HERE, HOME, HOPE

Though I have not (yet) met Kaira face-to-face, we’ve spent much time online and on the telephone sharing ideas and thoughts on her nonfiction book, REAL YOU INCORPORATED, and encouraging women to find our gifts and talents and share with the world…Now, I feel fortunate to be able to offer a space for Kaira to talk about her first novel, HERE, HOME, HOPE. It has been a dream for Kaira to get her novels published and I’m so excited that the opportunity has come to fruition and this new chapter has begun for her. Kaira is a gifted writer with an unstoppable entrepreneurial spirit, and simply a beautiful individual, inside and out. HERE, HOME, HOPE is an evident expression of her essence and is an inspiring, and entertaining, read. I recommend it, and Kaira, highly and wish her all and ONLY the Best.

Carrie:  What inspired you to write HERE, HOME, HOPE?
Kaira: The inspiration for HERE, HOME, HOPE wasn’t one particular instance, it’s more of a continuation of the stories found in all of my novels. This is the first to be published, but hopefully, one of many. My novels have the same underlying theme: Women who have seemingly perfect lives, and what happens behind closed doors or when they are pushed to the breaking point. HERE, HOME, HOPE was influenced by the economy, specifically the complete and utter collapse of the housing market and its ramifications even throughout up-scale suburban communities, like the fictitious Grandville of the book.

Carrie:  In general, how does an idea for a book come to you ~ does it perk slowly in your mind or does it come in a flash?
Kaira: My story ideas run around in my mind for quite some time before I start writing. Often, I have several different stories pulsing through and that gets to be confusing. But it’s fun.

Carrie:  Give us an idea of the plot of HERE, HOME, HOPE without giving too much away.
Kaira: Kelly Mills Johnson is restless. An appetite for more forces her to take stock of her middling middle-American existence and her neighbors’ seemingly perfect lives. Her marriage to a successful attorney has settled into a comfortable routine, and being the mother of two adorable sons has been rewarding. But Kelly’s own passions lie wasted. She eyes with envy the lives of her two best friends, Kathryn and Charlotte, both beautiful, successful businesswomen who seem to have it all. Kelly takes charge of her life, devising a midlife make-over plan. From page one, Kelly’s witty reflections, self-deprecating humor, and clever tactics in executing that plan—she places Post-it notes all over her house and car—will have readers laughing out loud. The next instant, however, they might rant right along with Kelly as her commitment to a sullen, anorexic teenager left on her doorstep tries her patience or as she deflects the boozy advances of a divorced neighbor. Readers will need to keep the tissue box handy, too, as Kelly repairs the damage she inflicted on a high school friend; realizes how deeply her husband, Patrick, understands and loves her; and ultimately grows into a woman empowered by her own blend of home and career.

Carrie:  What is the primary message you’d like your readers to take away from HERE, HOME, HOPE?
Kaira: If the grass looks greener ~ water your own.

Carrie:  What is your favorite scene in the book? Why?
Kaira: I really like the scenes with Melanie and Kelly – I hope they’re realistic. My house is filled with teenagers right now and it was really important for me to get their interactions right. My daughter, who is Mel’s age in the book, read the manuscript to make sure I got her right.

Carrie:  What was the most difficult scene to write? Why?
Kaira: I guess the toughest scenes for me to write are when my characters are suffering. So probably Kathryn leaving, Melanie’s low points, Kelly being attacked, Charlotte in pain.

Carrie:  Which character in HERE, HOME, HOPE, do you identify with the most in your book? How much of yourself did you put into these characters and did you realize you showed up in the book? If so, while you were writing or only afterwards upon review?
Kaira: I think there is a piece of me in all of my female characters. Sometimes, it’s more obvious to my friends and family than other times. I really like Kelly. She snorts when she laughs – and I do that!

Carrie:  What are you reading right now?
Kaira: I am a voracious readers, so if I answer that question today, I’ll be reading something different tomorrow. I’ve been a huge fan of Susan Isaacs for as long as I can remember, and I like to think of my books, my themes, as heavily influenced by her. If you looked around my office right now, you’d see a world of books.

Carrie: What authors, books, or ideas have influenced your writing?
Kaira: My favorite author is F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby mesmerized me from the first time I read it.

Carrie:  What is your go-to book–that one you’ve read more than once, possibly over-and-over?
Kaira: A Gift from the Sea.

Carrie:  Can you offer a glimpse into your “real life” and share with us a bit of your personal life—Outside of writing, what’s important to you?
Kaira: My husband and four kids are the most important part of my “real life.” Empowering women is another passion, or cause, in addition to writing.

Carrie:  Tell us something surprising about you and/or something very few people know about you.
Kaira: My desk chair is an exercise ball.

Carrie:  What has been one of your biggest struggles and/or successes (professional/personal) and what have you learned from it?
Kaira: Well, I don’t even know where to start with this. I’ve had a 25 year career in business, working for myself and others, so the struggles have been plenty. I write about many of those in my nonfiction book, REAL YOU INCORPORATED: 8 Essentials for Women Entrepreneurs. On the personal side, I have been truly blessed.

Carrie:  Have you ever had a nickname? Tell us about it.
Kaira: Spaz. Yep, it’s true, that was my high school nickname. I would say that it’s true, I’m enthusiastic. I’ve always believed a smile confuses an approaching frown.

Carrie:  Who is your biggest fan?
Kaira: My husband.

Carrie:  What was the best advice you’ve ever received—do you follow it?
Kaira: Write down your feelings. And yes, I do.

Carrie:  What is your favorite literary turn-of-phrase / quote / word picture?
Kaira: It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not.

Carrie:  What’s next for you ~ Anything else you’d like to offer?
Kaira: If you like HERE, HOME, HOPE you’ll love IN THE MIRROR, coming next Spring.

Carrie:  How do readers get in touch with you?
Kaira: Find me on Facebook at “Kaira Rouda Books;” on twitter: @KairaRouda; and on my website www.KairaRouda.com where you’ll find additional information about the book, an excerpt and book club reading guide.

