Five in the Hive with Sarah Pekkanen

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Malena Lott

We’re excited to share a new feature on books we’re buzzing about…Five in the Hive, and our first author is Sarah Pekkanen as we celebrate the release of her third novel, THESE GIRLS. Now, let’s put some honey in our tea and get busy…

Sarah…

1) In all seriousness, lipstick or lip gloss? Favorite brand?
Lip Gloss! I absolutely adore lip gloss and have tubes everywhere – in my car, my purse, my pockets (which is a problem when I do laundry and forget to check my jeans for any stray tubes!) My favorite is Lorac. They make this lip-plumping gloss that I’m mad for.

2) First book you fell in love with?
Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. It didn’t feel like a book; reading it wasn’t work. It felt as if a good friend was telling me a wonderful story that I didn’t want to end.

3) Favorite “nearly peed in my pants from laughing” book?
Bridget Jones’s Diary. It was v.v. good.

4) Most unusual place you’ve ever written?
It’s probably a toss-up between a moving car – I was in the passenger’s seat – and at Chuck E. Cheese’s. I’m a former journalist, so the screams of glassy-eyed children at Chuck E. Cheese’s were oddly comforting to me – it sounded a lot like my former editors around deadline time! I can actually write anywhere and everywhere, and it’s easier for me to crack open my laptop in a strange place. If I went to a writer’s colony, and sat in a silent room working on my craft, I’d probably feel such pressure that I wouldn’t be able to write a single word! For me, writing comes the most easily when I don’t make it too precious or important.

5) Favorite, “forget the diet” dessert?
Anything involving chocolate. Maybe a bittersweet chocolate mousse, surrounded by chocolate-dipped strawberries. Mmm… (sounds of Sarah scrambling for car keys and peeling rubber as she heads to the nearest sweet shop).

About the book (from the publisher):
THESE GIRLS
Family secrets may shape us all, but it’s the rich, complicated layers of friendship that can save us.
Cate, Renee, and Abby have come to New York for very different reasons, and in a bustling city of millions, they are linked together through circumstance and chance.

Cate has just been named the features editor of Gloss, a high-end lifestyle magazine. It’s a professional coup, but her new job comes with more complications than Cate ever anticipated.

Her roommate Renee will do anything to nab the plum job of beauty editor at Gloss. But snide comments about Renee’s weight send her into an emotional tailspin. Soon she is taking black market diet pills—despite the racing heartbeat and trembling hands that signal she’s heading for real danger.

Then there’s Abby, whom they take in as a third roommate. Once a joyful graduate student working as a nanny part time, she abruptly fled a seemingly happy life in the D.C. suburbs. No one knows what shattered Abby—or why she left everything she once loved behind.

Pekkanen’s most compelling, true-to-life novel yet tells the story of three very different women as they navigate the complications of careers and love—and find the lifeline they need in each other.

I had the opportunity to read an advance of the book and since I’ve read all of Sarah’s books, I can say her fans will be pleased she continues to give us characters we can feel deeply about – and probably know someone in real life very like them. I was so hooked on Abby’s story that I found myself wanting to skip pages to get back to her. For me, Abby’s story was the most compelling, complicated -and yet also sweet – so I would’ve loved to see a whole novel devoted just to her storyline. Looking forward to the next.

Find out more about Sarah and her books at www.sarahpekkenan.com.

Calling All Book Clubs

Posted on December 27, 2011 by Malena Lott

by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

I know there are book clubs out there made up of kids or teens. And I’m sure that, somewhere, there are groups of men discussing the latest Jonathan Franzen novel. Still, the evidence suggests that the overwhelming majority of book discussion groups are composed of 10-12 women – I know I read that statistic somewhere at some point – who meet monthly to discuss the kinds of books women love most over wine and cheese or coffee and brownies.

I’ve had 23 books published since 2003, the first of which was The Thin Pink Line, a dark comedy for adults about a woman who fakes an entire pregnancy. Several more adult novels followed, both comedic and serious, but in recent years most of my energy has gone into young adult fiction and children’s books. Now, for the first time in over three years, I have something – two somethings, actually – that I hope your books clubs will consider when looking for something lighter and quirkier but still discussable to take you through the aftermath of holiday craziness.

