one-to-one ratio, they're not any less intellligent than the "quirky nerd girls" in my camp. Some, granted, are dumb as a boot. But some of them have killer wit.

Thing is, they rarely get to show it off. Because, even though I'm not necessarily smarter or funnier than some of these girls, I'm the one who gets to act like it. Partially because I'm not a six-foot tall size 0. Hollywood case-in-point - I'm pretty sure (no pun intended) that Megan Fox wouldn't have gotten an audition for the part of "Ugly Betty".

Now, you know, I'm not exactly expecting the girls of America's Next Top Model to cry me a river anytime soon. I just think that, at times, being blindingly beautiful can just be blinding.

Now. Enough of my profound ruminations. Head on over to the side-bar (if you don't already know the rules) and leave your comments here to enter the Super-Awesome Novel Girls Blogoversary Contest-o-rama-rama!!! Do it, Beautiful!

The Girl With the Frizzy Hair

I decided to choose beauty as this week’s topic, because that’s the first topic that came to mind when I thought about THE LIFE OF GLASS. In the book, the main character Melissa believes there are two types of people in the world – the outwardly beautiful people and inwardly beautiful people. Her mother and her sister clearly fall into the first category, as her mother was once a beauty queen, and her sister is a frequent beauty pageant contestant. But Melissa does not see herself as beauty queen material, nor would she ever want to. While her sister, Ashley, worries about make-up, becoming queen of the spring formal, and losing enough weight to be a size double 0, Melissa likes to wear baggy sweatshirts, she avoids make-up at all costs, and she worries about dying like her father did a few years earlier. But when a new beautiful girl moves to town, everything changes for Melissa, and over the course of her freshman year in high school, her ideas about beauty, life, and love are tested.

When I was writing the book, I thought back a lot to my own teen years and thought about my own ideas on beauty. I was not one of those beautiful girls like Melissa’s sister, certainly no pageant queen or even a pageant queen wanna be. But I do remember the idea of beauty being on mine and my friends' minds a lot as a teenager. When I was Melissa’s age, I knew girls who starved themselves to be thin and then fainted in gym class, girls who were made fun of by other girls for not being thin enough, girls who wore too much make-up and looked ridiculous, and girls who didn’t wear enough and were teased for being “ugly.”

And then there were those girls who always looked perfect. Who showed up every day at school, with straight shiny gorgeous hair that never fell out of place, girls who were tall and skinny and dressed in designer clothes and dated the most popular boys. I was not one of those girls. But I kind of always wondered about them, which is why I created the character of Ashley – just to see what would happen, just to see what she was really like.

But me, I was the girl with the always out-of-control curly frizzy hair. I thought a lot about my curly hair when I was writing the book, because even all these years later, even with a multitude of anti-frizz product and straightening devices, I still take issue with my hair. And it occurred to me, that maybe I wasn’t the only one, that maybe, for everyone, there is one thing, that one thing that makes us question our own outer beauty. Maybe that’s just part of what makes us human. Melissa and Ashley sprung from there, and this was also part of why my original working title for the book was “Beautiful.”

So what’s your one beauty issue? Leave a comment or do any of the other things listed on our sidebar to enter to win an Advanced Review Copy of THE LIFE OF GLASS! And you'll also be entered to win $100 giftcard to Amazon at the end of the month!!

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?

Announcing This Week's Giveaway!!

Tracy has a crazy week this week, and since it's my week to give something away in our month-long blogoversary I offered to step in and announce the weekly prize! I'm going to be giving away an Advanced Reader's Copy of my upcoming release, THE LIFE OF GLASS. Here's the jacket description:


Before he died, Melissa’s father told her about stars. He told her that the brightest stars weren’t always the most beautiful—that if people took the time to look at the smaller stars, if they looked with a telescope at the true essence of the star, they would find real beauty. But even though Melissa knows that beauty isn’t only skin deep, the people around her don’t seem to feel that way. There’s her gorgeous sister Ashley who will barely acknowledge Melissa at school, there's her best friend Ryan, who may be falling in love with the sophisticated Courtney, and there’s Melissa’s mother who’s dating someone new, someone who Melissa knows will never be able to replace her father.

To make sure she doesn’t lose her father completely, Melissa spends her time trying to piece together the last of his secrets and completing a journal her father began—one about love and relationships and the remarkable ways people find one another. But when tragedy strikes, Melissa has to start living and loving in the present, as she realizes that being beautiful on the outside doesn't mean you can't be beautiful on the inside.

