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SPRING BREAK WRAP UP

Posted on by Melissa Chambers

Another spring break is in the books. The week off of work to hang with the offspring was spent mostly on bike rides (with no training wheels!), visiting with friends, eating pizza (shout out to Soulshine in Midtown, Nashville and Marco’s in Cool Springs), and WRITING! 

I’m not sure how much I’ve written, but we’ll call it a boatload. Even though there were days that I didn’t even touch my current manuscript there were other days where I wrote like a mad woman when the kid was on a play date or otherwise occupied (thank you, husband!). The reason being I had the opportunity, and I snatched it up.

I’ve heard other writers talk about needing a silent environment to write. I’ve heard others talk about how their optimum writing time is from 10:00 – 1:00 or 2:00 – 4:00 and they can’t understand how others can write late at night. But when you work a full-time job and have a kid, your writing time is whenever you have a two minute window to sit down and type out a sentence. I have a writer friend who sets his alarm for 4:00 in the morning so he can get his writing time in before work and panics if he snoozes until 4:30. Us part-time writers have to take every single opportunity that comes our way and make the most of even the shortest of writing sessions.

But the full-time job is a current, evil necessity. Tomorrow, I head back to the office, my Peach White Honest Tea in hand — because it’s the little things that get us through the day — and I put in my time for my standard paycheck until the glorious day arrives that I am able to actually make money doing what I love. I get one step closer every day. We won’t talk about how many steps are in front of me, but I know I’m far closer than I was when I started four years ago.
 

AUTHOR INTERVIEW-MEDA WHITE

Posted on by Melissa Chambers

**UPDATE**

THE WINNER OF THE GIVEAWAY OF THE DIGITAL COPY OF SPRING BREAK BY MEDA WHITE IS JANICE AUSTIN! THANK YOU TO MEDA FOR VISITING WITH ME ON THE BLOG, AND I LOOK FORWARD TO CHECKING OUT SPRING BREAK! 

Today I welcome author Meda White to the blog to talk about Spring Break in Panama City and zombie target shooting. You know you’re curious!

Meda has been so kind to offer a free digital download of her newly released novella, Spring Fling, to a lucky commenter! Just comment on this post (any comment) and I’ll randomly choose a winner (details below). 

Kellyn Crenshaw wants to make it to college graduation without becoming another notch on the belt of a fraternity boy. A boy exactly like Pace Samson. Forced into close proximity because their roommates are dating, Kellyn sets out to prove she’s resistant to his charms.

Pace never figured himself for a one woman man until he spends time with Kellyn. She’s different, and he can’t get her out of his mind. She’s also aware of his reputation, and it may keep him from the one girl who makes him want to change his ways.

When Pace and Kellyn fake a fling on Spring Break to help their friends, Kellyn may discover she isn’t immune to Pace after all. They’ll each have to decide if what’s between them is just a fling or if there’s a chance their feelings are real.

Hello Meda! Tell us a little about yourself – who you are and what you write.

I’m a Southern girl (okay-woman) and I write contemporary romance with a Southern flair. My main focus is adult contemporary, but I’ve written some new adult novellas which were so much fun.

Your bio tells us you shoot zombie targets. Please explain!

As a Southerner, my family is into firearms. It’s a Thanksgiving tradition to shoot sporting clays and paper targets. At the pistol range near my house, I discovered they make zombie targets. Since I’m a huge Walking Dead fan, I had to have them. It’s really cool to hit them in the head. I always aim for the mouth. *fist pump*

What’s the heat level in this novel? Sweet, sexy, or smokin’ hot?

Probably 1.5 out of 3 hot tamales. I personally don’t like to read too much detail in the bedroom, but people who prefer clean might blush a bit when Pace and Kellyn lock the door.

Did you have celebrity look-a-likes in mind when you wrote Kellyn and Pace?

Not really. I usually write the story then look for images online that might match. The cover models are pretty close, but I was imagining Pace a bit more like Chase Crawford but with lighter hair.

What is Kellyn’s guilty pleasure? Worst habit?

Pace.

I see from your bio you make music. Does music, your own or others’, play a role in your writing?

