Beth Orsoff's 5 Do's and a Do-Over

It's Earth Day! Woo hoo! You don't have to be a Leonardo Dicaprio-esque die-hard environmentalist, but we do hope you're doing your part to give Mother Earth some lovin' today. So c'mon, get your green on and take a shorter shower (we know it's hard because that hot water feels soooo good- but every minute does help) or recycle or reuse something-anything! Anywhoo...we thought today would be perfect to tell you about a book that we absolutely love because it has an environmental theme- How I Learned to Love the Walrus by Beth Orsoff. It's fun, funny (a definite LOL'er) and smartly written. It's one of those books that just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside!

Synopsis: When Los Angeles publicist Sydney Green convinces her boss to let her produce a documentary for the Save the Walrus Foundation, the only one Sydney Green is interested in saving is herself. The walruses are merely a means to improving her career and her love life, and not necessarily in that order. Sydney would’ve killed the project the second she learned she’d be the one having to spend a month in rural Alaska if it had been for any other client. But for rising star and sometimes boyfriend Blake McKinley, no sacrifice is ever too great.

Yet a funny thing happens on the way to the Arctic. A gregarious walrus pup, a cantankerous scientist, an Australian sex goddess, a Star Wars obsessed six-year-old, and friends and nemeses both past and present rock Sydney Green’s well-ordered world. Soon Sydney must choose between doing what’s easy and doing what’s right.

And if you leave a comment, you can be entered to win one of five e-book copies of How I Learned to Love the Walrus. Click here to read chapter one.

We don't know about you, but we are loving on e-books- especially lately! We both have Nooks and the more e-books we download, the more addicted we become. (And don't worry, we're still loving regular books too- we always will. We're just not willing to be monogamous anymore!) And we've already downloaded Beth's other novels, Romantically Challenged and Honeymoon for One and you should too!

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...BETH ORSOFF'S FIVE DO'S AND A DO-OVER

DO

1. Do Accept That You’re Not Going to be Good at EVERYTHING. I suck at cooking. There, I’ve said it, and on the internet no less (so now it’s forever and I’ll never be able to take it back)! I tried for years to be a good cook, or at least an okay cook. I bought cook books, studied recipes, watched cooking shows. I even considered signing up for a class once (although I never could get myself to pull the trigger). And everything I tried to bake, broil, or fry turned out terrible. I’ve finally accepted that although I’m good at many things (you should see me organize a closet!), cooking is not one of them and never will be. And I’m okay with that. Between my husband’s grilling skills, those really convenient meal-in-a-bags they sell in the freezer section of the grocery store, frozen pizza, salad in a bag, and several nearby take-out restaurants, no one in my family is going to starve because of my lack of culinary abilities.

2. Do be Persistent. Some people lead a charmed life and everything comes easily to them. Then there are the rest of us. I really do believe if you want it badly enough, and you are persistent, you will find a way to make it happen. Although sometimes you may have to scale back your expectations. Hillary Clinton really wanted to be President of the United States. And whether you love her or hate her, you have to acknowledge that the woman is persistent. But hey, she’s Secretary of State. It’s not the top job, but it’s still a pretty good gig. And if the President, Vice President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and President Pro Tempore of the Senate all died, she would be President of the United States.

3. Do Ignore the Haters. You know those people. They’re the ones who bitch about everyone and complain about everything. And they’re everywhere—online, at work, at school, down the block, they may even be in your own family. You can’t always avoid them, but you can choose to ignore them. Doing so will improve the quality of your life immeasurably.

4. Do Travel. I know travel, especially air travel, is a huge hassle these days. Long security lines, embarrassing pat downs, trying to fit all your toiletries into a 1-quart Ziploc bag, and paying extra for everything, including the seat where you can’t move your legs because the passenger in front of you decided to recline. I even almost got arrested in Customs on my last flight home from London (don’t ask!) I realize I’m not making a trip abroad (or anywhere for that matter) sound enticing, but I am telling you to go anyway. Because no matter what disaster (natural or manmade) has befallen me on vacation, I’ve never come home wishing I hadn’t gone. Travel expands your horizons, both literally and figuratively.

5. Do Treat Yourself to a Really Good Massage. Next to an orgasm and a really decadent dessert, nothing beats a good massage. Trust me on this. If you’ve never had a really good one, keep searching.

DO-OVER

I wish I had begun writing when I was younger. Then I could be embarking on my tenth novel now instead of my fifth!

To learn more about the lovely and talented and hilarious Beth Orsoff, check out her website and follow her on Facebook.

Thanks, Beth!

xoxo,

L&L

Megan McCafferty's 5 Do's and a Do-Over

Although we're alike in so many ways(Love Barry Manilow!  Hate tequila!) we're also complete opposites in so many others.  Like reading.  Lisa likes to take her time and savor each books she's reading while Liz likes to devour the book like's she a contestant on Survivor who hasn't eaten in four days.  For Liz, the faster she reads the book, the more she likes it.  Some of her faves have been read in mere hours!  Sure, she may be speed-reading just a tad, but when she finds uninterrupted time to dive into the incredibly growing TBR list, she doesn't have time to F around and stop and smell the roses! So you'll be happy to know that she finished NYT bestselling YA author Megan McCafferty's latest,Bumped(out on April 26th) in less than a day.  Intriguing and thought-provoking, this YA novel proves that it's not just for teenagers. We highly recommend it!

When a virus makes everyone over the age of eighteen infertile, would-be parents pay teen girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the most prized members of society. Girls sport fake baby bumps and the school cafeteria stocks folic-acid-infused food.

Sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony were separated at birth and have never met until the day Harmony shows up on Melody’s doorstep. Up to now, the twins have followed completely opposite paths. Melody has scored an enviable conception contract with a couple called the Jaydens. While they are searching for the perfect partner for Melody to bump with, she is fighting her attraction to her best friend, Zen, who is way too short for the job.

Harmony has spent her whole life in Goodside, a religious community, preparing to be a wife and mother. She believes her calling is to convince Melody that pregging for profit is a sin. But Harmony has secrets of her own that she is running from.

When Melody is finally matched with the world-famous, genetically flawless Jondoe, both girls’ lives are changed forever. A case of mistaken identity takes them on a journey neither could have ever imagined, one that makes Melody and Harmony realize they have so much more than just DNA in common.

Sound good?  IT IS!!!  And you have FIVE chances to win a copy!  Just leave a comment here and you'll be entered.  We'll chosse the winner on Sunday April 24th after 6pm PST.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS: MEGAN McCAFFERTY'S 5 DO'S AND A DO-OVER

5 DO'S

1. Transfer colleges. I knew before the end of first-year orientation week (I believe I had my epiphany at BYOB--Bring Your Own Banana--Ice Cream Sunday Social) that the small college in Virginia was NOT for me. But I was afraid that if I left, I'd look like a loser to everyone back home. I stuck it out for two tumultuous years before realizing I had so much more to lose by settling. (LIFE LESSON ALERT: That's also true of colleges, jobs, boyfriends...) So I applied--and got into--a bigger, more liberal university in New York City where I didn't know anyone. It was the most transformative decision of my young adult life. Which brings me to #2...

2. Move somewhere no one knows you. True, it's harder to reinvent yourself in the Facebook era. But I found it incredibly liberating to start over in a city where I could be anyone...maybe even myself. And this leads to #3...

3. Embrace your inner dork. Recently I blogged about My Top 40 Songs of All Time. This is not a list carefully crafted to impress music snobs with its coolness. At all. But a close friend pointed out it may the only list of its kind that includes both Captain and Tennille and The Smiths. It's uniquely *me* in its uncoolness, which sort of makes it cool. This seques into #4...

4. Like what you like without guilt. I've worn the same scent (Colors de Benetton) since I was 13. DVF wrap dresses always flatter my figure. I re-watch the entire run of Freaks and Geeks every other year. I order the same spicy chicken in lettuce leaves when we get Chinese take-out. I research vacations all over the world and inevitably end up booking a trip somewhere in the Caribbean. These are things I like and I'm going to keep liking them because they make me happy. I've been cultivating these tastes for 38 years and with so much of life that's out of my control, there's a certain comfort to be found in what's familiar. Then again...

5. Embrace what's new too. It's so easy to get stuck in a life rut. But a negative attitude about newness would have stopped me from transferring to a different college seventeen years ago or dancing my ass off with college students half my age at the LCD Soundsystem show a few weeks ago (a transcendent not-to-be-missed experience). I never want to be one of those cranks who gets stubbornly stuck in a certain mindset and goes around complaining about how much everything else sucks. Because you know what? It's just not true. And it's no way to enjoy the richness of life either.

DO-OVER I don't dwell on regrets. Learning from my mistakes has made me who I am today. That said, I shouldn't have gotten that home perm in eighth grade. No one should get a home perm. Under any circumstances. I mean, have you ever heard a *positive* home perm story? I rest my case.

Thanks Megan!  xoxo, L&L

To read more about Megan, head on over to her website or find her on Facebook and Twitter.

Ask Liz & Lisa: Social Media 5 Do's and a Do-over

Wow-we received SO many great Qs from y'all last week- keep em' coming!  Remember, if your question is chosen you'll receive a book.  This week, Our lucky question-asker will be receiving Skipping a Beat by Sarah Pekkenen. (We love it so much we had to give it away AGAIN!)  And up for grabs for you if YOU leave a comment?  An ARC of Sarah Dessen's What Happened to Goodbye? (out May 10th)! Don't forget to send your "hard-hitting" Q to: asklizandlisa@chicklitisnotdead.com!  Blogging, books, social media, mama drama, baby blunders-we're here for you!

Today's awesome Q comes from Melissa:

Hello Liz and Lisa!

