Confessions of a Domestic Failure by Bunmi Laditan | Review and Q&A

Confessions of a Domestic Failure: A Humorous Book About A Not So Perfect Mom by Bunmi Laditan

Published: May 2, 2017

Publisher: Harlequin Mira

Pages: 320

Received: ARC via NetGalley

Find Onine: Goodreads | Amazon | Chapters | Mira

From the creator of The Honest Toddler comes a fiction debut sure to be a must-read for moms everywhere

There are good moms and bad moms and then there are hot-mess moms. Introducing Ashley Keller, career girl turned stay-at-home mom who's trying to navigate the world of Pinterest-perfect, Facebook-fantastic and Instagram-impressive mommies but failing miserably.

When Ashley gets the opportunity to participate in the "Motherhood Better" bootcamp run by the mommy-blog-empire maven she idolizes, she jumps at the chance to become the perfect mom she's always wanted to be. But will she fly high or flop?

With her razor-sharp wit and knack for finding the funny in everything, Bunmi Laditan creates a character as flawed and lovable as Bridget Jones or Becky Bloomwood while hilariously lambasting the societal pressures placed upon every new mother. At its heart, Ashley's story reminds moms that there's no way to be perfect, but many ways to be great.

This book came out at such a great time - close to Mother's Day when many Mom's are about ready for their special day of celebration (whatever that looks like for them). I highly suggest getting a copy for your Mom friends and sisters (you know, if you have any). This book and the main character, Ashley, will have you laughing out loud one minute, nodding with agreement and crying with understanding the next. It's everything a first time Mom could want in a book to make them feel like they are not the only hot mess out there. 

Here's the deal - I love how this book takes a Mom who idolizes a perfect media empire Mom and teaches her that not everything is at it seems, not everyone has to live up to unrealistic expectations. I love that Ashley keeps trying to better herself, but in the end realizes life is messy. I love that she struggles with the everyday just like most of us do. I think this made her such an easy to relate to character for me. 

Confessions of a Domestic Failure nailed it with the hilarious situations that Ashley gets herself into, while trying to live up to the hype and expectations of the perfect Mom. I think after reading this book you'll realize, much like Ashley, that it's not necessary to be do Pinterest-perfect crafts, make homemade meals and baby food, or throw yourself to the wolves Mommy Group Goddesses for approval - just to be a good and capable mother. I think there is an unwritten pressure to be something we're not and this book gives you the okay to realize we're not all like that. It's okay to be tired, to be so in love with your baby that chores slide, and to enjoy motherhood without added expectations that we be just like everyone else.

The relationships that Ashley has with her husband, her mother in law and her own sister help make her feel authentic. Honestly, I want to be Ashley's friend. We could start our own Mommy group where we wear day old yoga pants, our babies are still in yesterdays sleepers and we eat donuts for the sugar rush (I don't drink coffee) and share horror stories about answering the door with no pants on or baby puking in the Walmart checkout line. This would be my tribe!

And since the book is called Confessions of a Domestic Failure, here are a few of my confessions.

1. Some days we don't get out of our jammies. Neither of us. If we are not going anywhere and no one is coming to visit, who is it really hurting?

2. I generally don't do the dishes until just before my husband comes home from work. I'm saving hot water by only filling the sink once!

3. There are days that I wish we had a dog, only so that it could eat the food my daughter tosses on the floor at each meal and then I wouldn't have to sweep/mop daily. I like dogs, but never really want to own one (I'm a cat person), yet I'm tempted on days that she tosses everything off her high chair.

What are your Mommy confessions? And what are you waiting for - go read this book or give a copy to a friend!

I've been following Bunmi Laditan online (mostly via Facebook) from the time I found out I was pregnant in the fall of 2015. Some of my Mom friends suggested it to me and I just fell in love with how real she kept her posts about life, being a Mom and kids. I also follow Honest Toddler via Twitter. I've read her book Toddlers Are A**holes and thought it was such a fun and cheeky look at being a Mom, so I knew I'd love her book Confessions of a Domestic Failure. And the exciting part was that I asked Bunmi to go a quick Q&A with me for my blog and she said yes! So I'm proud to bring you a quick little set of questions that she graciously agreed to answer for us!

What was the first thing you ever wrote that you were proud of?