This is a lyrical tale of love, loss and self-discovery from the author of THE SEPTEMBER SISTERS.

And here's what a few fabulous authors have said about the book so far:

“The hardest tests of adolescence don’t come in English, Algebra, or Biology. They come in those defining moments, when we are asked to know ourselves and to follow our true hearts. In THE LIFE OF GLASS, the supremely engaging Melissa McAllister has reached her crucible moment. She’s sweet. She’s confused. She’s believable. She’s the right kind of soul for our times."--Beth Kephart, author of Undercover and the National Book Award finalist The Slant of Sun

"THE LIFE OF GLASS is a beautifully rendered novel. Cantor is pitch-perfect, capturing the thoughts and mind-set of her characters with a precise familiarity that will have teenagers nodding their head in recognition and adults wistfully looking back. A must read."--Cecilia Galante, author of The Patron Saint of Butterflies

Because the book has a lot to do with beauty, we'll be blogging about that topic all week! To enter to win, all you have to do is comment on this post or any of the others this week, and/or do any of the other things listed over on the sidebar. >>>>>> You'll also be entered to win $100 to Amazon that we'll be giving away at the end of the month!

I like my reality with a side of... "de plane! de plane!"

In other words, FANTASY.

(Those of you who have lived long enough, will remember my title riff as pertaining to that old Saturday night cheez-fest, Fantasy Island, starring the always delightful Ricardo Montalban. Those of you who haven't, well, youtube is your friend. Or possibly not, in this case.)

So. It seems that I, alone, of the Noble Order of Novel Girls, tend to eschew reality TV. It is my lot in life. I've always been an odd duck. *sigh*

I understand the fascination, I truly do. I just can't do it. I watched the first season of Survivor - mostly because it was impossible to have a relevant conversation with my mother if I hadn't seen that weeks episode - but that's about it.

Other than that, I occasionally stumble across an episode of America's Next Top Model, which I will watch for ten minutes or so, just for the the sheer roadkill factor, before I have to hit the remote. And sometimes, when John is out, there's the odd half-hour of home-decor porn (oh Debbie Travis, you wall-bashing vixen, you).

But that's really it.

I can't watch any of the dancing shows, because they just remind me of my failed age 6 aspirations of prima ballerina-dom (they were brief and fleeting, really - I was a hobbyist - but still). And even though I hear that SYTYCD is damn entertaining, I just can't commit.

I can't watch the Idol shows because I tend to exhibit violent, over-reactionary behavior in the face of aspiration-mockery. Too many years spent auditioning, I think. It's somewhat soured me on the process - I just can't watch contestants have their dreams steamrollered week after week.

I also can't watch any of the aging has-been freak-show parades. They just make me feel ooky.

And I fondly remember a blissful, more innocent, gentler time, when I had never even heard of Jon and Kate (or their eight), or that Tila Tequila chick. Who are these people, why on earth should I care, and when are they going to have the good sense to be ashamed of themselves and crawl back into obscurity where I don't have to read about them in the morning Metro??? Gah.

I guess if I have to watch something that you could call reality tv, I would have to say that I do have one form of it I will watch with an obsession bordering on the unhealthy. And that is Leafs hockey. It's heartbreakingly real. Especially every time the playoffs roll around and we're not in them.

Right! So having confessed, who's with me? Any reality haters in the crowd? Stand with me!

And while your doing that - don't forget to enter the Novel Girls Blogoversary Contest-o-Rama-Rama for a chance to win a signed copy of A Bump in the Road and a $100 Amazon Gift Card!! Details on the side bar!

Welcome Allison Winn Scotch, Authoress Extraordinare!

In honor of our Blog-o-versary, please join us in welcoming one of our favorite authors, Allison Winn Scotch! Allison is the author of The Department of Lost and Found (HarperCollins, 2007), Time of My Life (Random House, October 2008) and the forthcoming The One That I Want (fall/summer 2010). If you haven't picked up one of her books, RUN to the bookstore! She's an amazing writer and wonderful storyteller.

To celebrate the August paperback release of Time of My Life (Seriously one of my favorite books ever), Allison kindly agreed to do an interview with The Novel Girls:


1. What is your writing schedule like?

It all depends on where I am in the writing process, but generally, I do the bulk of my writing in the morning, after I’ve dropped my son off at school and surfed my requisite websites. When I working on fiction, I have the tendency to procrastinate to the 1000th power, so I’ve long learned that the only definitely way to ensure that I get it done for the day is to get it done right away. That way, after a few hours, I feel like I’ve accomplished something, and if I want to write more – great, and if not, I’ve done what I needed to do.