I have to make myself not write about music. In my full-length novel, Play With My Heart, which releases this summer from Soul Mate Publishing, the heroine plays guitar. The book is the first of five in a family saga and the entire family is musical. I think I mention music, an artist or song, in everything I write. A scene in Spring Fling was based on a lyric from an Ed Sheeran song. I’d say music definitely plays a role in my writing.

Are you a plotter, or do your characters write the stories as they go?

I’m a panster and a character driven writer, so I write the story they tell me as it unfolds.

Tell us something you love about Pace and Kellyn, either separately or as a couple.

I love that Pace recognizes Kellyn’s loyalty and translates that to the security he needs in a woman. I love that Kellyn is afraid, but wants to be brave and take a chance, knowing Pace might not do the same.

What’s next on your writing agenda?

In June/July, my first full-length novel with Soul Mate, will release. It’s called Play With My Heart and is an adult contemporary romance. The second Southern College Novella, Fall Rush, releases August 1st and Winter Formal (3rd Novella) is scheduled for October release.

Who are some of your favorite authors and what are you currently reading?

I have so many authors whom I love to read. Rita Herron, Stephanie Bond, Jennifer Crusie, and Catherine Bybee are a few in the contemporary and romantic suspense genres I enjoy. I really love to read paranormal romance, too. Mina Khan, Lexi George, Charlaine Harris, and Suzanne Johnson are a few I look for in that genre. I’m currently reading Downfall of a Good Girl by Kimberly Lang.

Is there anything else you’d like us to know about Spring Fling?

I wrote Spring Fling after chaperoning my teenaged niece and friend on a Spring Break trip to Panama City Beach, Florida. That’s the beach my friends and I spent all of our Spring Breaks, Junior/Senior Beach Weekends, and random other trips when we were in high school and college. It was so interesting to see it through more mature eyes. *clears throat* So much has changed, yet boys and girls are basically the same. Someone has to make a move and be ready to face either rejection or acceptance. I think Pace and Kellyn’s story is a fun way to explore the possibilities.

The winner of the drawing for a digital download of Spring Fling for Kindle, iBooks, Nook or Google Play will be announced on Tuesday morning through my social media and posted here on the blog. If I don’t already have the winner’s email address, I’ll ask that the winner email me at melissa@melissachambers.com with their email address to get them the link.

Spring Fling is now available both digitally and in paperback on Amazon.

Meda White writes sweet, sultry, and southern contemporary romance. She resides in the Southeastern US with her husband and a very spoiled furbaby.

When not writing, you might find her making music, shooting zombie targets, teaching yoga, or explaining the meaning of her unusual first name.

Follow Meda White on Twitter or Like her on Facebook
Visit her blog or website

LET THERE BE LIGHT!

Posted on by Melissa Chambers

This day of the year, the start of daylight savings time, may very well be my favorite day of the year. I know, there’s Christmas. But isn’t Christmas always sort of a let down after the month of preparations? And my birthday — let’s just say once I turned 21, I was good…although they still keep coming, dammit.

But this day of the year promises us eight months of light. Now, as we leave work in the late afternoon, we don’t need flashlights to get to our cars. People can walk, run, bike, skate or do whatever it is people do outside after work or even after an early dinner. And with each day from now until the summer solstice, it just keeps getting lighter later, lengthening our days.

The dark, dreary period of time from January until now is always a hibernation period for many of us. But now that we have light, we can emerge from our homes, spread our arms and let the sun beat down upon us with its vitamin D.

Ah…yes! LET THERE BE LIGHT!

WHEN INSPIRATION STRIKES…OR NOT

Posted on by Melissa Chambers

Writers write. When I first saw that little quote, I thought, how stupid. Of course they do. Isn’t that the point? Until I became no longer inspired to write. Then I was all like, ah, I get it.

See, I don’t need to take one of those right brain left brain, Type A Type B tests to know that I’m a spreadsheet-loving, controlling, worrying, big ole ball of analytical. I actually think this helps me get stories finished. I can’t tell you how often people tell me that they’ve always wanted to write a book, or that they started one years ago but never finished. I have no doubt that these folks are likely more creative than I am.