In 4th grade, my school in Berkeley, California had an essay assignment where each student had to write a descriptive essay. I wrote about my family going to church on Easter Sunday- the pastel dresses, piling into the car, the excitement at church...it was the first time I really visualized a piece of writing as I was putting the words down on paper. I ended up receiving the highest grade in my class. It was the first time I considered that I could be good at something. 

Can you tell us about your ideal reader for Confessions of a Domestic Failure?

While I was writing Confessions, I always pictured my first few months of motherhood. I spent a lot of time sitting on the living room floor of my apartment with my fresh baby girl not really knowing what I was doing. "Am I supposed to be joining a mom group" "Am I taking her on enough walks?" I felt lost and quite alone for awhile. I still feel like that quite often. When I wrote this book, I wanted to validate all of the moms who love their children deeply, are doing their best, but can't shake the feeling that it's all not enough. I struggle with anxiety and depression quite a bit and it's impacted how I mother greatly. This book is a love letter, a literary blankie for moms like me who parent the best they can despite the war going on between their ears. 

What is the strangest thing you’ve ever had to Google for research?

I write about mom life, so there's not much to research. I just pull from my own daily, messy life. Maybe one day I'll write about alien abductions and get to Google some fun stuff. :) 

Did you have a plan before you started writing this book?

I had a vision for the book, but not a blueprint for it. It started off as a series of handwritten diary entries and slowly took shape over a few years. It wasn't until I was sure I wanted to publish the book that I gave it form (conflict, resolution, etc.). I know many authors plan out their books ahead of time, and that's probably the way to go, but I usually just go with the flow. 

Who’s your favorite character that you’ve written?

Definitely Ashley in Confessions of a Domestic Failure. She's the kind of person you want to sit down and have coffee with because you know they're always going to tell it exactly like it is, no matter what. If I could invent the ideal mom friend, it'd be her. Maybe that's what I was trying to do when I wrote this book- create the friend of my dreams. :) 

You'll be excited to know that Bunmi is already starting to write the sequel! I know I'm looking forward to reading it as soon as it comes out!

About the author:

source

Bunmi Laditan's Instagram and Facebook info sums up her life: Writer and Cali girl in Quebec. Yet she is also a regular contributor to The Huffington Post, Mothering and iVillage, where her satirical pieces on parenting and politics have often gone viral. She also created Honest Toddler, a character based on her youngest child. She lives with her family near Montreal. -pieced together from many sources (her Facebook, Goodreads and good old Google)

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The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel | Review with Author Q&A

The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel

Published: March 7, 2017

Publihser: Crown

Pages: 276

Received: via TLC Book Tours for honest review

Find Online: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Books-a-million

Roanoke girls never last long around here. In the end, we either run or we die.

After her mother's suicide, fifteen year-old Lane Roanoke came to live with her grandparents and fireball cousin, Allegra, on their vast estate in rural Kansas. Lane knew little of her mother's mysterious family, but she quickly embraced life as one of the rich and beautiful Roanoke girls. But when she discovered the dark truth at the heart of the family, she ran fast and far away.

Eleven years later, Lane is adrift in Los Angeles when her grandfather calls to tell her Allegra has gone missing. Did she run too? Or something worse? Unable to resist his pleas, Lane returns to help search, and to ease her guilt at having left Allegra behind. Her homecoming may mean a second chance with the boyfriend whose heart she broke that long ago summer. But it also means facing the devastating secret that made her flee, one she may not be strong enough to run from again.

As it weaves between Lane's first Roanoke summer and her return, The Roanoke Girls shocks and tantalizes, twisting its way through revelation after mesmerizing revelation, exploring the secrets families keep and the fierce and terrible love that both binds them together and rips them apart.

One of my first Goodreads comments while tracking my reading progress was: "this family is severely messed up... reminds me of a VC Andrews story but BETTER!", all because of the subject matter in this story. After finishing the book, I realized it was so much more.

Lane's story is told in pieces via past and present as well as bits of stories from the other Roanoke Girls both dead and alive. It's also intertwined with Allegra's story which adds even that much more drama to the lives of the Roanoke Girls. I think having the chapters alternate between Lane, Allegra and their female relatives it creates the depth of the backstory needed to understand what was truly happening behind closed doors. 