2. How do you choose your names for your characters?

I think I choose them much like a parent does a child – I take a hard look at who these characters are, their circumstances, who I hope they’ll be, and sort of roll a few names around in my brain. Eventually, one sticks. For example, in Time of My Life, I needed a classic but could-still-be-slightly-uptight, but still also cute guy’s name, and Henry seemed perfect. For The One that I Want, I wanted my protagonist’s name to be a little quirky, a little small-townish, a little girlish who didn’t quite grow up-ish, and Tilly just came to me.

3. If you're in procrastination mode, what are three things sure to steal your attention from writing?

Well, obviously, the internet – I could surf gossip sites for hours. Ditto Facebook and Twitter. But I’ll count that as one. Running/working out is another...you know that I REALLY don’t want to write when I head out for a run instead. :) Hmmm, the other? Maybe my DVR, though I actually very, very rarely watch TV during the day. But I’m a big pop-culture junkie, so sure, I’m probably not above watching last night’s Project Runway instead of writing!

4. What book is next in your To Be Read pile?

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Too many people have told me to read it for me not to.

5. If you could have any super power, what would it be?

Teleportation. I hate to fly but love to travel, so think it would be SO cool just to be able to wake up in Paris.

6. Where is one place anywhere in the world you haven't yet visited but would like to?

South Africa. I’d love, love, love to take a safari and experience the animals/wild life, but with two young kids, it’s not in the cards right now. Probably when they’re older.

7. What has been the most surprising thing about your publishing success?

How so little changes! I recently ran into an old college friend who was like, “Whoa, Allison Winn! You’re a famous author!” Which just made me giggle. Because a) I’m not famous but b) my life is exactly the same, more or less, other than the security of having a job that I love and the checks that this job brings in. I’m still wearing my sweatpants, still chasing after my kids, still doing every single thing that I did before my “publishing success.” Actually, I’m not even sure this is that surprising – to me, at least, but I think other people would find it surprising. As if being published or being a bestseller really could (or should) change that much about you or your life.

8. What's one thing you wish you knew as a debut author?

That you need to manage your expectations. Which sounds pessimistic, I know, but it’s not. Just honest. I think that you should revel in EVERY LAST SECOND of being a debut, published author, but if that’s the most that happens from your book, let that be okay. Dream of movie rights and bestseller lists and People magazine reviews, and then, if none of that happens (because for 99% of books, it doesn’t), still be just as proud of yourself and just as excited as you were before none of this happened. There is inevitably a post-publication let-down (I’ve never spoken with an author who hasn’t experienced it), and I think you can manage it better than others if you’re content with whatever success comes your way.

9. What’s your favorite guilty pleasure?

Gossip magazines and TV. I read A LOT, but I also love television – the two don’t have to be separate entities! In fact, I also do celebrity profiles/interviews, which indulges my love of both guilty pleasures. And I don’t apologize for one second for loving ‘em. :)

10. What’s your favorite thing about the writing process? Your least?

My favorite thing is being done. :) I’m not even kidding. Okay, to be more specific, I truly love having finished the first draft of the manuscript because it’s like climbing a mountain – you’ve scaled it, even when you thought that you couldn’t. I also love the weeks post-publication, when you start to hear from readers with whom your book resonated. My least favorite? Starting a new book. Until I reach about 20k words, I just feel like it’s so unsubstantial, so impossible that I’m going to manage 85k words, and I dread, dread, dread it. Again, it’s standing at the base of the mountain looking upward – you know that you can do it, but you also know that there’s going to be a little blood, sweat and tears on the way up.

Thanks so much for stopping by, Allison! Fabulous answers and definitely spot-on! (Not that I'm hovering just below 20K in my new book or anything...er...no...)

OK, so same rules apply for today's post. Leave a comment and be entered to win a signed copy of A Bump in the Road and a $100 Amazon gift card! For more chances to win, check out the sidebar to the left. Lesley graciously agreed to move her blog posting to tomorrow, so be sure to stop back and check out her take on reality television!

I've been hornswoggled for the last time.

I'm trying to remember life before reality . . . shows that is. Sitcoms were king (at least in my book) and dramas were my queeen. Especially Knots Landing back in the olden days along with Dynasty and Dallas. Now it's Gray's Anatomy and The Office but we're onto another subject.

