Archive for November 16th, 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 a lovely, Christmas-y movie for our Chick Flick Tuesday.I watched Holiday in Handcuffs last Christmas and I thought it was a lovely, sweet movie. It was only a TV movie, shown on ABC Family in America, but you can purchase a DVD copy if you wish! The fact Melissa Joan Hart stars made it all the more perfect for me as I loved her as Sabrina and she’s fantastic in this! Plus there’s a sequel in the works, hurray!

Unlucky in life and love, quirky waitress Trudie (Melissa Joan Hart) takes the holidays — and the law — into her own hands. Unable to brave Christmas with her family as a single woman, Trudie kidnaps restaurant customer David Martin (Mario Lopez) and introduces him to her family as her boyfriend. Unable to escape the family vacation house, David agrees to play along until the police arrive. In the meantime, however, David ponders his own romantic life, and questions if he is falling in love with Trudie despite the unlikely circumstances.

I absolutely loved Gemma Burgess’s debut novel The Dating Detox that was released at the beginning of the year so when I heard Gemma was working on a second novel, I was thrilled. A Girl Like You will be released on 6th January 2011 and I can’t wait for it! The cover is fantastic and the book promises to be just as good as The Dating Detox! Here’s the synopsis:

“I’ve discovered the secret to successful singledom. I’m acting like a man. And it’s working.”After breaking up with her boyfriend of, well, forever, Abigail Wood must learn how to be single from scratch. Her dating skills are abysmal, and she ricochets from disaster to disaster – until Robert, one of London’s most notorious lotharios, agrees to coach her.With his advice, she learns to navigate the bastard-infested waters of the bar scene and practices the art of being bulletproof. The new Abigail is cocky, calm, composed…but what happens when she meets her match?”

Deborah Wright’s latest book Swimming With Dolphins has just been released, and I absolutely loved it - it’s the perfect book to read to escape these cold winter evenings, and such an enjoyable story! Deborah kindly said she would write us an author article about her new book, so here it is! Enjoy, and our thanks go to Deborah for taking the time to write this for us!

“My latest book, ‘Swimming With Dolphins’ was originally called ‘Ten Things to Do Before I live’. The novel is about a workaholic called Julia who gets made redundant from her city job during the credit crunch. Since she has spent her twenties being married to her job and trapped in an office, she decides to the last of her money to travel the world, have adventures and do all the things she’s always longed to do.

I love travelling – learning new languages, seeing new places, meeting new people. Some of Julia’s adventures are based on real experiences. For example, I went to Japan 2 years ago with Kate Williams, a fellow writer and dear friend, and so many of Julia’s adventures in Tokoyo were based on our trip – from eating Green Tea Haagen Dazs ice cream to visiting Mount Fuji to walking through Shinjuku’s red light district and looking up into a hotel room where I spotted two Japanese businessmen fondling plastic dolls! I have also visited Venice, which had to go in the book for its sheer beauty, and the unfortunate love affair she has with an Italian is an exaggerated fictionalisation of something I suffered. Other parts of the book are based on places I’d love to go to, so the research was hugely enjoyable. When she goes to Sicily and climbs Mt Etna, I watched videos on youtube of Etna erupting, spraying glorious red showers into the sky. The crazy Las Vegas chapter was great fun to write, but it’s another place I’ve not yet been to – so I had to call up my brother and ask him for anecdotes.

When I handed in the book to my editor, she felt it needed a stronger title. We brainstormed for months – until she had a brilliant flash of inspiration and thought up ‘Swimming With Dolphins’. This experience is the finale adventure in the book. It’s also deeply romantic, with Julia finding fulfilment in her love life on the island of Kauai. Swimming with dolphins is something I’ve always longed to do – and I felt so excited writing about it that it has made me even more hungry to make this dream a reality .”

Thanks so much, Deborah!