Lane has not had an easy life - her mother had mental issues stemming from her upbringing and commits suicide, then she's tossed to her grandparents whom she thinks love and want her, but it's so twisted and messed up that she runs. She doesn't have normal relationships with men because she doesn't have a role model to compare to nor does she know how to accept real love. She has many issues to work out during this story and all of the added darkness makes you root for her to rise up like a phoenix from the ashes.

Such a dark subject matter is the topic of this story, but it's handled in such a way that it doesn't overpower the mystery behind the women nor is it written in a way that you would find it overtly sexualized. It's tasteful. And the story ends up feeling like the mystery it should be. You will find yourself unraveling the pieces of where is Allegra and why did she disappear, as well as rooting for Lane to finally let herself be loved. 

I had a few theories running through my mind on where Allegra was and who they should be interviewing to get more info, but I was completely wrong and I love when that happens. The best books to me are the ones that keep you guessing and blindside you in the best way.

Lane does a lot of growing up during her return to Roanoke. Not only is she determined to find out the truth, but she's also allowing herself to let go of the past and try to imagine a proper future for herself where she isn't needing to be on the run to hid from her past and her family. 

The last thing to know about The Roanoke Girls is that the way it's written allows to to know the twisty secret without coming right out and saying it at the beginning. This also allows for Ms. Engel to tell the story about why the family is this way and what caused it to happen.

Remember.... Roanoke girls never last long around here. In the end, we either run or we die.

A well written, twisted family story full of secrets that you won't want to miss.

I was lucky enough to submit a few Q&As to Amy for this tour. 
 
1) What a difficult topic to tackle, but after having read The Roanoke Girls, I think you did such a great job of making the story about the women and the mystery surrounding them and not just their dirty little secret. What inspired you to write about this topic?

The first thing I decided on was the setting for the book. I knew it would take place in a small town in Kansas and would involve a young woman returning after many years away. My mother grew up in a rural Kansas community and I spent a lot of time there as a kid. I loved it but also felt very claustrophobic in that environment. There was always the sense of being watched. I wanted the themes of the book to reflect those feelings and that's really how I settled on the topic for the book. I'm also always interested in the power our families have over us and the sometimes strained relationships between women. So all those idea came into play in creating the story.

2) I really enjoyed that the chapters were written in an alternating fashion including Now & Then and from the different female POVs and not just Lane. Was it hard to write from so many POVs and time frames? How did you keep your thoughts organized while writing it?

To be honest, it wasn't difficult at all, at least with this novel. The whole thing unspooled like a movie in my head and I was able to write it without any sort of outline. I would write a THEN section and then a NOW section, etc. and was somehow able to keep the two time periods straight in my head without much trouble. I did go back and add in the sections from the points of view of the other Roanoke girls after the first draft was done. And once I had a solid draft I made a timeline just to make sure I was correct on the dates people were born. But it was a surprisingly easy process overall.

3) Was it hard switching from writing for YA to writing for adults? How different was it?  

Again, I didn't find it difficult to switch from writing YA to adult. For me, all my books start with the characters. I'm always a character driven writer, and that didn't change at all when I moved from YA to adult. I was definitely able to delve into some darker subject matter with the adult novel, but the actual writing process was very similar.

About the Author:

Amy Engel is the author of THE BOOK OF IVY young adult series. A former criminal defense attorney, she lives in Missouri with her family. THE ROANOKE GIRLS (March 7, 2017), is her first novel for adults. -source

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Interview with Maggie King

Murder at the Book Group by Maggie King

Published: December 30, 2014

Publisher: Pocket Books

Pages: 400

Received: from publisher for honest review via NetGalley

Find It: Goodreads | Amazon | Chapters

Hazel Rose never dreamed that the murder mystery book group she and her friend Carlene started would stage a "real "murder. 

Nevertheless, on the night when the normally composed Carlene seems unusually angry and rattled, during group discussion she dies after drinking cyanide-spiked tea. Despite a suicide note, Hazel is skeptical; Carlene never seemed suicidal--why else would she make all those plans for her future? Incidentally, Carlene was married to Hazel's ex-husband, and Hazel has always suspected there might be something more to her past than she let on.