To enter to win a free copy of HERE, HOME, HOPE:

Leave a Comment below sharing your own story of HOPE

U.S. & Canada residents only; No P.O. Boxes, please
Deadline: May 30TH, 2010 ~ midnight, EST

A Conversation With
ELLEN MEISTER
Author of
THE OTHER LIFE

Carrie:  After The Smart One and Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA, THE OTHER LIFE is a real departure for you.  What inspired it?

Ellen: I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of escape. I guess that’s part of the job description for a fiction writer. I was thinking about that one day after my husband left for work and the children left for school. There I was, all by myself, waiting impatiently for my computer to boot up so I could lose myself in the world I had created, when I began to wonder what might happen if a wife and mother could use those magical hours alone to escape in a more literal sense. At once, I had the image of a portal right smack in the middle of the most domestic setting…an opening that would let the woman cross over to the life she would have had if she had chosen a very different path. The more I thought about this idea, the more excited I got. As details about my main character and her two lives emerged, a story began to form. But it wasn’t until it occurred to me that my protagonist’s mother was dead in one life and alive in the other that I knew I had a book.

Carrie:  THE OTHER LIFE is about returning to the road not taken and exploring the life unlived.  Have you ever longed to see what happened on the other road?

Ellen: Haven’t we all? I think that’s human nature, especially in times of extreme stress. We play the “if only” game, imagining what might have been. What if I hadn’t gotten married? What if we hadn’t bought this house? What if we never had a child? What if I had been there to prevent that accident/suicide/awful mistake? Of course, it’s easy to condemn this line of thinking as counterproductive, but I believe it’s a coping mechanism. There’s only so much grief and anxiety our minds can hold before we need a mental vacation.

Carrie:  In this story Nan makes the ultimate sacrifice for a child, in this case her daughter, Quinn, and her grandchildren.  Do you think that kind of love is instinctual or learned?

Ellen: I think we’re hardwired to make sacrifices for our children. It’s the basest human instinct, and it gets switched on like a spotlight when we have our first child. I guess scientists can explain the chemistry of it, but from a personal perspective, falling in love with my first child was the most dramatically transformative moment of my life. I was flooded with something that seemed to alter my DNA, restructuring every cell. I was no longer just Ellen, I was Max’s mom, and I knew from that moment on every decision I made in life would be informed by that simple fact.

Carrie:  With Nan and Quinn, you brilliantly capture the mother-daughter relationship and the bond that hovers between boundless love and bruising tension.  Did you draw from personal experience?

Ellen: Thanks for that compliment! I can honestly say that my own even-tempered mother is nothing like Nan, but I’ve always been fascinated by the wrenching emotional turmoil of family relationships. I’m not sure there’s anything more interesting—or more human—than the ways in which we are tested by love.

Carrie:  As her daughter straddles parallel universes, Nan wonders whether having an escape route will help Quinn manage life’s difficulties with more grace, or instead taunt her with a decision no one should ever have to make.  Is it a blessing or a curse…or something else? 

Ellen: I love this question, because I think it gets to the heart of the book, and I hope readers will explore this issue themselves. What if their life included a portal to what might have been? Would they welcome the possibility to cross from one life to another? Or do they think they would be tortured by the endlessness of the choices they could make?

Carrie:  In musing about her mother, Quinn observes: “Sometimes we don’t just simply grow and change.  Sometimes life is so harsh and so dark, a part of us gets excised completely, leaving us permanently altered.” It happened to Nan, but what is it about Quinn that keeps her from the same fate?

Ellen: Quinn lives very much outside of herself. She’s introspective, sure, but she’s a giver and feels like her place in the world (or, in her case, worlds) is to take care of others. She’s so acutely aware of being needed that it’s very nearly impossible for her to make the kind of choice her mother did in her darkest hour. To Quinn, suicide is the ultimate act of selfishness.

Carrie:  THE OTHER LIFE probes the choices we make in life.  Do you think there’s a way to avoid the second-guessing that often accompanies them?

Ellen: No, and I don’t think we should. That constant reexamination of our motives and choices is how we learn and grow. It’s like what Socrates said about the unexamined life.

Carrie:  Grief comes in many forms in this novel.  Are there lessons here for those stuck in grief?

Ellen: Grief is such a bear and so very personal. So I don’t know if there are any lessons here, but perhaps some comfort in taking the journey with someone finding her way through it.

Carrie:  THE OTHER LIFE has been called “the thinking woman’s beach read” (NY Times bestselling author Joshilyn Jackson), making it perfect for a book club selection.  What feedback do you get from book clubs?

Ellen: From my experience, book clubs enjoy novels with fresh writing, complex characters and enough emotional resonance to leave readers with questions that feel very personal. Naturally, I hope THE OTHER LIFE is all those things … and I’m thrilled that the early feedback I’m getting from beta readers suggests that it is!

Carrie:  What genres (or authors) do you like to read?  Why?

Ellen: I don’t limit myself to any particular genre, but I’m definitely drawn to character-driven stories that take a hard look at human relationships. So a survey of my book shelf would probably reveal more literary and women’s fiction than anything else.

Carrie:  Modern women yearn for balance between work and family.  As a writer and mother of three, do you have any advice for them?

Ellen: For me, it’s a matter of priorities that boils down to a simple equation:  Family = first; Work = second; Housework = dead last.

Click HERE to listen to Ellen’s NPR interview

• To enter to win a free copy of THE OTHER LIFE:
  Leave a Comment below about the “other life” you’ve always wondered about
  U.S. & Canada residents only; No P.O. Boxes, please
  Deadline: May 15th, 2011 ~ Midnight, EST

SIX SIMPLE TRUTHS TO FAT RELEASE;
How I Let Go of More than 100 Pounds the Easy Way

Carrie:  What inspired you to write Six Simple Truths to Fat Release?
Nealon: Well, Inspired is definitely the right word. After years of fighting with my weight, winning sometimes only to end up losing even bigger, I came to a place of quiet desperation and I finally surrendered to the battle and let my heart guide me to find a permanent solution to my lifelong problem. I vowed to teach the gift to others if I could find the path.  I did and I am.