But as a result of my Type A personality, I like to get shit done. Nothing feels better than to check something off my list. My husband won’t let me help with jobs like painting (except with taping off. I love to tape off. Who loves to tape off?) because I don’t want it done right, I just want it done.

So as a result, I come up with a story, start it, and I NEED to get it done. I’m a writer who writes…until I get stuck.

I recently had an incredible opportunity that I REALLY want to talk about, but I’ll just say, I wrote a story and turned it in, and ever since, I’ve been flummoxed. What do I do now? I could start on book two in that series but (insert 10 reasons why I shouldn’t do that), or I can finish up that YA that I got some fabulous professional advice about (is YA where my focus should be right now?), or I can freeze up and not write anything.

I’ll let you guess what I’ve done for the past month.

Until this week.

Out of the clear blue sky, a story came down from the heavens and knocked me upside the head, and off I went. I’m 12,000 words in and I Cant. Stop. Writing.

This is a blessing. I know this. I appreciate this. Inspiration has hit, and it’s a beautiful thing. But I know what it’s like when it doesn’t hit. I can’t even read a good book when inspiration is not hitting. I can do a lot of staring at my blank screen and feeling guilty. That’s about it.

So the moral here? I don’t freaking know. I just know I’m a writer who is finally now writing. Hallelujah!

HELLO FROM THE NATCHEZ TRACE!

Posted on by Melissa Chambers

                                

I write this week’s blog from the Pin Oak Lodge situated in the scenic Natchez Trace State Park. I’m here along with 41 other Music City romance writers on a retreat to rejuvenate our writing souls.

So far, I’ve been chatting nonstop with my roomie and one of my favorite people in the world, fellow writer Victoria Austin (whose mother once thought I was the Craig’s List Killer), getting to know my MCRW chapter mates through a hilarious guess-who-answered-this-question game, and taking a fabulous three hour Voice Immersion workshop from the incredibly talented and inspiring Barbara Samuel.

At last night’s dinner, just when I thought my dog-free hotel bed coupled with the Bella Andre book I’m reading sounded heavenly a panel of our chapter’s published authors assembled. As I listened to each of them answer all of our questions, it struck me that it was ridiculous how much joy I was getting out of the moment – talking shop, learning new and different ways of thinking, and even realizing questions I needed to be asking that I hadn’t even considered. The same thought struck me as we entered hour three of today’s workshop which included writing exercises intended for us to dig deep. It was tough but rewarding to stretch myself on some of the more uncomfortable ones, and really cool to learn some things about myself and my writing.

All through my late twenties and early thirties, my husband, being an incredibly talented musician, always pushed me to search for what I wanted to do with my life outside of our relationship and family – he always wanted me to have something for myself, as he had his music. I’m not sure how it happened, or when exactly it happened, but writing has become that passion for me. Not only do I love doing it, but I love talking about it, and I love hearing other writers talk about their writing. We’re all so different, and I rarely walk away from a conversation having not learned something.

I skipped the lunch to have some solace here in my room today, because the thought of an hour and a half alone is foreign and exhilarating, but I jump back in less than thirty minutes from now with more workshops given from more talented writers who I enjoy and respect. I miss my husband, my boy and my two terriers, but honestly, right now, this is exactly what I needed.

LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER

Posted on by Melissa Chambers

So there’s this thing called Listen To Your Mother. It’s a show about motherhood, and sounds like a fabulous excuse for a girls night out!

Today I feature Brigid Day, Co-Director of Listen To Your Mother: Nashville, to tell us a little more about it.

Good morning, Brigid, and welcome!

Tell us about Listen To Your Mother. What is it, exactly?

Listen To Your Mother is a national series of original live readings shared locally on stages and globally via social media. The idea started five years ago with one show which gave women a chance to speak about motherhood. This year, there will be 32 shows in 32 cities to giving motherhood a microphone. Each show is a well-crafted journey to celebrate and validate all aspects of motherhood. Listen To Your Mother: Nashville will be April 26th at 7pm at TPAC’s James T. Polk Theatre.

How did you come to be involved with the Nashville production?