How much does anyone really know about Carlene Arness? And did she die by her own hand or someone else's? Hazel begins a search for the truth that produces no shortage of motives, as she unearths a past that Carlene took great pains to hide. And most of those motives belong to the members of her very own book group...

Featuring memorable characters and a wicked sense of humor, "Murder at the Book Group" shows the darker side of a book club where reading isn't about pleasure--it's about payback.

 

 

Where did you get the idea for Murder at the Book Group?

Murder at the Book Group was a coalescing of many ideas. I’ll present the three main ones:

1. I like to write and read about people at a crossroads in their lives. In Murder at the Book Group both the sleuth and the victim are standing at a crossroads—Hazel Rose is at loose ends in her life, stuck in a rut. She isn’t unhappy but she isn’t fulfilled either. As for Carlene Arness, the victim, she’s recently published her first mystery but her marriage to Hazel’s first husband is falling apart. Carlene probably wasn’t cut out for monogamy and her eye has started to wander.
   Unfortunately, Carlene doesn’t get to cross the road—but solving her murder gives Hazel the opportunity to grow and get out of her rut.

2. I’m intrigued by choices and consequences and how so many of us don’t consider the full range of consequences of our decisions and actions.

3. I love book groups; they have a special dynamic and the members can be fascinating to observe. I’ve known people outside of a book group who have shown a very different aspect of themselves when talking about books—sometimes that aspect is good and sometimes it’s a bit, well … unsettling.

Are any of the characters inspired by real life people?

This is always an interesting question. The answer is yes. And the answer is no! As my characters are a hodge-podge of the many “real” people I’ve known over the years, snippets of their experiences wind up on my pages. And I’ve known women like Carlene Arness who live turbulent lives.

I think people expect similarities between myself and Hazel Rose. Like Hazel, I was born on the east coast, moved to Los Angeles in my twenties, and started my career as a computer programmer. Like Hazel, I had a calico cat named Shammy who accompanied me when I moved back east in 1996 and settled in Richmond, Virginia. Hazel and I share a commitment to the environment, we’re both frugal and unimpressed with the high life.

But divorce and widowhood have not touched my life—I just celebrated 25 years with my one and only husband. I may get stuck in ruts, but not for long. And, alas, I don’t have Hazel’s “money green” eyes.

But the biggest difference between me and Hazel is this: if I needed to re-purpose my life a murder investigation would not be the method I’d choose. No question about it.

But “real” people did find their way into Murder at the Book Group. A case in point is a woman I used to see at a gym in Richmond. I never knew her name or even talked to her except for a hi and a wave. She was partial to leopard prints and chartreuse. The last time I saw her she sashayed into the gym sporting chartreuse stiletto boots and a leopard cowgirl hat, platinum blonde curls cascading down her back. She became Kat Berenger in Murder at the Book Group. As a perk, I gave her a personal trainer job at the same gym.

Jeanette Thacker “reminds” me of a former co-worker. Jeanette doesn’t feel the need to censor her speech. However, her language was much saltier in earlier versions. My editor advised me to ditch the swear words. If the real Jeanette reads my tome and recognizes herself I think she’ll be pleased but will probably wonder why she’s using words like “frigging.”

Another character is based on a woman with whom I once had an adversarial work relationship. I made her nasty as all get out. But I had a runaway word count and some ruthless editing was in order. Ms. Nasty got whittled down and, lo and behold, she became quite nice! I’m still scratching my head about that. Do other writers unwittingly transform their characters via literary nip n tuck? Is writing a vehicle for forgiveness? Someone with savvy in the spiritual realm can weigh in on this question.

What was your favourite part of writing Murder at the Book Group?

Creating the characters and making them unique, giving them voices, quirks. Characters are almost living beings, as they’re born in our imagination. I especially enjoy when they “tell” me what they’re going to say and do.

I also enjoyed creating dialog, a great way to not only develop the characters, but to move the plot along and bury clues.

Who inspired you to become a writer?

As a devotee of Nancy Drew, I wrote mysteries in grade school. In high school I poured my considerable adolescent angst into bad poetry. After that, the only writing I did for many years was journaling. During the last year I lived in Los Angeles, three of my co-workers took creative writing and screenwriting courses at UCLA Extension. I read their work and was impressed by their talent. I also thought “I should be doing this.” I was a member of a mystery book group (it was the model for the Murder on Tour group in Murder at the Book Group) and felt confident that I could turn out a mystery. When I moved to Virginia in 1996 I took a writing course at the University of Virginia and enjoyed it. I took more classes and started writing on a regular basis.

