Karen Bergreen's 5 BEST EVERS

Our guest today: Karen Bergreen Why we love her: She is freakin' hilarious, that's why!

Her latest: Perfect is Overrated

The Scoop: Think you want to be the perfect mom? Think again…..

Kate Alger has finally found the cure for her post-partum depression.  After years of suffering, all it takes to bring this mommy back to life were a few gruesome homicides!  When someone starts offing the alpha-moms from Kate’s daughter’s preschool, Kate—who worked as an Assistant District Attorney before she had Molly—realizes it’s time to get out of bed, dust off the skills and find out who is killing all the mommies she loves to hate.

Wickedly funny and slightly twisted, Perfect Is Overrated is a romp through the life of one very needy mom, her cockeyed family, gorgeous ex-husband, and the entire insane, entitled, over-dressed , over-zealous, eternally jealous parent body at The Hawthorne Preschool.

Our thoughts: We LOVED it-this one will totally relieve your Mom stress!

Giveaway: FIVE copies!  Just leave a comment and we'll choose winners on Sunday October 21st after 6pm PST.

Fun Fact: Karen is also a stand up comedian...no wonder we think she's so funny!

Where to read more about Karen: Her website, Facebook and Twitter.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...KAREN BERGREEN'S BEST EVERS

Best Song:  This is muy hard (I try to use a Spanish word at least once a day to show my worldliness), But I am going to have to go with Looking at You by Cole Porter. I am obsessed with Cole Porter, and in reality, it may not have been his best work, but it was my first dance at my wedding and I’m trying to suck up to my husband as our tenth anniversary approaches. I’m hoping for a pony.

Best Book: Again, a difficult one, but I love Bryce Courtenay’s The Power of One.  I love coming of age stories. I love the theme of the triumphant underdog, in this case the protagonist, Peekay. (PK is a term of endearment for his real name, Pisskop, Pisshead in Afrikaans.). The book is a good old fashioned sage, set in South Africa during the rise of Hitler.  We get to hate Nazi kids and love quirky characters.  The book, I recall, was long, but when it ended, I felt a sense of loss.

Best Movie: Can we have a tie between Tootsie and The Shawshank Redemption? I love Dustin Hoffman so.  When I was in ninth grade, I found his number in the telephone book and called it and hung up.  It was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time.  Tootsie made me realize that my love for him transcended his appearance –I would have dated him as woman.  The movie is hilarious-my favorite moment is when a depressed Tootsie tips over the mime in Central Park.  The song Something’s Telling Me it Might Be You is nice and sappy, the way I like em. I like the Shawshank Redemption because I like revenge. I’m very angry. Could someone hold me?

Best Moment: I wish I could say when my kids were born, but I was nervous and bloated. Maybe when I got engaged, but the happiness was mixed with relief.  I know. It was when I was sitting at a callback interview for a prestigious law job (I used to be a lawyer before becoming a comic). The interviewer was describing what my potential job entailed and I interrupted her and said, “Excuse me, I am so so  sorry to have wasted your time, but I am going to withdraw my application here so that I can be a stand up comic.”

Best Piece of Advice: This is the easiest one and it relates to Best Moment.  I had been in therapy when I decided to switch from law to comedy and the only thing holding me back was my fear of disapproval.  I remember asking my therapist, “What will people think?” And she said, “Why would you care?” I felt liberated.

Thanks Karen! xoxo, L&L

Lit IT Girl: Debut Author Karen Bergreen

Between life, kids, babies, breast pumps, careers and running this site, we've always thought we've had a lot of sh*t on our plates.  But that was before we met our latest Lit IT Girl, Karen Bergreen.  Not only is she a debut author, she's also a stand-up comedian, former lawyer AND stressed-out mom!  We are officially handing our over-committed crown to her! Karen's debut novel shows off her wicked sense of humor.  Following Pollyis the perfect combination of laughter and mystery!

