Our guest today: Susan Wiggs
Why we love her: She's fun and sassy! (if you don't believe us, just read her 5 Things below...)
Her latest: Return to Willow Lake-out on August 28th!
Our thoughts: We think you'll love it-there's a reason Susan is a NYT bestselling author!
Giveaway: FIVE bundles of Susan's Lakeshore Chronicle books! Leave a comment and we'll choose the winners on Sunday June 3rd after 6pm PST.
Fun fact: Susan recently launched a food for thought Facebook app where she shares her favorite recipes!
CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS: SUSAN WIGG'S 5 THINGS I'D TELL THE TEEN ME
First off, I actually wouldn't tell the teen me anything because the teen me would not have listened. Because she knew everything already. She didn't start being naive and ignorant and in need of advice until she got much older.
However, for the purposes of this exercise, and on the off chance that this girl might have been listening, I offer the following.
[A bit of backstory: The Teen Me lived overseas, in Brussels and then in Paris (Versailles, actually). Drinking and smoking were legal for kids back then, though we couldn't drive. We were allowed to operate a mobilette (moped) with an engine up to 50cc, although helmets were optional.]
1. Slow down. You do everything too fast. You ski too fast.* You eat and drink too fast. You drive your moped too fast. You're zooming through school too fast. Do you really have to graduate from college two years ahead of all your peers? Why? What's your hurry? You'll get to adulthood in due time, and you'll have the rest of your life to be there. *In the photo below, it's not visible, but there is a cast on your leg which you broke while skiing too fast. See, I told you so.
2. Pay more attention to your parents. I know this seems incredible to you, but they are actually wise and caring individuals who only want the best for you. When, for example, they tell you it is not a good idea to skip school and take the train to Amsterdam for the weekend, they're not trying to destroy your social life, just preserve your innocence a teensy bit longer.
3. Practice your cello more. You've got a talent for it but if you don't practice, it will get rusty and then you won't feel like playing anymore and one day in the future when you're trying to make it as a writer and you're broke, you're going to hock your cello and it's a Juzak and irreplaceable and in the even further future, you're going to wish you still had it. So there.
4. Don't let negative messages deter you from your dreams. People call you Pollyanna and tease you about being relentlessly optimistic, but it's only because they're envious that you have the attitude of a golden retriever, trying again and again and again until you get it right.
5. Oh, and that guy named Dirk? Don't even bother. You'll thank me for that one day. Same goes for that floor length monstrosity you bought at Kensington Market in London for a Jethro Tull concert. Huge mistake, and I have the photos to prove it.
below: Susan with her big brother in Val d'Isere, France, ca 1974; same two people, decades later:
Thanks Susan! xoxo, L&L
To read more about Susan, head on over to her website or find her on Facebook or Twitter.