Carrie:  What are you reading right now?
Nealon: I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of Marianne Williamson’s new book,  A Course in Weight Loss. I feel as though she is going to hit on a lot of very relevant information, though I am still a little disappointed that she is still referring to the term “Weight Loss”.

Carrie:  What’s wrong with weight loss, didn’t you lose over 100lbs?
Nealon: This is the major differentiation between my book and most others out there. I very strongly feel, no…I know that weight loss is not the most effective approach. You lose your keys, your job, your home, your dog but you don’t want to lose your excess weight.  You want to release it, to let it go, to stop fighting with it and allow your well being that is your true nature to rise up.  It really is easy when you take the right approach. I certainly have an advantage in that I have walked many miles in those obese shoes. My readers feel my energy and my authenticity when they hold the book in their hands. It is life changing.

Carrie:  What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Nealon: That’s easy.  When you find yourself in adversity, you have to take care of yourself first or you’ll be useless to anyone else you love. This is hard for many people to see. We give so much of ourselves to those we love and we forget replenish our own soul and take care of ourselves.

Carrie:  What’s next for you?
Nealon: I am working on partnering with several major non-profits including the YMCA to get the message out and to help people regain their health. My heart is always pointed in the direction of helping children with obesity and I will, no doubt, spend my lifetime reversing the current alarming trends. It is possible…if you believe it is.

Carrie:  Is there a primary message you’d like to convey?
Nealon: Real, lasting change does not come from something outside of you (a pill, a motivator, workout equipment, or someone trying to convince you that you can do better). True, permanent transformation comes from the inside and works out. A healthy body is a symptom of a healthy mind and when we can find alignment with our hearts wisdom, everything else will fall into place, as if by magic, but really it’s just universal law. When you understand how it all works, the path then becomes almost effortless instead of constant fighting and battling; that is merely resistance.  Keep your focus on what you do want and that will eventually come to you.  I have many resources available on my website to make this even easier.

To Enter to Win a FREE copy of SIX SIMPLE TRUTHS:
Leave a Comment below sharing a story about your weight struggles
U.S. & Canada residents only; No P.O. Boxes, please
Deadline: February 15th, 2011 ~ midnight, EST

Carrie:  What inspired you to write BROKEN BIRDS?
Jeannette: I began to jot down notes one year before my mother ended up dying, then when she had her stroke and died the after math was so painful that I had to write.  I wrote day and night to vent, then re-wrote and re-wrote.  Because it was a memoir, I wasn’t able to finish the book until all the mess around me ended.

Carrie:  What is your favorite scene in BROKEN BIRDS?
Jeannette: It would have to be when my mother, a survivor of the Holocaust meets the supposed upper-crust of New Jersey.  I called my parents the Hillbillies after the show Beverly Hillbillies (because they weren’t poor, but knew no better) and the in-laws they had come to dine with the Drysdales.  Never has there been such a mismatch of personalities.  The scene in the restaurant made me laugh out loud . . . and I wrote it.

Carrie: What are you reading right now?
Jeannette: I am currently reading Eat. Pray. Love., and I have to admit that while is a fine writer I am having trouble getting through the book.  I have refused to see the movie, because I don’t want that to sway my opinion of the book.

Carrie:  What is the best advice you’ve ever recieved?
Jeannette: The best advice I have received is from the review at the Huffington Post.  Whenever I get a less than flattering review–which isn’t too many, thank goodness–I am heartbroken, but he reminds me that even one of my favorite writers, Dan Brown gets bad reviews.

Carrie:  What’s next for you?
Jeannette: Everyone loved the portion of the book where my mother was running through the forest. So I am writing a totally fictional account of her time as a partisan. It will follow the original premise, but will really take the reader into the ghetto and the forest.

Carrie:  Is there a primary message you’d like to convey?
Jeannette: Sometimes blood isn’t thicker than water.  If you are going to write a will and leave things (as is your right) uneven, then dispense everything while you are alive and allow the children to vent their anger and feelings of un-love to you directly.

Carrie:  How can readers get in touch with you?
Jeannette: www.brokenbirds.com email: thebrokenbirds@aol.com

Book excerpt ~ A DRYSDALE MARRIES A HILLBILLY:

FOR THE POLTZERS, THE urge to marry was not re­stricted to only the women in the family. Steven had met a strong-willed woman named Brenda. He wanted to have his siblings meet her so we could tell him what we thought of her.

After our first meeting with Brenda, we didn’t think too much of her. She spent most of our first evening with her recounting all the negative aspects about our Steven.

“Steven isn’t affectionate enough…Steven isn’t ambitious enough…Steven doesn’t really appreciate the better things in life, like I do.” The evening dragged on and on. We tried to defend our younger brother, and explained that the Poltzers didn’t equate price with quality. We had been taught to save money and always look for the bargains in life

“I’m not a Poltzer and that’s not the way I plan on liv­ing,” she stated in a condescending tone. Condescending is exactly how she acted from that moment on. She was arro­gant, self-centered, and had a nasty mean streak.

Brenda’s behavior prompted Shlomo to give her the nick­name of “Mrs. Drysale,” because she appeared to look down on the Poltzers, just as the rich banker’s wife had in the television series The Beverly Hillbillies. The show had been a Poltzer family favorite.

“Steven, Brenda’s not right for you,” we warned him. “She’ll crack your balls with her bare teeth.”

“Don’t worry about all her blustering,” Steven explained. “I can handle her.”

Despite our protests, he continued to pursue the relation­ship, determined to prove to all of us that he could “handle” her. We knew it had reached the point of no return when her parents, the Grossmans, flew in from the East Coast to meet Mom and Dad.