In summary, I credit Nancy Drew, my co-workers, and the two women who taught the UVA writing class—I wish I remembered their names.

As I’m writing this another person I worked with in Los Angeles comes to mind. Patricia was the first writer I ever knew personally. I was awed by her because at the time (circa 1983) I believed that writers spent their days holed up in garrets. But this woman spent her days writing code and her evenings writing fiction. I don’t know if she ever published and she doesn’t show up in my google search. But she just might have inspired my writing at some level, even if it took many years to bear fruit.

What one piece of advice would you give to an aspiring writer?Write every day and make it a priority.

What does your writing space look like right now? 

About the Author:

Maggie King is the author of Murder at the Book Group, published in 2014 by Simon and Schuster. She contributed the short story, “A Not So Genteel Murder,” to the Virginia is for Mysteries anthology. Maggie is a member of Sisters in Crime and the American Association of University Women. She has worked as a software developer, retail sales manager, and customer service supervisor.

Maggie graduated from Elizabeth Seton College and earned a B.S. degree in Business Administration from Rochester Institute of Technology. She has called New Jersey, Massachusetts, and California home. These days she lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband, Glen, and cats, Morris and Olive.

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Made For You by Melissa Marr | Interview, Review & Giveaway

Made For You by Melissa Marr

Published: September 16, 2014

Publisher: HarperCollins

Pages: 368

Received: for honest review via publisher and TLC Book Tours

Find it online: Amazon | IndieBound | B&N | Goodreads

Bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely books Melissa Marr’s first contemporary YA novel is a twisted southern gothic tale of obsession, romance, and murder. A killer is obsessed with Eva Tilling. Can she stop him, or will he claim her?

When Eva Tilling wakes up in the hospital, she’s confused—who in her sleepy little North Carolina town could have hit her with their car? And why? But before she can consider the question, she finds that she’s awoken with a strange new skill: the ability to foresee people’s deaths when they touch her. While she is recovering from the hit-and-run, Nate, an old flame, reappears, and the two must traverse their rocky past as they figure out how to use Eva’s power to keep her friends—and themselves—alive. But while Eva and Nate grow closer, the killer grows increasingly frantic in his attempt to get to Eva.

For the first time, New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr has applied her extraordinary talent to contemporary realism. Chilling twists, unrequited obsession, and high-stakes romance drive this Gothic, racy thriller—a story of small-town oppression and salvation. Melissa’s fans, and every YA reader, will find its wild ride enthralling.

I was so excited to be asked to be on the tour for Made For You. I adore Melissa Marr's writing and have met her a few times when she was in Canada for the Smart Chicks Kick It Tours (2010 and 2011). It was exciting to me to get to do an interview with her, so check it out!

1) I've read a few books in your Wicked Lovely series and jumped at the chance to read your newest book, but what helped you switch from writing about faeries and paranormals to a contemporary that is so dark?

It’s funny to me that I am told that my books are dark. I don’t set out trying to write dark things. When Wicked Lovely came out, it was by and large called “dark,” and Carnival of Secrets was too. With Made For You, I distinctly recall telling my editor that I felt like this was really about the relationships—between Eva and Grace, Eva and her parents, Eva and Nate, Eva and her friends, and, of course, Eva and Judge. My editor, Kristen, got quiet. I think the story I was telling isn’t the same one I wrote. Both are there, but I think the darkness (the murders, the messages carved in flesh, and kidnapping) was less important to me.

I suspect the same is true of my earlier books. The Wicked Lovely series includes war, death, stabbing, curses, and torture, but to me, it was always a story about wanting to control your own fate. . . which is a lot of what Carnival of Secrets was about too. There were fights to the death, but there was a search for freedom and love. I suppose it’s a matter of which part of the story stands out to the reader. To me, as I read, the darkness is important because it teaches the protagonists to fight for the things that truly matter: family, friends, love, and freedom.

2) Are any of your characters based on people you know or experiences you've had?