I took my mom to the Chicago LTYM show last year and within moments knew that I wanted to bring the show to Nashville. I recruited two friends, Anne McGraw and Carrie Weir, and we began making plans and submitted an application. We are thrilled that Nashville was chosen as one of the new LYTM cities for 2014.

Why Nashville?

Nashville has a variety of voices from southern born, to transplants, to immigrant and refugee women, and more. We are a storytelling community, and can’t wait to entertain and captivate with this powerful show.

What should audience members come prepared for? Inspiration? Laughter? Tears? All of the above?

As an audience member last year, I laughed, I cried, I related to the women, I was amazed by them, and my face hurt from smiling when I left.

So women can audition for the show. What would an audition entail?

Women, mothers, grandmothers, daughters, fathers, sons, anyone who has a story about motherhood may audition. We have 80 auditions spots which filled up fairly quickly. During the audition we will meet the reader, and listen to them read their original piece of under 5 minutes. Ideally, the show will return next year and the following years. We encourage everyone who missed the audition signups to stay tuned and audition for LTYM: Nashville 2015 (and of course, come see LTYM 2014! – click here for ticket information).

I’ve read that LTYM works with causes. Tell me about this.

Each LTYM show works with a local cause that supports women. Nashville is thrilled to donate 10% of ticket sales to Thistle Farms (http://www.thistlefarms.org/) and Magdalene House. Magdalene is a residential program for women who have survived lives of prostitution, trafficking, addiction, and life on the streets. They also provide outreach to women still living on the streets. Thistle Farms is the social enterprise that is run by the women of Magdalene. By hand, the women create natural bath and body products and earn skills in manufacturing, packaging, marketing and sales, and administration.

Tickets to Listen To Your Mother: Nashville at the Polk Theater downtown on Saturday, April 26th at 7:00pm are available now! Click here to order.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW-M.D. WATERS

Posted on by Melissa Chambers

You may recall back in the fall my ranting and raving over this book called Archetype by M.D. Waters. I even participated in the Where In The World Is Archetype? blog tour. Having gotten my hands on an advance reader copy of the book, I, along with many others, wrote a glowing review of Archetype on goodreads.com. 

But sadly, this book has been unavailable to the general public…UNTIL NOW!

Ladies and gentleman, I give you…ARCHETYPE.

Emma wakes in a hospital, with no memory of what came before. Her husband, Declan, a powerful, seductive man, provides her with new memories, but her dreams contradict his stories, showing her a past life she can’t believe possible: memories of war, of a camp where girls are trained to be wives, of love for another man. Something inside her tells her not to speak of this, but she does not know why. She only knows she is at war with herself.

Suppressing those dreams during daylight hours, Emma lets Declan mold her into a happily married woman and begins to fall in love with him. But the day Noah stands before her, the line between her reality and dreams shatters.

In a future where women are a rare commodity, Emma fights for freedom but is held captive by the love of two men—one her husband, the other her worst enemy. If only she could remember which is which. . . .

The first novel in a two-part series, Archetype heralds the arrival of a truly memorable character—and the talented author who created her.

A huge warm welcome to M.D. Waters!

Tell us a little about yourself — who you are and what you write.

I am a wife and mother of two crazy boys, who writes whenever possible, and has the “go away” hand signal on automatic if they get too near. I started out writing fantasy novels, but am now madly in love with futuristic scifi. I don’t see myself leaving the genre anytime soon.

If you are a fan of (fill in the blank) you will love Archetype. And let us know if the noted books or authors influenced you in the writing of this novel.

ARCHETYPE has been given comparisons to authors like Margaret Atwood, George Orwell, and Marge Piercy. It’s been compared to books like The Handmaids Tale, Gone Girl, When She Woke, Before I Go To Sleep, and The Host. Other than The Host, I’d never read any of these novels, but am trying to get to them when I can.

Any influences I had when writing ARCHETYPE came from small clips I remembered from the movie version of The Handmaids Tale, Luke Skywalker in the water tank from The Empire Strikes Back, and conspiracy theories my dad used to tell us on a quiet Friday evening.

