Thursday, August 18, 2011

Get to know our associates!

We asked our associates some fun questions about themselves and their thoughts on chick lit. Here are their answers. We hope you will take the time to get to know them better. If you have future questions you'd like us to ask them, please share them in the comments section.

We've also included them in our "About Us" section, if you want to know who they are and how you can contact them.

Name three of your favorite chick lit authors.

Becky: Very hard to narrow down to three but I would say Marian Keyes, Lisa Jewell and an author whose work I have recently come to love, Paige Toon.

Cindy: Jennifer Weiner, Jennifer Cruisie, Sue Margolis

Gail: Jen Lancaster, Sophie Kinsella, Louise Bagshawe. Can I choose one more? How about two? I can’t not mention Tasmina Perry and Jo Rees...I do love me some Brit Lit.


Which chick lit novel would you like to see on the big screen

Becky:Paige Toon, "Pictures of Lily."

Cindy: "The Devil In The Junior League," Linda Francis Lee; "The Island," Elin Hilderbrand; "Firefly Lane," Kristin Hannah

Gail: "Showdown" by Tilly Bagshawe. It’s fun, fast, and I think the characters would act out well on-screen. It’s basically National Velvet, if it were rewritten by Jackie Collins. Trash-ional Velvet, if you will. As far as I can tell, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that!!

Which chick lit book has had an impact on you and stayed with you for a long time?

Becky: "Snap Happy" by Fiona Walker - I was 21 and backpacking round Europe when I read this, I couldn't put it down. This was definitley the book that cemented my love of the chick lit genre.

Cindy: "Good In Bed," Jennifer Weiner

Gail: The memoir "My Fair Lazy" by Jen Lancaster has really stuck with me. She really pushed outside of her comfort zone and learned new things about herself throughout this memoir. It inspires me in my daily life to try things that I perhaps wouldn’t have been comfortable trying without a teeny little Jen Lancaster ghost sitting on my shoulder saying “do it! DO IT!!!” Examples include agreeing to bake a wedding cake and 120 cupcakes for my cousin’s wedding, getting a tattoo last time I was in Vegas, and reading George R. R. Martin’s “Game of Thrones”. Baby steps, right?

What is something about you that would surprise most people?

Becky: Err. I've been a huge fan of the Carpenters since I was 11 and on my first trip to LA visited their old homes in Downey and also paid my respects at Karen's grave which was quite a detour.

Cindy: I'm an Emmy Award-Winning Broadcast Journalist

Gail: Before I jump right in and give you an answer, let me give you a little background about myself: I’m not one of those teeny stick-girls who are all delicate and fragile-looking by any stretch of the imagination. I have dark hair with a bright red streak through my bangs. I have tattoos wrapping up and around my right calf. My nose used to be pierced. I have feather extensions in my hair. Got the picture? Ok. Here’s the surprise: I do hardanger. For those of you who don’t know what hardanger is, it’s traditional Norwegian embroidery that is absolutely gorgeous. It’s generally white on white embroidery, with delicate cutwork between the stitched blocks. My grandma taught me how. Google it. And then try to picture me doing it. Oh…and if you can’t picture that? You’re in good company.

What are some of your hobbies?

Becky: I was brought up by the seaside but now live in a city so I love to spend as much time as possible back by the sea with my family and having long walks on the beach with my labrador. I'm at home when I'm by the sea. There's a recurring theme with water as I love to swim too. As well as obviously enjoying reading books I also completed my first creative writing course this year and will be starting my second in the next couple of months. As a wannabe writer I often have my head in anything to do with learning the craft of fiction writing! I also love musicals and I'm a self-confessed reality tv junkie and love "The X Factor!"

Cindy: My Shih tzu, Sassy is the center of my life. I also enjoy scrapbooking, painting with acrylics, drawing with pastels, studying and collecting Outsider Art

Gail: I enjoy baking and decorating cakes and cupcakes. My latest success was pineapple cupcakes with pineapple-cream cheese icing. I really like Reformer Pilates and try to make it to at least 1 class a week, and also enjoy cardio boxing. I’m completely addicted to "America’s Next Top Model" and "Pretty Little Liars" (Hey! Don’t judge!). Oh...and I like to read, of course.

Where is your favorite place to vacation?

Becky: The US! I've been lucky enough to visit New York and Los Angeles several times and don't think I could ever tire of them! I particularly enjoy doing any kind of film studio/location tour. Sitting on Carrie Bradshaw's stoop on the "Sex and the City" tour then stumbling across them filming the first film outside Christie's auction house on my birthday the next day was amazing as a huge fan from the UK!

Cindy: Colorado Mountains in the summer

Gail: I love Las Vegas. The fact that everything is bigger and glitterier and awesomer for no reason other than "because we can!" really appeals to me. There’s always something to do in Vegas. I’m a night owl (HATE getting up in the morning. Just ask my husband!) so the fact that there’s something going on 24/7 is perfect for me. Any place that has outlet shopping, slot machines, and Penn & Teller just can’t lose, in my opinion. Oh...and big tall margaritas. Those too.

3 comments:

Gail Allison said...

So nice to get to know you ladies! Looking forward to reading more of your (our) reviews!! :)

Anne R. Allen said...

Nice to know more about you. I think it's great that you each mention a different "queen" of chick lit. Becky likes Marian Keyes, who writes social satire & more cerebral chick lit. Cindy likes Jennifer Weiner, who is heartfelt and emotional, and Gail mentions Sophie Kinsella--queen of fun-shopping lit. Together you cover the bases.

Jessica Strassner said...

Great to know more about you ladies!