I'd first like to say THANK YOU for sharing your story and the stories of other great authors.  May I also commend you on your social networking abilities.  I recently landed my first "Social Media Consulting" side job and I constantly revert back to your Facebook fan page to show my client what a successful page should do!  It is very clear that you have both built quit a name for yourselves doing something that you you love.  As a soon to be marketing grad from Illinois State University I am trying to soak up as much advice as possible!  I was hoping you could share 5 Do's and a Do over specific to fresh grads?  You have created a very loyal fan and I look forward to your reply!

Warm Regards,

Melissa

Melissa,

First off, thank you for your kind words and congratulations on your upcoming graduation!  You go girlfrin'!

Considering the fact that neither of us had one clue what the hell we were doing when we launched CLIND over two years ago, we'd be happy to help others learn from our many mistakes.  Here's our 5 Do's and a Do-Over: Social Media style...

DO'S

1. Have a platform. What are you all about?  Make sure you have a plan before you type your first OMG. Are you the next expert on vampire chick lit or Queen of all things romance? Then own it, baby! The beautiful thing about social media is you can be anything you want to be.  Just make sure you know what that is.

2. Keep it simple. Nothing makes us hit the "back" button faster than a cluttered site.  Yes, we know it's tempting to add that Goodreads or Flickr widget (Lisa!). We've been there, done that.  But you really have to ask yourself if it's adding value or just something you thought was cool for a hot minute.  The most important information on your site should be links to your Facebook and Twitter pages (you have those, right??!) and how people can contact you (don't make them search for your email address!).

3. Clock in Treat blogging like it's the dream job you've always wanted!  Run it professionally and be consistent with your postings and in your dealings with publicists, authors or anyone within your network.  A good site takes a lot of work and pays very little (if at all!) so passion about your project is essential.  If you love what you do, it will show on your website.

4. Give 'til it hurts. Okay, so we're giveaway whores-we know!  But besides having consistent, quality content, giving things away is the very best way to build your network of followers .  And it's FUN!  So try it.  Trust us on this one.

5. Follow the Golden Rule. Tweet with care, people!  We know it's all the rage to get into internet smack downs with other people over this and that, but we think it's better to always treat other people in cyberspace with respect.  It's easy to get carried away when you're hiding behind that keyboard. Believe us, there's going to be times when you are VERY tempted to go there.  But don't do it. Step away from the Macbook and just do what we do-write each other bitchy pre-caffeinated emails instead!

DO-OVER

Wow-this is a tough one because we believe that all blunders are great learning experiences. Or at least that's what we tell ourselves to feel better when we F up. But of course there are things we wish we could take back.  But the key is not to beat yourself up too much about it-Life is too short to worry about all the little things we can't control.

Hope that helps! And remember the most important DO of all-HAVE FUN!

xoxo,

Liz & Lisa

Ann Packer's 5 Do's and a Do-Over

We love short stories. (Maybe it's our ADD-esque personalities?) There's something about reading a great story and knowing that when it comes to the end, you get more! And when we read Swim Back to Me by Ann Packer, a collection of short stories and a novella, we each felt like a kid at her birthday party, excited about the present we were opening but equally excited about what we'd get to unwrap next. Because once you become absorbed in New York Times best seller Ann Packer's writing, you quickly realize you want more and more and more. But even Swim Back to Me eventually had to come to an end. So we definitely plan to check out Packer's other works including her award-winning and best selling novel, The Dive from Clausen's Pier and another collection of short stories, Mendocino and other Stories. Synopsis of Swim Back to Me: There's the story of the wife struggling to make sense of her husband's sudden disappearance. A mother mourning her teenage son through the music collection he left behind. A woman shepherding her estranged parents through her brother's wedding. A  young man coming to grips with the joy- and vulnerability- of impending fatherhood. And, in the opening novella, two teenagers from different families- one a tightly knit foursome, the other a father and son who share little more than having been abandoned by the same woman- forge a sustaining friendship, only to discover the disruptive and unsettling power of sex.

Swim Back to Me was unlike anything we've read in a while- with unique short story after unique short story, it was an exciting departure from the novels we usually love to read. And we reminded ourselves that it's always good to switch things up from time to time. Don't you agree? Read an excerpt of "Walk for Mankind" from Swim Back to Me here.

And if you leave a comment, you'll be entered to win one of five copies of Swim Back to Me. We'll randomly select the winners after 6pm on Thursday, April 21st.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...ANN PACKER'S 5 DO'S AND 1 DO-OVER

"This format of 5 Do’s and 1 Do-over struck me as tailor-made for an interview about my new book, since it, too, has a 5 + 1 structure—five short stories and one novella.  So, without further ado, here are my 5 + 1, with a literary twist."- Ann Packer

DO

1. Stay open to beauty. Back in the 90s, when my kids were little, I didn’t listen to much music outside the oeuvre of Raffi, that genius of the children’s song, who wrote such immortal lyrics as

Down by the bay

Where the watermelons grow

Back to my home

I dare not go.

For if I do

My mother will say

“Did you ever see a moose

Kissing a goose?”

Down by the bay

Then one day, when the second baby was old enough to take a bottle and I could be gone for a few hours, I began to teach a writing class.  And one of my students, perhaps sensing a starvation so profound that not even the starved person herself knew about it, began making me mix tapes from his vast collection of rock ‘n’ roll.  Within the space of a few months he’d initiated me into the glories of such eclectic acts as the Velvet Underground and the Violent Femmes, Pavement and the Pixies.  I listened to my tapes constantly, with the volume way loud.  And later, when “Molten,” a story about a grieving mother began to come to me, I knew just what she’d spend her time doing.

2. A fleeting thought may be just that, so write it down. Lately, I find myself going from my kitchen into my study, ready to do something on my computer, whether it’s send an email or Google someone or something else. Then I get there and I have absolutely no idea what I meant to do.  Writing yourself a note on the way from the kitchen to the study may seem extreme, but, hey, whatever works.  I may be in this habit because I sometimes get an idea for a story—something new or something already underway—and I used to play a game of chicken with myself:  something along the lines of, Well, if it’s worthwhile I’ll remember it.  Uh uh.  I take no chances.  And it pays off.  I was the birthday party escort for a group of 14 year-old-boys going out for burgers, and so naturally I sat by myself at a table for one, not at their table. And in one of those rare creative moments, I began to imagine a young woman late at night, in a dark parking lot, her car dead.  And I took out a teeny tiny notebook and, as the boys stuffed French fries into their mouths and debated the Giants’ lineup for the next game, I wrote the first six pages of “Jump.”

3. Explore your surroundings. We’d lived in our house for ten years on the day my son arrived home on his bicycle with a huge grin on his face and told me about the hill at the north edge of town where he and his friend had ridden their bikes that afternoon.  He knew exactly how to describe where they’d been, and the next time we were driving in that area he very carefully pointed out the roads they’d taken, describing which were very steep, which stopped in dead ends.  This was not exactly on my mind when I drove to Auburn, CA, one morning, to explore the town I’d already used as a setting for “Dwell Time.”  But as I went up and down the streets, I thought about how believing you know a place, or can guess what it’s like, will never be the same as knowing it.  The “scouting” trip resulted not only in better descriptions of the places my characters lived; it also delivered me to a river-side spot outside of town that became a key metaphor for the story.

4. Understand that the truth has consequences. When I was pregnant with my first baby, I attended a childbirth class at which the teacher asked everyone to go around the room and describe any previous experience with childbirth—had we been with a woman during labor, had we perhaps even attended a birth?  People gave about the responses you’d expect, until it was the turn of the last woman in the room.  She told us she’d gone through childbirth once herself, when she was married to someone else, and that her baby had died.  The room went silent, and it could have gone either way:  her revelation might have tilted the entire group into a fatal politeness, or it might have begun to dissolve the web of awkwardness inevitable in a dozen couples with nothing in common except their unreadiness for the greatest change life can bring.  Years later, I began to wonder how that same piece of information—intimate, terrifying, immeasurably sad—might play out not within a group, but in a single couple.  I used that question to start writing “Her Firstborn.”

5. Rely on poetry. I spent a long time working on “Things Said or Done,” trying to figure out who the characters were—to each other and also to themselves.  I use a lot of dialogue to create character, because I think it’s in how we talk that we establish who we are.  The middle-aged woman and her elderly father who are at the center of this story are great talkers—they banter and bicker and generally stay engaged with each other through all kinds of emotional fluctuations.  He is a former English professor, so at one point, feeling something was missing, I began looking through a book of poems by WB Yeats, thinking there might be a good line for him to quote to her.  Sure enough, I found some lines that seemed just right.  And as I typed them into my document, knowing they not only fit his character but also reflected some central issues in their relationship, I remembered something I have remembered many times over the decades since I was an English major:  that in poetry there is all of life, expressed in words you’d never have known yourself.

DO-OVER

Start over. How often do you get halfway into a project only to realize there is something terribly wrong with it?  This can be as minor as pouring batter into a cake pan you forgot to butter or as momentous as discovering five years into your career in sales that you should have been a teacher.  Occasionally in my work, I have gotten very far along and realized I’ve made an apparently fatal error.  With my first novel, I was using a third-person narrator when in fact the story needed to be told in the first person, by the character herself.  (And believe me, fixing this was not going to be a matter of doing a find and replace on “she” and “I.”)  Writing “Walk for Mankind,” the novella that opens Swim Back to Me, I had an exciting new family moving into the neighborhood of an unhappy thirteen-year-old. That’s what I still have.  But back when I was doing the first draft, the thirteen-year-old was a girl.  And the novella just wasn’t happening.  Then one day I thought, What if it were a boy to whom all of this was happening?  Within days, I’d written forty or more pages, and while I can’t say it was smooth sailing all the way to the end—it never is—making that one major change made all the difference.

To find out more about the lovely and talented Ann Packer, visit her website and follow her on Facebook.

Thanks, Ann! xoxo, L&L

May is International Chick Lit Month!