Yes I suppose American Idol is my fave but since Tracy has already talked about it I won't go on and on. I watch it mainly because I love music, and after working in that business for over 20 years I feel like I kinda sorta have a good idea about what's good and what's not. It remains to be seen if I'll watch it next year. I'm a Paula fan. She provided a necessary balance in the judging.

I can't believe I'm about to admit this to the world, but The Bachelor USED to be my reality show obsession. I'm using past tense here because I finally banged the gavel after last season. When the dude from Seattle with the little boy dumped the girl only a few weeks after he proposed on a cliff in New Zealand I was D.O.N.E. He had me completely believing that he truly had fallen for her . . . you know the brunette - was her name Melissa? - and that she would be the perfect step-mom. When they all jumped in the pool together I was right there with them, so happy for the little boy and the couple. But when "After the Bachelor" or "After the Final Rose" (whatever they call it) aired I realized right then and there that I had been hornswoggled. I turned off the TV and swore I'd never let it happen again. I can't help but wonder if the producers had it planned all along that Jason would go back to the runner-up. All in the name of ratings!?! Poor Melissa.

I never meant to start watching The Bachelor in the first place. Seriously I didn't. But when it's a Monday night with not much to do, I'll start flipping through the channels. For some reason it never failed to be the opening night of the show. I'd see the bachelors or bachelorettes stepping out of the limo and was instantly hooked. And by the time they were toasting the days to come in the mansion I'd already picked out who I wanted to win.

And I'll tell you something else. I'm not so sure that the producers don't plant those slutty, annoying girls who drive the others crazy. There's one on every show. I mean who really acts like that? I'm convinced the producers tell the bachelor that he has to keep "the pill" on through most of the show. I mean isn't it the conflict that sells? That's Creative Writing 101. I'm telling you The Bachelor has us all hornswoggled.

Thanks for all of the posts last week and especially for all of the new followers that have signed up. Please keep up the comments. I want everyone to have a chance to win all the great prizes we're offering up. This week Maureen is giving away a signed copy of A Bump In The Road. Just feast your eyes over to the right to learn how to win.

I'd love to know if anyone else feels the same way as I do about The Bachelor. Come on now. Don't hold back!

For Love of Trashy Shows...

First off, let me say a big THANK YOU to all of our new followers and to everyone who participated in the contest last week! LEXIE--I'm sure you will love your Dorchester books!

Now, *drumroll please* for this week's prize...a signed copy of my book, A BUMP IN THE ROAD! You want it. You know you do. :)

All you have to do is leave a comment to be entered. Check out the sidebar to the right of this blog for more ways to win! Good luck!

Alright, as for the topic at hand--reality shows. People who know me in real life know that I'm a bit of a reality show lover. Which is embarrassing enough. What makes it worse is that the kind of shows I watch aren't even the ones of value--American Idol, Top Chef, Project Runway, etc. Those shows actually have some merit involved.

Nope, I'm strictly a trashy reality show junkie. Anything airing on Vh1 and involving aging rock stars like Rock of Love, Flavor of Love, Pretty much any of the "...of Love" shows, Real World...

You see where this is going. It's not pretty.

For some reason, I find it fascinating to watch people who are only on a show for the media exposure and who will do just about anything to stand out. Although, I can't say I'm surprised. I knew there couldn't be that many women who want to date Bret Michaels. (Stay tuned for the next season of Rock of Love: Geritol Edition...)

I will say that if anyone ever needs life validation and proof that you've made good decisions, to turn on one of these shows. Because no matter what is happening in my life, at least I'm not drunk on television and crying about how Flavor Flav dumped me.

So, what are your favorite reality shows?

Why I Watch American Idol (And a WINNER!)

Wow, I can't believe we're on the tail-end of Labor Day weekend. Before I can blink, it will be Halloween, Thanksgiving, and then Christmas. Crazy how fast time flies! I hope all of the TNG readers had a most excellent holiday weekend filled with whatever you wanted it filled with.

Before I write on Maureen's topic for the week, I want to announce the winner (chosen via random.org) from week one of our Blogoversary Bash!

The winner of two books of her choosing from Dorchester Publishing is LEXIE! Yay! Huge congrats, Lexie! Please e-mail me at Tracy@TracyMadison.com with your full name, mailing address, and the two books (titles and authors, please) you'd like from Dorchester Publishing. I'll get them ordered and sent out to you this week!

And...you're still eligible for the Grand Prize of a $100 Amazon Gift Certificate that we'll be giving away at the end of the month.

