Claire Cook's Blog, page 10
July 19, 2019
Must Love Book Clubs!
[image error]
I had a blast meeting with this fabulous St. Simons Island book club last night. So great to make new friends, and thanks for inviting me, Jodi Stewart Hartley! This month I’ve also Skyped with 12 awesome book clubs from across the country. Their picks ranged from the 6 books in the Must Love Dogs series, The Wildwater Walking Club, The Wildwater Walking Club: Back on Track, Life’s a Beach, Summer Blowout, Best Staged Plans, and Never Too Late: Your Roadmap to Reinvention. It’s always such an honor when a book club chooses one of my books, so thanks so much, everybody!!
To invite me to visit or Skype with your book club, send an email to Claire @ClaireCook.com.
The post Must Love Book Clubs! appeared first on Claire Cook.
July 12, 2019
My Latest 5 Favorite Walking Things
Hi Everybody!
For me, walking is its own reward. So, while I don’t technically need to buy myself presents to stay motivated, it’s fun to get some new gear every once in a while. I tracked down the links to some of my new favorite walking things in case you’re looking for suggestions:
[image error]
1. Lately I’ve been kicking off a pair of flip-flops at the end of the boardwalk and walking the beach barefoot. I love the feel of the sand under my feet and the splash of the water, and I think my legs and feet have gotten stronger because of it. But when I want to wear something that’s somewhere between barefoot and shoes, I go right to my Jambu Mermaids. They’re great for short walks or kayaking or even a trip to the grocery store—and the Velcro makes them easy on and off. The funny thing is that just about every time I wear them, someone stops to ask me where I got the cool shoes! I went with the black and white on the theory that they wouldn’t show dirt, but they come in lots of colors, too.
Here’s a link with free returns: https://amzn.to/2KRUEqC
And here they are in beachy blue-green: https://amzn.to/2FM6EFK[image error]
2. [image error]When I’m hitting the street for any length of time, or looking for a little extra support, my latest favorite sneaker is the Asics Women’s Gel-Quickwalk 3 walking shoe. Here’s a link with free returns: https://amzn.to/2XL39tm
[image error]3. And they’re not exactly flashy, but you just can’t beat the Saucony Women’s ProGrid Integrity ST2 walking shoe.They’re sturdy and comfortable and make just about every list of best women’s walking shoe. Here’s a link with free returns: https://amzn.to/2xpJvEu
[image error]4. It’s not a fanny pack! Really! It’s a sleek running belt/Waist Pack that just fits your phone, keys, license, credit card and gym card. It’s small enough that it hides under your T-shirt so you forget you’re wearing it. I found mine at TJ Maxx, but here’s a link to one that looks pretty close to mine and has free returns: https://amzn.to/2Xl2lvZ
[image error]5. If you’re looking for a fitness tracker, I’ve upgraded to the Fitbit Charge 3 and so far I like it a lot. The screen is 40% bigger than the Fitbit Charge 2, which was high on my list, since it’s nice to be able to actually read it! It’s waterproof and you can pair it with your phone to track GPS. Make sure you check around for the best price, but here’s a link to get your started: https://amzn.to/323L7lt
And don’t forget the extra Fitbit Bands! https://amzn.to/300rCbG
[image error]
I walked 10,000 steps a day with my fictional characters while writing both The Wildwater Walking Club and The Wildwater Walking Club: Back on Track. (And I’ll do it again as soon as I begin writing Wildwater #3!) Along with Noreen, Rosie and Tess, I discovered and rediscovered that it’s not about the vanity, it’s about the sanity. Whatever is or isn’t happening in our lives, walking ALWAYS helps.
[image error]
If you haven’t read The Wildwater Walking Club yet, you can buy it right here:
Paperback: http://amzn.to/28Z2IP0
Kindle: http://amzn.to/2pobf9C
iBooks: http://apple.co/2qqhqZg
B&N: http://bit.ly/1F4K7gy
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2pyxms6
GooglePlay: http://bit.ly/2pabp0Y
[image error]
And here are the links to buy The Wildwater Walking Club: Back on Track:
Paperback: http://amzn.to/2kBkbHl
Kindle: http://amzn.to/2kBIepF
iBooks: http://apple.co/2qehe26
B&N: http://bit.ly/2kjaCMv
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2qGJz13
GooglePlay: https://bit.ly/2jmm3Dx
Happy walking! Talk to you soon!
xxxxxClaire
CLAIRE COOK wrote her first book in her minivan at 45. At 50, she walked the red carpet at the Hollywood premiere of Must Love Dogs, starring Diane Lane and John Cusack, which is now a 6-book series, with a 7th on the way. Claire is the New York Times, USA Today and #1 Amazon bestseller of 18 books, including Never Too Late: Your Roadmap to Reinvention and Shine On: How To Grow Awesome Instead of Old. Stay in the loop for new releases, giveaways, and insider extras at https://clairecook.com/newsletter/.
The post My Latest 5 Favorite Walking Things appeared first on Claire Cook.
