Archive for August 4th, 2009

Much like Novelicious’ new Undiscovered weekly post (which you ought to see), we’ve decided to start a writing contest. Unlike Novelicious, ours is a short story contest! As long as people send their’s in, we’ll post one weekly and you will be able to read them in one sitting.

The terms for the short stories are:

- Minimum of 750 words, maximum of 5000 words.
- You can send in as many short stories as you like!
- They must be original and your own work.
- Any genre is fine, help us chick lit lovers spread our wings!
- Tell us a little about it and yourself when you email in and don’t forget to put your name!

Email in your short stories to [email protected]

I hope we get some responses as I’m quite a fan of short stories (I always read them in Take a Break!) We’ll also add them to their own page so if people miss a short story they can always go back and read it!

If you have a story you’d like us to post that’s longer than 5000 words, email it in to us and we’ll take a look!

Everyone’s favourite will get an award at our inaugural Chick Lit Reviews Awards 2009 at the end of the year!

Patricia Scanlan’s next novel Coming Home is due to be released on October 22nd and the cover has finally been released. It looks festive and is very nice. I like the Christmassy feel. The synopsis reads:

Kristy Dunwoody, a now jobless ex-banking high flier, is moving from her expensive uptown apartment in New York to a fourth-floor walk-up studio on the wrong side of town and she’s vowing not to tell her family of her reduced circumstances when she returns home for her mother’s surprise 70th birthday.

Olivia Morgan, harassed wife and mother of three, put upon daughter and sister-in-law, is trying to organize her mother’s party, do her Christmas shopping and clear out the guest room for Kristy’s homecoming.

Esther Dunwoody is dreading her birthday. She hopes there won’t be a fuss. She’d much rather get on with making the Christmas puddings and look forward to decorating the tree with her precious grandchildren. Little does she know there’s a big celebration in store …and there will certainly be surprises.

We posted about Carole Matthew’s 17th novel a while ago and stated it would be called It’s Now or Never. We now have the cover, which I love! Although her 16th novel, That Loving Feeling, still isn’t released we know that It’s Now or Never will be released on 4th February 2010. Carole is a speedy writer! The synopsis reads:

When twins Annie and Lauren attend their sister Chelsea’s fortieth birthday party at the Dorchester Hotel, they wonder why their lives are so totally different from their gorgeous, glamorous sister.

Why is it that Chelsea’s handsome husband is twirling her round the dance floor, with an expression of utter devotion on his face, while Annie’s husband is away on a fishing trip and Lauren’s boyfriend is at home with his wife and kids. Surely, they are doing something wrong here.

The question is, is it too late for them to change…?

Lindsey Kelk’s first novel I Heart New York hit bookshops in July and has been a hit. I loved the book, and could fully imagine myself in poor old Angela’s shoes, although I bet my luck wouldn’t have been as good as hers! We were thrilled to see Angela’s next adventure I Heart Hollywood is coming in January 2010, followed by the third installment I Heart Paris later that year. We managed to get an exclusive interview with Lindsey herself, and she gives fans a fab bit of news about her I Heart… books, read on to find out what!

Q1: Tell about us about your latest book in a sentence!
I Heart New York is a funny book about a girl who loses everything in London and has to find it all over again in New York.

Q2: Where did you get the inspiration for I Heart New York? Is Angela based on you and your experiences?
Unfortunately for me at the time, it was more based on what I wished was happening in my life rather than what was actually happening! I’d just got back from a holiday to New York, it was cold and horrible in London, I was broke after Christmas and everything in my life was just a bit generally rubbish and so I started writing the story as a way of escaping my every day life. I love New York, I love shopping and I love boys so it just made sense. Also, I think my bank manager was happier with this than another flight to New York ending up on my credit card.

Angela and I started out quite alike, we had the same job and the same hair but she went shorter and lighter and I went longer and darker. Weirdly, we’re more alike now, two years after I wrote the book. I got dumped by my boyfriend of seven years and have moved to New York, so maybe I’m based on Angela? Life imitating chick lit. Although I’m not sure that’s very healthy.

(more…)

It seems that novels to do with women escaping to New York are the “in-thing” at the moment! Hot off the heels of Lindsey Kelk’s summer hit read I Heart New York comes the debut novel of Miranda Dickinson, entitled Fairytale of New York. The book is published by Avon and is due out on 12th November, just in time for Christmas! I adore the wintery front cover, and the synopsis sounds great too:

“Are happy-ever-afters made in Manhattan? Once upon a time an English girl went to New York to live out her very own fairytale! Florist Rosie Duncan’s life couldn’t be better, she has a flourishing business on New York’s Upper West Side and fantastic friends. Moving to Manhattan feels like the best decision she ever made. Even though at the time, it was her escape route from heartbreak …For the past six years Rosie has kept her heart under lock and key, despite the protests of her closest friends - charming, commitment-phobic Ed, unlucky in love Marnie and the one-woman tornado that is Celia. Then a blossoming friendship with publishing hot-shot Nate begins to shake Rosie’s resolve at the same time as her brother arrives in the Big Apple, hiding a secret. But a chance meeting brings Rosie face to face with her past, unravelling the mystery behind her arrival in New York. Rosie is forced to confront questions she has long been trying to ignore, including will she ever get her very own happy-ever-after? A sparkling, romantic comedy about an English girl who finds herself in the city where dreams can come true - or so she thinks!”

I’ll be looking out for in the shops, it sounds brill!