Juliette Fay's 5 BEST EVERS

Our guest today: Juliette Fay Why we love her: We love to curl up by the fire with her books!

Her latest: The Shortest Way Home

The Scoop: Sean has spent twenty years in Third World war zones and natural disaster areas, fully embracing what he’d always felt was his life’s mission. But when burnout sets in, Sean is reluctantly drawn home to Belham, Massachusetts, the setting of Fay’s much-loved Shelter Me. There, he discovers that his steely aunt, overly dramatic sister, and quirky nephew are having a little natural disaster of their own. When he reconnects with a woman from his past, Sean has to wonder if the bonds of love and loyalty might just rewrite his destiny.

Our thoughts: We think you'll fall in love with this one!

Giveaway: FIVE copies!  Leave a comment and you'll be entered to win.  We'll choose the winners on Sunday November 4th after 3pm PST.

Fun Fact: Smarty Pants alert!  Juliette has a master's degree in Public Policy from freakin' HARVARD.

Where you can read more about Juliette: Her website, Facebook and Twitter.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...JULIETTE FAY'S 5 BEST EVERS

First, I have to say that I have many favorites of all of these things -- I'm sure most people do -- so the following is just the first thing that jumped to mind. In that sense I guess it's my subconscious favorite, and as close as I'll ever come to the truth.

BEST SONG: Maybe I'm Amazed by Paul McCartney The most honest love song ever written. He wrote it for his wife, Linda, to whom he was utterly devoted, and it's about the panic-laced awe you feel when love truly has you in its clutches.

I remember lying on my bed in the dark, late at night as a preteen, listening to this song on the radio, and praying that someday someone would feel this way about me. (Post-script: someone eventually did, and I married him.)

Current Alternate: Beautiful Soul by Jesse McCartney

I am a complete sucker for this song, which always makes my teenage daughter crack up. Maybe a little part of me is still that preteen girl . . .

BEST MOVIE: The Family Stone My go-to Christmas movie about a quirky family celebrating together -- the love, the friction, the way they know one another so well . . . and yet there are secrets and surprises. It's hilarious and heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful. The acting is fantastic and there's a scene that involves raw eggs and brotherly brawling that always has me gasping with laughter.

BEST BOOK: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson Written from the perspective of a 76-year-old man with a much younger wife and a 6-year-old son. He knows he'll die soon, and the son, whom he loves desperately, will barely remember him, so he's compiling the family history for the boy. It's slow and beautiful and thoughtful. Reading it felt like I was witness to something verging on the miraculous.

I know it sounds weird and overly gushy to say a book is a miracle, but that's how it felt.

BEST LIFE MOMENT: On a bus in Seattle Okay, really? On a bus? Let's start with the obvious choices: the day I married a really  great guy, the births of my four children, the day my first book was published. But after those highlights, what jumps to mind is . . .

I worked as an emergency shelter counselor in Seattle right out of college, and then started a daycare for homeless children. Our Place Daycare was housed in donated space right by the Space Needle. It had been a particularly exhausting day, and I stood at the bus stop, wearing a white shirt (I can still see it -- I loved that shirt!) covered in spit-up and snot and baby drool.

The bus came and I got on. Waiting for it to pull away from the curb, I looked out the window at the springtime-bright green leaves against the perfect cerulean blue of a cloudless sky. And a thought came to me: For all its heartbreak, this world is a beautiful place, and God is watching, and it's going to be okay. It was a moment of utter peace that I'll never forget.

BEST PIECE OF ADVICE: "Just keep swimming." -- Dory, from Finding Nemo It's the last best thing to do when nothing is going right. Some days it's all you can pull off, and on those days, it's enough.

Thanks Juliette! xoxo, L&L

Juliette Fay's 5 Do's and a Do-Over

 

Juliette Fay is one of those authors that once you discover her, you're hooked for life (or for as long as she'll keep writing!) Some of our favorite authors including the fabulously talented Beth Harbison and Emily Giffin have raved about Fay and her latest novel, Deep Down True.  Harbison calls it engrossing, touching and immensely satisfying and Giffin describes it as sincere, powerful and heartfelt. And we couldn't agree with them more. Plus, we really love on the cover!

Synopsis:

Deep Down True is the story of Dana Stellgarten, a quintessential good girl whose unfailing "niceness" is acquiring a surprising edge. Recently divorced and running low on funds, Dana has her hands full as the shock waves from her husband's departure reverberate through her family. Seven-year-old happy-go-lucky Grady suddenly develops anger management problems, and twelve-year-old Morgan struggles with an eating disorder as she tries to keep her head above the shark-infested waters of middle school. Then Dana's sixteen-year-old niece, Alder, comes crashing into their lives-literally-carrying with her a mysterious sorrow, yet also bringing an unexpected element of maturity and insight to their tightly-knit circle.

As Dana enters the slipstream of post-divorce romance with Grady's handsome football coach and attracts the interest of the town's charismatic queen bee, she will find that the tension between being true to herself and being liked doesn't end in middle school. Yet, where she least expects to find it, she discovers a true friend- someone who reminds Dana that the points of her inner compass are still there to guide her, even when the territory of her life feels like a foreign landscape.

Definitely take a second to read the first chapter and check out the fabulous book trailer.

And if you leave a comment, you'll be entered to win one of five copies of Deep Down True! We'll randomly select the winners after 6pm on Thursday, April 14th.

And now if we can have a drumroll please because it's time for her DO's and DO-OVER (check out the Do-over- we can definitely relate!)

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...JULIETTE FAY'S 5 DO'S AND A DO-OVER

5 DO'S

1. Do something you love even if you’re not good at it. I always admire the folks who sing loud in church even if they couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket. Belt it out, my friend! We can’t be virtuosos at everything, but that shouldn’t keep us doing things that deliver that inner jolt of joy.

2. Freak out your kids. Mine think I’m utterly predictable. It’s fun to prove them wrong sometimes, and mess with them a little. One of my favorites is every once in a while I call them in to dinner and there’s nothing on the table but ice cream and toppings. They go nuts. I smile smugly. Everyone wins.

3. Know your short suits. We all have them. Know where you tend to go wrong. Ask a trusted friend if you’re not sure, and accept the answers graciously. Thank her for telling you the painful news that you don’t listen as well as you might, or that those shoulder pads make you look like Tom Brady—and not in a good way.

4. Take pride in your jammies. As my teenage daughter will confirm, I’m no clothes horse. But since we spend a third of our lives in bed, our pajamas should feel and look good. I used to be a T-shirt-and-sweats girl, but no more. Soft, pretty sleepwear is worth every penny, and I believe it actually makes you sleep more soundly, content in the knowledge of your excellent jammies.

5. Show up and help out. If, as the saying goes, fifty percent of life is just showing up, the other fifty is making yourself useful once you get there. If everyone did one small helpful thing every day … just imagine.

DO-OVER

Oh, so many to choose from! I wish I had dated all those “boring” nice boys instead of the “interesting” ones who tended to be a little screwed up. “Interesting” gets boring real fast, and “boring” leaves a generous margin for the element of surprise.

To find out more about the lovely and talented Juliette Fay, check out her website and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

Thanks, Juliette!

xoxo,

L&L