Conspiracy theories, huh? Interesting. *rubs hands together* By the way, Gone Girl is highly recommended along with Gillian Flynn’s other two books Sharp Objects and Dark Places. But I digress.

Archetype takes place in a futuristic time when men outnumber women, and young girls are put in training camps to learn how to become wives. The camp was not a happy place. In addition, Emma endures some difficult situations (without giving too much away) in this book. Did it ever become difficult emotionally for you to write some of the scenes?

Oh, yes. For sure. Because I wrote the story in first person, present tense, I had to almost become her to show her story the way it needed to be told. So I would be in some really low moods for hours, sometimes a day or two, surrounding those emotional scenes.

What kinds of research is involved with writing a futuristic thriller? One might think you could write whatever you want since none of us really know what life will be like in the future, but I’m thinking there might be more to it. (?)

Hahaha, no. My only research came from watching movies. I keep a “note” in my phone and when I see something cool, I type it in there. I’ve since started tracking technology on Pinterest so I know what’s possible now, as well as probable in the future.

As I read this book, I saw a major motion picture playing out in my head. If given your pick, which celebrities would you choose to play the characters in Archetype?

Jennifer Lawrence (Emma), Stephen Amell (Declan), and Charlie Hunnam (Noah)

Oh, yes. Jennifer Lawrence MUST play Emma!

What is your writing process? Do you plot everything meticulously or do you dive in head first without a rope?

I dove in without a rope for ARCHETYPE, but I’ve since learned the error of my ways, and now I plot down to scene. It’s just safer that way.

Do you draw inspiration from music? If so, would you say there was a soundtrack for Archetype?

Absolutely! I listened to a lot of Evanescence and We Are The Fallen while writing ARCHETYPE and PROTOTYPE. Those women have powerful voices and sing haunting music.

You tease us terribly at the end of Archetype. When will the follow up, Prototype, be released? And what, if anything, can you tell us about it?

PROTOTYPE releases July 24, 2014, so only six months away! I can tell you that the world becomes much larger, and you’ll get to see how the other half lives.

YES!

Who are some of your favorite authors and what are you currently reading?

My favorite authors is a pretty long list! I love Karen Marie Moning, Richelle Mead, Veronica Roth, and Suzanne Collins. Cassandra Clare. I’m recently in love with Margaret Atwood, though. She’s incredible. At the moment, I’m not reading anything, because I’m writing another novel.

Is there anything else you’d like us to know about yourself or Archetype?

YES! ARCHETYPE is not a young adult novel, hahahaha. It has some cross-over appeal, but I love a steamy-sex scene as much as the next girl. 

ARCHETYPE is now available on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

M.D. Waters lives in Maryland with her husband and two boys. She is a closet Housewives watcher, a wannabe goth-surfer with a side of nunchuck skills, and writes in her pj’s.

Follow M.D. Waters on Twitter or Facebook, or visit her blog

AUTHOR INTERVIEW-AVERY FLYNN

Posted on by Melissa Chambers

A big ole warm, Jimmy Choo-style welcome to Avery Flynn, author of High Heeled Wonder — Book One in the Killer Style series.

Sylvie Bissette may be one of Harbor City’s youngest glitterati, but only her best friends know her most closely guarded secret. She’s the woman behind The High-Heeled Wonder, the newest must-read blog for fashionistas everywhere. Gossip, fashion advice, exposés. Too bad some people can’t take a little criticism. When an internet troll discovers her secret identity, Sylvie turns to security expert Tony Falcon for help. The investigator from the other side of the tracks is the olive oil to her Evian water, but it’s not just her temper he’s inciting…

Tony Falcon wouldn’t know a kitten heel from a tabby cat, but since most of the bad guys he tracks down aren’t wearing stilettos, it’s never been a problem…until he meets Sylvie. The feisty fashionista may be his best chance at catching the criminals responsible for his best friend’s murder. But solving that case means going after the people Sylvie cares about, and soon the attraction—and the danger—has him wondering if solving the case is worth hurting the woman he can’t stop fantasizing about …

When Sylvie’s stalker escalates from sending nasty e-mails to trying to run her over in broad daylight, Tony goes undercover as Sylvie’s boyfriend to infiltrate the close-knit fashion community. In a world full of overblown egos and cut-throat ambition, Tony and Sylvie must work together to find her revenge-obsessed stalker before Sylvie ends up with a literal knife in the back.