May is the inaugural International Chick Lit Month! Chick Lit is Not Dead is teaming up with fabulous international Chick Lit sites Chick Lit Club and Novelicious to bring you a month-filled celebration! Held in May, it celebrates all things chick lit – that amazingly diverse genre that focuses on the issues that women face today. It can be light-hearted, it can be serious. It can be heart-warming or heart-wrenching. It can make you laugh or make you cry. It is usually romantic – sometimes even raunchy. It can inspire, intrigue and educate you. It can be about young women facing their first loves and career choices; right through to older women facing the loss of a life partner and a new direction in life. It can be about a fashionable, hip career girl from NYC, about a mother from England who’s lost her groove,  or a country girl from Australia looking for her Mr. Right. The women who write chick lit - and the women they write about - may be mothers, daughters, sisters; in love or still looking. The characters may remind you of your own friends and enemies; of your own strengths and flaws. Reading chick lit gives you a chance to walk a mile in another woman’s shoes – but it’s about so much more than shoes and sparkly pink covers!!  Because every woman deserves her happy ending. Be sure to bookmark the site now so you don't miss out!

What’s happening in 2011:

2011 is the inaugural year for International Chick Lit Month. And we’re kicking off things in a big way – with lots of your favorite authors writing guests posts, offering their tips to aspiring writers, choosing their all-time favorite chick lit books and explaining what chick lit means to them. We’re also  launching our Hall of Fame, where three worthy recipients will be honored for their contribution to chick lit, and introducing a swag of debut authors from the Class of 11. Plus, just like you always find on the Chicklit Club, Chick Lit is Not Dead and Novelicious websites, there will be heaps of book reviews and giveaways. Make sure you check out International Chick Lit Month this May … because every woman deserves her happy ending!

How you can celebrate:

• Check in to the International Chick Lit Month website every day during May for great posts, book reviews and giveaways!
• If you attend a book club, suggest a chick lit title for their May selection.
• Encourage your local library to set up a display of some of their most popular chick lit books.
• If you have friends who love chick lit too, why not organize a book swap night where you all bring along books you have finished reading, and swap them for new ones.
• If you have a lot of books clogging up your bookshelves or stored in boxes in the garage, maybe it’s time to do a clean-up. You could sell them through a garage sale or donate them to your local charity shop, school or care center. You could even band together with friends and run a book stall, with the proceeds going to your favorite charity.
• Invite the girls over for a chick flick night. Pick movies that have been adapted from books, such as PS I Love You, Bridget Jones’s Diary, In Her Shoes and Confessions of a Shopaholic.

We’d love to hear if you have any more suggestions!

Kristin Hannah's 5 Do's and a Do-Over

It's no secret that New York Times bestselling author Kristin Hannah is one of our absolute faves. Any author that can make not one, but two self-proclaimed robots like us cry is a true talent! (You might recall that Firefly Lane really did us in.) And now this uber-talented author has just released her - wait for it- NINETEENTH novel- Night Road. And we loved (and *cough* may have even cried again) over this powerful, complex and very emotional novel. Synopsis: The central plot revolves around two very different families living in adjacent shorefront towns in Washington State, and the bond that ties them together in the face of horrific tragedy. Jude Farraday is the happily married mother of two bright, happy twin teenagers, Mia and Zach, who devotedly oversees every detail of their near-perfect family life together. Into the Farradays's world arrives Lexi Baill, a former foster child from a neighboring working class town, who immediately befriends Mia and eventually falls in love with Zach during their senior year in high school. Recognizing that Lexi has become inseparable from her own children, Jude welcomes her with open arms into the Farraday household. Everything changes one night when, after a graduation party, the three teens are involved in an accident and fingers of blame are pointed at Lexi- even Jude's.

And here's the part we know y'all are waiting for...If you leave a comment, you'll be entered to win one of five copies of Night Road. We'll randomly select the winners on Friday, April 15th after 6:00 pm. We know it will feel good to win something on Tax Day!

We're thrilled to have Kristin back again. She first visited us after the release of Winter Garden to share 5 Things We didn't Know about her (we are still in shock that she hand writes her novels on a LEGAL PAD) and now she's revealing her Do's and a Don't (her secret to success in life).

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...KRISTIN HANNAH'S DO'S AND A DO-OVER DON'T.

DO's

1. DO see as much of the world as you can. I am the daughter of a wanderer. As much as I hated this when I was young-and boy, did I hate it; we were always moving, changing schools, being the new kids---I see now the incredible value in seeing different places, experiencing different cultures. You learn profound lessons about the world and yourself when you travel. I was fortunate to study abroad in college, and I truly believe that a year in London changed my life and opened my eyes to the world.

2. DO have a positive outlook. I don't want to sound like some self help guru, but I truly believe that we have the power to shape our reality. We don't choose what we see, perhaps, but we choose what we focus on, what we care about.  I think nothing creates a positive life like a positive outlook. 3. DO make time for yourself. We women do a lot in our lives. WE work, we care for our children and our families, we run households; we are the glue that holds our families together.  Because we have so much to do, we often forget about our own needs. I know that when my son was young, I was often too tired at the end of the day to do much more than plop onto the sofa with a good book- and I was too "busy" in the middle of the day to go out to lunch.  What a mistake.  Make time for your girlfriends! Nothing can keep you afloat and change your outlook like an afternoon with friends.  And believe me, when your kids are teenagers, or when they leave home, you'll need those friends.

4.  DO get your parents and grandparents to tell you their stories. I was young when my mom passed away, and it wasn't until years later--when I became a mother myself that I realized how many questions I'd never asked , how much I didn't know. With the loss of my mother, I lost all the stories of her family, my family. I wish I'd found a way to gather those histories when I had the chance. Hand your parents and/or grandparents a tape recorder and have them talk about what they remember.  Better yet, sit with them and write it all down.

DON'T

5. Don't be afraid of anything. Reach for the stars and dream big. It's a big, beautiful, wonderful world out there, and it's waiting for you.  Too many people are afraid of failing, but failing is really just another way of revealing your path.  Better to jump high and fall than to stand on the ground, afraid. When I first started writing, I never imagined that I would someday be a published author of nineteen novels. I just had a dram and went for it, one word at a time.  No matter how often I failed, I got back up, dusted myself off, and tried again. I honestly think it's the secret to success in life.

To find out more about the amazingly talented Kristin Hannah, visit her website and become one of her THIRTY FOUR THOUSAND (and counting) fans on Facebook.

Thanks, Kristin!

xoxo,

L&L

Juliette Fay's 5 Do's and a Do-Over

 

Juliette Fay is one of those authors that once you discover her, you're hooked for life (or for as long as she'll keep writing!) Some of our favorite authors including the fabulously talented Beth Harbison and Emily Giffin have raved about Fay and her latest novel, Deep Down True.  Harbison calls it engrossing, touching and immensely satisfying and Giffin describes it as sincere, powerful and heartfelt. And we couldn't agree with them more. Plus, we really love on the cover!

Synopsis:

Deep Down True is the story of Dana Stellgarten, a quintessential good girl whose unfailing "niceness" is acquiring a surprising edge. Recently divorced and running low on funds, Dana has her hands full as the shock waves from her husband's departure reverberate through her family. Seven-year-old happy-go-lucky Grady suddenly develops anger management problems, and twelve-year-old Morgan struggles with an eating disorder as she tries to keep her head above the shark-infested waters of middle school. Then Dana's sixteen-year-old niece, Alder, comes crashing into their lives-literally-carrying with her a mysterious sorrow, yet also bringing an unexpected element of maturity and insight to their tightly-knit circle.

As Dana enters the slipstream of post-divorce romance with Grady's handsome football coach and attracts the interest of the town's charismatic queen bee, she will find that the tension between being true to herself and being liked doesn't end in middle school. Yet, where she least expects to find it, she discovers a true friend- someone who reminds Dana that the points of her inner compass are still there to guide her, even when the territory of her life feels like a foreign landscape.

Definitely take a second to read the first chapter and check out the fabulous book trailer.

And if you leave a comment, you'll be entered to win one of five copies of Deep Down True! We'll randomly select the winners after 6pm on Thursday, April 14th.

And now if we can have a drumroll please because it's time for her DO's and DO-OVER (check out the Do-over- we can definitely relate!)

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...JULIETTE FAY'S 5 DO'S AND A DO-OVER

5 DO'S

1. Do something you love even if you’re not good at it. I always admire the folks who sing loud in church even if they couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket. Belt it out, my friend! We can’t be virtuosos at everything, but that shouldn’t keep us doing things that deliver that inner jolt of joy.

2. Freak out your kids. Mine think I’m utterly predictable. It’s fun to prove them wrong sometimes, and mess with them a little. One of my favorites is every once in a while I call them in to dinner and there’s nothing on the table but ice cream and toppings. They go nuts. I smile smugly. Everyone wins.

3. Know your short suits. We all have them. Know where you tend to go wrong. Ask a trusted friend if you’re not sure, and accept the answers graciously. Thank her for telling you the painful news that you don’t listen as well as you might, or that those shoulder pads make you look like Tom Brady—and not in a good way.

4. Take pride in your jammies. As my teenage daughter will confirm, I’m no clothes horse. But since we spend a third of our lives in bed, our pajamas should feel and look good. I used to be a T-shirt-and-sweats girl, but no more. Soft, pretty sleepwear is worth every penny, and I believe it actually makes you sleep more soundly, content in the knowledge of your excellent jammies.

5. Show up and help out. If, as the saying goes, fifty percent of life is just showing up, the other fifty is making yourself useful once you get there. If everyone did one small helpful thing every day … just imagine.

DO-OVER

Oh, so many to choose from! I wish I had dated all those “boring” nice boys instead of the “interesting” ones who tended to be a little screwed up. “Interesting” gets boring real fast, and “boring” leaves a generous margin for the element of surprise.

To find out more about the lovely and talented Juliette Fay, check out her website and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

Thanks, Juliette!

xoxo,

L&L

Ask Liz & Lisa-How do we book authors?

