2013-10-24

"When twenty-eight-year-old Lexi Smart wakes up in a London hospital, she’s in for a big surprise. Her teeth are perfect. Her body is toned. Her handbag is Vuitton. Having survived a car accident—in a Mercedes no less—Lexi has lost a big chunk of her memory, three years to be exact, and she’s about to find out just how much things have changed.

Somehow Lexi went from a twenty-five-year-old working girl to a corporate big shot with a sleek new loft, a personal assistant, a carb-free diet, and a set of glamorous new friends. And who is this gorgeous husband—who also happens to be a multimillionaire? With her mind still stuck three years in reverse, Lexi greets this brave new world determined to be the person she…well, seems to be. That is, until an adorably disheveled architect drops the biggest bombshell of all.

Suddenly Lexi is scrambling to catch her balance. Her new life, it turns out, comes complete with secrets, schemes, and intrigue. How on earth did all this happen? Will she ever remember? And what will happen when she does?" (Goodreads)



Don't miss is because...

A light, nice book. The characters could have been more developed. 

2013-10-23

Thanks to Zsadi who sent me this pic!


Elmore John Leonard, Jr. (October 11, 1925 – August 20, 2013) was an American novelist and screenwriter. His earliest novels, published in the 1950s, were Westerns, but Leonard went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thrillers, many of which have been adapted into motion pictures.

2013-10-22

I hope this chapter will surprise you... go read chapter 21: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8955111/21/

  
Camilla's short poem (SatinCoveredSteel helped to translate it):

L'assistente vuol parlare
con i media, e guadagnare.
Lei, scoprendo quant’è losco,
col vampir fugge nel bosco
.

To the media Walsh will talk now,
he really wants to milk that cash cow.
When Bella sees his swarmy nature,
she flies to the woods with her vampire.



The new chapter is due to be posted in less than two weeks.
Reviewers get a little gift.


2013-10-21

Fire on the Water: A Companion to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein interweaves Rachel’s search with the plot of Frankenstein and the horrific occurrences of the summer of 1816 when Mary Shelley dared to dip her quill into the ink of her darkest of waking dreams.
The truth is given life.


Summary:

Rachel, a young American biographer researching the life of Mary Shelley in Montreux, Switzerland, is entangled and consumed by the escalating threads of her investigation. Shards of Shelley’s creation are exhumed from the past. Precious memories are hacked and sutured to the unthinkable. The unblemished flesh of the one she loves is stripped back to reveal what lies beneath—aspects of Frankenstein incised and ripped from the nineteenth century and transplanted into her own.
The archival records contained within the chiseled stone of Château de Chillon give some insight into a life long gone. It is, however, the contents of a document trunk that has remained unopened for generations that discloses what truly occurred in the idyllic Swiss Riviera village of Montreux to jolt the monster into existence. Personal letters and diaries detailing events, suppers, lectures, and conversations between Mary Shelley and her confidant, Doctor John Polidori, reveal a spiraling progression of horrors, dismembered cadavers, and uncertainties. Doctor Polidori assists the local gendarmerie in their investigation, unaware of how closely the knife will cut to Mary’s life and his own.
Rachel is drawn into the centuries-old conversations as she attempts to discern fact from fiction. But opening the trunk could not come at a more difficult time for Rachel. Her boyfriend has recently been killed in a motorbike accident and now, as she attempts to reconstruct her life, she is repeatedly confronted by a man of gigantic structure, of uncommon beauty, of intriguing origin.
Publication Date:  December 12, 2013 from TWCS Publishing House

Author Bio:

P.J. Parker was born and raised in rural Australia. With a bachelor of science in architecture from the University of New South Wales, he has traveled and lived extensively around the world, focusing on cultures of historic interest and buildings of architectural significance before transitioning into a career as a fraud analyst and programmer with a leading international financial institution. An avid reader and researcher, P.J. undertakes his writing with a passionate and exacting attention to detail. 

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2013-10-18

Let's continue our celebrations for Ghostwriter, Lissa Bryan's first novel.



There's a discussion you can join on Facebook:


Let's re-read the interview to Ghostwriter's main character:


And would you like a giveaway?

Please add a comment to the blog post about Ghostwriter before entering the giveaway.


2013-10-17

"The most significant and adored works from the popular Italian poet Ugo Foscolo are collected in this lucid verse translation. Expressing the author’s political, civic, and sentimental concerns, these poems captivate with their immediacy and intimacy. Each work reveals the inner recesses of a passionate, restless, and surprisingly modern mind." (Goodreads)

Florence, Italy

Don't miss it because...

If you love Italy, its culture, its history, you can't miss this masterpiece. Foscolo will guide you to discover Florence's beauty through its glorious past.

Read it for free (Italian): http://www.classicitaliani.it/index130.htm

2013-10-16

Ghostwriter, Lissa Bryan's first novel, is turning one!

Let's celebrate!



There's a discussion you can join on Facebook:


Let's re-read the review Camilla and I wrote for the book when it was published:

(review by Camilla and Raum)

And would you like a giveaway?

Please add a comment to the blog post about Ghostwriter before entering the giveaway.


