Winner of "Peace, Love and Lemonade"

To find our winner, we assigned a number to each entry (from only the entries with contact info) and asked random.org to choose ONE number. It chose 8.

Congrats to PoCoKat!

Here is a message from Nancy Stampahar:
Congratulations to PoCoKat for winning a copy of  Peace, Love and Lemonade: A Recipe to Make Your Life Sweeter! I enjoyed reading what everyone is cooking. For the bread bakers…having patience is hard; but when you practice it, you will rise to the top! Thanks to Melissa Amster and the whole Chick Lit Central crew for having me visit! For more recipes and empowerment ideas, visit me at my website, Facebook and Twitter.

Reminder: If you have won a book, you have about 48 hours to claim it by sending your contact information. (You will be e-mailed if you have won, as well.) After that time, a new winner will be picked.

Thanks to everyone for participating and telling us about the most difficult recipe you've ever tried to make.

Thanks to Nancy for a wonderful empowerment post and recipe and for sharing the book with our winner.

Check out our latest giveaways and also enter ones from other blogs and websites on our giveaways page.

E.M. Tippets shares her "Fairytale" Ending

***Giveaway is now closed***

Introduction and interview by Tracey Meyers

Once upon a time in a land far, far away, called London, a talented female writer resided.  

This writer, who originated from New Mexico, began her writing career focusing on science fiction novels; however, one day she decided to venture out beyond the boundaries of the Sci-Fi genre into the unknown, and sometimes misunderstood, genre called "Chick Lit".  Amongst the results of this exploration is her recently published novel, Someone Else's Fairytale. 

It is with much anticipation that we welcome E.M. Tippets to Chick Lit Central as she tells us all about her writing, her other talents and how she made her"fairytale" ending come true!

Thanks to E.M. Tippets and Chick Lit Plus, we have ONE copy of Someone Else's Fairytale for a lucky reader located anywhere in the world!

You can find E.M. Tippets at her website, Facebook, Twitter and GoodReads.


When you first started writing you wrote Science Fiction and Fantasy. What compelled you to venture into Chick Lit?
It was an experiment, actually. I decided I wanted to get a novel published, and in the national market, using an agent and a regular publisher, that is very hard to do, so instead I went for a small niche publisher in Utah. I used my married name, E.M. Tippetts, and since most of what I saw selling in the LDS/mountain west market was romance, I wrote a chick lit and sold it to the second publisher I queried. All in all, I learned a lot about publishing, including the fact that it's better to be unpublished than in a relationship with the wrong publisher. Years later, when indie publishing got going, I decided I wanted to try that too, so I resurrected E.M. Tippetts and published two more chick lit novels to see what that was like. Four months later I got a book into the top 200 books on Amazon, and last Christmas I cracked the top 100, so I guess it's time to think of myself as a chick lit writer.

Do you have a formal process you follow when writing a new book? Or, do you approach each book differently?
I tend to hold the outline in my head and a few key scenes when I begin writing. My process then usually goes something like this: 1) write the beginning 2) stress out over how I have nothing for the middle 3) write and rewrite the end over and over 4) go back and try to make the beginning fit the end I want 5) panic about the middle some more 6) contemplate quitting forever 7) take a few long days and edit the entire thing 8) send it out to beta readers once I feel it's all right 9) get their feedback and realize it's all wrong 10) revise it to the best of my ability 11) move on and start another book

What do you feel are the top three things that scare aspiring writers away from actually pursuing a career as a writer? How would you put those fears at ease?
I would have to say 1) the work involved, 2) the work involved, and 3) the work involved. Really, every complaint I hear from aspiring writers is a variation on this, whether it be fear that no one will like their writing (which requires working on self confidence and/or writing skills), the fear that no one will buy their book (which requires work on marketing and building up a brand), the fear that their publisher will dump them (which requires working on their business relationships), or countless other variations. I guess what I'm trying to say is that there's no situation you can't work your way out of, but it might take a LOT of work. My writing skills were all right when I was a teenager. Now after a couple of decades of hard work, they're better than average. I'm still a long way from being great, more than a lifetime I'd estimate. But any fear anyone has can be overcome by rolling up your sleeves and putting in the hours.