Welcome to the inaugural edition of Ask Liz & Lisa! Want some blogging advice?  In a twit over a tweet?  Have some mama drama you need to hug out? We're here for you, girlfrin'! Just send us an email and ask us anything!  And because we know y'all love to win things, if we feature your Q, we'll send you a book!  So what are you waiting for? Email asklizandlisa@chicklitisnotdead.com.  Operators are standing by. No, not really.  But Liz keeps glancing down at her Blackberry.  So please put her out-oh-her misery and send an email already!

We've already received some fab Qs from you guys-so thank you!  Our first is from Shannon and we selected it because it's one of the questions we're most frequently asked when we meet new people.  And because we chose Shannon's Q, she'll be receiving Skipping a Beat by Sarah Pekkanen- the first author booked EVEH on Chick Lit is Not Dead.  Your question didn't get chosen?  No worries-this will be a regular feature here so look for it next time!

And leave a comment today and we'll enter you to win a book too! How about another copy of Cindy Jones' My Jane Austen Summer:A Season in Mansfield Park?  We'll choose the winners Wednesday April 13th after 6pm PST.

Dear Liz & Lisa,

I want to know how you come up with all these great authors for the blogs? Ask and they volunteer or how does it work? There are just so many great authors and books and I have no idea how any of it works- just love to read the blog!!!

Thanks,

Shannon

*blushes* Thanks so much, Shannon!

There are a few ways we book authors for the site.

1. The publicist or author pitches us via email. We receive pitches daily from authors and/or publicists requesting to be interviewed for the site.  We request the books that pique our interest and put them into our (freakishly huge) TBR pile.  After we read them, we discuss each one and request interviews and giveaways from the ones we think you'll love!  We usually agree-although everyone once in a while we'll have a girlfight lively discussion about which ones to feature.  But we really try to bring you books and authors we think you'll love as much as we do.

2. We stalk contact authors via email and Facebook. We're always looking for the next great author for the site so we are constantly searching online and in bookstores to find that gem that we may have missed.  Or maybe it's someone that we'd pretty much do anything (well, almost anything- we draw the line at anything involving a stripper pole!)  to get our hot little hands on her (or his) 5 Do's and a Do-Over. (Judy Blume-we're talking to you!) Facebook is a great way to connect with our favorite authors and we've booked many of them this way!

3. Crystal Patriarche, publicist extraordinaire and the entire BookSparksPR team. We're incredibly lucky to work with Crystal and she books many of our authors- like the fabulous Lauren Weisberger, Jen Lancaster and Emily Giffin, as well as celebrity-turned-authors like Tori Spelling and Jessica Seinfeld.  She's also incredibly creative and helps us brainstorm our new features and huge giveaways as well as provides PR for the site. We would NOT be where we are without her!

That pretty much sums it up.  And we're appreciative that y'all keep coming to the site to read about authors, books, bucket lists, 5 things you didn't know lists, 5 Do's and a Do-over lists and more! Thanks for continuing to support us with your comments and majuh Facebook page love.  YOU make our job fun!

xoxo, L&L

Liz Tuccillo's 5 Do's and a Do-Over

Okay, so y'all know that we LOVE Sex and The City. In fact, we were so desperate for a Carrie fix that we chose our fave episodes in celebration of the premiere of SATC2 last year!  So when we discovered that Liz Tuccillo, one of SATC's writers, had written a novel, we knew that we just had to get our hands on it. So we're thrilled that Liz is sharing her 5 Do's and a Do-Over with us today. She was a writer on the two final seasons of Sex and the City.  After that she went on to co-author the bestselling book, He's Just Not That into You, which went on to be a major motion picture produced by New Line Cinema.  She created the television show Related for the WB, before traveling the world and writing her first novel, How to Be Single. She has recently finished writing and producing a new webisode for Warner Brothers titled Paul the Male Matchmaker.

And we LOVED How to be Single.  It's smart and funny and will make you want to call up your best girlfriends for happy hour!  Order it today!

After Julie Jenson, single New Yorker turned anthropologist, has a historically bad night out with her friends, she decides to cash it all in and hit the road. From Paris to Brazil to Sydney, Bali, Beijing, Mumbai and Reykjavik, Julie travels the world to find out if anyone has a better idea how to handle this whole “single” thing. Julie falls in love, gets her heart broken, sees the world, and learns more than she ever dreamed possible.

Back in New York, her friends are grappling with their own issues—bad blind dates, loveless engagements, custody battles, and single motherhood. Through their journeys, each woman fights to redefine their vision of love, happiness and a fulfilled life.

Be sure to leave a comment to be entered to win one of FIVE copies!  We'll choose the winners on Sunday, April 10th after 6pm PST.

We think you'll love her 5 Do's and a Do-Over.  In fact, we are going to give #2 a try this week!

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS: LIZ TUCCILLO'S 5 DO'S AND A DO-OVER

5 DO'S

1.  Try to learn something every day. Rent a documentary instead of seeing that romantic comedy one night.  If you travel, make a point to learn a little about the history of where you're going.  If you read something in the paper you don't understand, go online and research it.

2.  Go one day not saying anything nasty about yourself. See if you can do it.  Go about your day as you normally would, but just when you pass that mirror and are about to comment that you're too old, or too fat, or how much you hate your hair... stop it.  At work, if you make a mistake don't call yourself an idiot.  If you eat too much at lunch, give yourself a break and just decide to enjoy it.  Just for educational purposes, try to remember how many times you wanted to be nasty to yourself.  I'm sure it's a lot more than you'd like it to be!

3.  Make a movie. We all have a little Meryl Streep or Martin Scorcese just trying to get out.  So get your video camera or flip cam (or even cellphone at this point) and be a filmmaker!  Get all your friends to act in it.  Or just interview a family member, like your mother, who'd you'd love to capture for posterity.  Edit it on one of the inexpensive programs they have now.  (Many laptops already have one installed.)  Have your own special film festival!

4.  Have a pot luck. Nothing is more fun than a dinner party with friends, but sometimes the thought of it can be overwhelming.  But with a potluck, you share the work and the fun!  Pick a theme, like "tapas" or "Northern Italian" and invite people to cook a dish from that region, (organizing by appetizer, entree, side dishes and dessert.)  For the non-cooks, invite them to bring alcohol from that region or provide the music from that region -- or just a good appetite.  It gives everyone something totalk about, and you'll come away some great recipes and a great time!

5.  Take a child to their first play. Whether it's Broadway or Community theater, there's nothing more fun than watching a child experience their first live performance.  You come off looking all generous and thoughtful, but in the end, you'll have the most fun of all.

DO-OVER

I've lost loved ones to illness, and I am still haunted by feeling like I didn't do enough for them.  I guess I would like to have that time back.  And also to be better in the future.

Thanks Liz! xoxo, L&L

To read more about Liz, head on over to her website.  And is this where we officially beg her to set up a Facebook or Twitter page?  C'mon Liz!  Your fans are dying to "like" you!

Lit IT girl: Debut Author Cindy Jones

Many people believe that Jane Austen was the original Lit IT girl.  And we've LOVED many of the adaptions of her novels over the years.  (Clueless is our favorite movie EVEH!)  She's also inspired many great books(Jane Austen Book Club comes to mind).  So all of you Jane Austen lovers will be happy to discover we've crowned Cindy Jones, author of My Jane Austen Summer: A Season in Mansfield Parkas our latest Lit IT Girl!  And we think you'll love this delightful book! Lily is caught in a cycle of loss:  her mother died of cancer, her boyfriend left her for an earth mother, and she’s been fired from her job for reading Jane Austen novels when she should have been routing payroll tax deposits.  When the opportunity arises to travel to England to re-enact Mansfield Park, she thinks she may finally realize her dream of living in a novel.  But even in England, where Lily is immersed in a literary festival so rich it seems Jane Austen is present, her problems find her.  Lily must summon her resources and confront painful truths before she is demoted to the role of secondary character in her own life.

And FYI: Cindy worked with Bingley’s Teas Ltd. to create a tea named after her protagonist, and now she's promoting her book through tea parties:  Tea with My Jane Austen Summer.  she believes that tea enhances the reader’s connection with the novel and raises the book from a solitary read to a social event. Book clubs can host their own Tea with My Jane Austen Summer using ideas and recipes offered on her website www.cindysjones.com!

Sound good?  Leave a comment here and you'll be entered to win a copy!  We'll choose the winners on Friday April 8th after 6pm PST. So. Freakin'. EASY!

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS: LIT IT GIRL CINDY JONES!

1. How many agents did you query before you found "the one"? I knew my agent was “the one” when I heard her speak at a writer’s conference.  Rather than dash off a query, I took her advice to heart and spent two years finishing and polishing my ms until it was ready.  Eight queries resulted in five rejections, three requests to read the entire ms, and two offers of representation.  I signed with “the one”.

I need to point out that my first novel received at least 21 rejections and would have gotten more except I retired it to a bottom drawer where it died a quiet death.  What happened between my two novels?  I surrendered.  Not only did I listen to the advice of writing professionals and published friends, I acted on that advice.  I think pushing beyond my personal blind spots led to success in the marketplace.

2.  What was your rock bottom moment during the process? The day I received eight swift rejections from editors, shortly after the initial submission, I thought I was finished—not only with this novel—but as a writer.  After wallowing in grief for several hours, I discovered I was unwilling to allow my dream to die.  I returned to the rejections and studied the editors’ comments for a pattern.  After finding one, I applied it to my manuscript, cut the middle 150 pages (again) and pushed my imagination two excruciating levels beyond its personal limit.  A year of revisions later, the book sold.

3.  How long did it take to write your book? I spent five years writing My Jane Austen Summer, taking so long because I was on a steep learning curve.  Twice I cut the middle 150 pages and threw them in the recycling bin.  The next book has been much easier to write since I learned hard lessons on the first.

4. What did you do to celebrate your book deal? I had a quiet dinner with my family, lemon shots with my book club, and champagne with my women’s guild.

