Emma and Nicola's 5 Things I'd Tell The Teen Me

Our guests today: Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

Why we love them:  Um , maybe because they are our co-authoring IDOLS!  That's all.

Their latest: Between You and Me

The scoop: What happens when you are followed by millions . . . and loved by none?

Twenty-seven-year-old Logan Wade is trying to build a life for herself far from her unhappy childhood in Oklahoma. Until she gets the call that her famous cousin needs a new assistant— an offer she can’t refuse.

Logan hasn’t seen Kelsey in person since their parents separated them as kids; in the meantime, Kelsey Wade has grown into Fortune Magazine’s most powerful celebrity. But their reunion is quickly overshadowed by the toxic dynamic between Kelsey and her parents as Logan discovers that, beneath the glossy façade, the wounds that caused them to be wrenched apart so many years ago have insidiously warped into a show-stopping family business.

As Kelsey tries desperately to break away and grasp at a “real” life, beyond the influence of her parents and managers, she makes one catastrophic misstep after another, and Logan must question if their childhood has left them both too broken to succeed. Logan risks everything to hold on, but when Kelsey unravels in the most horribly public way, Logan finds that she will ultimately have to choose between rescuing the girl she has always protected . . . and saving herself.

Our thoughts: LOVED it with a capital L! Totally delightful. Seriously, grab it for your beach bag RIGHT NOW.

Giveaway: FIVE copies, yo!!!  Leave a comment and we'll choose the winners on Sunday June 17th after 6pm PST.

Fun Fact: Emma and Nicola have a YA novel coming out this summer too (Liz is drooling, she loves her some YA!).   Over You comes out on August 21st, 2012!

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS..EMMA AND NICOLA'S 5 THINGS I'D TELL THE TEEN ME

First and foremost, thank you so much to Liz and Lisa for having us back.  We’re so excited to be asked this question! 

The idea of giving our teen selves retroactive support is particularly poignant right now because we’ve spent the last year writing two books exploring the light and dark side of getting advice in those critical formative years.  In our novel, Between You & Me, out June 12^th, we look at two 20-something cousins, Logan and Kelsey Wade, whose parents were always more focused on making one of the girls famous than guiding them into adulthood—with dire and very public consequences. 

Our second book out August 21st, Over You, is about Max Scott, a seventeen year-old break-up coach, who can get anyone over anyone in four weeks—or less.  She is full of spectacular advice (but can’t seem to take her own.)

So, for what it’s worth, here’s what we’d tell our teen selves:

1. Don’t sweat the sex.  Hard to believe but someday but you’ll be married to the same person for years and years and years and it will be impossible to remember when you once had more hormones than a dairy farm.  Don’t let anyone make you feel bad about yourself.   Remember that birthday party Alex Cobb pressed you up against the fish tank and unbuttoned your Betsey Johnson dress all the way down to your waist?  You’re creating memories that will make long afternoons singing Itsy Bitsy Spider to a toddler go faster.

2. The cliché is true.   The hot guys go bald.  They get paunchy.  And the mean girls are sad.  The sad girls get happy.  Because it never came easy so they had to work at it, work on themselves.  Willy Wonka could not right the balance better himself.

3. File these away.  Wear your retainer.  Your credit score is real.  Start a bridesmaid fund NOW—that shit will bankrupt you.  Never sign anything without a lawyer.  When a guy says he isn’t looking for a commitment, that’s what that means.

4. Be kind to yourself.  No one is ever going to be as hard on you as you are.  You can accomplish just as much without a running inner monologue saying, you suck.  You are not too fat.  Your butt is perfect.  You will actually marry a man who wishes it was larger.  You know how much you love the kids you nanny for?  Treat yourself with the same compassion and patience and you’ll be much, much happier.

5. Thank you.  You are doing everything right.  You are transitioning from babysitting into full-time nannying, much to your family’s horror.  You have applied to a horrible college you will hate.  Leading you to transfer to NYU, where you will meet the creative love of your life.  You are embarking on a miserable career path that will suck your will to live until the best idea seems like writing a book with your old friend from college.  Keep it up, girl.  Have faith.  You are failing upwards.

Thanks Girls! xoxo, L&L

To read more about Emma and Nicola, head on over to their website or find them on Facebook and Twitter.

What's on Nicola Kraus and Emma McLaughlin's Bucket List?

We've been having so much fun this past year learning more about all of our favorite authors!  First, there were 25 Things we were dying to get the answers to.  Then we wanted to discover 5 Things we didn't already know about these fabulous women. And because we didn't want debut authors to feel left out, we began giving out our Lit IT Girl tiara to the best of the best.  But even after we learned all these things, we still found ourselves wanting to know MORE.  Because, well, we're just greedy like that.  So we came up with a new feature that we think will be a lot of fun! THE BUCKET LIST.