Rosalyn and Ben Grossman could not have been more different from Channa and Nathan Poltzer. Tall and slender, Rosalyn had her short, professionally colored hair styled weekly. Through her thick East Coast accent, she talked a great deal about her country club. She wore diamonds on her fingers, which matched the tennis bracelet on her wrist, and she wore costume jewelry around her neck and faux dia­monds on her ears. Ben, her soft-spoken husband, wore a Ralph Lauren polo shirt tucked neatly into his pressed trou­sers and a pair of Italian loafers.

Then there were Mom and Dad. In Mom’s world, if a single color was good, then a flurry of brilliant reds, blues, and yellows was always better. For this meeting, Mom chose a vibrant polyester button-down blouse with oversized flowers. Her pants sort of matched, and her sandals coordinated with her purse…kind of. Dad wore a short-sleeved, beige-colored shirt with dark pants and black shoes. He also wore his trusty camel-colored cardigan sweater, in case the restaurant where they planned to meet had its air-conditioning on too high.

To Enter to Win a FREE Copy of BROKEN BIRDS:
Leave a Comment Below
U.S. & Canada residents only; No P.O. Boxes, please
Deadline: September 30th, 2010 ~ midnight, EST

Carrie’s Conversation with Lynne Griffin, Author of SEA ESCAPE

Carrie:  Without giving too much away, give us an idea about what SEA ESCAPE is about.

Lynne: SEA ESCAPE is a story inspired by my parents love letters; it’s about the ties that bind mothers and daughters. Laura Martinez is wedged in the middle place, grappling with her busy life as a nurse, wife, and devoted mom to Henry and Claire, when her estranged mother, Helen, suffers a devastating stroke. In a desperate attempt to lure her mother into choosing life, Laura goes to Sea Escape, the pristine beach home that Helen took refuge in when her carefully crafted life unraveled years ago, after the death of her beloved husband. Believing the beauty and sway of her father’s words have the power to heal, Laura reads the letters bedside to her mother–a woman who once spoke the language of fabric; of Peony Sky in Jade and Paradise Garden Sage–but who can’t or won’t speak to her now. As Laura delves deeper into her tangled family history, each letter revealing patchwork details of her parents’ marriage, she finds a common thread. A secret, mother and daughter unknowingly share.

Carrie:  What inspired you to write SEA ESCAPE?

Lynne: After my own mother passed away in 2000, I found love letters written to her by my father.  As I read,  I went so far as to imagine excerpts of my father’s beautiful writing shining within a novel I might someday write.  In those musings, SEA ESCAPE was born. The letters were then and are now a treasure. The love captured within, pure and sincere.  Yet to my storyteller’s heart, reading them then, I couldn’t help but think–not enough conflict, no secrets, no dramatic reveal. Certainly I didn’t want those things to come by way of my parents, but  right then I started imagining a different story belong to a different daughter. That story is SEA ESCAPE.

Carrie:  Is there an underlying theme of SEA ESCAPE?

Lynne: I’ve been a family life expert for more than twenty years, and there’s so much about my work counseling parents, observing children, and teaching educators about families that I use in writing fiction.  My desire to capture family life in authentic ways feeds the themes of all my novels.  There’s no shortage of seeds from my work that I use to inform my writing. Anton Chekhov called them little particulars. Right there in my everyday life are organic details that give genuineness to the stories I create. I’ve had my own grief work to do over the years; I lost my father when I was fifteen and my mother when I was forty.  As a professional who’s taught classes and counseled parents and children about healthy grieving, I’ve always been struck by the choices people make related to the loss of a loved one—the healthy and unhealthy ways grief work gets done.  So I write about the choices people make when faced with unbelievable pain. What really holds a marriage together when it’s tested. I examine the impact of loss on all kinds of relationships—mother, brother, sister, daughter, friend.  If they start off strong—or don’t—what happens? Why do some people thrive after a loss, finding true purpose, while others don’t come out of it stronger?

Carrie:  Which character do you identify with the most in SEA ESCAPE? How much of yourself did you put into these characters and did you realize you showed up in SEA ESCAPE? If so, while you were writing or only afterwards upon review?

Lynne: I truly care about all my characters—in all their shades of humanity—yet the one I love the most is Helen.  Like my own mother did, Helen struggles with what’s called prolonged grief disorder, a specific kind of depression brought on by loss.  For some, grief refuses to follow the typical trajectory toward healing.  In my years as a grief counselor, I’ve met countless people who simply can not move through the grieving process.   I empathize with Helen, stuck in the past, gripped by the pain of loss.  I have enormous compassion for her because of what my mother experienced after the death of my father.  For this reason, SEA ESCAPE is a deeply personal and emotional novel for me.  Helen is a character I will be forever connected to.

Carrie:  What’s the best advice you’ve ever received about writing fiction?

Lynne: Close the door on the marketplace while you write. Writing to trends–trying to guess what readers want–isn’t for me. I feel an obligation to write for the story, to let the characters tell me about their lives. I believe if my story and characters are authentic, the novel will find its audience.

Carrie:  Can you offer a glimpse into your “real life” and share with us a bit of your personal life—Outside of writing, what’s important to you?

Lynne: I live in a seaside town much like Anaskaket depicted in SEA ESCAPE.  I’m married to the most supportive husband a woman could have, and we have two college age children; a daughter studying vocal performance and music education, and a son studying jazz piano and music sound recording.  My family provides me  my greatest joy in life—and there’s a lot of music in my life too.  My husband and children support, encourage, and ground me in unbelievable ways. I am very blessed.  If I’m not spending time with them, or writing, I’m reading. The to-be-read piles of books in my home are an embarrassment of riches.

Carrie:  What authors, books, or ideas have influenced your writing?

Lynne: Everything I read influences my work.  If a novel isn’t working for me, I try to analyze from a craft perspective, why that’s the case. And if I love it, the same applies.  I want to know how and why it sings. There are so many novels on my keeper shelf, books I dip in to, to be inspired. Wally Lamb’s, The Hour I First Believed; Margot Livesey’s, Eva Moves the Furniture; Nicole Krauss’s, The History of Love.  I love everything by Ann Patchett, Sue Miller, and Jonathan Safran Foer. Novels I’ve recently read and adored include Day for Night by Frederick Reiken, and Little Bee by Chris Cleave.