5. Knowing what you know now about publishing your first novel, what would you have done differently? I would not do anything differently.  Raising four sons, I could not have spent the time it takes to write and promote books when they were younger.  Writing got as much attention as I could give it at each step of my children’s development and, I would have to say, the timing has been good.

6. Who is your writer crush? Peter Cameron, The City of Your Final Destination.

7.  What's your biggest distraction or vice while writing? The internet is a terrible distraction.  Why negotiate thorny plot issues when I can chat with friends on Facebook, check blog stats, and surf my favorite sites?  It often takes more self-discipline than I can muster to ignore the call of the world wide web.

8.  GNO (Girls Night Out) drink of choice? Chardonnay.  I love a freezing cold glass of dry, mellow, nutty, buttery, chardonnay.

9.  Favorite trashy TV show? Gilligan’s Island.  I will never forget the episode when The Skipper and Gilligan produced Hamlet as an opera set to the music of Carmen.  The fragments of great music and literature sent me on a voyage of discovery, seeking original sources.  I now realize episodes like those influenced the childhood plays I wrote using fragmented fairy tales.  Now I fragment Austen.  Next:  Keats.  I will have succeeded if my work sends one person on their own voyage of discovery.

10.  What celeb would you love to have a Twitter war with? I’m a Twitter newbie (@cindysjones) so it would be best to pair me with someone similarly disadvantaged.  Say, Mr. Darcy.

Thanks so much Cindy!  xoxo, L&L

To read more about Cindy, head over to her website or find her on Twitter!

What's on Josie Brown's Bucket List?

We love Josie Brown. Plain and simple. We first fell for her when we read the impossibly delicious,  Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives and now we're falling all over again after consuming her latest fun, funny and  completely satisfying novel, The Baby Planner. (In stores tomorrow- Tuesday, April 5!) about a thirty-seven-year-old baby planner whose own biological clock is ticking off the charts faster than you can say designer stroller. (Lisa could definitely relate- having her first baby, er, a little later in life.) Synopsis:

Katie Johnson may make her living consulting with new moms on the latest greatest baby gadgets no parent should be without, or which mommy meet-ups are the most socially desirable, or whether melon truly is the new black, but the success of her marriage to her husband, Alex, depends on controlling her own urges toward motherhood.

He's adamant that they stay childless. Sure, Katie understands that he's upset over the fact that his out-of-town ex-wife rarely lets him see their ten-year-old son, Peter. But living vicariously through her anxious clients and her twin sisters' precocious children only makes Katie resent his stance more deeply.

While helping a new client—Seth Harris, a high tech entrepreneur who must raise Sadie, his newborn daughter, as a single parent after the tragic death of his wife in childbirth—maneuver the bittersweet journey from mourning husband and reticent father to loving dad, Katie’s own ideals about love, marriage, and motherhood are put to the test as she learns ones very important lesson about family:  How we nurture is the true nature of love.

Want to win one of five copies of The Baby Planner? Just leave a comment here and we'll randomly select the lucky winners after 6:00 PM, EST on Wednesday, April 6.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS: JOSIE BROWN'S BUCKET LIST 1. To own pied–à–terre on the northwest tip of the de l'Isle Saint Louis, an island in the Seine, there in the middle of Paris.

2. To circumnavigate the world in my own private plane, stopping wherever and whenever I want, for however long. (In other words, I may never get back home...)

3. To live long enough to witness world peace. Seriously. I'm no beauty queen, believe me. I just mean this from the bottom of my heart. (Must be the flower child in me who still believes it's possible!)

4. Great skin. Always. Despite a daily dose of sunshine!

5.  To see my own musical of Pride and Prejudice make it to both Broadway and the West End.

To find out more about the fabulous Josie Brown, check out her website and follow her on Facebook. And don't forget to pre-order The Baby Planner!

Thanks, Josie!

xoxo,

L&L

Julianna Baggott's 5 Do's and a Do-Over

Every now and again, a book just grabs you and won't let go. You pop open the cover and start to read, getting more excited with each written word. And you can't stop reading. (Not for anything! Not even reality TV-or anyone-even the husbands). Which is exactly what happened when we read The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted by Bridget Asher (a.k.a. Julianna Baggott). It has the perfect blend of romance, humor and love. Synopsis:

“Every good love story has another love hiding within it.”

Brokenhearted and still mourning the loss of her husband, Heidi travels with Abbott, her obsessive-compulsive seven-year-old son, and Charlotte, her jaded sixteen-year-old niece, to the small village of Puyloubier in the south of France, where a crumbling stone house may be responsible for mending hearts since before World War II.

There, Charlotte confesses a shocking secret, and Heidi learns the truth about her mother’s “lost summer” when Heidi was a child. As three generations collide with one another, with the neighbor who seems to know all of their family skeletons, and with an enigmatic Frenchman, Heidi, Charlotte, and Abbot journey through love, loss, and healing amid the vineyards, warm winds and delicious food of Provence. Can the magic of the house heal Heidi’s heart, too?

We're now huge fans of Julianna Baggott, Bridget Asher and N.E. Bode (also her pen name) who collectively have written seventeen books in the last ten years! She's also an essayist and a poet! Oh and she teaches too. Next time we complain about having too much on our plates, we need to think about her!

And now you can get a chance to fall for her too! Leave a comment and be entered to win one of five copies of The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted. We'll randomly select the winners after 6:00 PM PST on Friday, April 1.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...JULIANNA BAGGOTT'S 5 DO'S AND A DO-OVER:

5 DO'S

1.  Be foreign. Save up all spare change, put it in a jar marked travel, and get your butt somewhere else in the world. Being foreign makes you love where you’re from, makes you see the world with fresh eyes, creates new synapses in your brain, and makes you empathize with foreigners in your own land. To write THE PROVENCE CURE FOR THE BROKENHEARTED, we researched by renting a tiny ancient house in a tiny village on a shoestring budget – with five young kids in tow. I’d blow that money again, in a heartbeat.

2.  If you can’t be foreign, import foreigners. When Dave and I were first married and having kids, we lived WELL below the poverty level. In fact, we aspired to the poverty level. We said, “One day, poverty level, we will meet you!” To make ends meet, we rented out two of the three bedrooms in our rented condo to foreigners, running a B & B of sorts. I served cheap dinners – like frozen fish sticks – proclaiming to represent “American cuisine.” We survived and our world view got broader.

3.  Be alone sometimes. With technology, no one ever really has to be alone much. They’ve got their celly, their smart phone. They can always chat, text, IM. But being alone is hugely important to the creative process and to solving problems – professional, creative, personal. Learn how to be alone in your own head and develop that inner voice. You’ll need it.

4.  Quit. Americans overvalue “sticking it out.” We’re always saying, “Don’t give up! You can’t quit now! Never say die!” But there are a lot of bullshit things that you SHOULD quit. The Art of Quitting is a beautiful and crucial thing to master. Saying no to one stupid thing that you actually kind of hate is saying yes to the possibility of something you love. (I include bad relationships, bad jobs, goals that were forced on you instead of coming up from within.) Sometimes you shouldn’t stick it out. You should give up. You should say die – so some other part of you can come alive.

5.  Practice empathy. The world would be a better place if people would practice lifting their heads up and imagining what it’s like to be someone else. It takes effort to do this kind of imaginative grunt work. It’s easier to live within your own goggles. But it leads to bad decisions that haunt all of us. Take off the self-centric goggles and look at the world through someone else’s eyes. It makes for better art, politics, scientific invention, and personal lives.

DO-OVER

If I could go back and do-over, I’d be bolder. I know we’re going to look back and be scandalized at the inequity that goes on all around us, that we accept – the racial inequity in education; the acceptability of hateful rhetoric against gays, lesbians, the transgendered; the obvious lack of women in certain jobs – and the next generation is going to be sickened by us. We’ll say the things the generation before us said, “That was just the way it was.” I’d go back and try to see more clearly the world that we have set against the world we can make, and I’d push harder for that world. In fact, that’s a do-over that can start – for each of us – now.

To find out more about this talented author, check out her website and blog.

Thanks, Julianna! xoxo, L&L

Sweet Valley High's Francine Pascal's 5 Do's and a Do-over

Are YOU ready to take a trip down memory lane with Sweet Vally Confidential: 10 Years Later?  We've been chomping at the bit to find out what Liz and Jess (and hottie, Porche driving Bruce Patman) have been up to all these years!  Ah, the nostalgia!  It's intoxicating! Well, the waiting is over because Sweet Valley Confidential: Ten Years Later is available TODAY. Now you can finally return to the idyllic Sweet Valley, home of the phenomenally successful book series and franchise. Iconic and beloved identical twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield are back and all grown up, dealing with the complicated adult world of love, careers, betrayal, and sisterhood.

But seriously, what have those beyotches been up to???!!!

In lieu of that information, we have SVH creator and author Francine Pascal sharing her 5 Do's and a Do-over with us today.  And GUESS WHAT? We have TWO copies to give away-just leave a comment and you'll be entered to win.  That's as easy as Jessica used to be back in the day...(Sorry couldn't resist-we were always Team Liz!)  We'll choose the winners on Friday night after 6pm PST.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS: FRANCINE PASCAL'S 5 DO'S AND A DO-OVER

5 DO'S

1.  Best thing I ever did was to have three children. And lucky for me, they were girls. Nothing like having the fun of your own Sex and the City friends. People who love you, understand you, laugh with you and forgive your mistakes. Of course, you have to wait a bit until they outgrow the awfulness of those teenage years. But it's worth the wait.

2.  Second best thing: Pick up and leave the country after my husband died. I went to France where I knew no one and not a word beyond Merci. It saved my life and gave me my favorite book, If Wishes Were Horses (aka La Villa).

3.  Third best thing: Understanding that ideas were my forte. The first good idea was My Mother Was Never a Kid about a girl who can't get along with her mother and through some time warp goes back to her mother's childhood and becomes her mother's best friend. This was 1974 before all those other movies and books using that same idea. And then I came up with Fearless about a girl born without the fear gene. I made that up and it turned out to be sort of true. And of course, Sweet Valley High.