Not usually—at least not wholesale. There are slivers of people, and of course, I suspect characters inevitably share traits with real-world people unintentionally. Sometimes I see it when I’m done or in revisions. Tavish in my Wicked Lovely series has a tattoo that one of my exes had. I didn’t even realize it until afterwards (I only dated men with tattoos with only one exception).

On the other hand, sometimes real world events spark the story. I had a stalker, so I’m sure Judge’s actions in Made For You were influenced by him to a degree. My stalker, however, was a huge man, one who visibly spent a lot of hours lifting weights, and didn’t know me at all. The feeling of being stalked is more intentionally utilized though. That part I do very much on purpose. I like to harvest emotions from life to create more realism, but people? Not so much.

3) I read on your website/blog that you've written different books for each of your children, who did you write this one for? And, why?

I guess I wrote this one for myself :) I love serial killer stories, and I love Southern Lit (my grad degree is in Southern Literature). I also tend to enjoy contemporary fiction, and . . .well, it all just fit together for me in this book. The Wicked Lovely series was for my daughter; The Blackwell Pages for my eldest son. I have a picture book (out in May) for my baby. Sometimes though stories are just because I am interested in pondering them. This was one of those. 

A big thank you for Melissa for answering my questions and to TLC Book Tours for inviting me to be on this tour. 

Made For You has the creepiest stalker/serial killer character, Judge, who believes that Eva was truly made just for him and he will do everything to make her see the signs and make her his once and for all. 

The biggest thing in this book is the fact that there is a serial killer taking out teenagers who seem to be connected to Eva. You don't know who the killer is, but you will keep guessing as the story goes along. I loved that I thought I had it all figured out, but it was a complete surprise who Judge ended up being. 

Eva's character is pretty interesting - she is from an old Southern family and should be one of the upper class girls. She does hang around the aristocratic teenagers, but she doesn't act like the others at all. She does what she likes, but keeps in mind the family history. She is strong and takes action when needed even though she is injured from her near death experience. After her accident she is able to see visions of peoples deaths so this was a nice little paranormal twist to the plot. 

The romance that blossoms between Nate and Eva is sweet. They have an estranged relationship and start to come together again during this emotionally charged time. Nate is protective of Eva and pretty much reminds her why they were best friends before. They are cute together and I like that their rekindled friendship brings them back together. 

This was a contemporary YA thriller that will have you flipping through the pages until you solve the mystery of Judge.  

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About the Author:

Melissa Marr is the author of the internationally bestselling Wicked Lovely series (currently available in 26 languages). In adult fiction, she is the author of the award-winning novel, Graveminder, and the newly released, The Arrivals. With Kelley Armstrong, Melissa is the co-editor of two anthologies and co-author of the Blackwell Pages trilogy (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers), a children’s series about the Norse myth of Ragnarök. Her upcoming HarperCollins 2014 release, Made For You, utilizes both her graduate degree in Southern Literature and her personal experience with stalkers in a story about a killer who terrorizes a small North Carolina town. Melissa lives in Virginia with her family. 

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Chatting with author Corinne Demas

I recently read and reviewed Corinne Demas' recent release Returning to Shore and loved it so much that I couldn't wait to interview her and get a little background on the story itself. If you like you can leave questions in the comments below for Corinne and you can check out my review here.

How did you come up with the idea for this book?

This book began with turtles! Northern diamondback terrapins, to be precise. I took a field school course at Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary on Cape Cod in Massachusetts and was moved by the plight of the endangered terrapins who live in the bay. I was struck by the passion of the people who devote their lives to saving their habitat for nesting grounds and a character started forming in my mind. I thought about what it might be like to have a father who seems more interested in saving wildlife than having a relationship with you, and my story began developing. The setting of this novel, an island off the coast of Cape Cod, seemed ideal for exploring an intense fathe

r-daughter relationship.

Was there an inspiration for Clare's father's backstory? A person or a memory?

Clare’s father’s backstory didn’t come from a single person or memory, but rather from a mixture of many stories of people I knew and people I heard about. He’s old enough so that many dramatic social changes have taken place in his lifetime. He and Clare grew up in different worlds, so their attitudes about non-traditional families and their views of society are quite different.

Would you ever write a sequel for Returning to Shore?

What a wonderful idea! I hope readers will ask for it!

Which character do you most relate to?