You have a bachelors degree in philosophy, politics and economics, and a juris doctorate in business law. With such a diverse education, why did you chose to become a writer?
Those degrees were to pay the bills. Writing's what I always wanted to do - and while they may sound diverse, you'll note they aren't really. Philosophy and politics are both key in law - I once had someone laugh when they heard me say that law was applied philosophy, which makes me wonder what people think philosophy is if deciding what's right and wrong and how we should live as a society doesn't qualify. Economics and business also go together. I have the training of a corporate lawyer or politician, because even politician is a more stable, predictable career than writer, and I may need to return to practicing law someday. It depends on how my books do and what colleges my kids want to attend.

When I'm not writing or promoting my books, I like to:
Play with my kids and spend time with my husband and friends. Other than that, I'd prefer writing to just about anything, especially things like housework. Though I also read a lot, but I read like a writer, dissecting and pulling things apart and plotting my own books in the process.

Amongst your many talents is the ability to make jewelry. Of all the jewelry you've made, what is your favorite piece?
It'd be a series of pieces I did for my friend, Stephanie Burgis, and her Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson series. The full set can be seen here. She was kind enough to sell me a license to make jewelry that tied into her books, which are fabulous, by the way. They're Regency Era middle grade fantasy and the third one's about to come out in the United States.

Three things I must have with me at all times include:
My kids, and then I don't really have anything else. I don't even carry my cell phone and Kindle at all times and don't carry anything I don't absolutely need when I leave the house, so even my purse stays behind much of the time.

Spring is right around the corner. What is your favorite thing about this season?
The end of the cold, though I suppose I say that because we're breaking records here in the UK for coldest March. We will be very happy to get the sunshine and warm weather back. Also, we're a little traumatized because summer didn't start in the UK until right before the Olympics last year, so it was drizzling and cold well into July. Hope that doesn't happen again.

Special thanks to E.M. Tippets for showing us her world and Chick Lit Plus for sharing her book with our readers.

How to win Someone Else's Fairytale:

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: What is your favorite thing about Spring?
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. Follow us on Twitter and/or Pinterest.
6. Add a friend to our Facebook group. (Tell us who you added.) Be sure to remind them to edit their settings.

Open worldwide.  Ends April 9th at midnight.

Visit CLP Blog Tours for a chance to win a $20 Amazon Gift Card!

Winners of "Market Street"

To find our winners, we assigned a number to each entry (from only the entries with contact info) and asked random.org to choose FIVE numbers.

Congrats to:

16 - rubyreba
50- Linda Kish
88- bn100
93- Bridget O'Neill
131- Tiffany Drew

Here is a message from Anita Hughes:

Dear Winners:

I am so pleased you won a copy of my new novel, MARKET STREET! Thank you so much for your interest and for following Chick Lit Central. Being able to connect with my readers is the most important thing to me, and I am always thrilled when new readers find me on their blog! Enjoy the book and let me know what you think. You can find me on Facebook or Twitter or on my website, anitahughesbooks.com.

Again, thank you for your interest!

Best,
Anita Hughes

Reminder: If you have won a book, you have about 48 hours to claim it by sending your contact information. (You will be e-mailed if you have won, as well.) After that time, a new winner will be picked.

Thanks to everyone for participating and telling us about a food you didn't want to eat for a long time, but once you did, you liked it.

Thanks to Anita for a wonderful interview and St. Martin's Press for sharing the book with our winners.

Check out our latest giveaways and also enter ones from other blogs and websites on our giveaways page.

Book Review: The Big Bang

By Jami Deise

It’s one of the symbols of the American Dream: The big house in the suburbs. The yard is perfect; the neighbors are friendly (and they look just us!); the public schools are highly rated, and all the children are above average. But in fiction – be it movies (The Stepford Wives), TV (Desperate Housewives), music (Volvo Driving Soccer Mom) and books – the serenity of the suburbs is a mirage, hiding a forced conformity, hypocrisy and downright evil.

