Archive for June 15th, 2010

Chick Flick Tuesday highlights the best chick flicks in the movie world as well as bringing you news on upcoming chick flick releases as well as letting you all know about which chick lit books are being made into chick flick movies!

This week I’ve chosen indie flick Waitress as my ‘Chick Flick Tuesday’ pick. I first watched this film about a year and a half ago now, and I was blown away by the great storyline of a young waitress/pie maker struggling in her unhappy marriage, and falling in love with someone else. Keri Russell stars as the confused Jenna, and I found her mesmerising on screen. There are a few dark bits in this movie, but they are outweighed by the rest of it which is funny, warm hearted and just a brilliant movie to watch. I know this is shown occasionally on the Film4 channel, so if you get a chance, do give it a watch!

Set in a small Southern town, her third picture revolves around waitress Jenna (Felicity‘s radiant Keri Russell), who works at Joe’s Pie Diner (Joe is played by Andy Griffith). Jenna is the pastry genius who makes Joe’s joint shine. Her co-workers include the forthright Becky (Cheryl Hines, Curb Your Enthusiasm) and insecure Dawn (Shelly). All three have man trouble, but Jenna has it the worst. Her husband, Earl (Jeremy Sisto, Six Feet Under), treats her like a piece of property. When she finds out she’s pregnant, Jenna fears she’ll be stuck with him forever. Then, she develops a crush on her married obstetrician, Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillion, Serenity). With the aid of her fanciful confections, like peachy keen tarts, their flirtation develops into a full-blown affair. It appears to be a no-win situation, but Shelly finds an empowering way to bring this bittersweet story to a close.

We apologise for taking so long to post up another one of these, but our Industry Interviews are back! From now on, we will make sure we post one a month because we know you all love them so much. Our latest Industry Interview is with the lovely Ally Glynn who works for Simon & Schuster. She’s been so lovely to Chloe and myself, keeping us up to date with books and covers and things as well as sending us some fab books to read! Enjoy!

Q1. You work as a web manager for Simon and Schuster publishers, can you tell us what that entails?

A bit of everything really! I manage the website www.simonandschuster.co.uk, update all of S&S UK’s social networks (so any spelling mistakes on Twitter are mine!), and liaise with bloggers about review copies and online competitions. I also manage and coordinate the digital campaigns for our brand authors such as Jennifer Weiner, Adriana Trigiani, Philippa Gregory and many more!

Q2. How did you come to work in the publishing industry? Is it something you have always wanted to do?

I fell into the book trade when I started working at Ottakar’s bookshop in Clapham Junction on Sundays when I was 17. I worked there during my A Levels and continued to work weekends when I was at university. I moved from store to store, working my way up to Assistant Manager at Waterstone’s Greenwich (Waterstone’s bought Ottakar’s in 2005). After seven years in bookshops, I decided to make the move into publishing, which was no easy feat! Luckily, I had made some contacts in the booktrade and learnt of a position in Simon & Schuster UK in Sales. I got the job in 2008 and quickly moved from sales into digital marketing once they realised what a geek I was!

When I was at school, I had never planned on working in Marketing or in Publishing. I always loved books and reading, but I never thought of a career in books! I was going off to University to study Art and become a teacher, but I just feel in love with Ottakar’s and got sucked into the book world from there!

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A book we appeared to left off our June Releases post was Christine Stovell’s debut novel Turning The Tide which is out on June 30th. It’s publishing by the cleverly titled publishing group Choc Lit and it sounds incredibly interesting! Here’s the synopsis:

All’s fair in love and war? Depends on who’s making the rules. Harry Watling has spent the past five years keeping her father s boat yard afloat, despite its dying clientele. Now all she wants to do is enjoy the peace and quiet of her sleepy backwater. So when property developer Matthew Corrigan wants to turn the boat yard into an upmarket housing complex for his exotic new restaurant, it s like declaring war. And the odds seem to be stacked in Matthew’s favour. He s got the colourful locals on board, his hard-to-please girlfriend is warming to the idea and he has the means to force Harry s hand. Meanwhile, Harry has to fight not just his plans but also her feelings for the man himself. Then a family secret from the past creates heartbreak for Harry, and neither of them is prepared for what happens next ...