Our guest today: Rory Samantha Green
Why we love her: We heart discovering new authors!
Her latest: Playing Along
The scoop: Two Lives. Two Continents. One Song…
Then: George Bryce was an awkward, English schoolboy fantasizing about being in a band. Now: George is frontman of Thesis, an overnight indie scene sensation. Intense, creative and self-deprecating, his childhood dreams have all been fulfilled – so why does George still feel so lost?
Then: Lexi Jacobs was a confident Californian high school cheerleader, planning her future marriage and a meaningful career. Now: Lexi is searching for substance in a life full of mishaps. Cautious, bemused and rapidly losing the control she used to rely on, none of her teenage dreams have delivered and she’s left wondering, “What next?”
Follow George and Lexi as they navigate their days thousands of miles apart. Fly with them from London to LA and back again, as George copes with the dynamics of his tight knit band and loose knit family, while Lexi juggles her eccentric new boss, bored best friend and smother mother.
Even though there’s an ocean between them and their worlds couldn’t be further apart, George and Lexi are pulled together through music, and their paths appear determined to cross. The question is – when?
Our thoughts: Fun summer reading for sure!
Giveaway: TWO copies! Leave a comment and we'll choose winners after Noon PST on Sunday, May 19th.
Fun Fact: Her mom is bestselling author Jackie Collins!
Where you can read more about Rory: Her website, Twitter or Facebook.
CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...RORY SAMANTHA GREEN'S 5 FIRSTS AND LASTS
KISS:
First: Must I really start here?! I think I wrote ‘Playing Along’ to try and compensate for the lack of romance in my adolescence! My first kiss was when I was 16 years old. I went on a date with a waiter at my dad’s restaurant. I’d had a crush on him for months. Every time he placed a Caprese salad in front of me, my heart somersaulted. After dinner he dropped me home very early and clearly had no intention of kissing me goodnight, but I leaned in anyway, forever hopeful. The result was an awkward and cringe worthy bumping of mouths, and I went to bed that night with a very crumpled ego. It shouldn’t rightly be categorized as a kiss at all, it was more like a bruise, but there it is, stamped on my timeline, a reminder that as much as we wish it to be – life is rarely a movie!
Last: My husband is under strict orders to kiss me every time he leaves the house in the morning – even if the path to my lips is scattered with two lanky teens, backpacks, discarded homework sheets, one jumping dog and a lone converse high top. He has become adept at navigating the obstacles! So my last kiss was this morning – short and always very sweet.
RISK I TOOK:
The first risk I took was going to an adventure playground with Laura Agnew when I was 8 years old. Problem being, I wasn’t very ‘adventurous’ and my courageous attempt to clamber up a climbing frame and swing from the monkey bars, resulted in me catching my jeans on a nail and ripping a hole in them noticeable enough to advertise my underwear to the ‘whole’ of London. I was utterly mortified. If the first ‘kiss’ didn't illicit your sympathy, surely this play date gone awry will have done the trick?!
The last risk I took was going white water rafting with my family in Costa Rica over spring break. My reluctance to be ‘physically’ adventurous has lingered, and I often have to push myself to take risks beyond the page. White water rafting was so exhilarating though! I loved every wet, heart pumping second and I impressed my kids by not falling out of the raft (they were assured that I would!)
BOOK I READ:
The first book I remember reading was “The Enchanted Wood” by Enid Blyton. It was my mother’s favourite book when she was a girl and she passed on her love of it to my sisters and I. The book tells the story of two sisters and a brother who happen upon a magical wood, where they climb a tree and discover a world of wonderful and eccentric characters and embark on zany adventures. I became lost in that book and it has forever sparked my imagination and inspired my love of story.
I just finished “Where’d You go Bernadette” by Maria Semple. It tells the story of a girl looking for her mother by piecing together correspondence. It is utterly brilliant! Laugh out loud funny, satirical, poignant, exquisitely well observed. I was smitten.
HELL YA MOMENT:
My first Hell Ya’ moment was when I won the reading competition at my school when I was a timid eleven year old. I was the youngest competitor and read a passage from Judy Blume’s ‘Superfudge’. We were judged on our ‘reading performances’. It was an unexpected victory - the rise of the underdog! My sister cried in the school assembly (like I was winning an Oscar) and I had to walk in front of the entire school and claim a shiny silver trophy. It was my first and last time ‘winning’ anything, but it came via my passion for reading, which made it all the more delicious.
My last Hell Ya’ moment was when I uploaded my book, Playing Along, to Amazon and began my publishing journey. It had been a long time coming and I reveled in the sense of empowerment and liberation I felt taking the book’s destiny into my own hands!
AHA MOMENT
My first Aha moment was when I was eleven years old again (clearly a momentous year!) and I used to sit on summer afternoons with my friend, Christina, on the balcony of her flat writing lyrics to the music she played on her guitar. I remember feeling so grown-up and drenched in happiness – realizing the profound joy that can come from expressing yourself through writing and sharing creativity with a friend. I guess I channelled that part of myself when I was writing George.
My last Aha moment was when I listened to some of the women in the reflective writing workshop that I lead, write and read about their on-going battles with loud and nasty inner critics. So many of us are linked in the struggle to be a little kinder to ourselves. We often follow a path of self sabotage instead of self care. I am always deeply moved by the courage it takes to be honest and vulnerable and I learn something every week from the women who come to Write To Be You. It really is a privilege to be witness to the birth of so many heartfelt words. I’m a lucky woman!
Thanks, Rory!