And the Wildwater Winner is…
[image error]
Fair and square via random drawing, the winner of The Wildwater Walking Club and The Wildwater Walking Club: Back on Track giveaway is Denise Stout Holcomb! Denise will receive two autographed copies of both novels, one to keep and one to share with the friend she’d most like to walk with, either in person or via cellphone. Congratulations, Denise! Email your snail mail address to Claire@ClaireCook.com and I’ll get the books right in the mail to you!
If you didn’t win this time around, no worries! I’ll do another book giveaway soon! Make sure you’re signed up for my newsletter (https://clairecook.com/newsletter/) to stay in the loop. And follow me at https://facebook.com/ClaireCookauthorpage and https://instagram.com/ClaireCookwrite.
Both The Wildwater Walking Club and The Wildwater Walking Club: Back on Track have become #1 Amazon Bestsellers in Walking, so if you haven’t read them yet and you’re looking for some friendship and fitness inspiration, I hope you’ll check them out.
You can buy The Wildwater Walking Club right here:
Paperback: https://amzn.to/28Z2IP0
Kindle: https://amzn.to/2pobf9C
iBooks: https://apple.co/2qqhqZg
B&N: https://bit.ly/1F4K7gy
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2pyxms6
GooglePlay: https://bit.ly/2pabp0Y
And here are the links to buy The Wildwater Walking Club: Back on Track:
Paperback: https://amzn.to/2kBkbHl
Kindle: https://amzn.to/2kBIepF
iBooks: https://apple.co/2qehe26
B&N: https://bit.ly/2kjaCMv
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2qGJz13
GooglePlay: https://bit.ly/2jmm3Dx
ABOUT THE WILDWATER WALKING CLUB:
“Utterly charming from beginning to end”—Booklist
“Lively and inspiring!”—Hartford Courant
“A great feel-good story.”—Philadelphia Examiner
“This is a perfect book for book clubs to discuss, for friends to share with one another, or to just enjoy on a hot summer day with a cool glass of lavender lemonade by your side.”—Sharon’s Garden of Books
After losing her boyfriend and her job in one fell swoop, Noreen has no idea what her next step is. So she puts on a new pair of sneakers and a seriously outdated pair of exercise pants, and walks. Before long she’s joined by two neighbors as lost as she is. Throw in a road trip to Seattle for a lavender festival, a career-coaching group that looks like a bad sequel to The Breakfast Club, some terrific romantic comedy twists and turns, a quirky multigenerational cast of supporting characters, and the result is a tribute to female friendship that will inspire you to pick up the phone and call all your old friends—and maybe even start your own walking group.
Join Noreen, Tess and Rosie as they walk and talk, talk and walk, tally their steps, share their secrets, and discover that even big changes happen one step at a time. You’ll be lacing up your own sneakers in no time!
“Now I knew that the hardest part of any workout was just putting on your sneakers. Once you got started, all you had to do was keep placing one foot in front of the other, no matter what was or wasn’t happening in your life, no matter how happy or sad you were. I’d taken that first step because I’d wanted to look better. I’d wanted my clothes to fit. But it hadn’t taken me long to figure out that the biggest benefit was less about vanity than it was about sanity. Walking always helped.”—The Wildwater Walking Club
“The Wildwater Walking Club is a quick smart read that will get you thinking about walking, friendship, and making time for the things you love.” –Bookreporter.com
“Readers who enjoy a celebration of friendship will want to walk the beach alongside the Wildwater trio.” –Midwest Book Review
ABOUT THE WILDWATER WALKING CLUB: BACK ON TRACK:
For Noreen, Tess, and Rosie, walking the beach together every day has been everything. But after all those steps forward, The Wildwater Walking Club is doing some serious backsliding. Now they’re dodging each other in the neighborhood, and Noreen is spending time working on pints of Ben & Jerry’s instead of her romance with Rick, the also-lost boyfriend she met at career counseling.
A new adventure might be just what they need. Their destination: Provence, the ultimate lavender trip. It turns into the trip of a lifetime, filled with Van Gogh and vineyards, wine and chocolate, plus lavender and more lavender. Join Noreen, Rosie and Tess as they get back on track!
“The reason fans love each one of Claire Cook’s books is that every book — fiction and nonfiction — helps readers find ideas that they can use in their lives. Whether it’s a river cruise in France or health coach training, or just learning something new, we all are growing and changing throughout our lives. And that’s wonderful. Readers always learn something from Cook’s books — about life and lifelong learning.”—Pamela Kramer
CLAIRE COOK wrote her first book in her minivan at 45. At 50, she walked the red carpet at the Hollywood premiere of Must Love Dogs, starring Diane Lane and John Cusack, which is now a 6-book series. Claire is the New York Times, USA Today and #1 Amazon bestseller of 18 books.
Stay in the loop for new releases, giveaways, and insider extras at ClaireCook.com/newsletter.
The post And the Wildwater Winner is… appeared first on Claire Cook.
July 7, 2019
Walking and Friendship Giveaway!
[image error]
GIVEAWAY!! Let’s celebrate walking and friendship! One randomly drawn winner will receive two signed and personalized copies of The Wildwater Walking Club and The Wildwater Walking Club: Back on Track, one set to keep and one to share with the friend she’d most like to walk with, either in person or via cellphone!