4.  The fourth important DO is not to stop writing. As long as I have ideas and a computer, I will continue.

5.   But the real winner was to not go into acting. I know now that I would have been a terrible actor. I found that out when I recorded the epilogue for Sweet Valley Confidential-Ten Years Later. I was reading my own words and I was awful, totally without talent.

DO-OVER

I wish I wrote for Saturday Night Live.

Thanks Francine!  xoxo, L&L

Want to read more about SVH?  Head on over to their website or find what Liz and Jess are up to on Facebook and Twitter!

Falling off the wagon, Loehmann's style by Liz

Hi, my name is Liz and I'm a shopping addict. Well, more like a recovering shopping addict.  At least I was in recovery until an ill-fated trip to Loehmann's last week.

But let me back up a little.  For those of you that are regulars around here, you heard me bragging about my Cash & Carry financial plan a few months ago.  And it wasn't bullsh*t-I had broken up with my Amex gold card last year and hadn't looked back since. Lately, I'm the one who has the cash when it's time to split the bill.  And I no longer feel like puking when I log into American Express's website to check out my balance.  However, I may have failed to mention the secret to my success. Something that I feared would be hard to keep up long term.  A theory that I decided to test last week.

Long story short, I failed miserably.

It all started when those pesky little children of mine began to grow out of their clothes.  I tried to ignore my daughter's tummy hanging out of her now too-short shirts and my son's flood pants.  Because I knew that stepping one foot into that overpriced, pushy salesperson jungle of a store called Justice would undo all my hard work these past months.  My dirty little secret? The only way I had been able to stop spending was to not step foot ANYWHERE that I love to shop for the past six months.

Target? It pained me, but I sent the hubs to stroll those glorious aisles.

Gap? Supervised online shopping only.

Loehmann's? I told myself those communal dressing rooms were terrible for my self-esteem.

And my strategy had been working damn well.  But now a growth spurt threatened to ruin it all.  Damn you children's multi-vitamins!

But being the Type-A beyotch I am, I was determined to come up with a solution.  And 100,000 American Express points later, I had one. (One perk to my addiction:membership rewards!)

So armed with gift cards from every store the kids like, I was able to purchase clothes that fit without going over my husband-allotted cash allowance.  But even being in the store was intoxicating.  I started to remember what a high shopping always gave me.  That feeling that my daughter just HAD to have those scratch and sniff jammies(WTF with those anyway?).  I tried to ignore my shopping buzz and just get what they needed. But there was no mistake-the shopping beast had been awakened in me once more.

Fast forward to the next week that included my two BFs bdays as well as an hour to kill within spitting distance of the Beverly Hills Loehmanns. I told myself that I was only going in there for them.  That they loved Loehmann's and I'd be a horrible friend if I didn't buy them something from there.  But from the moment that I walked in, I was drunk with happiness at their selection of Calvin Klein dresses.  High with the anticipation of wearing that straw fedora at the pool FOUR months from now when we went on vacay.  Cracked out at the thought of shaking my ass in that Michael Kors skirt.  And even though it made me feel slightly ill, I pulled out that gorgeous gold card and slapped it down for the cashier like the last six months had never happened.

I had officially fallen off the wagon.

Oh, but on a positive note, I did find Lisa something really cute for her bday!

That night, as I unsuccessfully tried to hide the bag from the hubs behind my ass (I haven't worked out much lately, thought it might work?!), I felt even worse.  Sick with guilt and regretting my actions, wanting to eat carbs and greasy food-it was clear that I had the shopping hangover from hell.

So guess what?  I'm taking all that sh*t back this week.  And just like any addict, I'll start over again from day one. And even though I know it's the right thing to do, I still think I would've ROCKED that straw fedora by the pool. *sigh*

What are your addictions?  Leave a comment and let me know!  Or just make me feel better about mine.

xo, Liz

Barbara O'Neal's 5 Do's and a Do-Over

DELICIOUS BOOK ALERT! Yep, that's right-we've found another great book about food.  We don't know if it's just a trend or we just love reading about carbs since we deprive ourselves of them, but either way we have another novel that we think you'll devour! That's why we were crazy excited when Barbara O'Neal agreed to share her 5 Do's and a Do-Over with us.  Her latest, How to Bake a Perfect Life: A Novel, is a sweet story that we highly recommend you indulge in!  We spent a rainy Sunday curled up reading it and think that you'll love it too! And the icing on the cake?  Her 5 Do's and a Do-Over were just as delectable as her novel.

Professional baker Ramona Gallagher is a master of an art that has sustained her through the most turbulent times, including a baby at fifteen and an endless family feud. But now Ramona’s bakery threatens to crumble around her. Literally. She’s one water-heater disaster away from losing her grandmother’s rambling Victorian and everything she’s worked so hard to build.

When Ramona’s soldier son-in-law is wounded in Afghanistan, her daughter, Sophia, races overseas to be at his side, leaving Ramona as the only suitable guardian for Sophia’s thirteen-year-old stepdaughter, Katie. Heartbroken, Katie feels that she’s being dumped again—this time on the doorstep of a woman out of practice with mothering.

Ramona relies upon a special set of tools—patience, persistence, and the reliability of a good recipe—when rebellious Katie arrives. And as she relives her own history of difficult choices, Ramona shares her love of baking with the troubled girl. Slowly, Katie begins to find self-acceptance and a place to call home. And when a man from her past returns to offer a second chance at love, Ramona discovers that even the best recipe tastes better when you add time, care, and a few secret ingredients of your own.

Are you dying to read it now? Well, good thing we have ___ copies to give away!  Leave a comment and you'll be entered to win.  We'll choose the winners on Sunday, March 27th after 6pm EST.  Good Luck.  And quick reminder:  All of our giveaways are for US/Canada residents only.  So sorry to our lovely readers outside of those countries-we still got mad love for ya!

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS: BARBARA O'NEAL'S 5 DO'S AND A DO-OVER

1. Take a chance on something that seems impossible.  Write a novel, maybe, or throw your heart into a crumbling old house and try to save it from the wrecking ball.  When my boys were small and we were poor, I fell in love with an old house down the street. It was empty, maybe abandoned, and I could see into the light falling across the stairway, and upstairs was a big room with a bay window beneath the high pointed eaves.  Every morning, I walked by and it whispered to me.  Somehow, with no money whatsoever, we ended up buying it and spending years and years renovating one thing and then another.  There was a ghost in the garden, who befriended my cats, and it was her ancient globe lilies and giant roses that grew out of the rock hard dirt in the backyard.  (I am convinced she is the one who called me to save her house.) My children grew up with torn up floors and ancient bathrooms and sheetrock tape, the two of them crammed together in one bedroom so I could have the tiny office downstairs for work.  It was a house of great love, and although it never became This Old House, all gleaming and perfectly restored, we saved it from the wrecking ball.

2. Make friends and tend your female relationships. I was lucky enough to grow up in a female-centric world, where my grandmother reined as matriarch, with my mother, my aunts, and my sisters all swirling around a world that had a few men, like pepper for seasoing, but not many.  And while I love the company of men (and myself had two sons I adore), the relationships that sustain us over time are the ones we forge with other women.  A good friend makes you laugh, keeps you honest, listens on the other end of the phone for three hours when you have a broken heart.  The thing I hear from some readers, however, is “how do I make friends when I’m not in school/work for myself/have retired?”   Lots of ways—join a book club, find an agreeable spiritual center, take up a new kind of exercise.  Then reach out and be friendly to others.  This is a very simple part of the plan, and very scary for some people.  What if they are rejected? You might well be.  But sometimes, you won’t be, and then you might meet someone who will be a friend.

3. Volunteer somewhere. Anywhere. It helps the world for you to put your hands into solving problems, but it also helps you to be a more grateful and thoughtful person.  It’s amazing to me how much angst and fury an afternoon at the soup kitchen can ease.  Go where you feel you might make a difference.  A woman I know is a court-appointed advocate for children in the court system.  Another likes the women’s shelter and I have a bunch of friends who volunteer for dog and cat rescue groups and the Humane Society.  I like serving food at the local spiritual community, predictably.  You are busy, I get that, but do it anyway.

4. Take the time to make things beautiful when you can. One of my friends is so good at this—everything she does is beautiful. She’ll take the time to scatter some rose petals over a buffet, or serve hard boiled eggs in egg cups.   I’m never quite as talented as I’d like on this, but I notice how much pleasure it gives me when I do. So try it.  Serve your canned chicken noodle soup in a pretty bowl you picked up at Goodwill, with a cloth napkin.  Grow a pot of petunias or a geranium in a pot on your front step, or buy flowers at the grocery store and put them on a vase in your kitchen or beside your bed, or even on the back of the toilet.  Take the time to add a pretty bracelet to your workaday outfit. Fold a note on pretty paper and stick it in a child’s lunch box.  Cut the sandwich in half and add a slice of orange to the plate. The world might be crazy, but you can make some sanity right in this very minute with small gestures of beauty.

5. Make time to learn new things. The brain loves to grow.  It just does.  Give it material by taking up new pursuits.   Maybe you’ve always wanted to sew or take great photos or grow corn or make stained glass. Do it! Take up an instrument, study a language, read about the lands you want to visit and make paper plans to go there.   If you find you’re not enjoying it, dump that pursuit and move on.  Easy! (You might make a new friend, too.)  Last year, I studied cello for awhile and studied Spanish (ongoing). This year, I’m planning an urban farm for my backyard and having a blast.  (This week, I built frames out of PVC pipe for my grow lights. Me! I did it myself!  It’s true that the ends were crooked because I couldn’t figure out how to cut them straight, but they were stuck into elbows and joints so it didn’t matter anyway.)

Do-over

Do not regret your life or spend time wishing you could change things.  Forgive yourself and others the best you can and keep moving forward. We are who we are because of who we’ve been, and you are pretty amazing just as you are.  Just ask P!nk.