Welcome Avery! Tell us about yourself – who you are and what you write.

I pretty much live in yoga pants and I write about fashion. So …. yeah. It makes me shake my head too.

Which authors or series of novels would you say your writing style is similar to?

I pretty much love to read the same kind of books that I like to write, so I’d go with Lori Foster, Dakota Cassidy, Cherry Adair—and, of course, my parters in crime Robin Covington and Kimberly Kincaid.

I see the magic word here…series! Will each book take on a new heroine or will we see Sylvie in each book?

Sylvie will be there, but each book focuses on a different couple and a different part of the fashion industry. There are so many options when it comes to the fashion world in Harbor City, that I’m loving it as a writer.

Since we’re talking fashion here, it would seem amiss not to talk about shoes! Who loves them more, you or Sylvie?

Oh man. That’s a tough one. I love shoes. LOVE. SHOES. But our girl Sylvie has better connections than I do, so I think it’s safe to say she has better access to all the latest styles.

Did writing about the fashion industry come natural to you, or did you have to delve into much research?

I’ve always been addicted to fashion magazines and blogs, but I did have to do research. Books. Magazines. Shopping trips. It was awful, just awful. BWAHAHAHAHAHA

Shopping for research. I’m definitely writing about the wrong subjects!

What is your writing process? Do you plot everything meticulously or do you dive in head first without a rope?

Right about now my critique partners are laughing their asses off. In theory my process works by me plotting out everything and then tackling it word by word, page by page. That actually happens—for about sixty percent of the book. Then I hit that magical mark and BAM! I start trying to change everything in the book. The plot gets tossed out the window. I change things about characters. It’s total madness. And each time I tell Robin and Kim that I’ll never do it this way again…and then it’s the next time.

Just for fun, what do you drink while writing? Coffee? Diet Coke? Amaretto sours?

Coffee is my nectar. If I could get it in an IV drip, I would.

Who are some of your favorite authors and what are you currently reading?

I love so many authors! I don’t know that I can name my favorite because the list would be so long it would break the internet. Right now I’m reading books submitted for the RWA Rita contest. It’s all hush-hush because they like to keep it all secret, but I can say there is some good stuff out there.

When will the next installment in the series be released? Anything you can tell us about it?

The second book, This Year’s Black, will be out around May and it features Tony’s sister, Ryder, an amazingly hot one night stand with a former MMA fighter turned fashion insider and a tropical paradise. Then, in the spring, I have a novella coming out that bridges the worlds of Harbor City and another series I have coming out in the fall about three sisters who inherit a broken down brewery. Good times!

Is there anything you’d like us to know about yourself or High-Heeled Wonder?

Yes! I’m having a really awesome giveaway to celebrate High-Heeled Wonder’s release. Enter the High-Heeled Wonder Shoes, Swag and Books Extravaganza Giveaway for your chance to win a $100 DSW gift certificate, books from Entangled Ignite authors releasing in January (Avery Flynn, High-Heeled Wonder; Jody Wallace, Angeli; Julie Rowe, Molly Gets Her Man; Caridad Pineiro and Cathy Perkins, Love International Style box set) and more!

Click HERE to enter the High-Heeled Wonder Shoes Swag and Books Extravaganza Giveaway!

 
About Avery Flynn

Avery Flynn loves a hockey-addicted husband, has three slightly wild children and is desperately wishing someone would invent the coffee IV drip. Find out more about her on her website, Twitter or Facebook. She posts all sorts of fashion, reading and hero inspiration pictures on Pinterest.

“When a fashionista and her bodyguard get tangled up together, watch out for sizzling sex and surprising plot twists.” New York Times best seller Rebecca York 

High-Heeled Wonder by Avery Flynn is available on Amazon.

 

FOR THE LOVE OF CHARACTERS

Posted on by Melissa Chambers

Every time I finish writing a book, I get an overwhelming feeling of ecstatic, sweet accomplishment. Then five minutes later I fall into a depressed state filled with a sense of loss, separation and unease.

