Sharla Lovelace's Blog, page 11

Off The Beaten Path – with Claire Cook!

Here we are again at Off The Beaten Path!  A once-a-month opportunity to get to know a very special romance or women’s fiction author, in a fun and hopefully interactive way.   We all like to get to know our favorite authors a little better, and I want to make that fun for everyone.

This month, I’m so excited to introduce the fabulous Claire Cook!!

So pretty in pink!!!

I fell madly in love with Claire’s writing back in the day when Must Love Dogs first came out.  I owned a little bookstore back then, and ran a small bookclub out of it.  Must Love Dogs was one of our picks, and I was in awe.  And I knew I wanted to write like THAT.   So Claire is one of my major writing inspirations! 

Claire, I’m so happy you are visiting today.  I know everyone here is anxious to talk to you so let’s get started!

Claire, how would you describe your life in only 8 words?

Totally thrilled to finally be living my dream.

That’s awesome! So in that vein of thought, what is your definition of perfect happiness?

Perfectly fleeting.

 

We all have those niggling terrors that gnaw at us…or give us story ideas. What’s your greatest fear?

That I’m still a bartender and I can’t remember where this drink should go. Oh, wait, that’s the recurring nightmare.

What is your biggest pet peeve?

  Mean people.

 

Do you have a favorite saying?

  Midlife rocks!

 

Yes it does! As much as we all get caught up in these crazy schedules and deadlines, balance is important. What is your favorite thing to do when you’re not writing?

  Walk the beach.

 

What’s your fantasy profession?

Being a novelist. It’s the career I almost didn’t have, and nine books in, it still feels like a fantasy.

What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?

Humor, honesty, and kindness.

Okay, this one’s important. If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?

Trader Joe’s organic popcorn with olive oil.

What are your 5 favorite songs?

I never play favorites. I just can’t. I’d feel too sorry for the songs I didn’t pick.

You and I have something in common. We both published our first novel at the age of 45. You have now surpassed what most of us only dream of, by walking the red carpet at the premier of the movie adaptation of your second novel, Must Love Dogs, at 50. What advice do you have for women who haven’t yet realized their own buried dreams?

Rise above the negativity. Whatever the motive, lots of people will tell you why you can’t or shouldn’t do whatever it is you want to do. You just have to decide to do it anyway. You might want to protect yourself a bit in the beginning too. I didn’t tell anyone about my first novel until it was finished. You don’t need anyone’s permission — just do it!

Be who you really are. The big buzz word these days is branding, but I think of it as authenticity. This is the first job I’ve ever had where I wasn’t pretending, or at least trying to pretend, to be a slightly different person. Who I am and what I write are totally in synch. There’s tremendous power in that.

Confound expectations. If everybody’s doing it, it’s already been done. Put a little surprise in everything you do. Originality counts!

Do something nice for someone. It’s easy to get needy when you’re struggling to figure out what’s next, but many of the great things that have happened to me (including a Today Show feature!) were triggered by something nice I did for someone else. People talk — your actions determine what they say. As one of my characters once said, karma is a boomerang.

Get your tech together. Everything you need to know about the world you want to conquer can be found online. Get your computer skills up to speed — fast! Research. Network. Create an online presence on Facebook and Twitter. The internet is a great equalizer — and there are so many opportunities out there just waiting for you to take advantage of them! And while you’re online, make sure you check out the writing and reinvention pages at ClaireCook.com where I share everything I’ve learned so far.

Your ninth novel, WALLFLOWER IN BLOOM, was just published in June. Where did you get the idea for it?

Wallflower in Bloom began in kind of a crazy way. The publishing blog GalleyCat asked its Facebook readers which author they’d most like to see on Dancing With the Stars. Amazingly, I was one of the 10 authors nominated, along with Nora Roberts, Jodi Picoult, Harlan Coban, Ally Carter, David Sedaris, Andy Borowitz, Tatjana Soli, Tishani Dosh and Kathy Patrick.

I have such true blue, incredibly supportive readers, and they got all excited and started voting like crazy – and I won the popular vote! GalleyCat sent the petition off the DWTS producers. Everyone started asking me if I’d really do it. “Of course, I would,” I said, my knees shaking. “Not just for me, but for midlife women everywhere.”