This week we're also giving away a prize, but I don't know what that is. Maureen will tell everyone tomorrow. It will be cool. Really, really cool. I'm sure of it, so stay tuned!

Okay, and I'm going to use THIS blog to reach another one of our readers, because I saw she commented. Tonya Kappes! You won a prize over on my blog last week, but I can't find your email address anywhere....so, shoot me an email, please!

On to this week's topic, brought to us by Maureen: Reality Shows!

I'm totally addicted to reality shows, but not all of them. In fact, there are far more reality shows on the air at any given time that I've never watched than there are those that I watch faithfully. My favorite, by far, is American Idol.

I started watching Idol in its second season, and have watched every episode that has aired since. Yes, even the auditions, which are the episodes I tend to like the least each and every season. Mostly because I want to hear who can sing well, those who actually have a shot, and as anyone who has ever watched AI knows, the audtions are mostly about the funny. Which, by the way, I don't normally find funny, but that's neither here nor there.

So I find myself this year, for the first year since I began watching AI, oddly apprehensive. I'll admit it...the shakeup in the judging has me not too happy. For one, I liked the THREE judge format, before they added judge number 4 last year. And two, this year, Paula is said to not be involved in American Idol any longer.

I like Paula. Yes, I do. I like her attitude, I like how she pumps the contestants up, and yes, I even like how she often says very silly things. Besides which, in my mind, Paula and Simon are a pair. I'm not sure I'll enjoy his "wit" nearly as much without Paula's wit added in.

But I'll give the show a chance. Because when push comes to shove, I don't watch because of the judges...not at all. I watch because of the contestants. It has to be so nerve-wracking to step up on that stage and sing for all America to watch, but they do it week after week, in hopes of reaching their dreams.

And to me, that's exactly what most (if not all) reality shows are about, and it is what makes them so darn appealing to the public. Well, that and the human drama that is bound to come through whenever there's a camera on a bunch of virtual strangers. It's cool. It's fun. And I love seeing dreams come true.

What about you? Do you watch reality shows? If so, which are your favorite? If not, why not?

And remember...our Blogoversary Celebration continues all month, so leave your comments and check out the rules on the sidebar to learn about how you can earn more chances to win!

Who Says First Love Can't Last?

Thanks for stopping by for the start of our blogoversary celebration! Don’t forget if you comment on this post or any of the others this week and/or do the things listed on the sidebar >>>> you’ll be entered to win TWO Dorchester books compliments of Tracy this week, and be entered for our grand prize that we’ll give away at the end of the month -- $100 to Amazon!! And be sure to stop back again next week for new prizes and more chances to win!

And now for my take on first love! It’s interesting that Tracy picked this topic, because first love is a topic I seem to always touch on in my young adult novels. Though The September Sisters is the story of what happens to Abby after her younger sister disappears, in many ways it’s also a story of falling in love for the first time. In Abby’s case, first love comes in the form of her new neighbor, who like her, is dealing with loss. In my upcoming book, The Life of Glass, Melissa struggles to define what first love really means as she sorts through the love stories of people in her life, and then, ultimately must discover her own first love. Even in the YA book I just finished drafting (the details of which, I’m not ready to disclose yet) there is, at the core, a 16-year-old girl who falls in love for the first time.

Maybe it’s because my own first love made such a big impact on my life. And I’m not talking about my first crush (totally unrequited, I might add), my first celebrity crush (Jason Priestly) or even, my first boyfriend (a relationship that was totally platonic and with a guy who now only dates other guys). I’m talking about the first time I fell in love, the first time I actually felt real love. That story goes something like this:

I was 15 and had just started my sophomore year in high school. He was a drummer in the school band (I played the clarinet.), and he was cute, smart, funny, and really nice. Just when I almost got up enough nerve to tell him how I felt, he started dating someone else, and I was crushed.

A month later, they broke up, and shortly after, the two of us ended up at a party together. I’d been telling myself that I didn’t like him anymore, that he was never going to like me back. But suddenly, that night at the party, I think he saw me, really saw me for the first time. We started talking, then dancing, and then, right there in the middle of the dance floor, he kissed me. The next week we started dating and . . . we’ve been together ever since. That was nearly 16 years ago.

In my case, my first love became my best friend, my husband, the father of my children. And maybe that’s why I always think of first love as such an important part of a coming of age story, because I’m still reminded of it in my own life. Every. Single. Day. That overwhelming feeling of falling in love for the first time is something that really, truly has stuck with me all these years later.