Just a Bit More About Lynne Griffin:

Lynne Griffin writes about family life. She is the author of, Sea Escape-A novel (Simon & Schuster, July 2010) Life Without Summer-A novel (St. Martin’s Press, 2009), and the nonfiction parenting title, Negotiation Generation (Penguin, 2007). Lynne teaches family studies at the graduate level and writing at Grub Street Writers in Boston.  She appears regularly on Boston’s Fox Morning News talking about family life issues.  Lynne writes for the blog, Family Life Stories.

**Click HERE to visit Lynne’s website

SEA ESCAPE Excerpt ~ Chapter 1

Letters are windows casting light, illuminating the ties between two people. I could’ve sneaked a peek inside my parents’ romance by reading his letters to her, but I respected my mother’s love of curtains. At forty-five, the details of their marriage remained a mystery to me; I had no desire to confirm what I already knew. Even dead, she loved him more than me. My mother spent her days drenched in memories of safe arms and sweet music, reading his precious words, faded ink on yellowed stationery. I looked for ghosts around corners, certain I was running out of time to find a way to be enough for her. An inability to live in the present was one thing we had in common.

“Are you okay in there, Mother?” Well aware she startled at loud noises, I knocked lightly on the door nearest the driveway. No answer. By the fourth rap, I couldn’t stop myself, I was pounding.

The first pinprick of worry jabbed me as I wondered if this was the day I’d find my mother dead in her double bed, cold, even though she was covered by her wedding quilt of interlocking green and pink floral circles. Juggling two grocery bags and reminding the kids to stop at the end of the boardwalk leading to Anaskaket Beach, I jiggled the lock, but she’d bolted and double-bolted the place as if Sea Escape sat on a main street in the city instead of on waterfront acreage south of Boston.

To Enter to Win a FREE Copy of SEA ESCAPE:

• Leave a Comment Below ~ We’d love to hear about one of your favorite memories about your parents/family
• U.S. & Canada residents only; No P.O. Boxes, please
• Deadline: August 1st, 2010 ~ Midnight, EST

Carrie:  What inspired you to write SOMETIMES MINE?
Martha: The germ of the story came from a book group discussion about my first novel, BEST FRIENDS.  Some women in the group were very distressed that the narrator, Clare, has an affair with her ex-husband.  There are a lot of bad things done by characters in that novel, and I was impressed at the particular anger Clare’s actions evoked.  I’m a physician, and I knew that two of my female patients were involved for years with married men.  I didn’t see these patients as evil, but as sad and isolated.  I thought, “Hmm, it would be a challenge to write about a mistress from her point of view.”

I also wanted to write about work.  Genie, the narrator of Sometimes Mine, is a cardiologist and her lover, Mick, is a college basketball coach.  Each of them is excellent at what they do, and each is defined and to some extent hidden by their role.  Their mutual appreciation of their distinctive work and talents helps bond them.  I’ve always liked this quote from the Swedish poet Tomas Transtromer:  “With his work, as with a glove, a man feels the universe.”

The third impetus for the novel was a story my social work mother told me when I was a teenager, in the early 70’s.  One of her clients was a “maiden lady” who had lived all her life with another woman.  When the client’s friend got ill and then died, the client was treated by her friend’s family not as a spouse or grieving widow, but as a simple housemate.  This really magnified her loss.  That story haunted me for years as an example of the power of society’s norms.  In the book, when Mick moves into the realm of the sick, Genie has no defined role.

Carrie:  In general, how does an idea for a book come to you–Does it perk slowly in your mind or does it come in a flash?
Martha: I’m a slow perker.

Carrie:  Give us an idea of the plot of SOMETIMES MINE without giving too much away.
Martha: SOMETIMES MINE is the story of a long-term affair of a divorced female cardiologist, Genie Toledo, and a married college basketball coach, Mick Crabbe. It tells what happens when Mick gets seriously ill and Genie is forced to confront both Mick’s family and her own illusions.

Carrie:  What is the primary message you’d like your readers to take away from SOMETIMES MINE?
Martha: SOMETIMES MINE is a love triangle between three very imperfect people.  You’d expect things to turn out badly, but in an odd way each person becomes heroic.  I’d like to think of the novel as a plea for accepting the complexity of people’s feelings and lives, and the surprising connections through which a person can gain strength.

Carrie:  What is your favorite scene in SOMETIMES MINE? Why?
Martha: There’s a scene near the end of the book where Genie, the mistress, and Karen, the wife, sit together in the back seat of a car and reach an accord.  It’s not an easy or perfect agreement, but it’s sincere.  I love both those women in that scene, and that scene is why I think of SOMETIMES MINE as my peacenik book.

Carrie:  What was the most difficult scene to write? Why?
Martha: Genie at one point performs a cardiac catheterization and angioplasty on a relative of Mick’s.  It’s a suspenseful scene, and technically I found it challenging both to keep up the suspense and to write the details so a non-medical reader would understand what was going on.

Carrie:  What is your go-to book–that one you’ve read more than once, possibly over-and-over? OR Who is your go-to author?
Martha: I have three go-to authors:  Alice Munro, William Trevor, and Henry James.

Carrie:  Can you offer a glimpse into your “real life” and share with us a bit of your personal life—Outside of writing, what’s important to you?
Martha: I live in Dayton, Ohio with my husband of 25 years, Martin Jacobs, a nuclear medicine physician, and our four sons.  Two of our sons are in college and two in high school. In 2000, I retired from private practice after fifteen years to spend more time with my family and writing.  I wonder if I have adult ADD because I can’t seem to sit still and I always do a number of different things in one day.  I cook, knit, exercise (kettlebells), love being outside and crawling in caves.  I volunteer seeing patients at a clinic for the working poor, and teaching writing at the local high school.  Sometimes I teach writing classes for adults.  In Dayton, I’ve been active in the Jewish Cultural Arts and Book Fair and I’m on the Board for The Human Race Theatre Company, a professional group that puts on all sorts of interesting plays.