The first is THE BRO-MAGNET, available in ebook only at this point but perfect for the six million people who received e-readers for the holidays. Here’s the description: Women have been known to lament, “Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.” For Johnny Smith, the problem is, “Always a Best Man, never a groom.” At age 33, housepainter Johnny has been Best Man eight times. The ultimate man’s man, Johnny loves the Mets, the Jets, his weekly poker game, and the hula girl lamp that hangs over his basement pool table. Johnny has the instant affection of nearly every man he meets, but one thing he doesn’t have is a woman to share his life with, and he wants that desperately. When Johnny meets District Attorney Helen Troy, he decides to renounce his bro-magnet ways in order to impress her. With the aid and advice of his friends and family, soon he’s transforming his wardrobe, buying throw pillows, ditching the hula girl lamp, getting a cat and even changing his name to the more mature-sounding John. And through it all, he’s pretending to have no interest in sports, which Helen claims to abhor. As things heat up with Helen, the questions arise: Will Johnny finally get the girl? And, if he’s successful in that pursuit, who will he be now that he’s no longer really himself?

The second, LITTLE WOMEN AND ME, is for all those fans of the Louisa May Alcott story of the March sisters, in both book and film, who, like me, think one or two things could be changed to make it even better. And here’s the description for that one: Emily is sick and tired of being a middle sister. So when she gets an assignment to describe what she’d change about a classic novel, Emily pounces on Little Women. After all, if she can’t change things in her own family, maybe she can bring a little justice to the March sisters. (Kill off Beth? Have cute Laurie wind up with Amy instead of Jo? What was Louisa May Alcott thinking?!) But when Emily gets mysteriously transported into the 1860s world of the book, she discovers that righting fictional wrongs won’t be easy. And after being immersed in a time and place so different from her own, it may be Emily-not the four March sisters-who undergoes the most surprising change of all.

Thanks for your consideration! If you do read one or both books, and enjoy them, please tell the world! And if you don’t, maybe tell a few less people. Oh, and you can always write me, since you’ll know exactly who to blame.

Cheers, and Happy New Year!

Lauren Baratz-Logsted
www.laurenbaratzlogsted.com

Tribute Books Seeing YA Submissions

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Malena Lott

Since a lot of our readers are also aspiring authors, we agreed to do a Q&A with an independent publisher, Tribute Books, looking for new Young Adult submissions. Joining us is Nicole Langan with Tribute. Read on, babes!

Tribute owner Nicole Langan

1. Is there a particular young adult genre you are most interested in pubbing?

Our preference is for damn good writing, the particular topic is secondary in importance. However, books written with a series in mind or those that delve into the paranormal will have a slight edge.

2. What do you see as Tribute Books’ niche in the industry – especially with so many indie presses starting up?

What sets us apart is our one-on-one interaction with our authors. We go the extra mile in doing everything we can to promote our titles on a daily basis even years after a book’s initial release. I’m a believer in doing what you love and working with like-minded people, when it’s at all possible.

I am a big believer in the power of social media. I even conduct monthly blog tours for outside publishers and authors in order to help them increase the online presence of a book. Book bloggers are a powerful force in the book industry. With more and more book stores closing and book review columns being cut from major newspapers, readers are depending on bloggers to help them find the books they want to read. They are turning to the internet as a reference point to fill this information gap.

In my opinion, social networking is the bread and butter of any author’s promotional efforts. Without it, it’s like trying to paddle upstream without a canoe. Readers want to connect with the person who wrote the book. They crave interaction with an author. Nothing beats getting a writer to comment on a blogger’s book review post or getting a personalized thank you tweet from your favorite author. The days of authors being isolated from their fans is over. They’re now able to build an online following and receive instant feedback for their work. They have the opportunity to take part in creating their own literary community.

We try to keep an active online presence with our web site (http://www.tribute-books.com/), Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Archbald-PA/Tribute-Books/171628704176), Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/TributeBooks) and blog (http://tributebooks.blogspot.com/). We’d love to have anyone who loves young adult literature to join us for the ride.

3. If you are publishing twelve authors, one per month, do you plan on serializing any authors’ work and how would you deal with a series?

My preference is actually to work with authors interested in developing an on-going series. In terms of timing the releases of multiple installments, it will depend on how much of the saga is ready to be published upon submission. If everything is fine-tuned and ready to go, then I would have no problem consecutively issuing one ebook per month of the series. If it is still in development, I would insist on establishing deadlines to line up the future publication dates of the remaining installments.

4. What are you NOT looking for in submissions – style, plots, etc.

In terms of the quality of work that will be submitted, I am NOT looking for an inundation of poorly written, poorly edited manuscripts. I am looking for Microsoft Word documents with a maximum of 350 pages of text with no photos, charts, illustrations, graphs, etc. I am open-minded when it comes to the specifics of style, plot, etc. I’m more concerned with the quality of writing and the author’s established platform.

