Tuesday, June 29, 2010

BellaChella's Summer Reading

I love to hear from readers and as you know I often post what they write to me. BellaChella in her blog Mic's Picks "Literature Lovers Unite" was kind enough to review THE SCANDALOUS SUMMER OF SISSY LEBLANC. Here are the first paragraphs of her blog:

I was hooked at the beginning by it's vaguely similar qualities to "The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood," a very special book to me for sentimental reasons. It's reminiscent of my beloved Ya-Ya's in that it is set in a small town in Louisiana (near New Orleans) and takes place mostly during the early 1940's-1950's, and it is a story of a strong woman in a time when that was truly a novelty and even a threat.

On a very un-Ya-Ya note, there are some ***VERY "ADULT" SCENES*** in this delicious and entertaining tale. (It's wouldn't be a very "scandalous summer" without them, but be warned this gets graphic in spots and deals with some very mature issues!!!) You've been warned...

I like that Mrs. Despres deals with some very real and inflammatory issues of the time, such as desegregation, as well as some very provocative, age-old issues like adultery and murder. I know, sounds pretty heavy for summer chick lit, but there's plenty of brainless fluff and cute wit to keep it light.

For the full review see http://bellachella.blogspot.com/

I'm delighted she liked the book. But ***VERY ADULT***? I knew I wrote some sexy scenes, but I didn't think they were ***VERY "ADULT***-- Have you seen ABC Family's THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER? Oh well, once it's written, the story belongs to the reader.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

The Hard Life of a Writer

I just got back from St. Croix where Ethlie Ann Vare and I broke story on a romantic comedy set in the islands. She has a villa there overlooking the Caribbean. That picture of sunset over the ocean at left was taken from her balcony. We found the crystal waters so inspiring. That's me on the right, Ethlie in the middle, and her friend Craig Torrey on the left. The final shot shows rain on the water to remind us that a writer's life is hard.

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