That's right. It wasn't enough to learn 5 things.  Now we MUST know what our favorite authors want to do before they die.  Because not only are we greedy, but we're pretty damn nosy too.

And to kick it off, we've got Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, one of our all all-time fave writing teams.  Seriously, the writer's crush we have on them is OFF THE CHARTS.  And since they did such a incredible job of kicking off our 5 Things feature, we thought they'd be the perfect choice to lead off with their Bucket List.

Why do we love Emma and Nicola so much?  Well, it could be the fact that they've written a few of our most beloved books like The Nanny Diaries and Nanny Returns. Or the fact that they were kind enough to interview us over at Sheknows.com last year. But they're also super nice, funny and love Tina Fey as much as we do!  And they've even written a sassy YA novel to satisfy Liz's secret love for the genre. C'mon, what's not to love?

Speaking of Nanny Returns, it comes out in paperback tomorrow.  So if you didn't run out to find out what happened to Nan when it first came out, here's your chance to catch up on what the X's have been up to.

And OF COURSE we have FIVE copies to give away! Just leave a comment and you'll be entered to win.  We'll choose the winner by random drawing on Wednesday night.  Sorry, but this one is for US residents only. =(

So without further adieu, Liz & Lisa are very proud to present our very first Bucket List!

EMMA AND NICOLA'S BUCKET LIST

1. Meet Angelina. Because, well, why not?

2. Meet Tina Fey. Because we love her. And so Nicki can ask who cuts her hair.

3. Go to Asia. We're really not picky about where. But we both feel we didn't do enough traveling before becoming moms and want to make up for it now. You know, when it's really hard.

4. We're both pretty wussy, so you're not going to find anything like skydiving on this list. We don't think accidentally dying while in pursuit of exciting life experience is noble. But maybe a nice hike through the Grand Canyon?

5. Go to a spa. We've been talking about doing this since 1995 and have yet to so much as get a pedicure together.

Thanks so much Emma and Nicola! xoxo, Liz & Lisa

To find our more about these lovely and talented women, head on over to their website or hit them up on Facebook and Twitter.

5 things Liz & Lisa didn't know about...The authors of the Nanny Diaries

O.M.G.

Can you pinch us? It's really happening... The New York Times Bestselling authors of THE NANNY DIARIES, Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus are here for the debut of our latest series "5 things Liz and Lisa didn't know about..." where we ask our favorite authors to dish out juicy and secret tidbits about their lives. Because we're just nosy like that-and know you are too!

We're like kids on Christmas. Or women who accidentally happened upon a majuh sale.  Or moms who've just been given a party pass to go out while daddy stays home. We know we're giddy but when authors like McLaughlin and Kraus, not only agree to be interviewed but also wanted to interview us you have a burning desire to stand up and shout from the rooftops, "HELL YEAH!" Or at the very least to, um, blog about it.

And we're sure you've heard but Nanny's baaaaaaack! Look for  NANNY RETURNS on December 15th or pre order it here. The sequel to the critically acclaimed NANNY DIARIES picks up 12 years later...after the discovery of the nanny cam that nanny left behind...and she gets sucked right back into the world she left behind. So. juicy.

Just like the 5 things we didn't know about Emma and Nicola!

1.  We have date night. When in the phase of generating a first draft we try to see each other once a week for a movie or the theater.  And it's always that delicious high school feeling like it's been FOREVER since we hung out. Even though we've talked a minimum of five times on the phone that day.  And we won't even count the emails.

2.  We have codependent food fixations. When on tour one of us will invariably say, "Ooo, do you think they'll have _____ here?" (Fill in the blank with some random local treat.)  Invariably "they" will not, and neither will the local diner, bakery or supermarket.  Cut to us trying to construct key lime pie/peanut butter cupcake/baked Alaska from an assortment of over priced stale goods out of a mini bar fridge.

3.  We are suckers for the charming.We may talk a tough game about the moneyed folks and the places they hang but, no matter how much we yell at ourselves, we still go weak in the knees for an enchanting wallpaper.  Curse you, Osborne and Little!

4.  We believe in the Law of Attraction. Call it what you will, the power of intention, cognitive behavioral therapy, if you build it he will come-after a decade of partnership we've learned that holding a positive vision is job criteria numero uno.

5.  We feel better about life just knowing Angelina Jolie is out there. Rocking motherhood, neutral casuals, airplane navigation and Amnesty International.  If she were a religion, we'd join.

Thanks, ladies!

xoxo, Liz & Lisa

For more about Emma and Nicola and their other FAB books, CITIZEN GIRL, DEDICATION, and THE REAL REAL, check out www.emmaandnicola.com. And click here to become their fan on Facebook.