Carrie:  Tell us something surprising about you and/or something very few people know about you.
Martha: I love Israel, in all its imperfections, and the last two summers I organized an English summer camp for grade school students in Deir al Assad, an Arab Moslem village in the Galilee. (A lot of people don’t realize that Arabs make up about 20% of the Israeli population.) This summer (2010) we’re having the camp again, this time with a dozen  excellent and enthusiastic volunteer teachers.  I’m very excited about this project.  It has expanded my family’s life, other volunteers’ lives, and I hope the lives of some people in Deir al Assad.

Carrie:  What has been one of your biggest struggles and/or successes (professional/personal) and what have you learned from it?
Martha: I was a closet writer for years, and it was scary to come out.  I had no formal training in writing fiction, and no one but my husband and two or three friends knew I wrote.  I got tons of rejection letters.  But I kept at it–two paragraphs a day–and eventually  I improved.  Writing is a craft, and I think a person gets better with practice.  Still, when I saw my first book, Best Friends, on a shelf in a store I wanted to run and hide.  I felt so exposed.  I still do, to some extent.  I’m a wreck before a reading, and I take a pill so my hands won’t shake. (Well, won’t shake as much.)

Carrie:  Have you ever had a nickname? Tell us about it.
Martha: I’ve gone by Marti since about age ten. Since my husband’s name is Martin, we’re Marti and Marty.

Carrie:  Who is your biggest fan?
Martha: Probably my second son, Simon Jacobs, who wants to be a writer and is starting out with lots of talent and, more importantly, persistence.

Carrie:  What was the best advice you’ve ever received—do you follow it?
Martha: Once I read that the comedian Jack Benny (my father’s favorite) said,  “Don’t press.”  I think that’s great advice, but I do catch myself not following it.

Carrie:  What is your favorite literary turn-of-phrase / quote / word picture?
Martha:

Quote:  “Live all you can;  it’s a mistake not to.”  The Ambassadors, by Henry James
Image:  Countess Gertrude covered with cats as she walks the ramparts of Gormenghast Castle  (Titus Groan, by Mervyn Peake)

Carrie:  What did you learn about yourself while writing SOMETIMES MINE that you may not have expected?
Martha: That I’m more interested in how people put themselves back together than how they fall apart.  The falling apart is predictable;  the putting back together is a tough and quirky process.

Carrie:  What’s next for you ~ Anything else you’d like to offer?
Martha: I’m working on a manuscript that deals with two families joined by marriage.  One narrator is a grandmother;  another is the young woman her grandson marries.  I want to explore how families connected by marriage interact with and influence each other, and I want to explore chronic illness, which is what the young woman comes to have.  (The grandmother is disgustingly healthy!)

Carrie:  How do readers get in touch with you?
Martha: I can be e-mailed at info@marthamoody.net and I’m happy to hear from people!

Martha Moody’s Website

To Enter to WIN a Free Copy of SOMETIMES MINE:

• Leave a Comment Below
• U.S. & Canada residents only; No P.O. Boxes Please
• Deadline: July 15th, 2010 ~ Midnight, EST

HANNAH’S LIST

Enter to Win:

• One (1) Grand Prize winner will win $50 VISA gift card to enjoy additional titles by Debbie Macomber and a copy of HANNAH’S LIST
• Two (2) additional winners will receive a copy of HANNAH’S LIST!
• Just Leave a Comment Below by midnight May 11th; US & Canada Residents Only (Sorry, no PO Boxes)

A grieving widower receives an unexpected gift of love from his late wife on the anniversary of her death in HANNAH’S LIST, the emotionally powerful new novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber.  Connected to her bestselling Blossom Street books (SUMMER ON BLOSSOM STREET, TWENTY WISHES, BACK ON BLOSSOM STREET, SUSANNAH’S GARDEN, A GOOD YARN and THE SHOP ON BLOSSOM STREET) this story continues her moving exploration of the complex relationships among family and friends.

In the year since his wife, Hannah, passed away, Dr. Michael Everett has been inconsolable.  Unable to carry on living any semblance of a normal life without her, Michael has avoided contact with friends and family and filled his empty days with work.  So he’s shocked when his brother-in-law, Ritchie, hands him a letter Hannah had written before she died; apparently she’d instructed Ritchie to deliver it to Michael on the first anniversary of her death.

In it she reminds him of her love and makes one final request: she asks Michael to marry again and become the father he was meant to be.  Knowing his reaction, Hannah gives him a gentle push by suggesting three women—each of whom, she says, would make an excellent wife and companion. Michael’s heart isn’t in it, but he decides to carry out Hannah’s final wish by contacting each of the women.  He soon discovers that he is not the only person dealing with a broken heart.

The first woman on Hannah’s list is her cousin, Winter Adams, owner of the French Café on Seattle’s Blossom Street.  Winter is passionate about three things—food, cooking and fellow chef Pierre Dubois.  But Winter and Pierre—both uncompromising perfectionists—have had a stormy on-and-off relationship and are currently in the “off” phase.  Winter’s miserable with and without Pierre.  Maybe Michael will provide an alternative…?

Leanne Lancaster is the next woman on Hannah’s list.  Leanne is the oncology nurse who cared for Hannah in her last months.  Like Michael, she is coping with her own sense of loss over the dissolution of her marriage.  Her husband, Mark, embezzled $25,000 from a charity organized by the hospital where Leanne works.  With Mark sentenced to a prison term and unwilling to explain his actions to his wife, Leanne felt she had no option but to ask for a divorce.  But what Leanne really needs most is closure.  Without understanding his motives, Leanne is unable to reconcile with Mark or move on without him.

The final name on the list is Macy Roth.  Macy is everything Michael is not—artistic, spontaneous, eccentric and always late for appointments. Hannah felt that Macy’s effervescent personality might encourage someone as serious as Michael to learn to laugh again.  Macy is a collector of strays—cats, dogs and even people.  Michael can’t believe Hannah added Macy to her list; the only way he’d fall for her is if opposites really do attract.