5. What do you think it will take for indie publishers to be successful in 2012 and what will make them stand out in the crowd?

In terms of Tribute Books, my hope is that we are able to recruit some talented writers of well-written, well-crafted stories in order to develop an eager fan base for the titles we publish. We want readers to be excited about the ebooks we produce. Young adult authors have the most devoted fan followings out there, and we’d like to introduce that audience to a whole new host of talent.

More info:
Email: info@tribute-books.com
Web Site: www.tribute-books.com

Author Q&A with Susan McBride

Posted on August 26, 2011 by Malena Lott

Book babes, join me in welcoming the multi-published, extremely talented (and beautiful, too!) Susan McBride to discuss life and her latest release, Little Black Dress, which I A-DORED!

1. Little Black Dress uses magic realism. Do you believe in magic or miracles? And, most importantly, how *does* Santa Claus make it all around the world in one night?

I do believe in magic and miracles! There’s something hopeful about believing in things we can’t explain. Although, sadly, I don’t have a magic black dress that foretells the future and fits me no matter what size I am. I’ve looked everywhere trying to find one—and that pair of jeans from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, too—but no such luck. (As for Santa Claus, doesn’t he have a Star Trek transporter? Or maybe his sleigh is really a time machine so one night is actually six years. It’s one of those two, for sure.)

2. Do you have that special “go to” outfit or piece of jewelry that makes you feel fantastic when you wear it? What about a good luck charm?

Hmm, no go-to outfit comes to mind. Unless it’s yoga pants and a T-shirt! (Also called my “writing uniform”). I do have a pair of sterling silver Celtic cross earrings that I’ve worn every time I’ve traveled for the past decade. Now I’m afraid that if I don’t put them on before a trip, I’ll bring the plane down. So when the wire on one broke before a trip this year, I frantically ordered a similar pair online, which Ed used for parts to fix the broken one. Thank goodness I could put on those earrings so the planes stayed up in the air (well, they came down to land, of course).

3. Who is your favorite character in LBD and why?

I think Evie is my favorite. I just admire her inner strength so much. She knows her sister Anna outshines her but she doesn’t let it get to her. Evie is the glue that holds everyone together. She’s faced with some very tough choices, but she always forges ahead with the best intentions. As my mother would say, she’s a good egg, through and through.

4. Share with us a little about a “day in the life” of Susan McBride.

Oh, man, my life is hardly exciting. Let’s see, when I’m on deadline, it’s all about eating at weird hours, sleeping at weird hours, and writing in my pajamas (or my uniform of yoga pants and T-shirt) in all the hours between. When I’ve got a new book out, like now, I have tons of stuff to do online and often events in town and out of town. I don’t travel nearly as much as I used to—thank goodness—so a lot of promotion involves sitting on my butt at the keyboard. It’s time-consuming but at least I don’t have to leave the house! I do love being able to interact with readers so immediately. That’s very cool. But I digress! My husband comes home for lunch most days as he works up the street. So I take a break to hang out with him. In between online work and getting some writing in (I have two books due this year, ack!), I clean litter boxes, do laundry, head outside to pull weeds if it’s not too hot, talk on the phone with my mom, sometimes meet a friend for lunch, and then I work some more. When your home is also your office, it’s not very conducive to taking time off. I try to go to bed about 10:30 or 11, and I’m up with the sun to start all over again. See, not very exciting! But I love what I do and can’t imagine doing anything else. ☺

Thanks for having me on Book End Babes! It’s been fun!

Thanks, Susan! We love Little Black Dress and look forward to your future releases! Babes, find out more about LBD here or at your favorite retailer. I loved many things about LBD: Susan’s gorgeous prose, the imaginative characters and, of course that fantastic magical one-size-fits-all dress! -Malena Lott

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Susan McBride is the author of Little Black Dress (William Morrow Paperbacks, 08/23/11) and The Cougar Club (02/10) selected by Target Stores as a Bookmarked Breakout Title and named a Midwest Connections Pick by the Midwest Booksellers Association. Cougar also made MORE Magazine’s 2010 list of “February Books We’re Buzzing About.” Foreign editions of The Cougar Club have been published in Croatia, France, and Turkey. After Little Black Dress, Susan will write Little White Lies, another women’s fiction book for HarperCollins/Morrow, as well as Dead Address, a young adult thriller for Random House/Delacorte. For more scoop, please visit http://SusanMcBride.com.