Clare, the main character, for sure. She’s not me at all, but I understand how she thinks and what she hopes for. I always have affection for all my characters (even the nasty ones!) but it’s easiest for me to relate to the life of a young female character. I’ve been there!

If you were stuck on a Deserted island, what five books would you want with you?
This is a tough question! I suppose some writers would just say they’d bring their eBook reader and have five hundred to choose from, but I prefer actual books with real paper pages. If I’m stuck there for a while, I’d want some books that would hold up when I read them again and again. Jane Austen’s novels do that for me. I particularly love Sense and Sensibility. I’d want to re-read Valerie Martin’s intriguing new novel The Ghost of the Mary Celeste. And I’d like to bring some wonderful books recently published by creative writing students whom I’ve taught at Mount Holyoke College – including Violet Kupersmith’s story collection The Frangipani Hotel, Holly Thompson’s YA novel The Language Inside, and Amy Timberlake’s YA novel One Came Home. 

About the Author:
Corinne Demas is Professor of English at Mount Holyoke College and a fiction editor of the Massachusetts Review. She has a Ph.D. in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University.

She is the award-winning author of thirty books, including five novels, two collections of short stories, a memoir, and numerous books for children. 

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Blitz & GIVEAWAY! One Broke Girl by Rhonda Helms

One Broke Girl by Rhonda Helms
(Edgewood Falls #1) 
Publication date: April 7th 2014
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Anna Parker’s life disintegrates with one phone call. Her dad’s selling their ritzy New York City condo because her Wall Street banker mom emptied their bank account and ran off with another man. Which means Anna has to drop out of her elite college and move with Dad back to their small Ohio hometown. Anna’s determined to reclaim her life ASAP, so she’ll use the next few months to save money, help Dad get back on his feet, and find and confront her mom.

But Anna doesn’t anticipate things going so wrong. The only job she can get is working as a lunch lady in an elementary school. Their money-pit duplex is falling apart around their feet. And her dad is depressed without her mom, who’s proving hard to find.

One bright spot in the chaos is Gavin Metcalf, a kindergarten teacher she dated when they were young teens. With his easy wit and sexy smiles, he makes her forget her stresses—and the fact that her boyfriend Steven back in New York doesn’t know the truth yet about her dire circumstances. When past and present collide, Anna has to decide where her future lies…

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Q: How did you come up with the idea for ONE BROKE GIRL?

A: I brainstormed the story in an online writing group, first looking for embarrassing/crazy/weird jobs to help me develop ideas. All I knew at that point was I wanted a heroine working a job she never thought she’d do. When someone mentioned “lunch lady,” the story started writing itself. I realized it was going to be a riches-to-rags story with potential for laughs and heartfelt moments.

Q: Who are your favorite New Adult authors?

A: Oh man, I go through big reading spells where I devour a ton of New Adult because I can’t quit it. I love the intimacy and immediacy of the narrative. Some of my fav authors are Erin McCarthy, Lexi Ryan, Caisey Quinn, Tammara Webber, Sophie Jordan, Marilyn Brant, Samantha Young, Colleen Hoover… I could go on and on, lol.

Q: What’s your writing routine like?

A: I’m an editor by day, so I typically write in the afternoons or early evenings after my work is done. I write 5-10 pages a day, 5 days a week when I’m in drafting mode. Because I plot out scene by scene beforehand, I can sit down and bang out the story pretty quickly.

Q: What’s next in the Edgewood Falls series?

A: Book 2 is Natalie’s story, coming out in June. I’m working on it now, yay. Book 3 will be Bianca’s story, coming out in August. And if readers love these books as much as I do, I’ll probably write more in the series. I’m loving these so much.

Q: What’s one random/weird fact about you?

A: Oh man, I have tons of quirks. Lol. Probably one of the biggest things is I carry at least 2-3 different lip balms on me at all times…in case I have a dry lip emergency or something, I guess. Hah. I can’t quit my lip balm.

  

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About the Author:

Rhonda Helms started writing several years ago. She has a Master's degree in English and a Bachelor's degree in Creative Writing. She also edits for Carina Press (an imprint of Harlequin Publishing) and freelance edits.

When she isn't writing, she likes to do amateur photography, dig her toes into the sand, read for hours at a time, and eat scads of cheese. WAY too much cheese.

Rhonda lives in Northeast Ohio with her family.