Thanks so much Barbara! xoxo, L&L

To read more about Barbara, head on over to her website or find her on Facebook and Twitter!

Megan Crane's 5 Do's and a Do-Over

We don't know what we love the most...the cover, the title or the plot of Megan Crane's latest novel, I Love the 80's. We think we'll just say all of the above! I Love the 80's is the story of Jenna Jenkins, an eighties lover whose fiance dumps her for a 22-year-old yoga instructor! And after a freak accident, she's transported back in time to her favorite decade. She finds herself smack in 1987 and face-to-face with the man she was madly in love with-pop legend Tommy Seer (who never knew she existed) and she must convince him that they are meant to be together...before he dies in a tragic car crash that only she knows is coming.

When we think about where we were in 1987, the year we met, we laugh at all the hilarious memories.  This book took us right back to the days of grown out perms, bushy brows, Lisa's red "Sally Jesse Raphael" glasses, cassette tapes and stirrup pants (oy vey)! And if you leave a comment today, you can win one of five copies of this entertaining and hilarious novel. We'll randomly select the winner after 6:00 PM, EST on Thursday, March 24th.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...MEGAN CRANE'S 5 DO'S AND A DO-OVER:

5 Do's and 1 (Sort Of) Do-Over Should You Find Yourself Back in 1987

1. DO just go with the fashion nightmare that is 1987. You may be the only one who knows you're wearing those neon stirrup pants ironically, but that's okay.

2. DO prepare yourself for the tech revolution in advance. Apple, Microsoft, Silicon Valley's finest. A little research could yield huge rewards. Just think--you could come back to the present to find yourself a zillionaire!

3. DO try to enjoy yourself. It's tempting to loom about worried about how you'll make it home, but that defeats the purpose of having time-traveled at all, doesn't it? It's 1987 and only you know what happens next--and what doesn't. Try to immerse yourself in the local stonewashed culture, secure in your superior knowledge of what happens to all those synthesizer-heavy bands come the Grunge movement.

4. DO accept that your hair is going to be out of control. COMPLETELY out of control. Member of Heart back in the day out of control. You can't do anything about it this far away from your favorite products. Just tease and smile.

5. You shouldn't attempt to DO OVER your own life, even though, yes, it's 1987 and you could change it all if you could just talk to your middle-school self. And you COULD talk to yourself, because you're back in time and you know how it all works out. But when did you listen to anyone when you were in middle school? And do you really want to see how little all the monsters of your memory really are? Better by far to stay away and let you grow up to be you. Time travel can be fun and rewarding--but not if you're out to reinvent your own life. Because you saw all those movies--what happens if you go back to the future and you're someone else?

To find out more about one of our favorite authors, Megan Crane (and her other novels- she also writes romance novels under the name, Caitlin Crews), visit her website and follow her on Facebook. And don't forget to buy her book, I Love the 80's.

Thanks, Megan!

xoxo,

L&L

Jackie Collins' 5 Do's and a Do-Over

Just like a familiar song or your favorite pair of jeans, you know you can always count on a Jackie Collins novel to make you feel good. They're always entertaining, saucy and damn fun! (The stats are uh-maze-ing: Twenty-eight NYT bestsellers & 400 million copies sold in 40 countries!) So with Poor Little Bitch Girl, (now out in paperback) we knew we were in for yet another sexy read that would no doubt include her always absorbing tales of the wealth, power and Hollywood glamour. Here's a synopsis of Poor Little Bitch Girl (so love typing that title!):

Denver Jones is a hotshot twenty-something attorney working in L.A. Carolyn Henderson is personal assistant to a powerful and very married Senator in Washington with whom she is having an affair. And Annabelle Maestro—daughter of two movie stars—has carved out a career for herself in New York as the madame of choice for discerning famous men. The three of them went to high school together in Beverly Hills—and although Denver and Carolyn have kept in touch, Annabelle is out on her own with her cocaine addicted boyfriend, Frankie.

Then there is Bobby Santangelo Stanislopolous, the Kennedyesque son of Lucky Santangelo and deceased Greek shipping billionaire, Dimitri Stanislopolous. Bobby owns Mood, the hottest club in New York.  Back in the day he went to high school with Denver, Carolyn and Annabelle. And he connected with all three of them. Frankie is his best friend.

When Annabelle’s beautiful movie star mother is found shot to death in the bedroom of her Beverly Hills mansion, the five of them find themselves thrown together . . . and secrets from the past have a way of coming back to haunt everyone. . . .

And you know the drill, ladies (and gents). Just leave a comment here and be entered to win one of five copies of Poor Little Bitch Girl. We'll randomly select the winners after 6:00 P.M., EST on Friday, March 18th.

We are beside ourselves to have such a legend (did we mention twenty-eight NYT bestsellers?) answering our 5 Do's and a Do-Over! (We love them all-but especially #1 & #3 & Lisa is particularly good at #4!)

Can we have a majuh drum roll please....

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS....JACKIE COLLINS' 5 DO'S AND A DO-OVER:

5 Do's

1.  Do something you love to do every day. Something that makes you feel good and puts you in a fantastic mood.  Everyone has different needs, so decide what will do it for you.  Working out?  Making love?  Drinking a cup of your favorite coffee?  Go for it!!  My heroines always do, and they come out on top!

2.  Clear out your closet every six months. Rule of thumb - if you haven't worn it in a year - it's history!  So be ruthless.  Trust me, when it's done you will feel so free and ready for some major shopping!  No regrets.

3.  Do make a list of six things you wish to achieve every week - one a day - with Sunday off.  You will be surprised how much you can achieve if you write it down.

4.  Do indulge yourself once a week by just doing nothing. And by doing nothing I mean just sitting around with no pressure, maybe reading a book or mindlessly watching junk T.V.  I am a TiVo junkie, and catching up on shows nobody else watches (or pretends they don't) is totally relaxing.  Never feel guilty for doing nothing.

5.  Do tell the people you love how special they are. Life is fragile, and words of love are deeply precious and never regretted.  Treat others the way you would like them to treat you.  And remember - forgiveness makes you feel amazing and frees the soul.  Karma is a powerful thing.

Do Over

You know, I have lived a very exciting and full life surrounded by fascinating people.  A do over?  I don't think so. We are what we make of ourselves and I have worked hard to become who I am today.

To read more about the truly amazing Jackie Collins, visit her website, follow her on Twitter and join the 70,000+ who already like her on Facebook.

Thanks so much, Jackie!

xoxo, Liz & Lisa

Ellen Meister's 5 Do's and a Do-Over

We've come to many forks in the road in our lives.  Whether it was deciding between two job offers out of college and meeting your soulmate at the one you did choose(Liz!) or deciding to do a second internship that led to an illustrious career. (Lisa!) Or when we put our hesitations aside and launched Chick Lit is Not Dead. It's decisions like these that shape our lives. But what if we had decided differently?   And if you had the chance to take a peek into what that other life looked like, would you? We're ecstatic to have the fab Ellen Meister sharing her Do's and a Do-over on the site today.  Her third book,The Other Life, is a thoughtful and engrossing novel that we weren't able to put down.

Happily married and pregnant, Quinn Braverman has an ominous secret. Every time she makes a major life decision, she knows an alternate reality exists in which she made the opposite choice—not only that, she knows how to cross over. But even in her darkest moments—like her mother's suicide—Quinn hasn't been tempted to slip through...until she receives devastating news about the baby she's carrying.

The grief lures her to peek across the portal, and before she knows it she's in the midst of the other life: the life in which she married another man and is childless. The life in which her mother is still very much alive.

Quinn is forced to make a heartbreaking choice. Will she stay with the family she loves and her severely disabled child or rediscover her exciting single life and reconnect with one person she thought she’d lost forever-her mother. But Quinn can’t have both lives. Soon, she must decide which she really wants—the one she has…or the other life?

We highly recommend The Other Life and have FIVE copies to give away to lucky readers!  Just leave a comment and you'll be entered to win!  Yep, it's that easy.  We'll choose the winners after 6pm PST on Thursday, March 17th.

And we think you'll love her Do's and a Do-over.  She provided photographic evidence!

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS: ELLEN MEISTER'S 5 DO'S AND A DO-OVER

DO'S

1. Listen to your mother, no matter how old you are. She's always right.

2. Leave the dirty dishes in the sink ... to get up and dance ... or make love ... or take a phone call from a friend. The dishes will still be there when you're done.

3. Say yes to the things that scare you. You will never regret facing your fears.

4.  Spend more time with the people you enjoy and less time with the people you don't. Life's too short.

5. Say "I love you" the moment you think it.

DO-OVER

Despite that I wrote THE OTHER LIFE, a novel about a woman with the ultimate "Do-over" (my protagonist gets to slip through a portal to the life she would have had if she never got married and had a child), I try not to indulge in regrets. Indeed, I'm one of those people who believes that whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger.

Still, I've never been able look back with any fondness on a certain spiky, henna-drenched, 1980's mullet ...

I'm attaching a suitably ridiculous photo!

You were rocking that mullet, Ellen! xoxo, L&L

To read more about Ellen, head on over to her website or find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Cavanaugh Lee's 5 Do's and a Do-Over

Fact:  Liz is addicted to her Crackberry Blackberry. Whether she's working, playing or pretending to be paying attention in a meeting, she's always just waiting for that little red asterisk to pop up.  And Lisa's not much better-she loves her iPhone so much that's she's found a way to send emails from it while pumping breast milk.  Now that's talent! So when Save as Draft by Cavanaugh Lee landed on our doorstop last month-we were intrigued to read about Izabell's online adventures.  And we were happy to discover it was a fun and sassy read that we gobbled up in just a few days.

A love triangle evolving over e-mails, texts, and Facebook messages that makes you wonder if the things we leave unsaid—or rather unsent—could change the story of our lives. Izabell is a wactress (waitress/actress) turned lawyer who lives her life online. (Don’t we all these days?)