As he spends time with each woman, Michael realizes that Hannah’s list may end up saving four lives, not just one.

Click HERE to Visit Debbie’s Website

A Chat with Author, Michele Young-Stone

Carrie:  What inspired you to write THE HANDBOOK FOR LIGHTNING STRIKE SURVIVORS?
Michele: I set out to write a novel about a girl’s affection toward an unresponsive dad—and the consequences of that relationship.  But, a fellow writer reminded me that there were a million books just like that.  He asked, “What will set your book apart from the pack?”  It hit me:  When I was eleven, I was struck by lightning.  I’ve always liked magical realism, especially when it’s grounded more so in the realism—when we’re reminded that not everything can be explained by science, so I thought, “This is my hook.”  The lightning makes the main character think that she has magical powers.  What little girl doesn’t naturally think she possesses some degree of magic—with our without lightning?

Carrie:  In general, how does an idea for a book come to you ~ Does it perk slowly in your mind or does it come in a flash?
Michele: Actually, my novel ideas start with a scene either observed or imagined, like a girl holding onto homemade wings, climbing onto a bus (from my most recent work-in-progress).  From there, the characters take over and I allow the story to unfold. Sometimes it’s a mad rush where I’ve been known to write 1,000 pages to get to 100 pages.

Carrie:  Give us an idea of the plot of THE HANDBOOK FOR LIGHTNING STRIKE SURVIVORS without giving too much away.
Michele: Oh boy!  Two strangers, seemingly with nothing in common, are brought together by the electric force of lightning. Becca, brought up in academic affluence, and Buckley, brought up in poverty, are connected throughout their lives by the folks they meet and by this uncontrollable element—lightning—that causes him to write The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors, a handbook Becca purchases.

Carrie:  What is the primary message you’d like your readers to take away from THE HANDBOOK FOR LIGHTNING STRIKE SURVIVORS?
Michele: Have hope.  Have faith.  No matter how bleak our circumstances, there is possibility.  There are things in life we can’t control, but we can control our response to those things.  No one has to go with the flow.  We can turn things around.

Carrie:  What was the most difficult scene to write? Why?
Michele: There were multiple scenes that were difficult to write, but ultimately, it was the final scene because it was pivotal to the book’s success, and more important than word choice and pacing (elements I struggled with in other difficult chapters), I wanted a “satisfying” ending, the right ending, and for the longest time, I wasn’t sure how the book should end.  I had to wait for the characters to tell me their thoughts.

Carrie:  Which character do you identify with the most in THE HANDBOOK FOR LIGHTNING STRIKE SURVIVORS? How much of yourself did you put into these characters and did you realize you showed up in the book?
Michele: Mary Wickle Burke, I guess.  I say that because I can relate to her emotions.  She can be interpreted as less than sympathetic, but she wants so desperately to be loved.  I related to that need, and I wanted to make her empathetic, but entirely human.  Also, she was fun to write.

Carrie:  Did you realize you showed up while you were writing or only afterwards upon review?
Michele: While I was writing the book, especially when some of my MFA novel workshop peers thought she was a “not-so-nice”character.  I loved her.  I saw all this disillusionment and hope in her.  At the same time, I’m in every character, not just Mary.  I had to imagine the circumstance and emotion for each.  For example, one of the characters, Patty-Cake, could be possibly unsympathetic, but I loved her.  I understood her.  She’s the over-achiever in me.  It was the same way with Becca and Buckley. The artist in Becca is the artist in me.  The writer in Buckley is the writer in me.

Carrie:  What are you reading right now?
Michele: Allison Titus’s Sum of Every Lost Ship (poetry) and Heidi W. Durrow’s The Girl who Fell from the Sky (fiction).

Carrie:  What authors, books, or ideas have influenced your writing?
Michele: Toni Morrison, William Faulkner, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Arundhati Roy, Gunter Grass, Flannery O’Connor, John Irving, J.D. Salinger and Wally Lamb.

Carrie:  What is your go-to book and/or author?
Michele: It’s a toss-up:  The Tin Drum or The World According to Garp.  Or this question is too hard.  I love The Tropic of Cancer. I always get a good laugh from that book.  I love Sula too, and if it weren’t for Wally Lamb’s I Know This Much is True, I might not be a novelist today.  I was so taken with his first novel, that I vowed to keep at my craft—no matter what—and haven’t looked back.

Carrie:  Can you offer a glimpse into your “real life” and share with us a bit of your personal life—Outside of writing, what’s important to you?
Michele: Spending time with my son, who’s five.  My husband, his passion for surfing.  I like to go to the gym.  I paint and make collages.  Vegetarian for twenty years.  I’m a member of the Humane Society of the United States and of the Jane Goodall Society. I care about the global community.  I care about animals.  My husband and I donate to charities attempting to slow down global warming, to help endangered species, to preserve wildlife habitats, to feed the homeless and hungry globally and locally.

Carrie:  Tell us something surprising about you and/or something very few people know about you.
Michele: I’m actually introverted or I feel that way.  I prefer a night at home to a night on the town.

Carrie:  What has been one of your biggest struggles and/or successes (professional/personal) and what have you learned from it?
Michele: Biggest struggle:  Having a child and continuing to write and get published.  It’s terribly difficult to be a good, even adequate, wife and mother and pursue a writing career.  I’ve learned that it can be done.  Anything is possible if one is persistent.

Carrie:  Have you ever had a nickname? Tell us about it.
Michele: “Micki Moose.”  When I was born, my dad took one look at me and said, “Moose!”  I was a big baby.  Nowadays, my nickname is Shel.  All of my son’s friend’s call me “Shel” and I really like it.

Carrie:  Who is your biggest fan?
Michele: My mom.  My parents used to think I was copying what I wrote out of books.  She is extremely proud.  And my husband. They’ve both always believed in my abilities and perseverance.