I totally would have done it, shaky knees and all, if Dancing With the Stars had ever called, which they haven’t – yet! But I have to admit it was a lot less stressful to turn the experience into the jumping off point for Wallflower in Bloom.

What was intriguing to me was the thought of a non-celebrity suddenly dropped into a celebrity world. And then I started thinking what if the heroine was the personal assistant to her famous brother, who was the family star. And what if she somehow used his connections to find her own fifteen minutes of fame?

And somehow into all this, my new novel, Wallflower in Bloom, was born.

Absolutely love that cover SO much!!   What’s up next for you?

Simon & Schuster Touchstone will publish my next novel, Time Flies, in June 2013. We’ll be doing lots of fun promotions as things get closer, so head over to ClaireCook.com and sign up for my newsletter to stay in the loop.

We are SO fortunate to have Claire here today…

*cue applause and fangirl squeals*

She was kind enough to offer a signed giveaway of that awesome book mentioned above, WALLFLOWER IN BLOOM to one of you lucky lucky commenters!   Woot!

So leave your comments, feel free to chat with Claire today, and a winner will be chosen tonight!

Good luck and have fun!!

Claire Cook was born in Virginia, and lived for many years in Scituate, Massachusetts, a beach town between Boston and Cape Cod. She and her husband have recently moved to the suburbs of Atlanta to be closer to family, including their two adult kids. She shares writing and reinvention tips at ClaireCook.com and loves connecting with readers on Facebook (ClaireCookauthorpage) and Twitter (@ClaireCookwrite). She resisted joining Pinterest as long as she could, but now she’s there, too, pinning away.

Tagged: author interviews, before and ever since, claire cook, giveaways, off the beaten path, romance, sharla lovelace, the reason is you, wallflower in bloom, womens fiction

Where’s The Beef?

Today I want to talk about meat.

Yep.

My daughter and I were talking about whether we, at this point in our lives, could become vegetarians.  See, I’ve never been one that had to have meat with every meal.   Don’t gasp and throw your hands up, you carnivores out there.  I do love a good steak here and there.

I’m from the south so fried chicken is a staple.

And a big juicy burger is one of my favorite foods.

But before I met my now husband, my daughter and I lived on mostly pasta, veggies, and turkey, with the occasional chicken and ground beef.  Very occasional.  He and his son lived on mostly meat with an occasional vegetable.  Very occasional.

When we blended our two families, it began to meld.  He and his son learned to appreciate a green bean.  I, in turn, learned to come up with a meat dish every night.

Every night.

So what are your feelings on the subject?  I think I could be a vegetarian…as long as I could take a sabbatical once a year…like a weekend of burgers…but the rest of the time I think I could do it. 

You?

 

Tagged: before and ever since, meat, romance, sharla lovelace, the reason is you, vegetarians

Why coffee is my BFF

I wasn’t even going to post anything today…it being an official Be Lazy Day and all.  It’s not that at your house?  Sorry about that!

But anyway…I was flipping through my email and got the automatic feed from Jenny Hansen’s blog about So Much Coffee, So Little Time and I just couldn’t stand to not do something.  She talks about her love for the brew…even posts pictures of her favorite mugs.  I can’t lie down on this.  I have to join in the crazies.

Coffee…I’ve decided…was Heaven sent.  I mean, God put those wonderful little beans on bushes for a reason!  Now, I guess you could say the same thing for tobacco leaves and …ahem…another funny little leaf…  and poppy seeds…  but HANG ON!  Okay, maybe not everything He put down here is something we have used to our greater good, but coffee is just a cup full of wonderful.

Do you hear the angels?  No?  That was just me?

Here are six reasons coffee works for me, along with some pics of my favorite all time mugs that the rest of my family knows to back away from.

1) It turns my brain on in the morning after I stumble around with all systems decidedly OFF.

2) It makes the house smell good.

3) It makes that little gurgling sound that gets my birds to chirping…see it makes them happy too.

4) It WAKES ME UP, and more importantly, gives me a good attitude.

5) It can be straight, flavored, creamed, whatever.  You can customize it to your liking!!

6) Without it, I’m not a good person.