She's got this problem. . . . There’s this guy. His name’s Peter. He’s her best friend and co-worker, and she just started dating, which is potentially a huge mistake. But, that’s not all. There’s this other guy, Marty. She met him on eHarm, and he ran with the bulls in Spain. She can’t get him off her mind. What a mess.

Sounds fun, right? We have FIVE copies to give away!  Just leave a comment and you'll be entered to win!  we'll choose the winners Sunday March 13th after 1pm PST.

And we're thrilled that Cavanaugh is sharing her Do's and a Do-over for the Electronic age.  Because, I think we all have a few friends on Facebook that could benefit from her advice!

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS: CAVANAUGH LEE'S 5 DO'S AND A DO-OVER

5 DO’S

1.  DO make sure you’re actually communicating and not just “communicating.” I mean, really, say what you mean and mean what you say.  Ask yourself these questions as you type any critical email:

a.    Has all this technology made it easier or harder to communicate?

b.     Are we using it to express ourselves more fully, or to edit/fabricate ourselves?

c.     Are we communicating more when we write hundreds of emails a day, or are we actually not saying anything at all?

d.     If we spend hours crafting the perfectly witty email, have we told the truth?

e.     Are we hiding behind an “electronic spine” as our fingers press the keys?

f.      Have we sacrificed a genuine connection in favor of a wireless connection?

2.  If you like someone, DO email: “I like you” (or something to that effect). If you don’t like someone, DO type: “I’m just not that into you.”  You may only get one shot to “just hit send,” and email is not the place to toy with someone’s emotions.  Along those same lines, DO think twice before asking someone out via email (same goes for asking for someone’s hand in marriage) and DO think twice before breaking up with someone via email.  How about doing it in person instead?  I mean, don’t you want to see their face?  J

3.  DO use the Bcc (“blind carbon copy”) button wisely – it’s a rather devious mechanism. It can get you in trouble as can the “Reply to All” (Oops!).

4.   DO delete anyone who has broken your heart from your Contacts page. Not deleting them can result in emailing “under the influence” which can further result in massive disaster.  DO avoid it at all costs.  In fact, install “Mail Goggles” which you can find in G-Mail under “Settings” + “Labs.”  Again, delete, delete, delete… and don’t look back.

5.  DO empty your Trash folder every so often. It is masochistic to re-read it.

DO-OVER

DON’T “Save as Draft,” unless it’s a nasty-gram to your boss (of course if you’re about to quit your job for a better one – send it – kidding).  See #1 under DO’S for the reason.  All of this electronic technology is both good and bad, depending on how we use it.  Saving as draft means you’re holding back.  Life is too short

Thanks Cavanaugh! xoxo, L&L

To read more about Cavanaugh, head on over to her website or find her on Facebook and Twitter.

Stacy Morrison's 5 Do's and a Do-over

One of our favorite books that we read devoured last year is now out in paperback! Falling Apart In One Piece: One Optimist's Journey Through the Hell of Divorce by Stacy Morrison is an honest and emotionally charged memoir that will make you think twice before you complain about your own life. It's an amazing story of learning how to let go of what you thought your life was going to be when it takes an unexpected turn that threatens to throw you into a permanent fetal position.

Here's a synopsis: Just when Stacy Morrison thought everything in her life had come together, her husband of ten years announced that he wanted a divorce. She was left alone with a new house that needed a lot of work, a new baby who needed a lot of attention, and a new job in the high-pressure world of New York magazine publishing.

Morrison had never been one to believe in fairy tales. As far as she was concerned, happy endings were the product of the kind of ambition and hard work that had propelled her to the top of her profession. But she had always considered her relationship with her husband a safe place in her often stressful life. All of her assumptions about how life works crumbled, though, when she discovered that no amount of will and determination was going to save her marriage. For Stacy, the only solution was to keep on living, and to listen -- as deeply and openly as possible -- to what this experience was teaching her. Told with humor and heart, her honest and intimate account of the stress of being a working mother while trying to make sense of her unraveling marriage offers unexpected lessons of love, forgiveness, and dignity that will resonate with women everywhere.

And if you leave a comment here, you'll be entered to win one of five copies of Falling Apart in One Piece- out in paperback March 15th! We'll randomly select the winners after 6pm PST on Thursday, March 10th. 

Just like her memoir, Stacy Morrison's answers to the 5 Do's and a Do-over are honest, humorous and include life lessons that we'll definitely take to heart. (And Lisa couldn't agree more with #4 on Stacy's list. Remember when she drove cross country for love?)

CHICKLIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS: STACY MORRISON'S 5 DO'S AND A DO-OVER:

DO 1) Move to a new city at least once, preferably on a whim I've been in New York City for -- egad! -- twenty-one years now. Since I had wanted to be a magazine editor since I was very young, I always knew this is the city where I would end up. But I had a moment in the last dot com era (circa 2000) where a fantastic dream job opened up in San Francisco. Two weeks after my first conversation with the company, I accepted the position and then moved to San Francisco by myself two weeks later (my then-husband followed a few months after that). I was a bit terrified and had absolutely no idea what I was doing -- no place to live, had to buy a car, didn't know the neighborhoods -- but I was completely energized, awake and alive in my life in a startling and wonderful new way. I still remember driving my rental car around the city, sun sparkling down on the hood, singing at the top of my lungs because I was so excited to be discovering a whole new world, a whole new me. Absolutely everything was new, except my clothes (though I did have to buy some sensible shoes for walking around all those hills), and every day was packed with discovery and excitement. In the end, the job and the city didn't take (thank you, stock market!), but the experience of having pulled up my roots and boogied out of town showed me that whatever new idea I dream up for my life, I can do it.

2) Embrace heartbreak One of my greatest pieces of luck is that I'm wired to run toward life experiences that scare me. And I don't mean hang-gliding -- though I did do that once in Brazil, strapped to a man who didn't even speak English, and wow! It was amazing! But I found that in my 20 years as a magazine editor, I learned more from failure than from success. (Half of the magazines I helped launch aren't being published anymore.) Same is true for me for matters of the heart. When my husband of ten years ended our marriage -- when our son was 10 months old, and right as I was taking over Redbook magazine -- I went into a total tailspin. Until I remembered to pay attention to what I was learning, the same way I always had in all the terrifying work situations that come up when you're launching a magazine. What I experienced in my divorce changed me so deeply, in a good way, that I now say my divorce is the best thing that ever happened to me: At last I know that what comes my way in life is no statement about who I am or what I deserve; it's just what came next.

3) Go ahead and spend money on your hair I am vain about my hair. I did the math once on how much I was spending on my hair a year -- what with highlights to keep the blonde going and regular trims -- and I almost had a heart attack. Modesty (or is it shame?) prevents me from telling you the amount, but let's just say it was about a Starbucks a day. But then I thought about the jolt of a cup of caffeine compared to the simply fantastic sensation of feeling even mildly attractive on my worst day because my hair looks good: Well, let me tell you, I started brewing at home and never looked back. Some people spend money on a fancy handbag to get the same confidence boost, but I say if you can't hold your investment up against your face and have it make you look better in a photo for time immemorial -- forever! --  then you're not getting your money's worth.

4) Drive across America I've driven cross-country three different times -- once in seven weeks, another time in three days -- but each experience just blew me away: Dusty roadside diners, amazing natural monuments, an improbable variety of vegetation and climate, local sodas and sandwiches, cities sparkling in the distance in the night, and miles and miles and miles of vast emptiness dotted with worn-for-the-wear towns filled with friendly people. And everywhere you go, there's the company of tractor-trailers and gas-station dogs sleeping in the sun. Each drive was its own anthem and made me love this country in a much more intimate way.

5) Swim naked All we women trundle around in our lives with a never-ending lists of to-dos and shoulds and "I gottas." We may try yoga, wine or Twitter to help us shake the constant pressure of this inner conversation, but back it comes -- usually waking us up from a perfectly good sleep in the middle of the night. I can't say I have a cure for this, but I do know this: When I am deep in the embrace of nature, I hear nothing but the wind in the trees and my heart beating in my chest, and all I feel is that everything in life is just as it should be. Where does the swimming naked come in? Like this: Drive to the mountains, rent a canoe, paddle four or five lakes away from the outfitter's cabin where you rented the canoe, find a small island campground in the middle of a shimmering body of water surrounded by tall trees and strip down to nothing and dive in. Swim out toward the middle of the lake. Tread water, kicking and turning slowly around and around and around, trying to take in all the ageless glory and grandeur. There's something about the being naked -- with nothing to separate me from everything else -- that makes me feel like I really belong here, whether my to-dos are to-done or not. Humble majesty.

Do-Over: As a general rule, I regret nothing (see #2 above). I mean, yes, I've embarrassed myself in front of the President of the United States (George W; it's in the book), got busted for stealing M&Ms off a birthday cake in first grade (and was thus stripped of my Class President title), missed my ballet recital when I was 8 (that still hurts), cried like a baby in front of my two-year-old son when my marriage was ending, wasted a lot of money in my failed move to San Francisco (see #1 above), bombed at a celebrity interview (can't tell you who; she'll hunt me down) and desperately wished I could help my parents die easier deaths in the last year. But I truly believe there's no point in a do-over; we have to take the bad with the good -- and we should want to. As my favorite poet Rainer Marie Rilke says, "The point is to live everything." Live it all and take it in, and realize that the wincing moments and "mistakes" and the tragedies of our lives are like rogue waves: they overwhelm us for a moment or longer, and turn us upside-down, but when they retreat they leave the sparkling gifts of compassion and wisdom and grace on the beach for us to discover, life's little treasures. (Plus, you always need a good "Can you believe I did this?" story at a cocktail party, you know? Helps break the ice.)

To find out more about the lovely and incredibly talented Stacy Morrison, visit her website and follow her on Facebook.

Thanks, Stacy!

xoxo,

Liz & Lisa