2013-10-10

"I’ve lost it. :( The only thing in the world I wasn’t supposed to lose. My engagement ring. It’s been in Magnus’s family for three generations. And now the very same day his parents are coming, I’ve lost it. The very same day! Do not hyperventilate, Poppy. Stay positive :) !!

Poppy Wyatt has never felt luckier. She is about to marry her ideal man, Magnus Tavish, but in one afternoon her “happily ever after” begins to fall apart. Not only has she lost her engagement ring in a hotel fire drill but in the panic that follows, her phone is stolen. As she paces shakily around the lobby, she spots an abandoned phone in a trash can. Finders keepers! Now she can leave a number for the hotel to contact her when they find her ring. Perfect!

Well, perfect except that the phone’s owner, businessman Sam Roxton, doesn’t agree. He wants his phone back and doesn’t appreciate Poppy reading his messages and wading into his personal life.

What ensues is a hilarious and unpredictable turn of events as Poppy and Sam increasingly upend each other’s lives through emails and text messages. As Poppy juggles wedding preparations, mysterious phone calls, and hiding her left hand from Magnus and his parents . . . she soon realizes that she is in for the biggest surprise of her life." (Goodreads)




Don't miss in because...

It's funny and well written. I enjoyed it!

Pro: Sam. One of the best characters Sophie Kinsella has ever crafted. Very, very fascinating!

Con: the footnotes at the end of each chapter. They are unusual, for sure, but they didn't add anything to my reading pleasure.

2013-10-07

More problems ahead...are you up for a bumpy ride? Chapter 20 is ready: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8955111/20/

"How can I believe you?" Her words held a desperate plea. Make me believe you.
  
Camilla's short poem (SatinCoveredSteel helped to translate it):

Or che il padre le è sparito
forse morto, oppur rapito,
lei non sa se può fidarsi
del vampiro, o disperarsi.


Since her father has gone missing,
dead, abducted, no way of knowing,
she doesn’t know if she can trust
the vampire, or lose hope she must.



The new chapter is due to be posted in two weeks.
Reviewers get a little gift.


2013-10-06

The idea for Newton Neighbors came about while I was writing Wellesley Wives.

I wasn’t really looking for a new storyline but that’s almost always when the best ideas are born. 

http://ph.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/books/detail/100


We’re new to the area, so we like to wander around and discover places. This particular evening my husband suggested a drive and we found ourselves going by a really beautiful lake just beside Newton town. I noticed the interior lights of the houses across the lake reflecting in the water and it gave the place a magical quality. I was hooked. I wanted to live “on the water.” Michael laughed at me and told me to sell a million more books. Oh. (Actually when you read Newton Neighbors, my reaction was pretty similar to Jessica’s when she first saw it.) 

Undeterred, soon after I did a little research on the web and discovered that the lake started life as Wiswall’s Pond. At least that’s what it was called during the colonial era. I’m quite sure local Indians had a different name for it before but alas, that’s lost. A man called Wiswall owned the pond so it was Wiswall’s pond - reasonable. Then the name was changed to Baptist Pond because it was used for Baptisms by the Newton Center Baptist Church - again reasonable. 

Then, in the nineteenth century the name was changed once more to Crystal Lake. (I wonder were the Baptists fed up.) Did the Crystal family own it now, I thought. Was it some new religion? Not exactly. The truth is winter ice was harvested by an Ice company and they decided that people would much rather have ice that came from a Crystal Lake than a place where heathens were bathed to be converted. I think this showed great marketing skills considering it was the 1800s but more than that, this little nugget of ice was like gold for me. 

I thought it was a hoot that they were coercing the poor ice drinkers of 1800 and we think big business today is the cause of all our problems. We’ve been manipulated for hundreds of years already! I heard for example that Santa Claus started life wearing green and white and it was Coca-Cola that changed him to red and white, to suit their logo. (Poor Mrs. Claus.) 

I let the idea rest until I finished up Wellesley Wives but pretty soon after I got cracking on my lovely lake story. I took the dog for walks around the lake, did a lot of driving to research the real names of the streets and when I couldn’t find a Crystal Lake Lane in reality, I was able to get started. 

The characters are not based on anybody I've met in Newton or women I know elsewhere. I think we all have a little Maria in us. That’s to say, we all have negative self image days. I don’t want to spoil the story, so I’ll just say the decisions she makes might be a bit unusual but Go Her. We all have to listen to our hearts and do what’s right for us and our loved ones. She did. It took guts but she called it right, I think. Of course there’s the other inner voice too... the “I want it now,” voice. Mine speaks to me loud and clear regularly – like the day I first saw the lake and wanted to move there. This is where the character Cathi comes in. We all know women who are chasing the dream but unfortunately they’re often chasing the wrong damn dream, hence the need for good friends. It’s our close pals who tell us when our radars are off and to have a re-think. 