Side Dish with author Richard Moss

Posted on June 11, 2011 by Malena Lott

We’re pleased to bring you a Saturday Side Dish – this week with author Richard Moss, a legacy in the “present moment” movement. I’m pleased to add this author – and this particular book – on my journey to awakened living. -Malena Lott

How The Ego Co-Opts Feelings
By Richard Moss,
Author of Inside-Out Healing: Transforming Your Life Through the Power of Presence

In an evolutionary sense, feeling is a much older mode of consciousness than thinking. The large brain and highly convoluted cortex that supports the thinking of modern human beings is a newer development than the midbrain and thalamus that govern most of your feelings. It is feeling that dominates a young child’s experience because until the ego has developed, thinking is very limited.

Just watch babies, and you can see that they are constantly experiencing ever-changing feelings, from utter bliss and contentment to screaming distress and misery. A young child feels his own internal reality as well as the emotional environment around him. But he does not yet realize that some feelings arise from within himself and that others are being stimulated from outside.

Now try to imagine how a baby learns to deal with feelings as her ego develops, and she begins to see herself as a separate self: Gradually, feelings that seemed to come and go without cause become objects of consciousness that the ego interprets as self. The baby begins to identify with the feelings and to regard herself as happy or unhappy, good or bad, according to the nature of the feelings. Once the ego has claimed these feelings as self, her only defense against them is to try to turn the untamed into the tamed through thinking. In other words, the ego turns feelings into its emotions.

I think this is why the emotions of children change so quickly. A few weeks ago, for instance, I was with a friend and his five-year old son. In the course of an hour or so, the little boy was smiling and happy, closed and complaining, angry and demanding, timid and clinging, crying and inconsolable. . . round and round. The father expressed concern because his son seemed more disturbed and emotional since starting kindergarten. Moreover, whenever his son expressed any unhappiness, the father wanted to immediately do something to take that emotion away; such a normal response for a parent who imagines that something is wrong.

But what I saw was completely normal and to be expected. I saw a young ego trying to come to grips with the flux of feelings (some of them agreeable, and others confusing and dark) that were arising in him because of so many things: having a new daily rhythm, being away from his family more, being in a new environment surrounded by new people (teachers and children with all their own behaviors and emotions), and even the changing of his own growing body.

I could just imagine his young ego bombarded by feelings and his mind racing with thoughts. And because a child has no way to meet feelings with focused-spacious awareness and no way to evaluate his thoughts, those feelings are instantly co-opted by the ego and invariably turned into emotions. For me, it was like looking at the history of humankind and how the thinking mind inevitably makes us all crazy once that which is not of the ego (feeling) has been appropriated by the ego.

How can you tell if your ego has appropriated a dark feeling? You find yourself compulsively thinking. Your mind will spin with story after story about what is wrong with you, what strategy to pursue, why your situation is hopeless, why your life is ruined or meaningless, or how you can save yourself. It will find every way it can to attack you, judge you, blame others, or even attack them. It will make you guilty, resentful, terrified, hopeless, impulsive, and aggressive. . . one after the other. It is frantically trying to create a known (albeit, terribly amplified) misery in a desperate attempt to be in control of an unknown and ultimately unknowable feeling that it doesn’t even realize that it is reacting to.

But the ego can never control what comes from a deeper ground of consciousness. Even though thinking is a newer evolutionary development that has given human beings great power, it is the wrong mechanism for addressing feeling. The more your ego spins stories in the face of abysmal feeling, the more miserable you come. It is the thinking mind that drives a person to suicide or to abusing drugs and alcohol — not the actual feeling.

Until you understand what is happening to you and can stop your thoughts and instead turn your full awareness with focusedspacious attention directly toward the dark feeling, you might as well be in hell. Indeed, I believe this is the only hell that exists, and it is purely mind-made. The abysmal feelings in themselves are never as terrible as what the ego creates to try to control them.

The above is an excerpt from the book Inside-Out Healing: Transforming Your Life Through the Power of Presence by Richard Moss. The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.

Author Bio
Richard Moss, MD, author of Inside-Out Healing, is an internationally respected leader in the field of conscious living and inner transformation. He is the author of six seminal books on using the power of awareness to realize our intrinsic wholeness and reclaim the wisdom of our true selves. He lives in Ojai, California.

For a calendar of future seminars and talks by the author, and for further information on CDs and other available material, please visit www.richardmoss.com and follow the author on Facebook and Twitter.

Get the book here or at your favorite book retailer.