Like Jenny, I’m trying to drink more water although I’m not a fan.  I do drink alot of sweet tea at night…more than I should…but this is the South and I’m pretty sure it’s required.  On the weekends, coffee is only a morning thing because I can switch over to that, but on weekdays at the day job, coffee flows like…well…like how water probably should. 

What are your thoughts on it?  Are you a coffee drinker?  Tea?  Soda?  What’s your weakness?

And feel free to share pics of your favorite mugs, either in the comments if you can, or tweet them to me at @sharlalovelace.

Okay, Jenny, you made me be all productive today.  Had to actually get up off the couch and go take pictures of mugs.  See the power you yield?  LOL!

Tagged: before and ever since, coffee, jenny hansen, sharla lovelace, the reason is you

Back To School…

This is a big year in our house.  The last of our little birds has started her senior year.   That pic up there is her first day of Kindergarten, and her first day of 12th grade. 

Click here to read the rest of this post at Women Unplugged…

Tagged: back to school, before and ever since, family, kids, nostalgia, sharla lovelace, the reason is you

A Day in the Life…

Three times this week, I had the question posed to me asking how I have time to write with a full time job, so I thought I’d shed some light.  It’s no big deal, not shocking.  I’m far from the only one that has to juggle a day job and whatever else our calling might be.  But it is a little fun to lay it out, in a way.

So here’s my very not-exciting day in the life…

5:00am     alarm goes off…I either stumble to the coffee pot or hit snooze.

5:09am     alarm again if snooze…let’s face it, I hit the snooze. NOW the coffeepot

5:15am      shower

5:30am     coffee…sit with my old lady dog and check Twitter and email.

5:45am     reluctantly drag my butt off the couch and fix hub’s lunch, feed cockatiels in the aviary

6:00am     go stare at myself in the mirror & decide if I can get away with no makeup for work  (I have chosen that route more than once…)

6:15am      wake up hubs for work and go back to stare some more. get disgusted at my lack of natural beauty and go for another cup of coffee

6:30am     kiss hubby goodbye…wake up daughter for school…listen to her stumble and grumble for coffee (mini-me)

6:35am      give in and put on a face, dry and straighten swamp-girl hair, find something to throw on. Luckily I work in a refinery and this consists of a t-shirt and jeans most days.

7:00am      hug grumpy teenager goodbye, give old lady dog a belly scratch, drive to work plotting out my next scene.

7:15-3:30pm     sit in a void, crunching numbers, occasionally checking my phone for email.  Plotting…always plotting… Of course every time I get a good thought the damn phone rings.

3:30pm      LEAVE WORK !!!!

3:30-4:30pm    errands, groceries, bank runs, pick up dinner if I’m not cooking, anything else mundane.

4:30-5:30pm    say hello to family, do laundry, cook supper unless I was lazy and picked up fried chicken.

5:30-7:30pm     My Writing Time.  This is a loose term, since it’s in the living room, and people come and go as they please or need something.  “Need” is another loose term, since it can be as simple as “Do you know if it’s going to rain tomorrow?”

8:00-10:30pm    TV with hubby and daughter.  Sometimes also writing, but hard to focus with things blowing up in surround sound.  Or if it’s Hell’s Kitchen. Or White Collar. Because I’m a slut for both of those.

Anything after that…. bed.

Weekends… that’s a little different.  It’s a free-for-all.  I get up early before anyone else is moving, and write when I can around chores and life and family and whatever needs to be done.

So tell me YOUR schedule.  And non-writers, how do you plan your days around the things you love the most?

Everybody share!!

Tagged: a day in the life, before and ever since, romance, schedule, sharla lovelace, the reason is you, womens fiction

Stealth mission needed…

I have to ‘fess up.  I love dogs and like cats, and am basically an animal lover in general.  Rarely will I pass up a chance to pet something furry, and baby-anythings just do me in completely. 

My old lady dog, Ruby…proof of my love…

However…

I’ll refrain from posting a picture of what has become the bain of my existence lately.      …. read more of this post at Women Unplugged.

Tagged: animals, before and ever since, dogs, randomness, romance, sharla lovelace, the reason is you, womens fiction

Drawing a Blank…

Ever have those moments when you have a blank screen or piece of paper in front of you, and absolutely no freaking idea what to say?

