We don't know about you, but it's been a crazy month over here at CLIND! SO many new books and authors that we can hardly find the time to post about all of them. And today is no exception-we have lovely NYT bestselling authors Amanda Goldberg and Ruthanna Khalighi Hopper. They burst onto the scene with Celebutantes and their latest, Beneath A Starlet Sky, is another fantabulous good time!
In BENEATH A STARLET SKY, Lola Santisi—CEO of a struggling fashion line and daughter of Hollywood royalty—is swinging between the fashion world in New York and the real world with her doctor-boyfriend in Los Angeles. Lola is trying to launch designer Julian Tennant’s new dress line, and it looks like they’re about to get their next big break: his wedding dresses have been chosen to feature in the top film at the Cannes Film Festival. They better make a big splash in the sunny Cannes crowds, or else…
For Kate Woods, Lola’s BFF and CAA’s rising star agent, Cannes is all work and no play. Having recently endured a disastrous break-up with Lola’s brother Christopher, Kate is newly single, and focused solely on her clients.
The only thing worse than thinking it was a good idea for Kate to date Lola’s brother, is thinking it was a good idea for Kate to put one of her most loose-cannon clients, Nic Knight, in Lola’s father’s movie. Among Kate’s other mega star clients is Saffron Sykes whose appearance on the cover of Vogue in Julian Tennant could be the difference between Julian Tennant, Inc. weathering the economy or going bust. But when someone throws a wrench in their plans, everyone stands to lose, especially Lola. With her father and brother vying for the same prize, her mother starring in hew new reality show, and one heartbroken girlfriend about to declare motherhood, it’s all on Lola to come up with the answers.
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CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...AMANDA GOLDBERG & RUTHANNA KHALIGHI HOPPER'S 5 DO'S AND A DO-OVER
DO
1. Do cherish and protect friendships with the girlfriends who knew you when you wore that really bad prom dress, had the bad perm and wore the bad blue eye shadow. These are the women who will feed you when you’re busy feeding the newborn you just brought home from the hospital, when you’ve forgotten to eat because you’ve been at the hospital tending to an ailing parent, and when you’ve lost your appetite because your husband (or boyfriend) decides they’re “going through something”. These are the women who are the mirrors that make any accomplishment worth celebrating with a good glass of wine, a hug or a good cry. These are the women who make it worth it.
2. Do find your own voice: it’s been incredibly meaningful for us to find our own mode of expression; a place where we can go that allows us to feel creatively fulfilled. We come from families of strong personalities. And it’s been significant for us to be able to stand on our own two feet as women. Ruthanna: My hope for my daughter, who’s now a toddler, is that she feels the song of her own soul and doesn’t feel the need to impersonate anyone, or get swept away by some of the alienating and superficial images presented by the media. As Tina Fey said in her “Prayer for a Daughter”: “May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.” Which leads us to…
3. Do get your heartbroken: let it get shattered, busted, tossed to and fro, so that you learn how to expand, put the pieces back together and stretch, so that you figure out who you are, what’s important to you and that ultimately, the love you have for yourself is the one worth fighting for. Which leads us to….
4. Do have a commitment ceremony for yourself! We throw one in our new novel when one of the characters loses her way and loses her truth. She vows to cherish, honor and love herself, until death do you part! Which leads us to…
5. Do forgive easily and often. Because life is precious and short and holding onto resentment, as the great Pema Chodron says, is like eating poison and waiting for the other person to die. Far too much energy is wasted on war, on anger, on waiting for the other person to change or apologize. Look deep, ask yourself who’s suffering and how in your own way can you help to alleviate pain in the world. Often this means starting with our own, often this means starting with forgiveness. Which brings us to…
DO-OVER
Don’t live with regret. We tend to be pretty hard on ourselves. And what woman’s not?! The beauty of life is that each moment gives us the opportunity to begin again, which means we can go through each of the above Do’s and in each moment treat ourselves to them, make our lives simpler because of them, and become stronger, more fulfilled women through them. And when we forget, we can begin again, and again, and again.
Thanks ladies! xoxo, L&L
To read more about Amanda and Ruthanna, head over to Facebook or find them on Twitter!