Friendship the Meg Donohue way...plus a book giveaway

Introduction by Gail Allison

**Giveaway is now closed**

Meg Donohue was born and raised in Philadelphia but now resides in San Francisco with her two daughters (both under the age of 3!), her husband, and their Taiwanese rescue pup, Cole. With an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University as well as a BA in comparative literature from Dartmouth College, it was really only a matter of time before she started making a name for herself in the world of the written word. "How to Eat a Cupcake" is Meg’s debut novel and she’s currently at work on her second.

"How To Eat a Cupcake" is available for sale everywhere tomorrow (March 13th), but here’s a bonus for ravenous readers: if you pre-order the book, email Meg with “I Pre-Ordered” in the subject line, and she’ll email you the recipe for some delicious Meyer lemon cupcakes that was developed exclusively for her readers by Bar Bambino’s pastry chef Alyce Shields. A pretty sweet deal, if you ask me...

Here's another sweet treat...HarperCollins has a copy of "How to Eat a Cupcake" for a lucky reader in the US or Canada.

Find Meg on Facebook, Twitter and at her website.

Favorite song about friendship:
The song that immediately comes to mind is one that I think I learned in Girl Scouts called “Make New Friends.” The lyrics are “Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other is gold.” I think Annie and Julia, the main characters in HOW TO EAT A CUPCAKE, would have liked that song—though neither were ever really Girl Scout types.

Favorite best friend of a chick lit novel main character:
I loved the entire friend group in Meg Waite Clayton’s THE WEDNESDAY SISTERS.

How did you meet your best friend?
I don’t remember the specific day we met, but my best friend Jeannine switched to my school in fourth grade and we’ve been friends ever since. Some years we were closer than others while we growing up, but for the last ten years or so she’s been the best friend a girl could ask for. We were roommates in NYC after college and stood by each other’s sides when we married our respective husbands (the same summer!). She now lives in Chicago while I live in San Francisco, but we talk and email and text on a weekly, if not daily basis, and see each other at least twice each year. One of the hardest parts of being so far away from each other is not being able to know her children as much as I’d like to.

Three words to describe your best friend:
Loyal, thoughtful, stylish.

Did you ever have those best friend necklaces that split in the middle?
I don’t think so! I kind of want one now though. Is it too late?

Favorite place to hang out with your friends:
The beach! My friends and I spend time together every summer in Avalon, New Jersey. It’s a small beach town on a barrier island off the southern coast of New Jersey. I have so many great memories of being on the beach with those friends—and luckily, we keep making more. The novel that I’m working on now is set in Avalon so I’ve been visiting it in my mind a lot recently.

Other chick lit author you'd want to be best friends with:
I follow Emily Giffin on Facebook and she seems like someone I’d have a lot in common with—we’re both juggling kids and careers. I’d like to chat with her over coffee--or martinis!—someday.

Favorite destination for a girls weekend/trip:
The beach, yet again. If there’s a girl who doesn’t like a day spent relaxing on the beach and an evening of cocktails, grilled fish, and music, I don’t want to be friends with her!

What is something about a friend that surprised you?
I have a friend who on the surface appears to be incredibly demure, classy, and a bit conservative, but the truth—which she reveals only to her close friends—is that she has a wickedly dirty sense of humor and swears like a sailor. I adore that about her!

Character from "Friends" you'd be best friends with?
Actually, my friend Jeannine reminds me of Monica—they’re both hilariously, endearingly neurotic at times, very stylish but also sort of scrappy and tough, and true, loyal, dependable friends.

Special thanks to Meg for answering our questions and to HarperCollins for sharing "How to Eat a Cupcake" with our readers.

How to win "How to Eat a Cupcake":
Please comment below with your e-mail address. (Please note: Entries without an e-mail address will NOT be counted. You can use AT and DOT to avoid spam. Or provide a link to your facebook page or blog if you can receive messages there.)

Bonus entries (can be listed all in one post):
1. Please tell us: Which chick lit author would you want to have as a best friend?
2. Follow this blog and post a comment saying you are a follower (if you already follow, that's fine too).
3. Post this contest on Facebook or Twitter or in your blog, and leave a comment saying where you've posted it.
4. Join Chick Lit Central on Facebook. Edit settings if you don't want to receive a lot of messages at your e-mail account. Please read our posting guidelines as well. (If you're already a member, let us know that too.)
5. Add a friend to our Facebook group. (Tell us who you added.) Be sure to remind them to edit their settings.

US/Canada only. Giveaway ends March 18th at midnight EST.