Linda Joffe Hull’s novel The Big Bang is the latest contribution to this sub-genre, focusing on the planned community of Melody Mountain Ranch in Colorado. Every chapter begins with a relevant code from the covenants of the community’s home owner’s association (HOA), which runs day-to-day life in the town with an almost voyeuristic interest. Homeowners get notices and fines, for instance, if they plant the wrong type of grass on their lawns.

The novel centers around beautiful interior designer Hope Jordan, desperate to get pregnant by a husband who’s more preoccupied with his job than making Hope’s motherhood dreams come true; Frank Griffin, the HOA president and a minister who has used his position in the HOA for a land grab centered around the new playground; Will Pierce-Cohn, a stay-at-home dad and HOA board member who opposes Frank’s plan for the new playground; and Tim Trautman, the community’s newest member whose wife is expanding their family of four to a family of six. The cast also includes Frank’s wife Maryellen, a henpecked woman with an eating disorder, and his teenage daughter Eva, a would-be witch. Real estate agent/sex toy seller/secret lesbian Laney Estridge also plays an important role. The three men, while all married fathers, all lust after Hope, and after they all unwittingly eat hash brownies at a neighborhood party, Hope becomes pregnant after spending time with each man. If only she could remember what happened that night, she might have an idea who fathered her baby.

Frank’s playground, and Will’s opposition, also play an important role in the novel. Frank and Will both covet Hope’s backing, and while she signs Will’s petition, she also takes a role in helping Frank plan it. The playground becomes a metaphor for the hypocrisy and underlying rot of the neighborhood, and when it develops a sinkhole, the message is clear.

Hull writes the novel in the point-of-view of each main character, while remaining in third person. Her ability to differentiate among voices is impressive – Eva’s teenage rebellion contrasts strongly with her mother’s passivity – but some of the character worlds she creates are uncomfortable. Frank, Will and Tim all plot to screw Hope, and reading their thoughts is distasteful. Tim is a master manipulator, Frank a hypocrite, and Will is so angry when Hope works on the playground that he refers to her in his thoughts as “Bitch.”

The novel speeds along on a collision course not only with Hope and the men, but also with the playground and the homes in the neighborhood. The ending is an appropriate conclusion to all the story lines that Hull set in motion.

While reading The Big Bang, I was grateful that the HOA on which I served for ten years was more preoccupied with the one or two homeowners who refused to adhere to the community’s architectural requirements than with all the rules and regulations that the Melody Mountain Ranch board members have to deal with. With its structure and plot lines, though, I was expecting a funnier book. The novel should be a satire, but the characters are too sad, bitter or manipulative to be funny. This may make them a lot more similar to our actual neighbors than readers may feel comfortable with. It is hard to laugh at the picture the author draws when the picture may in fact be a mirror.

Thanks to Tyrus Books for the book in exchange for an honest review.

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Cynthia Ellingsen takes matters into her own hands...plus a book giveaway

Photo by Brian McConkey Photography

**Giveaway is now closed**

Today we welcome back Cynthia Ellingsen and her brand new novel, Marriage Matters, for which she is celebrating a pub day...today! Marriage Matters is about three generations of women who are planning weddings at the same time, but each of them has something to lose.

You may remember Cynthia from when she was here in 2011 to talk about her debut novel, The Whole Package. We're glad to have her back again, especially as wedding season is quickly approaching. Her latest novel will set the mood nicely. Aside from being an author, Cynthia is also a screenwriter. She lives in Lexington, KY with her husband.

Thanks to Penguin we have one copy of Marriage Matters to give away to a lucky reader anywhere in the US. 

You can find Cynthia at her website, Facebook and Twitter pages.

*Before reading ahead, please note that there's a spoiler for The Whole Package, so watch out when reading the question about compliments.