Carrie:  What was the best advice you’ve ever received—do you follow it?
Michele: “If you do nothing else, put your ass in the chair every day.”  Oh yes, I follow it.  No doubt.

Carrie:  What is your favorite literary turn-of-phrase / quote / word picture?
Michele: “Kill your darlings.”  Let go of what you love for the sake of the larger book.

Carrie:  What did you learn about yourself while writing THE HANDBOOK FOR LIGHTNING STRIKE SURVIVORS that you may not have expected?
Michele: Motherhood enriches everything.  There are always new perspectives to gain at every point in life.  Writing the book, I was only thinking of things from the young adult’s perspective.  Rewriting the book, I had a mother’s perspective.  Those are two very different angles.  The latter is more powerful and enriching than I ever thought possible.

Carrie:  What’s next for you ~ Anything else you’d like to offer?
Michele: More books!  All Things Beautiful, a love story of sorts, and a third one in the works.

Click HERE to read Book Excerpt

How to reach Michele:

• http://micheleyoung-stone.com
• micheleyoungstone@gmail.com
• http://micheleyoung-stone.blogspot.com

To enter to win a free copy of THE HANDBOOK FOR LIGHTNING STRIKE SURVIVORS:

• Leave a Comment below
  
• U.S. & Canada residents only; No P.O. Boxes, please
  
• Deadline: April 30th, 2010 ~ midnight, EST

P.J. Parrish, New York Times bestselling author of South of Hell and A Thousand Bones, has returned to heat up February with a sizzling page-turner, THE LITTLE DEATH (Pocket Books; February 16th, 2010; $7.99), starring detective Louise Kincaid.

Most people would kill to live in glamorous Palm Beach, with its beautiful women, five-star resorts, and dazzling coast.  But most people don’t know what really goes on in the bedrooms of the rich and famous…Mark Durand did—and now the handsome high-class “walker,” who escorted the wealthiest women to posh affairs, is dead, his beheaded corpse found in an abandoned cattle pen.

South Florida detective Louis Kincaid feels out of his element in Palm Beach, especially after receiving a ticket for driving an ugly car.  But plunged into the gruesome homicide case, he’s agreed to help prime suspect Reggie Kent, an aging male walker who may or may not have been the victim’s lover.  And as his investigation snakes through the privileged class, Kincaid uncovers shocking truths about a powerful lady senator whose husband collects dangerous weaponry…a silver-tongued dowager with a taste for gossip…and a seductive socialite who tries to make Kincaid forget about his girlfriend Joe Frye—by whispering three little words: “Die with me.”

About P.J. Parrish

P.J. Parrish is actually two sisters—Kristy Montee and Kelly Nichols—who pooled their talents and their lifelong love of writing to create the character of Louis Kincaid. Their New York Times and USA Today bestselling series featuring the South Florida detective includes South of Hell (nominated for a 2009 Anthony Award for Best Novel), A Thousand Bones, An Unquiet Grave (winner of the Shamus Award and the International Thriller Writers Award), A Killing Rain, Island of Bones, Thicker Than Water, Paint It Black, Dead of Winter, and Dark of the Moon.

Their collaboration is unique in that the sisters live in separate states. The sisters were born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. Kristy graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a teaching degree but went on to journalism, working as a police reporter and a features editor; she also served as the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel’s dance critic for 18 years. She now lives in Fort Lauderdale with her husband.

Kelly attended college at Northern Michigan University in the state’s remote upper peninsula. Kelly has lived in Arizona and Nevada, and currently lives in northern Mississippi. She worked in the gaming industry for the last twenty years, and was a senior specialist in the human resources department of a Native-American casino in Mississippi. She has two daughters, a son, and three grandchildren.

Kristy and Kelly welcome readers to their website at www.pjparrish.com.

]]> http://wordstomouth.com/2010/03/19/the-little-death-pj-parrish/feed/ 3 http://wordstomouth.com/2010/03/19/the-little-death-pj-parrish/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WordsToMouthBlog/~3/G7Vqz0NtzQo/ http://wordstomouth.com/2010/03/07/liz-claiborne-the-legend-the-woman-by-art-ortenberg/#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 03:12:16 +0000 Carrie Runnals http://wordstomouth.com/?p=687

Beautifully written by her husband Art Ortenberg, Liz Claiborne: The Legend, The Woman is the story of Liz Claiborne–the building of her iconic company, her vast talents in clothing the emerging market of women entering the work force, her years of adventure after leaving the company, the conservation work she did for decades, and the nobility and dignity of her battle with cancer.  It is also a powerful and poignant love story.

In 1976 Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg created Liz Claiborne, Inc., one of the most well-known fashion companies in the world and the first Fortune 500 Company headed by a woman.  Liz had anticipated and responded to a lasting economic and cultural change… in the America of the 1980s, when significant numbers of women entered the workplace and reached professional heights previously denied to them. Her clothes were professional looking and comfortable without dressing a woman up in a man’s clothing. As her business partner and soul-mate, Art Ortenberg was dedicated to doing whatever he could to assure that her vision was realized.

It was the enormous success of the company they built together that enabled Liz and Art when they departed Liz Claiborne, Inc. in 1989 to afford the next decade of adventuresome, cancer-free years. Liz Claiborne: The Legend, The Woman tells of their many travels around the world together and their dedication to the conservation of nature through The Liz Claiborne Art Ortenberg Foundation.  The story is also a painstakingly detailed account of Liz’s diagnosis of peritoneal carcinoma in 1998 and her nine-year battle against an extremely rare disease that attacked the lining of her stomach.  Art courageously tells the story of how Liz came to terms with her disease, a disease she was determined to outlive, and how it inspired her and those who knew her well to live fuller, more productive lives.

LIZ Claiborne: The Legend, The Woman does not so much celebrate Liz Claiborne the designer and entrepreneur, but rather Liz the woman. “Liz left us more than her work,” Art concludes, “perhaps more than the consequences of her work; she left us herself. The making of that self, and the good she did for others, is the story I tell.”

Find on Amazon