Newsletter subscribers are automatically entered to win, so if you’re not on my newsletter list yet, just go to https://ClaireCook.com/newsletter and sign up fast!
Go to Facebook for a second chance to win: https://facebook.com/ClaireCookauthorpage
Go to Instagram for a third chance to win: https://instagram.com/clairecookwrite/
Good luck, everybody! I’ll announce the lucky winners on my blog (https://clairecook.com/claireblog/) on Friday.
Both The Wildwater Walking Club and The Wildwater Walking Club: Back on Track have become #1 Amazon Bestsellers in Walking, so if you haven’t read them yet and you’re looking for some friendship and fitness inspiration, I hope you’ll check them out.
You can buy The Wildwater Walking Club right here:
Paperback: https://amzn.to/28Z2IP0
Kindle: https://amzn.to/2pobf9C
iBooks: https://apple.co/2qqhqZg
B&N: https://bit.ly/1F4K7gy
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2pyxms6
GooglePlay: https://bit.ly/2pabp0Y
And here are the links to buy The Wildwater Walking Club: Back on Track:
Paperback: https://amzn.to/2kBkbHl
Kindle: https://amzn.to/2kBIepF
iBooks: https://apple.co/2qehe26
B&N: https://bit.ly/2kjaCMv
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2qGJz13
GooglePlay: https://bit.ly/2jmm3Dx
ABOUT THE WILDWATER WALKING CLUB:
“Utterly charming from beginning to end”—Booklist
“Lively and inspiring!”—Hartford Courant
“A great feel-good story.”—Philadelphia Examiner
“This is a perfect book for book clubs to discuss, for friends to share with one another, or to just enjoy on a hot summer day with a cool glass of lavender lemonade by your side.”—Sharon’s Garden of Books
After losing her boyfriend and her job in one fell swoop, Noreen has no idea what her next step is. So she puts on a new pair of sneakers and a seriously outdated pair of exercise pants, and walks. Before long she’s joined by two neighbors as lost as she is. Throw in a road trip to Seattle for a lavender festival, a career-coaching group that looks like a bad sequel to The Breakfast Club, some terrific romantic comedy twists and turns, a quirky multigenerational cast of supporting characters, and the result is a tribute to female friendship that will inspire you to pick up the phone and call all your old friends—and maybe even start your own walking group.
Join Noreen, Tess and Rosie as they walk and talk, talk and walk, tally their steps, share their secrets, and discover that even big changes happen one step at a time. You’ll be lacing up your own sneakers in no time!
“Now I knew that the hardest part of any workout was just putting on your sneakers. Once you got started, all you had to do was keep placing one foot in front of the other, no matter what was or wasn’t happening in your life, no matter how happy or sad you were. I’d taken that first step because I’d wanted to look better. I’d wanted my clothes to fit. But it hadn’t taken me long to figure out that the biggest benefit was less about vanity than it was about sanity. Walking always helped.”—The Wildwater Walking Club
“The Wildwater Walking Club is a quick smart read that will get you thinking about walking, friendship, and making time for the things you love.” –Bookreporter.com
“Readers who enjoy a celebration of friendship will want to walk the beach alongside the Wildwater trio.” –Midwest Book Review
ABOUT THE WILDWATER WALKING CLUB: BACK ON TRACK:
For Noreen, Tess, and Rosie, walking the beach together every day has been everything. But after all those steps forward, The Wildwater Walking Club is doing some serious backsliding. Now they’re dodging each other in the neighborhood, and Noreen is spending time working on pints of Ben & Jerry’s instead of her romance with Rick, the also-lost boyfriend she met at career counseling.
A new adventure might be just what they need. Their destination: Provence, the ultimate lavender trip. It turns into the trip of a lifetime, filled with Van Gogh and vineyards, wine and chocolate, plus lavender and more lavender. Join Noreen, Rosie and Tess as they get back on track!
“The reason fans love each one of Claire Cook’s books is that every book — fiction and nonfiction — helps readers find ideas that they can use in their lives. Whether it’s a river cruise in France or health coach training, or just learning something new, we all are growing and changing throughout our lives. And that’s wonderful. Readers always learn something from Cook’s books — about life and lifelong learning.”—Pamela Kramer
If you haven’t jumped into The Wildwater Walking Club yet, here’s an excerpt of the first book:
Excerpted from The Wildwater Walking Club
Copyright © Claire Cook. All rights reserved.
Day 1
132 steps
On the day I became redundant, I began to walk. Okay, not right away. First I lay in bed and savored the sound of the alarm not going off. I’d been hearing that stupid beep at the same ridiculous time pretty much every weekday morning for the entire eighteen years I’d worked at Balancing Act Shoes.
I stretched decadently and let out a loud, self-indulgent sigh. I pictured the zillion-count Egyptian cotton sheets I’d finally get around to buying. I’d pull them up to my chin to create a cozy cocoon, then wiggle down into the feather bed I’d buy, too, a big, fluffy one made with feathers from wildly exotic free-range birds.
