Wait...it can't be December already! This year has flown by and we're thrilled that you've spent your valuable time with us in 2011. Later this month we'll be revealing our top book picks for the years and giving away some great reads, don't miss it!
Today we're happy to have Michele Gorman visiting with us and revealing her 5 Loves and a Dud. Michelle is the author of Single in the City, a fun, sassy read that we think is the perfect remedy for in-law overload this holiday season (we'll be keeping a copy close by for sure!).
Here's the skinny on Single in the City: Recipe for changing your life: Take one twenty six year old American, add to one two thousand year old city, add a big dose of culture clash and stir. To think Hannah ever believed that Americans differed from Brits mainly in pronunciation, sophistication and dentistry. That’s been the understatement of a lifetime.
She lands upon England’s gentle shores with no job, no friends and no idea how she’s supposed to build the new life she’s dreaming of. How is supposed to make new friends when she has no idea about the rules of engagement? How can she win over her poisonous boss when she’s not even trusted to arrange the paperclips? And could her nationality give her an exotic edge in the dating game over Britain’s home-grown lovelies?
Armed with little more than her enthusiasm, she charges headlong into London, baffling the locals in her pursuit of a new life, new love and sense of herself.
Sound up your alley? Then leave a comment and you'll be entered to win one of two E-book copies. We'll choose the winners on Sunday December 11th after 6pm PST.
CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...MICHELE GORMAN'S 5 LOVES AND A DUD
1. Smells. I was blessed (and cursed) with my Mom’s acute sense of smell and from childhood many of my memories have been evoked by scents. While this olfactory overdrive means that taking out the rubbish is only on my to-do list under extreme duress, it also means that many smells have power. Ground coffee, freshly cut grass or chocolate chip cookies evoke lovely memories of mornings at home, Saturdays in the summertime (when Dad mowed the lawn) and Grandma Gorman (baker extraordinaire). Once, in my twenties, a woman passed me at work wearing my Mom’s signature perfume. I nearly followed her down the corridor, sniffing as I went. Luckily I didn’t, so HR didn’t need to be involved.
2. Laughing till it hurts. My friends, and boyfriend, are among the funniest people on the planet. And Living in London for almost 15 years has given me a whole new vein of humour to tap into. Brits have a way with words that often has me on the floor, and nights in with a group of friends, cooking a meal and talking about everything and nothing, is one of my favourite ways to while away the hours.
3. Hong Kong. A few years ago I took a sabbatical from work and moved to Hong Kong to research my next book. It was a case of life imitating art. Since I write about fish-out-of-water experiences I figured it was unfair to readers to try doing so if I’ve never lived in the city! My love of Hong Kong really surprised me because I hadn’t liked it the first time I visited. I’d stayed in a 5* hotel in Central then and went out to the world-class restaurants. I know I know, it sounds like hell. This Hong Kong felt just like other big modern cities, but when I moved there I saw a completely different place - the steep winding little alleys that lead to small wonders, the wet markets, dried seafood sellers and ancient-looking traditional medicine shops, noodle restaurants where men came every morning to right the wrongs of the world. It was the beginning of a lifelong love affair with the city.
4. Glorious food. I will never be one of those women who passes up cake and ice cream, or stinky cheese or tangy bowls of pasta for the sake of my waistline! I love love love food and a Saturday spent at Borough Market in London searching out that evening’s fresh ingredients is as wonderful as indulging in those treats later.
5. The buzz of talking to book lovers. Every time a reader gets in touch to say she liked Single in the City I have to fight the urge to ask for her home address to put her on my Christmas card list. I love to talk to readers, and get excited every time I get a facebook friend request, twitter follow or email. I thought that writing was its own reward, but talking to those who read my book is even better! So please do get in touch on facebook (www.facebook.com/michele.gorman3) or Twitter or send an email (www.michelegorman.co.uk).
DUD
Shovel thumbs. I suspect this is a fairly rare dud, so let me set the scene for you. Let’s say you’re talking to a perfectly nice, funny, intelligent man, marvelling at how handsome he is. Thick, beautiful hair, piercing eyes, full lips and a stubbly jaw, tall, broad-shouldered and fit. You look at his strong hands … and notice that he’s got thumbnails where his fingernails should be. Big, flat nails covering the entire end of his thumbs. This anatomical deformity makes me wretch. No doubt there’s some psychological answer that hypnosis could uncover but that would involve my having to pay someone to visualize shovel thumbs. And I can’t imagine anything worse. So he could be the man of my dreams. Those grotesque thumbnails aren’t coming anywhere near me.
Thanks Michele! xo, L&L