How did you come up with the idea for Marriage Matters?



When I wrote The Whole Package, my first novel, I noticed that women were buying extra copies and having me sign them to their best friends from college or high school.

With Marriage Matters, I thought it would be fun to write a novel that women would share with their mother and grandmother. I’m a huge fan of Skyping with book clubs and I’ve already heard from some mother/daughter book clubs that want me to Skype in, which is so fun!

What is something you wish people knew about you?



When writing Marriage Matters, I listened to “Us Against the World” by Coldplay at least a thousand times. If a book could come with a theme song, that would be it.

If you could meet a celebrity, who would it be?



Ooh, given what I wrote above, let’s go with Chris Martin from Coldplay. Of course, I’d probably say something ridiculous, like, “Every time I look at you, a Coldplay song runs through my head.” (Thank you, Lena Dunham, for even putting that in my head.)

According to you what defines women's contemporary fiction? 



Relatability. For Marriage Matters, Publisher’s Weekly mentioned that I write characters that “talk like actual people.” I also call on pop culture - there are big references to The Bachelor in Marriage Matters, because it’s something that most women have snuggled up to at some point with chocolate and a bottle of wine.

What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?



The toughest criticism went as follows:

Reader: Cynthia, I saw your book at the-

Me: Ooh! Thank you so much for buying it.

Reader: Yeah… didn’t. I’m really into trilogies right now, if you know what I mean.

As for the best compliment, a conversation about The Whole Package went as follows:

Grandma: I knew Cheryl and Andy were meant to be together.

Me: Ooh! Was it my clever push-pull of romantic structure?

Grandma: No. I looked at the last page of the book.

Are you a person who makes their bed in the morning, or do you not see much point?



It totally depends on the day. If I’m working from my bed – which I don’t do often, but it is one of the perks of being a writer – I don’t bother.

Do you get road rage? What pisses you off the most about other drivers?



I drive a convertible, so during spring/summer/fall, I’m pretty happy to just sit in the sun. But when it’s raining and truckers fly by on the highway and do that whole, “Haha, now you’re sitting in a carwash” thing, I get mad. It would probably be worse if the top’s down during this scenario, right?

What project(s) are you working on now?

I’m working on my next contemporary novel, which I hope will be a summer read for next year, as well as putting together a young adult series. I’m also hoping to pull off a vegetable garden this year - fingers crossed!  

Special thanks to Cynthia for chatting with us and Penguin for sharing the book with our readers.

How to win Marriage Matters:
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: What do you find most annoying or frustrating when you're driving?
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. Follow us on Twitter and/or Pinterest.
6. Add a friend to our Facebook group. (Tell us who you added.) Be sure to remind them to edit their settings.

US only. Giveaway ends April 7th at midnight EST.

Books of the Week: April 1st

Thanks for checking out Books of the Week! There are nine of us and we can't keep up with the many review requests we receive, even though we'd love to read everything sent our way. Therefore, we have decided to give some books their time in the spotlight and introduce you to them through this new blog feature. We will be featuring two books a week. We hope you will take the time to check these books out. (Click the titles to find them on Amazon.) If you read them and want to write a guest blogger review for us, please e-mail us and we'll be glad to work with you!

Authors: Please see our current review policy for more information about the Books of the Week feature. We now have a Book Shelf page, and it will eventually be replacing Books of the Week.

Thank you.

The Dating Intervention
By Lynn Ricci

Vanessa had it all: a handsome husband, two beautiful children, a lovely home, and a successful career. She was living the dream life she and her friends fantasized about as girls over hot fudge sundaes…until a mis-dialed call causes her perfect life to come crashing down.

Leaving the life she knew behind was difficult enough, but when Vanessa’s attempt at love with someone from her past falls apart, her well-meaning friends decide an intervention is in order. Dating for a single mother is harder than it seems and they quickly discover the dating pool has become a puddle, with each blind date being crazier than the one before.

Can Vanessa find the love she deserves? Or has she given up the best thing she ever had?