I’d once had a pair of peacock earrings that came with a note saying, “Since peacocks lose their feathers naturally, no peacocks were harmed in the making of these earrings.” I’d always meant to look that up to see if it was a marketing ploy or if it was actually true. If so, then maybe I could find a peacock feather comforter. Though I suppose what would be the point of using peacock feathers in a comforter if you couldn’t see them? Perhaps I could invent a see-through comforter that let the iridescent blues and greens shimmer through. Though I guess first I’d need to come up with a zillion-count see-through Egyptian cotton.
I closed my eyes. I flipped over onto my back and opened them again. I stared up at a serious crack, which I liked to think of as the Mason-Dixon Line of my ceiling. My seventh-grade history teacher would be proud she’d made that one stick.
I rolled over, then back again. I kicked off my ordinary covers. On the first morning I could finally sleep in, I seemed to be more awake than I’d been at this hour in decades. Go figure.
After a long, leisurely shower, a bowl of cereal, and an online check of the news and weather, I called Michael on his cell at 8:45 A.M. It rang twice, then cut off abruptly without going to voice mail.
So I sent him an e-mail. “Call me when you can,” it said.
A nanosecond later my e-mail bounced back. “Returned Mail: Permanent Fatal Errors,” it said.
I dialed his office number. At least that voice mail picked up. “Hi, it’s me,” I said. “I seem to be having technical difficulties reaching you. But the good news is I have all the time in the world now. Anyway, call me when you get this.” I laughed what I hoped was the perfect laugh, light and sexy. “Unless, of course, you’re trying to get rid of me.”
By 11 A.M., I’d watched enough morning TV to last me a lifetime, and I still hadn’t heard back from him. I tried to remember if we had specific plans for that night. Michael worked for the buyout company, Olympus, so we’d had to keep things on the down low. I mean, it wasn’t that big a deal. I was leaving anyway, and he’d be right behind me, so it was just a matter of time.
After the initial army of auditors had stopped acting like nothing was going on, when everybody with half a brain knew something was obviously up at Balancing Act, Michael had been one of the first Olympus managers to come aboard. He was handsome, but not too, and exactly my age, which gave us an immediate bond in an industry that more and more was comprised of iPod-wearing recent college grads. Some of them had become friends, at least work friends, but they were still essentially children.
Michael and I had commonality, both current and past. I was a Senior Manager of Brand Identity for Balancing Act. He was a Senior Brand Communications Manager for Olympus. Potato, potahto. The athletic shoe industry is market-driven rather than product-driven, which means, basically, that even though we don’t actually need a two-hundred-dollar pair of sneakers, we can be convinced that we do. Fads can be created, predicted, or at least quickly reacted to, and in a nutshell, that’s how Michael and I both spent our days.
But even more important, we’d both danced to Van Morrison’s “Moondance,” gotten high to the Eagles’ “Witchy Woman,” made love to “Sweet Baby James” back when James Taylor had hair. Maybe not with each other, but still, we had the generational connection of parallel experiences, coupled with your basic boomer’s urge to do something new, fast, while there was still time.
One of the first things he said to me was, “It’s business, baby.”
We were sitting in the employee cafeteria, and I felt a little jolt when he called me baby. He had rich chocolate eyes and a full head of shiny brown hair without a strand of gray, which meant he probably dyed it, but who was I to talk.
“Of course, it’s business,” I said. I gave my own recently camouflaged hair a little flip and added, “Baby.”
He laughed. He had gorgeous white teeth, probably veneers, but so what.
“What’s your off-the-record recommendation?” I asked.
He leaned forward over the button-shaped table that separated us, and the arms of his suit jacket gripped his biceps. I caught the sharp, spicy smell of his cologne. Some kind of citrus and maybe a hint of sandalwood, but also something retro. Patchouli?
“The first deal,” he said, “is always the best.”
“So grab the VRIF and run?” I asked, partly to show off my new vocabulary. Balancing Act employees, even senior managers like me, didn’t find out we’d become the latest Olympus acquisition until the day it went public. Since then, the buzz had been that the way to go was to take your package during the VRIF or Voluntary Reductions in Force phase. Olympus was all about looking for redundancies and establishing synergies, code for getting rid of the departments that overlapped.
Right now, the packages were pretty generous. I could coast along for eighteen months at full base salary, plus medical and dental. They were even throwing in outplacement services to help me figure out what to do with the rest of my life. The only thing missing was a grief counselor. And maybe a good masseuse. By the time we got to the Involuntary Reductions in Force phase, aka the IRIF, who knew what I’d be looking at.
Michael glanced over his shoulder, then back into my eyes. “Here’s the thing, Noreen. Or do you prefer Nora?”
“Nora,” I said, even though no one had ever called me that until this very moment. I’d been called Nor, Norry, Reeny, Beany, NoreanyBeany, even StringBeany, though I had to admit that one was a few years and pounds ago. Mostly it was just plain Noreen. Michael’s baby reeled me in, but I swallowed his Nora hook, line, and sinker.