Yeah, this is one of those.  I struggled for two hours on what to post today.  Put it on Twitter–”Please help me come up with a blog post, I’m drawing a blank!”

I got a few ideas, but nothing that really worked for what I wanted to post.  My son said I could blog about him, but I’ll spare you the drama…   I could post about my daughter, but take his drama and double it, and I wouldn’t put that on you either.

Well, except that she’s joining the Navy…which is awesome…but that’s a post I’m saving for another day.

I could post about the two birds now in my kitchen, that keep spitting sunflower seeds out on my floor.  I sweep them up, they look right at me and spit more.  One of them has taken to hanging upside down like a bat.  No idea why.

 I could post about my husband turning 50, and how he has the fortunate genes of no gray in his hair, but ALL gray in his beard, so when he shaves he takes off ten years.  This must be very nice.  I have to pay to color my years.

I could post about my writing projects, but who wants to hear about that?  You just want the end result in your hand, you don’t care about the process.

I could post about my love of coffee, but–we all have that.

So, in the end, I have a whole bunch of random nothings that aren’t big enough for their own post, but have just been blown all over that blank page.

Enjoy my randomness, and feel free to spew forth some of your own!

Tagged: before and ever since, randomness, romance, sharla lovelace, the reason is you, womens fiction

Winner of SEA CHANGE!

I interrupt this normally quiet non-blogging Thursday to announce that the winner of Karen White’s signed copy of SEA CHANGE from yesterday’s interview, is:

Lorrie Thomson!

*throws confetti!*

Congrats Lorrie!  Karen will be in touch with you!  Enjoy!

Tagged: author giveaways, karen white, lorrie thomson, sea change, sharla lovelace

Off The Beaten Path – with Karen White!

I’m excited to announce a new feature here at the blog.  A once-a-month opportunity to get to know a very special romance or women’s fiction author, in a fun and hopefully interactive way.   We all like to get to know our favorite authors a little better, and I want to make that fun for everyone.

And who better to kick this off with a bang, than the fabulous Karen White!!  I had the honor of meeting Karen in person at the RWA National Conference in California a couple of weeks ago, and it was one of the great highlights of the week for me.  I found out that we both have teenagers destined to appear on “Hoarders”, and it was a relief to know I’m not alone in that boat. LOL.   I will tell you that photos don’t do her justice–Karen is even more gorgeous in person.

And yes, I could have used her author photo, but once again, this is supposed to be fun, so I chose a picture from her website of her and her dog, Quincy.   

 

Karen, I’m so happy you are visiting today.  I so enjoyed chatting with you in Anaheim, and I know everyone here is anxious to do the same.

We want to know what really makes you tick. And me being me, I love to use food comparisons. The top ingredients on any food product are the primary make up of that food. What top three words would you use to describe yourself?   And you can’t use “writer”, because we all know that one.

        – Musical

        – Professional daydreamer

        – Practical joker

I love candles and burn them year-round, and my family knows my preferences with candles, lotions, or whatever when it comes to scents. What are yours?

I must have been a bloodhound or a shark in a previous life because my sense of smell is incredible! I think my kids are good kids because they could never get away with anything because I could smell them 3 miles away!

I’m also a perfume ADDICT. Favorite scent right now: Tom Ford’s BLACK ORCHID. Love candles, too, especially the fall-scented ones like pumpkin and spice.

Ooooh, I love the spicy ones, too! Now here’s one to put you out there… We all have our odd and quirky traits that usually only our inner circle gets to snicker over. What is something about you we would never guess?

I carry a set of plastic “Bubba teeth” that I will put on when people least expect it.  That’s always a nice surprise.

Now there’s a picture you need to put on your website!! LOL!

I cry at sad movies…especially animal ones. What type of movies take you down?

I cry watching the Olympics, so it’s no surprise that I cry at movies. Sure, I’ll cry at the expected tear-jerkers, but I also cry at the “discovery” movies—where nobody dies or gets hurt, but where the protagonist overcomes great odds to find success or his/her own way in the world (ie The Pursuit of Happiness with Will Smith). Those are my favorites. And I really, REALLY cried in Toy Story III since my eldest child was going away to college at the same time as the little boy, Andy, was.