Would you call Alice Teakle a stalker?  Or just someone with an, um, healthy obsession with golden girl Polly Linley Dawson?  No one much notices Alice: not her boss, not the neighbors, not even her Mother.  Besides, everyone follows Polly: her business selling high-end lingerie you can imagine only her elegant self wearing, her all-over-the-social-pages marriage to movie t follows her a little more….closely.

And when she loses her job and starts to follow Polly Dawson one Manhattan autumn afternoon, Alice stumbles on the object of her attention sprawled dead on the floor of a boutique.  Alice is forced to become truly beneath anyone’s notice. Invisible, in fact. Because she’s accused of murder.

But can another obsession help save Alice with the fallout?  Charlie is Alice’s longtime unattainable crush.  He might be able to help her out of the mess she’s in…in return for a favor or two, that is.    And how will Alice find out if Charlie is really the man Alice thinks he is?

We think you'll LOVE this hilarious novel.  That's why we have FIVE copies to give away!  Just leave a comment and you'll be entered to win.  We'll choose the winners on Friday night after 6pm PST.

And stay tuned-next week we'll be rolling out a new feature with one of your FAVORITE authors.  Can you guess who?

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS: LIT IT GIRL KAREN BERGREEN

1. How many agents did you query before you found "the one"? I was very lucky.  A close friend in publishing enjoyed a draft of a novel (never to be published-believe me, it's better this way) to a well-regarded literary agent.  The agent thought I had some talent. I happened to mention my idea for a new novel: a loser with promise becomes addicted to following people, and one of them ends up dead. She urged me to drop the 368-baby I had produced and instead start from scratch.  She took me on.  I felt incredibly lucky.

2. What was your rock bottom moment during the process? I'm glad this is your next question because I am not that lucky.  The agent from the last question (there is no need to learn her name as you will soon realize)  had problems with the book, namely,  I needed a plot. She tried to tell me this, but she couldn't speak my language and I couldn't speak hers.  She dumped me.  I didn't tell anyone for three days.  Not my husband, not my friends, which is a big deal as I am not a private person.  Finally, I told my friend, Victoria Skurnick, the one who had introduced me to the agent to begin with.  Victoria, prominent in publishing, had recently become an agent herself.  She offered to take a look at my plotless novel.  She fell in love with Alice and because she knew me, she knew how to tell me exactly what I needed to do to transform the pages into an actual book.

3. How long did it take to write your book? I wish I could say I wrote it on a napkin at The Olive Garden for the 23 minutes I waited for my Sicilian Scampi, but it was more like two years.

4. What did you do to celebrate your book deal? I stopped hating myself for 24 hours. The best part was this:  Polly in the novel is Alice's arch enemy from college, someone who has prospered in the face of really bad behavior; I have a couple of people like that in my own life and when they asked me "How is that novel of yours going?" I savored saying St. Martin's 2010.

5. Knowing what you know now about publishing your first novel, what would you have done differently? I would have made it about vampires.

6. Who is your writer crush? Susan Isaacs.  And when I met her, I, the chattiest person in town, had absolutely nothing to say.  After twenty minutes I uttered, "Duh, I really liked Almost Paradise."

7.  What's your biggest distraction or vice while writing? You ask the question incorrectly?  It should be: what isn't your biggest distraction while writing? Then I could say, with confidence, "taking my kids to the park."  I hate the park, by the way.  I am likely to be distracted by TV, which is sacred, hunger, boredom, sickness, health, and getting the mail.

8.  GNO drink of choice? champagne or a rich red wine.

9.  Favorite trashy TV show? I don't watch TV. just kidding.  Is the Good Wife considered trashy?  I love that.  I like things that get canceled.  I loved Mercy on NBC.  I was in deep love with James Tupper.

10.  What celeb would you love to have a Twitter war with? Bill Maher because he is the only person I violently agree and disagree with.

Thanks Karen! xo, L&L

To read more about Karen, head on over to her website or find her on Facebook or Twitter.