I forced myself to focus. “Wall Street,” he was saying, “will expect some performance from the synergy created by combining companies. The way to get performance is to streamline numbers, to create efficiencies. Human resources, finance, operations, marketing—lots of overlap. Ergo…”
I raised an eyebrow. “Ergo?” I teased.
He raised his eyebrow to match mine, and even though it would be another two weeks before we ended up in bed together, I think we both knew right then it was only a matter of time.
I leaned my elbows on the table. “So, what?” I said. “I leave so you can have my job?”
“Off the record,” he said, “I’ll probably be right behind you. I mean, take my job, please. You’d be doing me a favor. I’m just waiting till they offer the VRIF package to the Olympus employees they’ve brought in.”
“Seriously?” I said. “You really think you’ll take it? And do what?”
He laced his fingers together behind his head and arched back in his chair. “Let’s see. First off, I think I’d light a bonfire and burn up all my suits and ties. Then I’d chill for a while. Maybe buy a van, find me a good woman, drive cross-country.” He smiled. “Then look around for a partner, someone to start a small business with.”
At eleven-thirty, I called Michael’s cell again. The second ring cut off midway, once more without going to voice mail. I waited, then pushed Redial. This time it cut off almost as soon as it started ringing. I sent another e-mail. It bounced back with the same fatal message. I called his office number, but when that voice mail picked up, I just hung up.
I was seriously creeped out by now. I thought about calling someone else at work to see if maybe there was a logical explanation, like everybody in the whole building was having both cell service and mail server problems, but I couldn’t seem to make myself do it.
I thought some more, then threw on a pair of slimming black pants and a coral V-neck top over a lightly padded, modified push-up bra pitched as a cutting-edge scientific undergarment breakthrough in subtle enhancement. A little figure-flattering never hurt, even if it was hyperbole, and if nothing else, the coral worked well with my pale skin and dark hair. The last time I’d worn it, Michael had said I looked hot. Smoking hot, come to think of it, though that was probably an overstatement, too.
The midday drive into Boston was a lot shorter without the commuter congestion. Who knew that unemployment would be the best way to beat the traffic? Still, I had plenty of time to get a plan. I’d simply pretend I’d left one of my favorite sweaters behind and wanted to grab it before someone ran off with it. And I was in the neighborhood anyway because I was meeting a friend for lunch. And I just thought I’d poke my head in and say Hi, Michael. And he’d say he was just thinking about me, trying to remember if we had plans for dinner. I’d tilt my head and tell him if he was lucky, maybe I’d even consider cooking for him. And he’d smile and make a crack about maybe it would be safer to get takeout.
The main lot was packed, but eventually I found a parking spot. I reached into my glove compartment for the lanyard that held my employee badge, slipped it over my head, and made for the front entrance.
When the revolving door spilled me out into the lobby, I held up my badge for the uniformed guard.
He waved his handheld scanner over the laminated bar code like a wand.
I headed for the elevators, the way I had a million times before.
“Ma’am?” he said.
I turned. He held up his scanner. I held out my badge again.
This time I watched. When the laser light hit the bar code, it flashed red instead of the customary green.
We looked at each other. This was the grouchy guard, the one who never said a word and always looked like he wished he were anywhere but here. I found myself wishing I’d tried a little harder to befriend him.
I laughed. “Well, I guess it didn’t take them long to get over me.” I gave my hair a toss. “Lucky me, I took a buyout. I just need a minute to run up and grab something I forgot.” He didn’t say anything, so I added, “A sweater. A cardigan. Black, with some nice seaming around the buttons. I’ll be back before you even start to miss me.”
“Sorry, ma’am, I can’t let you do that. Orders.”
I blew out a gust of air. “Just call up,” I said. “Sixth floor.” I held out my card again so he could read my name.
He ran his finger down a list on a clipboard. “Sorry, ma’am. You’re on the No Admittance List.”
“You’re not serious,” I said, though it was pretty obvious that he was.
I waited. He looked up again. I met his eyes and couldn’t find even a trace of sympathy in them, so I tried to look extra pathetic, which by that point I didn’t really even have to fake.
“Maybe you can call somebody and ask them to bring it down,” he said finally. “On your cell phone,” he added.
“Unbelievable,” I said. I stomped across the lobby so I could have some privacy. Since I hadn’t really left a sweater behind, I decided to just cut to the chase and call Michael’s cell. Half a ring and it went dead.
There is always that exact moment when the last shreds of denial slip away and your reality check bounces. I closed my eyes. Eventually, I opened them again. I called his office number. “You piece of shit,” I whispered to his voice mail.
I stood there for a minute, scratching my scalp with both hands. Hard, as if I might somehow dig my way to a good idea. When that didn’t happen, I walked out, without even a glance at the guard. I kept my head up high as I walked across the parking lot, in case someone was watching from one of the windows. I found my car and climbed back into it.
Just as I was getting ready to pull out onto the access road, I caught the purple-and-white-striped Balancing Act Employee Store awning out of the corner of my eye. I banged a right and pulled into a parking space right in front of it.
I stopped at the first circular display I came to and grabbed a pair of our, I mean their, newest shoe, the Walk On By, in a size 8 1/2. It was strictly a women’s model, positioned as the shoe every woman needed to walk herself away from the things that were holding her back and toward the next exciting phase of her life. Shed the Outgrown. Embrace Your Next Horizon. Walk On By.