If you could go back and tell your younger self one important thing, what would it be?

That everything always works out—although not always in the way I’d imagined them to, but in ways that ended up to be so much better than I dreamed. And that those little things that I used to obsess over don’t matter at all in the grand scheme of my life.

Starbucks is like the mother ship to me, as well as a tall glass of sweet tea. What is your favorite beverage?

That’s too easy: Diet Dr. Pepper! I keep the mini-fridge in my sitting room (where I write) fully stocked at all times just in case there’s a snowstorm in Georgia and I can’t get to the store!

You have grown and nearly grown children like I do, and I have joked with my daughter about grandparent names one day. Emphasis on the “one day”. Do you have family nicknames for grandparents that get passed down and what do you plan to go by?

My beloved maternal grandmother was always called MoMo. I want to be the grandmother she was to me and would be honored to have my grandchildren call me that.

On that note, if you could visit a deceased loved one, for fifteen minutes, who would it be and why?

My MoMo. I’d want her to tell me the stories that she used to tell me when I was younger, that I never paid a lot of attention to because I always thought there would be more time when I was older.

If you could pick a dream vacation where money was no object, what would it be?

A private island with 24-hour concierge service where I didn’t have to do ANYTHING!!!

Is there anyone you would be a total crazy fan girl over if you met them in person?

Sara Blakely (the founder of Spanx). She’s amazing! So smart and talented, but so down to earth according to all of her interviews. And her products are life-changing. I even have my characters wearing them.

I love that!!   Okay, now here’s an important question that really tells alot about a person. What is your favorite curl-up-on-the-couch-and-hibernate comfort food?

Pancakes. With lots of butter and syrup. Carb city!!

I’m a DVR and Netflix addict. Love my shows. Do you have a guilty pleasure TV show? Do tell!!

Every show I get addicted to gets canceled (Pan Am, GCB) so I don’t want to jinx it, but I’m head over heels about ABC Family’s BUNHEADS! I’m also an HGTV addict—–all of their real estate shows!

And finally, I know that I can still remember teachers that changed the course of events for me. Do you have a favorite teacher or mentor from your childhood that shaped you in some way?

My 6th grade teacher, Mrs. Anderson, who always made me feel brilliant, and who was the first to tell me I should be a writer when I grew up.

And thank God for Mrs. Anderson! We all her a debt of gratitude!!

Karen, you have been so gracious to share these fun and genuine pieces of your life with us today, thank you!

Now, to add to the YAY factor–Karen is giving away a signed copy of her new book, SEA CHANGE, to one lucky commenter!

So curl up with your favorite comfort food and beverage, and feel free to visit with Karen. The winner will be drawn this evening and announced tomorrow.

Have fun!

Karen hails from a long line of Southerners but spent most of her growing up years in London, England and is a graduate of the American School in London and has a BS degree from Tulane University. She currently lives near Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and two children, and a spoiled Havanese dog (who appears in several of her books), Quincy. When not writing, she spends her time reading, scrapbooking, playing piano, and avoiding cooking.  She can be found at her website, www.karen-white.com.

 

Tagged: author interviews, before and ever since, karen white, off the beaten path, romance, sea change, sharla lovelace, the reason is you, womens fiction

Up and Coming…”Off The Beaten Path”

I’m excited to announce a new feature here at the blog.  A once-a-month showcase of a very special romance or women’s fiction author, but not in your normal run of the mill Q&A.  When I did a blog tour, I got many of the same questions over and over, and quickly tired of talking about myself…lol.  I want to make this a fun experience both for the readers and for the author.

It’s called “Off The Beaten Path”, and will be fun posts or a different kind of interview.  Something to help us get to know our favorite authors, outside just talking about their books, their writing process, what they’re working on, etc., etc.

This Wednesday, August 8th, I’m happy to announce the fabulous author kicking it off! 

Karen White!

Come back on Wednesday to engage in some fun questions with her, and have a chance to win a signed copy of her latest book, SEA CHANGE.

See you on Wednesday!  Let’s have some fun.

Tagged: author interviews, before and ever since, karen white, off the beaten path, romance, sea change, sharla lovelace, the reason is you, womens fiction