Emily Giffin's 5 Dos and a Do-Over

Today is a VERY special day.  And it's not just because we have the incredibly awesome EMILY GIFFIN debuting our brand spankin' new feature, Five Do's and a Do-Over.  Or that we are giving away cool stuff, including a FLIP VIDEO CAMERA and FIVE copies of  Heart of the Matter(due out in paperback on March 15th).  It's because we are also celebrating Chick Lit is not Dead's TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY! Yes, that's right. It's been two years since we bravely launched our first posts having absolutely no damn clue what we were doing!(Click to read Liz and Lisa's)  And since then, we've had such a blast hanging out with y'all.  We might be a bit biased, but we happen to think our readers are freakin' awesome!  So thank you, lovely and loyal ladies(and a few good men!) for taking time out of your incredibly busy lives to stop by to read about ours.  We truly appreciate your support these past two years.  And in case you were wondering, this next year is going to be even bigger and better than the last.

New Features!  More authors!  Bigger giveaways!

And speaking of all those things, it's our pleasure to debut 5 Do's and a Do-Over with one of our ALL-TIME favorite authors.  Not only has Emily Giffin written some of our favorite books, she's also incredibly fun and sassy(Not to mention hawt too!). Her best-selling books occupy prime real estate on our bookshelves and are destined to become Chick Lit classics!

And with the movie version of  Something Borrowed hitting theaters May 6th, (starring Liz's crush John Krasinski!) we've decided that Emily may be the Coolest. Author. EVEH! And stay tuned, because we'll be doing some fun things for the movie too.  But in the meantime, head here for all things SOBO. And make sure to like the official Facebook page for the movie too!

We're ecstatic that Emily agreed to share five things that must be done and one thing she'd like to redo. And once you've read her list, we think you'll be girl-crushing on her as much as we do-it's fantastic!

And OF COURSE we have an awesome giveaway to celebrate!  Leave a comment and you'll be entered to win a Flip video camera or one of FIVE copies of Heart of the Matter! We'll pick the winners after 6pm PST on Sunday February 20th.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS: EMILY GIFFIN'S 5 DO'S AND A DO-OVER

5 DO’S

1.  Invest in a quality camera and capture lots of random moments. Other than actually making the memories, there are few things more important to me than recording them. At times I feel as if I'm living the moment through the lens of a camera, but I never regret the photographs later.

2.  Live alone at least once. It is great fun having roommates and I'm a big believer in living with boyfriends if it feels right. And of course, it is wonderful to be married and build a home and life with another person. But I will always cherish the few years of my twenties in which I lived completely alone, and I think everyone should enjoy this serenity and independence at some point in their lives.

3.  Travel somewhere exotic and unexpected. There are certain obvious destinations that everyone should try to see--London, Rome, Paris, the Grand Canyon. But try visiting a place off the beaten path--a place that isn't so obvious and that few, if any, of your family and friends have ventured. For me, this list includes swimming in the Blue Lagoon in Iceland, celebrating Midsummer's Eve on a remote island in Sweden, and wandering through the tiny medieval streets of Bruges. In addition to actually having these experiences, it makes for great cocktail party fodder.

4.  Break a heart and have yours broken. It is part of life and everyone should experience both. So live and love with wild abandon until both happen to you at least once.

5.  Cut bait on toxic friendships. Although there are few things as precious as old friends, don't become so nostalgic and sentimental that you maintain unhealthy ones. Life is too short, and if a "friend" consistently brings you down, then she isn't one. Jettison her and make room for a new one.

1 DO-OVER

One of my favorite quotes is by Mark Twain:

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

I so believe in this, but it took me a while to really internalize the truth of it. I wish I could go back to my twenties and apply this philosophy. Live life a little more on the edge, instead of chasing the next accomplishment and trying to please others. Fortunately, I finally figured this out--which is how I found the courage to quit my job as an attorney, move to London and write my first novel, Something Borrowed. It was a huge risk, but one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Thanks Emily!!! xo, L&L

Want to read more about Emily and see pictures from her last book tour?  Then head here. And don't forget to check her out on Facebook and Twitter-she's a lot of fun!

25 things Liz & Lisa want to know about...Emily Giffin

We're thrilled that Emily Giffin is answering our 25 "hard hitting" questions because we heart her. In fact, we more than heart her. We have total writer crushes on her.  Something Borrowed and Something Blue are two of our favorite Chick Lit books...and the novels that finally inspired us to get off our lazy asses and write that book we'd been talking about writing for, um, like, 10 years! (Thanks, Emily!)  All four of her books - Something Borrowed (2004), Something Blue (2005), Baby Proof (2006), and Love the One You're With (2008) - have been New York Times bestsellers and translated into a bazillion languages! And her fifth book, Heart of the Matter, is due out in Summer 2010. (We can't wait!) Love the One You're With (LTOYW) is out in paperback now and is the perfect book to throw in your beach bag and devour while you soak up the summer rays. (PS: It's really juicy--about a girl who gets a chance at a "do-over" on her love life!)