Even though I’d been part of the team to fabricate this hook out of thin air, I still wanted to believe in the possibility. I handed the box to the woman at the register. I held up my badge. I held my breath.
Her scanner flashed green, and she rattled off a price that was a full 50 percent off retail.
“Wait,” I said. I ran back to the display, grabbing all the Walk On Bys in my size. Then I sprinted around the room, scooping up whatever I could find in an 81/2. Dream Walker. (You’ll Swear You’re Walking on Clouds.) Step Litely. (Do These Sneakers Make Me Look Thin?) Feng Shuoe. (New Sneakers for a New Age.) I didn’t stop until I’d built a tower of shoe boxes on the counter.
“Take a buyout?” the woman asked as she rang me up.
I nodded.
I gave her my credit card, and she handed me a bright purple pedometer. “On the house,” she said. “It’s the least Balancing Act can do for you.”
“Thanks,” I said. I hooked it onto my waistband, and that’s when I started to walk.
Day 2
54 steps
UGH.
Day 3
28 steps
So this is rock bottom.
Day 4
17 steps
No, this is.
. . . . .
Here are the links to buy The Wildwater Walking Club:
Paperback: https://amzn.to/28Z2IP0
Kindle: https://amzn.to/2pobf9C
iBooks: https://apple.co/2qqhqZg
B&N: https://bit.ly/1F4K7gy
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2pyxms6
GooglePlay: https://bit.ly/2pabp0Y
And here are the links to buy The Wildwater Walking Club: Back on Track:
Paperback: https://amzn.to/2kBkbHl
Kindle: https://amzn.to/2kBIepF
iBooks: https://apple.co/2qehe26
B&N: https://bit.ly/2kjaCMv
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2qGJz13
GooglePlay: https://bit.ly/2jmm3Dx
CLAIRE COOK wrote her first book in her minivan at 45. At 50, she walked the red carpet at the Hollywood premiere of Must Love Dogs, starring Diane Lane and John Cusack, which is now a 6-book series. Claire is the New York Times, USA Today and #1 Amazon bestseller of 18 books.
Stay in the loop for new releases, giveaways, and insider extras at ClaireCook.com/newsletter.
The post Walking and Friendship Giveaway! appeared first on Claire Cook.
June 29, 2019
Must Love Cats!
[image error]
The cats’ favorite chair! (That’s Squiggy above and his mom, Pebbles, waiting for her turn below.) #Caturday
The post Must Love Cats! appeared first on Claire Cook.
June 17, 2019
Full Moon Yoga
[image error]
Full moon yoga on the beach. So much fun!
The post Full Moon Yoga appeared first on Claire Cook.
June 10, 2019
Hang in There!
[image error]
I’ve definitely had days like this (especially when I’m trying to finish a book!), but one thing I’ve learned is that whenever I want to give up on something, when I try just a little bit harder, that’s when all the good things happen. So whatever is or isn’t happening in your life right now, hang in there!
The post Hang in There! appeared first on Claire Cook.
May 31, 2019
And the winner is…
[image error]
Fair and square via random drawing, the winners of the Life’s a Beach giveaway are Linda Weber and Paige Gonzalez! Each will win two autographed copies of the novel, one to keep and one to give to the friend she most likes to share books with. Congratulations, Linda and Paige! Email your snail mail address to Claire@ClaireCook.com and I’ll get the books right in the mail to you!
If you didn’t win this time around, no worries! I’ll do another book giveaway soon! Make sure you’re signed up for my newsletter (https://clairecook.com/newsletter/) to stay in the loop. And follow me at https://facebook.com/ClaireCookauthorpage and https://instagram.com/ClaireCookwrite.
About Life’s a Beach :
Life’s a Beach is a New York Times bestseller. It was chosen as a best summer read by People, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, and Good Morning America.
“Midlife love, laughter, sibling rivalry and self-discovery . . . Goes down as easy as it sounds.”—People
Life’s a bit of a beach these days for Ginger Walsh, who finds herself single and back home living in the family FROG (finished room over the garage) in the fictional town of Marshbury. She’s spent a few too many years in sales, and is hoping for a more fulfilling life as a sea glass artist, but instead is babysitting her sister’s kids and sharing overnights with Noah, her sexy glassblower boyfriend with commitment issues and a dog Ginger’s cat isn’t too crazy about.
You can almost smell the salt air as you take this rollicking ride with one slightly relationship-challenged single woman, one older married-with-children sister on the verge of turning fifty, one dump picking father, one kama sutra t-shirt wearing mother, one movie crew come to town with a very cute gaffer, plus a couple of Red Hat Realtors and a pair of evil twins. Reminiscent of her bestseller Must Love Dogs in all the right ways, yet very much its own animal, Claire Cook’s new novel sparkles with warmth, wit, and wisdom.