I think I speak for at least some other authors when I say that we get majorly attached to our characters. We have created these people to our spec. We’ve given them hardships to overcome, and we’ve knocked them down repeatedly throughout the process. We’ve dragged them through the mud and slapped them around until they hit rock bottom, only to pick them up off their feet, and help them toward sweet redemption at the end of the story.

Through this process, we writers laugh and cry with our characters. We are on their emotional journeys with them and yes, there are times when we internalize their pain. It’s a daunting process, but it truly is a labor of love.

I always talk big about how I’m going to take two weeks off and veg out to mindless television shows in the evenings, but the fact is, I’m not comfortable unless I’m writing. So the question is where do I go from here?

Fortunately, the novel I just finished is book one in the series, and I have at least two more to go. So even though the next books in the series will focus on different couples – secondary characters that I’ll be developing into heroes and heroines – the couple from my first book will be around. But I’ve been down this road before. It won’t be the same. I’m still sad to put them to bed (no pun intended), but what keeps me going is that I have this set of characters, who I already know a little about from book one, that I get to expound upon and fill with new strengths and insecurities. And I get to introduce new characters into the mix and develop them as I wish.

The absolute worst is when you finish the final book in a series and you really have to say goodbye. Hopefully by this time the author is a little sick of their crew of characters, but unfortunately, I have not found that to be the case.

But, as with everything in life, time heals all wounds, and we all move forward. And then you start the whole process all over again with a new series. Ahh, the joy of writing.  

OUR OLD FRIEND BRIDGET

Posted on by Melissa Chambers

2013 somehow got away without my having picked up Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. As most females in my generation did, I absolutely adored Bridget. Never has there been a more perfect mess of a neurotic character written. So I loaded up my iPod with the audiobook of the newest installment in the series this past week and held my breath.

With such an iconic character, one is always afraid of disappointment in the second or third book. Not that I didn’t trust Ms. Fielding, but surely Bridget had grown up and matured with age, which I was afraid would completely ruin her self-obsessed existence.

To my delight, I soon discovered that she was the same old fantastic, hysterical, hot mess that she always was. Shew!

(SPOILER ALERT! I mean, it’s not like I tell the ending here, but I do mention a couple of things about the book.)

Now 50 years old, widowed and a mother of two, Bridget still keeps a diary, that includes alcohol units and calories, but cigarettes are replaced by doses of Nicorette. At first, I was afraid it was going to be too mom-friendly for my taste, knowing Bridget would have to be responsible for these two kids, but Ms. Fielding gives us a perfect balance between crazy Bridget and responsible mom, thankfully not going overboard either way.

And I love that she’s 50. It seems like most romance and women’s fiction novels I read cap the heroine’s age at 35. Bridget doesn’t act like she’s 50, which I LOVE. I believe it speaks to my generation and our refusal to become old. I was once assured by a person about 15 years older than me that I would stop liking rock music once I got in my thirties (I was 31 at the time). I was told once I started having kids I would “mellow out” and want to settle into my age. Let’s see, that was a decade ago, and I have only since expanded the amount of rock groups I love. Look around at fellow Gen X’ers. Do we look like we’re ready for polyester elastic-waist pants pulled up to our belly buttons?

Bridget’s still got it at 50, attracting younger men while somehow staying sane and grounded as she navigates through the ups and downs of the daily loss and gain of Twitter followers. She wears these reading glasses, that give her a distinguished and elegant look. Usually, reading glasses can give a person an elderly look, but apparently, if you choose the right frame for your face (to learn more, click this link here now), it can actually make you look quite youthful instead.

While the hilarity is there, so is the poignancy. Bridget deals with great loss, and you absolutely feel her pain right alongside her. As I listened, I wanted to hug Bridget, be her friend and tell her I would be her tried and true Twitter follower! Once you read the book, you’ll see how much this would mean to her.

So needless to say, if you haven’t already picked this one up, I highly recommend you do so. However, I will warn you. As long as you are reading it, and for days and maybe even weeks afterward, it will leave you scratching your head.