Then there’s the folk who end up on the lake by pure chance, like Noreen who arrived before property bubbles had been invented. That’s just like real life too, no matter where we want to get to in our lives, there'll be folk there already. That’s not to say they’re luckier than us, they just have a different life path. Crystal Lake Lane proved a fabulous back drop to bring a crazy collection of people together, each with their own story and adventure to take. Mixing that with a lot of comedy and of course, cocktails has produced a great story. I sure had fun writing and researching it. You’re going to have to read it now and mail me with your opinion of ‘life on the lake’. Better again, like my page on Facebook and post your thoughts there. 

When you have a copy of Newton Neighbors, get yourself a nice quiet place to read and make sure you have a long cool drink for company. Just remember to ask where the ice came from! 

Enjoy. 

Lots of love, 

- Suzy Duffy

--------------------------------

Thank you, Suzy!

You can follow Suzy Duffy's work through these websites:

2013-10-04

Newton Neighbors is the newest novel by Suzy Duffy, author of Wellesley Wives and an international bestselling author of romantic comedy.



With her new story, Suzy is taking her readers to visit Crystal Lake, a lovely place in Boston, and to meet its residents. Women play a very important role in the plot. How many "hats" does every woman put on in her everyday life? How many times we switch from mom to wife, from our professional life to our personal dreams? Newton Neighbors will make you meet a bunch of colorful women, the Ladies of the Lake. Let's read how they're introduced in the official summary:
Maria’s best asset has always been her hot Puerto Rican body, but she sees the effect a new sitter has on her husband, so she decides to fight back the hands of time.

Cathi is Maria’s best friend and greatest admirer. Her own life is pretty good, too. Still, she can’t help being consumed with ambitions to live on the water. She spirals from persuasion to coercion to deceit faster than you can say ‘change of address,’ but will she succeed?

Noreen may seem like the nice little granny from next door. However, it’s the quiet ones you need to watch.  While facing forty is a nightmare for Maria, Noreen’s living large at eighty. She believes “the only thing worse than a weak dollar is a weak martini.”

Jessica is in America to study. But when she takes a babysitting job in Newton, she gets more than she bargains for in the shape of fine-looking firefighter.  We learn soon enough that not all heroes are good—but is bad better?

Thankfully we have Ely, Jessica’s crazy roommate, who keeps everyone laughing and partying, too.

Suzy pays a great attention to her characters' development. She makes us "see" them, revealing their personality through their actions. Let's read this excerpt from the first chapter:

[Maria] still knew how to work her charms—hands on hips, subtle breath in through parted lips to
elevate bust, chin raised, head tilted. She could do it all in a microsecond but make it look natural. 

and again:

The truth was she had a secret. If Ricky thought she was a weapon of mass seduction, it was because Maria had upgraded her ammunition. It looked like a gymnast’s leotard, but it was made by NASA and the ad had promised to reduce her waist by at least two inches. The fact it took fifteen minutes to squeeze into and she had no idea how long before she might asphyxiate was academic. Maria was thrilled with the result. She looked like her old self, with curves hauled back into the right position, and that was all that mattered. But there was no way she was showing it to Ricky. The plan was to wear it to the party, look amazing, and then when they got home, she would peel it off in the bathroom before he ever saw. Easy but spontaneous seductions were not part of the agenda.
http://ph.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/books/detail/100
If you're interested in the writing process of an award winning writer, stay tuned! Suzy Duffy is authoring a blog post about The Birth of a Book. 


Summary: Crystal Lake—in the suburbs of Newton—is one of the most desirable places to live in Boston, and Newton Neighbors is a romantic comedy about its colorful residents just trying to “live the dream.”  Things, however, rarely go as planned. The story starts with two fire trucks and a couple of cop cars getting called to the upmarket road, and that’s when things begin to heat up. [...] We have fireworks, fistfights, and family fiestas. It’s a story that stretches from Boston, to London, to beautiful Puerto Rico. Welcome to the wet ‘n’ wild world of Newton Neighbors. 

About the author
Suzy Duffy is an international and #1 best-selling author. She writes laugh-out-loud, life-affirming stories about women from five to ninety-five. (Sometimes she writes about men too, but only for comedic purposes, and pets—if they’re funny.) Her debut US novel, Wellesley Wives became an instant best seller, won numerous awards and critical acclaim, and is due to be published in Norwegian, September 2013. She was a guest speaker at the Sydney Writer’s Festival.

Newton Neighbors, her second US novel, has been published September 2013.

Other than this, Suzy was a national radio DJ and television presenter in Ireland before she started writing. She has also been an interpreter in the United Nations, Geneva, a water ski instructor in Crete, and a corn cutter in the south of France—from which she was fired!

She gives 10% of her royalties to http://www.fobh.org because she believes in serendipity. (A serendipitist?) She plans to write a book a year for the next forty years, and then she’ll have a rethink.

More info on https://www.facebook.com/Suzyduffybooks1

https://twitter.com/suzyduffybooks

and www.SuzyDuffyBooks.com

2013-10-01

"This 1921 intellectual comedy contrasts illusion with reality by introducing six individuals to a bare stage occupied by actors in rehearsal. Proclaiming themselves the incomplete creations of an author's imagination, the six demand dialog for the story of their lives. A classic dramatic exploration of the many faces of reality." (Goodreads)



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