You can order your copy of Life’s a Beach at these links:
Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/y2hwjv7t
B&N: https://tinyurl.com/y45xdz5s
iBooks: https://tinyurl.com/yxkmjszu
Kobo: https://tinyurl.com/y3dtw4h7
GooglePlay: https://tinyurl.com/y6zklrsh
The post And the winner is… appeared first on Claire Cook.
May 26, 2019
Life’s a Beach Giveaway!
[image error]
Hi Everybody!
Happy, Happy Memorial Day Weekend, the unofficial start of summer! And even more importantly, the official beginning of beach reading season!
So let’s celebrate with a Life’s a Beach giveaway! Two randomly drawn winners will each win two signed and personalized copies of the novel, one to keep and one to share with the friend you most like to share books with.
Life’s a Beach is a New York Times bestseller. It was chosen as a best summer read by People, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, and Good Morning America.
“Midlife love, laughter, sibling rivalry and self-discovery . . . Goes down as easy as it sounds.”—People
Book clubs tend to pick one of my books after they’ve read something dark and depressing, and they’re ready to have some fun. Life’s a Beach is always one of the most popular choices. Since the novel first came out, I’ve visited and Skyped with so many book clubs who have read it. Drinks decked out with paper umbrellas, flip-flop decorating contests, beach or poolside meetings . . . and most of them even find a little bit of time to actually talk about the book! (You can find Life’s a Beach book club conversation starters and invite me to chat with your book club here.)
It’s also a fun book to curl up with all by yourself, whether it’s your first time reading it, or you just feel like reading it again because it’s been a while.
ENTER THE GIVEAWAY!!
If you’re subscribed to my newsletter, you’re automatically entered to win the autographed copies of Life’s a Beach. If you’re not subscribed yet, you can subscribe at https://ClaireCook.com/newsletter/.)
For a second chance to win the Life’s a Beach giveaway, head over to my Facebook author page (http://facebook.com/ClaireCookauthorpage) and enter there.
For a third chance, go to http://instagram.com/ClaireCookwrite.
I’ll announce the lucky winners at https://clairecook.com/claireblog/ on Friday.
Good luck, everybody!!
About Life’s a Beach :
Life’s a bit of a beach these days for Ginger Walsh, who finds herself single and back home living in the family FROG (finished room over the garage) in the fictional town of Marshbury. She’s spent a few too many years in sales, and is hoping for a more fulfilling life as a sea glass artist, but instead is babysitting her sister’s kids and sharing overnights with Noah, her sexy glassblower boyfriend with commitment issues and a dog Ginger’s cat isn’t too crazy about.
You can almost smell the salt air as you take this rollicking ride with one slightly relationship-challenged single woman, one older married-with-children sister on the verge of turning fifty, one dump picking father, one kama sutra t-shirt wearing mother, one movie crew come to town with a very cute gaffer, plus a couple of Red Hat Realtors and a pair of evil twins. Reminiscent of her bestseller Must Love Dogs in all the right ways, yet very much its own animal, Claire Cook’s new novel sparkles with warmth, wit, and wisdom.
“If I had a sister, I’d want her to be Claire Cook. If I had a summer, I’d want it to be the summer that two sisters sparred over everything from fertility to photography to family. And if I could follow up the wry, wacky poignancy of Must Love Dogs with any book, it would be Life’s a Beach. Claire Cook is wicked good.”—Jacquelyn Mitchard
“LIFE’S A BEACH is a delicious coming of age novel—about two forty-something sisters who don’t quite manage that feat until it’s almost too late. I devoured this slice of family life served up in Claire Cook’s inimitably warm and witty style. Tender, touching and terribly, terribly, funny!”—Mary Kay Andrews
“Claire Cook’s smart, delightful new book made me laugh on the first page and on every single page all the way through — even when it also made me cry. True, tender, insightful, and hilarious — I loved it.”—Pamela Redmond Satran
“Claire Cook has given us a heroine you’ll cheer for and a book you won’t be able to put down. I loved it.”—Karen Quinn
You can order your copy of Life’s a Beach at these links:
Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/y2hwjv7t
B&N: https://tinyurl.com/y45xdz5s
iBooks: https://tinyurl.com/yxkmjszu
Kobo: https://tinyurl.com/y3dtw4h7
GooglePlay: https://tinyurl.com/y6zklrsh
READ AN EXCERPT
Excerpted from Life’s a Beach by Claire Cook
© Claire Cook. All rights reserved.
Chapter 1
I was squeaky clean and my hair had been conditioned for at least two of the suggested three minutes when the water went cold. I did a quick rinse, then turned the faucet off. The plastic shower curtain moved a few inches, and a clean white towel magically appeared. Noah had already left when I woke up, but maybe he’d only made a breakfast run. Or maybe he just couldn’t stay away. I smiled.
“Here you go,” my mother said from the other side of the curtain.
I screamed. I wrapped myself in the towel and stepped out of my tiny square shower and practically into my mother. “Jesus, Mom, I thought you were . . . someone else.”
“Noah? He left at six-twenty-five this morning. And tell him to watch that pebble business or he’ll break a window.” My mother started dabbing my shoulders with another towel.