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Romance Week Interview: Jessica Scott

I'd like to welcome author Jessica Scott to Snowdrop Dreams of Books and ROMANCE WEEK! I had the opportunity to interview Jessica about writing romance novels and she let us have a sneak peek at her latest WIP!

What drew you to writing Romance to begin with?

I had a battalion commander once tell me that everything in life is about relationships. Romance is ultimately about relationships so it's a natural fit. Plus, I really wanted to write stories that would challenge people, but also fit into conceptions of what readers expected, you know?

Would you ever write outside of Romance? If so, what genres?  If no, why not?

I think I'd love to write something like Tomb Raider or Raiders of the Lost Ark. I love the idea of looking for lost civilizations and artifacts. Right now, though, I'm focusing on the Coming Home series.

If Hollywood optioned All For You into a movie, who would play the lead characters? 

You know I honestly cannot answer that. I'd love to see Reese Witherspoon play Emily but I have absolutely no mental image of who could play Reza. He's such a strong picture in my head that I haven't seen him looking back at me from any actor, if that makes sense.

If you could hop into any romance novel, what would it be? 

Don't laugh but Johanna Lindsey's Warrior's Woman. I'm a Star Wars geek so anything that puts me into space travel would be so awesome.

What are you writing at the moment?  Can you give us a sneak peek into your current WIP 

Here's a sneak peak at First Sarn't Sorren's book that I'm working on now. 

Headlights flooded the living room a few minutes later. She opened the door, surprised to see him in civilian clothes. Casual jeans and a button down shirt, cuffed at the wrists.

She smiled as he approached thinking that maybe that second glass of wine hadn’t been such a good idea. It made her feel loose and warm as he walked toward her. He looked down at her, his eyes warm and dark. “Why are you smiling?” he asked gently. 

“I keep forgetting how big you are.” She lifted the glass of wine to her lips. It was sparkling and sweet on her tongue. 

He watched her every movement and Melanie felt something she hadn’t felt in the war zone that her home had become. She felt alive. Aware of the heat in her veins, the tightness of her skin.  

It was all an illusion. An illusion that started with the man in her foyer and would end with her heart breaking again. 

Because Gale Sorren was a soldier. And that meant that anyone in his life always came second to the army. 

She knew that and despite being glad he’d come tonight, the reality of what she was doing slapped at her. 

It was a mistake to let that fantasy take hold. A terrible mistake. 

Gale wouldn’t stick around long enough to convince her it was real. So why get wrapped up in the fantasy, no matter how nice it was thrumming through her veins at that moment?

About the book:

All For You by Jessica Scott
RELEASE DATE: February 4, 2014

Can a battle-scarred warrior . . .

Stay sober. Get deployed. Lead his platoon. Those are the only things that matter to Sergeant First Class Reza Iaconelli. What he wants is for everyone to stay out of his way; what he gets is Captain Emily Lindberg telling him how to deal with his men. Fort Hood's newest shrink is smart as a whip and sexy as hell. She's also full of questions—about the army, its soldiers, and the agony etched on Reza's body and soul.

. . . open his heart to love?

Emily has devoted her life to giving soldiers the care they need—and deserve. Little does she know that means facing down the fierce wall of muscle that is Sergeant Iaconelli like it's just another day at the office. When Reza agrees to help her understand what makes a soldier tick, she's thrilled. Too bad it doesn't help her unravel the sexy warrior in front of her who stokes her desire and touches a part of her she thought long dead. He's the man who thinks combat is the only escape from the demons that haunt him. The man who needs her most of all . . .
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COMING MARCH 2014!

About the Author:

Jessica Scott is a career army officer, mother of two daughters, three cats and three dogs, wife to a career NCO and wrangler of all things stuffed and fluffy. She is a terrible cook and even worse housekeeper, but she's a pretty good shot with her assigned weapon and someone liked some of the stuff she wrote. Somehow, her children are pretty well adjusted and her husband still loves her, despite burned water and a messy house.

She's written for the New York Times At War Blog, PBS Point of View Regarding War, and IAVA. She deployed to Iraq in 2009 as part of OIF/New Dawn and is currently a company commander stationed at Fort Hood.

Most recently, she's been featured as one of Esquire Magazine's Americans of the Year for 2012.

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