The Dating Intervention is $0.99 on Kindle.

Lynn Ricci can be found on Facebook and Twitter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Who Needs a Man?
By E.J. Russell

Lydia gets dumped on Christmas Day. Pregnant.

It changes her forever. For the better.
Nothing will ever be the same because Lydia has taken control of her life.
She thinks.

A topical, funny and light hearted look at making a modern choice, being pregnant, single motherhood, family and friends.

This is Lydia's story, take the journey with her through heartache, recovery, life changing decisions, pregnancy and birth.

Who Needs a Man? is $0.99 on Kindle.

E.J. Russell can be found on Facebook and Twitter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Snag a Guy: The 5/5 Rules & the Secret Search Criteria
By V. Ellis

Are you sick of slaving away at work, with no sign of a promotion? Are you envious of girls who get to live off rich boyfriends? Do you hug yourself to sleep with romance novels wondering why the characters always end up with the gorgeous millionaire when you can’t even find a decent man? If you are tired of looking for The One and jaded with love, this is the refreshing chick lit read for you.

Meet Vee. Once an ordinary girl with a bad hair cut, she stumbled upon the secrets that bind gold diggers together – the secret to snagging and keeping a Dream Man. Starting with the Secret Search Criteria - the criteria a man must fulfill if he is to be boyfriend material - she uncovers the modus operandi that gets girls their man, on his knees. Follow Vee as she outlines a step by step guide coupled with a blow by blow account of her journey to landing her own hunky millionaire boyfriend to sponsor her life!

Snag a Guy: The 5/5 Rules & the Secret Search Criteria is $2.99 on Kindle.

Guest Book Review: Finding Lucas

By Marlene Engel

Thirty-two year-old Jamie Ross has been in a stale relationship with Derek for three out of the last five years. The carefree man that once wanted to travel the world with just a passport and the clothes on his back is now the poster boy for metro sexual men everywhere! It’s amazing how much one person can change when their controlling mother comes sauntering back into their life. Traits of Jamie's that were once considered endearing to Derek were now just plain annoying. But Jamie makes no apologies for her taste in discount clothing, her job as an assistant producer for one of Chicago’s sleaziest talk shows or for her family’s eccentric lifestyle. With the support of her family and friends, Jamie decides to put her big girl panties on and leave the safe lifestyle that she has been living with Derek. And that’s exactly what it was...Derek’s lifestyle.

With Derek no longer in her life, Jamie sets out to find her long lost love, Lucas. Okay, maybe love is a bit of an exaggeration. Sex buddy is more of an operable term for it. Although she hasn’t seen or talked to him in ten years, he has made a lasting impression on her. But how would she find him? Where would she start? Then an idea came to her while she was in the process of searching for long lost loves for a segment on the talk show for which she works. Why not use the same resources to find Lucas? Of course there are some concerns. Will he be the same guy she remembers? Will he be disappointed when he sees her? Will they rekindle what they had? Come join Jamie on her adventure to find Lucas.

Finding Lucas is author Samantha Stroh Bailey’s debut novel. It is a laugh-out-loud, funny, and extremely enjoyable book. You will fall in love with Jamie and her zany family and friends. Each character has their own quirky attributes which makes them so lovable, relatable and fun. I could easily see my friends and myself doing something like this. Jamie and I have similarities right down to our shared love for discount clothing. Our friends are very similar whereas they are fun, down-to-earth and always there for us. The book was extremely well written and I really enjoyed the comedic aspect of it. I hated having to put the book down and couldn’t wait to find out what happened next. I look forward to reading future novels from this author and would definitely recommend this book to others. I give this book a five out of five star rating! Go out and get this book. You will not be disappointed!

Marlene Engel is a stay at home mom who runs a home daycare. She lives in Clifton Park, New York with her husband and (almost) three year-old daughter. She also has three older boys who live away from home while attending college. She is an adoptive/foster parent and an advocate for the special needs population. In her spare time she enjoys reading and getting together with her book club.

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