“Mom, stop.” My mother kept dabbing. There were no limits in our family. I could clearly remember sitting in the bathtub with a book one night when I was ten or eleven. My sister, Geri, had already gone off to college, and my parents had company for dinner. Suddenly, the door opened and four adults looked in at me and my bubbles. “Say good night to Mr. and Mrs. O’Brien,” my mother said.
Today, my mother was wearing her Girls Just Wanna Have Fun T-shirt, and a couple of tiny beaded braids in her thick grey hair made her look like she’d just come back from the Caribbean. I was kind of wishing she were there now. “Listen,” she said, “your father and I have found the townhouse of our dreams. The Village of Silver Springs. Fitness Center with personal trainers, billiards, bingo, indoor boccie ball, salsa lessons. You know how your father loves to dance.”
“It’s not just a townhouse, it’s a lifestyle,” a strange voice said.
I peeked behind my mother to see two women wearing red hats. They were measuring what I liked to think of as my carriage house with a bright yellow tape measure. My cat watched silently from the rumpled sheets of my still-pulled-out sleeper sofa.
On my best days, I could convince myself that, with me at the far end of my parents’ driveway, and my sister and her family about a mile away, we had our own little Kennedy compound. On my worst days, I had to admit that I lived in an apartment over my parents’ garage.
The women waved. I hiked my towel up a little higher. “Mom,” I whispered, “get them out of here. Now.” My mother reached down and scratched my cat under his chin. She said, “Hi, handsome,” and he purred his acknowledgment. She nudged yesterday’s bra, which had somehow ended up in the middle of the floor, with her toe. “You’re going to have to start keeping things a little bit neater around here, honey.”
One of the women, the one wearing a jeweled red visor, didn’t seem to be the least bit bothered by the fact that I was dripping all over the apartment she was trying to help my mother sell right out from under me. In fact, she acted like I wasn’t even there. “A FROG is a nice bonus feature,” she said. “Everybody loves a FROG.”
“Excuse me,” I said, not that it was any of her business. “But, actually, it’s not a Finished Room Over the Garage. It has a bath and a kitchen, which makes it technically more of a carriage house.”
Everybody ignored me. “If you bury a statue of St. Joseph in the ground,” the visor woman said, “the house will get scooped up right away. Guaranteed.”
“Mom,” I said with every bit of outrage I could muster without dropping my towel. I wondered if telling these women this wasn’t a legal rental unit would make them lose interest, or if it would only get me in trouble with my mother.
“You have to be careful how you bury it,” the other woman said. Her hat had a frothy drape of red netting that covered her eyes, so maybe I really was invisible to her. “My cousin said she faced hers away from the house when she buried it, and the house across the street sold instead.”
“Upside down and facing the house is the way to go,” the other woman said. “If he’s upside down, that way St. Joseph will work extra hard to get out of the ground and onto the mantel of your new townhouse.” My mother was actually nodding, as if these two trespassing red-hatted women were not completely and certifiably insane.
“Well,” I said loudly, “I don’t want to keep you. Sounds like you’d better get over to the mall fast before they run out of statues.”
Now they were all nodding, so I started inching my mother toward the door, hoping the other two would follow. They did, though the first woman had unfortunately mastered the art of walking and talking at the same time. “But,” she said, “for St. Joseph to be fully effective, you also have to do all the necessary fix ups, price the house to reflect the current market, and of course, properly stage the home. Cut flowers, cookies baking in the oven, some pine scent potpourri. Then you add the statue.”
We were almost there. My mother leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek, and I reached past her to open the door. “Sorry I have to run,” she said.
“Not a problem,” I said as I hiked my towel up again.
“We’ll catch up later, honey.”
“You bet we will,” I said.
When I slammed the door behind them, I just missed the backside of one red-hatted Realtor.
Keep reading! Buy your copy of Life’s a Beach in paperback or ebook:
You can order your copy of Life’s a Beach at these links:
Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/y2hwjv7t
B&N: https://tinyurl.com/y45xdz5s
iBooks: https://tinyurl.com/yxkmjszu
Kobo: https://tinyurl.com/y3dtw4h7
GooglePlay: https://tinyurl.com/y6zklrsh
[image error]
In other news, I’ve been pretty much living in flip-flops, except when I’m walking the beach barefoot, so island life is pretty fabulous these days!
A new book I can’t wait for you to read will be out later this year (my 19th!), and I’ll be sure to keep you in the loop about that. Talks for television series for Must Love Dogs and The Wildwater Walking Club are making progress, so please keep your fingers and toes crossed for me!
I hope you have a fabulous looong weekend, whether you spend it at a cookout with family and friends or curled up with a good book.
Talk to you soon!
xxxxxClaire
CLAIRE COOK wrote her first book in her minivan at 45. At 50, she walked the red carpet at the Hollywood premiere of Must Love Dogs, starring Diane Lane and John Cusack, which is now a 6-book series. Claire is the New York Times, USA Today and #1 Amazon bestseller of 18 books.
The post Life’s a Beach Giveaway! appeared first on Claire Cook.
May 18, 2019
Full Flower Moon
[image error]
Full Flower Moon on a beautiful night.
The post Full Flower Moon appeared first on Claire Cook.