One more thing...we have 5 autographed copies of LTOYW to give away. Because we're twores (twitter whores) now, we've decided that if you're one of the first five people to follow us on Twitter Lizandlisa, RT our link to this blog post and send us a DM, you'll get a book! *Tweet* *Tweet*, tweeps!

Now, without further adieu---CHICKLITISNOTDEAD.COM PRESENTS: 25 Things Liz & Lisa want to know about Emily Giffin:

1. Inside my purse, you'll discover: a complete mess. A mass of receipts, random lip gloss, sharpie pens, Blackberry, iPod

2. My secret talent: identifying fonts

3. If stranded on an island, the five things I couldn't live without: I'm assuming you mean other than items to survive. And my children. So here goes: My iPod, my Blackberry, my computer, US Weekly and a Starbucks latte every morning.

4. On my nightstand you'll find: piles of books, photos of my children, peppermint foot lotion

5. When I grew up, I wanted to be: a novelist

6. My worst job: a waitress at Colonial Ice Cream. I got paid $4.50 an hour and my boyfriend got $5/hr.

7. My comfort food: not sure how comforting it is, but guacamole.

8. The location where I write: my attic office or coffee shops.

9. Three songs on my IPOD's most played list: Ani DiFranco's As Is, Joshua Radin's Lovely Tonight and Dispatch's Out Loud

10. If I was on the cover of US Weekly, my headline would read: Best-selling Author Wrecks Mini-Van .... AGAIN!

11. The three books that make me think of my childhood:

Ramona the Brave

Anne of Green Gables

Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great

12. My favorite Chick Flick: Notting Hill and When Harry Met Sally

13. My favorite Chick Lit book: Melissa Banks' Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing. Is that chick lit? I think so.

14. My "must see" TV: American Idol, Lost, and The Office

15. My Starbucks order: grande skinny double latte

16. My favorite curse word: not really a curse word, but I enjoy an occasional "douchebag"

17. My celebrity man crush: Ryan Reynolds, Matthew McConaughey and Taye Diggs but Jake Ryan (Sixteen Candles) will always have a special place in my heart

18. My celebrity girl crush: Jennifer Aniston

19. My writer media crush: Rachel Maddow

20. My last meal before execution: I refuse to answer that question! (as in, I'm not going to think about my execution!)

21. Three words to summarize my book: universal, resonant, wrenching

22. It took me _____  to write my book. One year

23. My book's original title: Was always Love the One You're With

24. Right now, I'm working on: a new novel, Heart of the Matter

25. Chick Lit is alive & kicking because: quality writing, no matter what genre, will always be in demand

Check out  www.emilygiffin.com to find out where to buy Love the One You're With, read a sneak peek of Heart of the Matter or to get more info on Emily and her other books!

A big xoxo to you Emily!

Lisa's Top Twelve All-Time Faves plus one special mention

I'm a girl who doesn't have a favorite anything. I'm the kind of person who loves Italian food but can also get down with some orange chicken and an egg roll. I've watched The Holiday as much as the Die Hard series. I don't have a favorite color, but I lean toward blue and green (if you don't count black and gray). I love Manhattan (New York) as much as Laguna Beach (the city not the television show). So when you ask me for my top ten favorite books, my mind starts spinning. Do I categorize them? Should I make one list that's comprised of my favorite chick lit, another for memoirs, another for biographies and so on? Do I start with the books I read when I was a little girl because then I'd have to include Judy Blume's, Are you There God, It's me Margaret and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing that I still firmly believe are better than many books written today. In the end, I decided to close my eyes and go with my gut. I went to my bookshelf and nightstand and grabbed the ones that made me happy during a time in my life when I needed them. At the end of the day, that's the function of a book as far as I'm concerned.

Somehow, I ended up with 12 (in no particular order) plus one special mention. I doubt my descriptions will do these books justice so I can only hope that you are inspired to read them or to read them again. Sometimes the second time around is even better!

1. Straight Up and Dirty by Stephanie Klein I didn't hear about Straight Up and Dirty from Liz or one of my girlfriends that I often swap books with. Turns out, it was Matt (my "manfriend"), who said the colorful cover caught his eye and after reading the back, thought it sounded like me. (I'm sure it was probably the title more than the cover but anywhoo...) He was right- Straight Up and Dirty and I were/are/always will be a perfect fit. I've read it twice and given it as a gift more times than I can count. Stephanie Klein's writing is the perfect combination of witty, smart, self-deprecating and honest in this memoir about her life with the wrong guy and her journey to finding the right one.

2. The Big Love by Sarah Dunn Time Magazine called The Big Love "Unapologetic Chick Lit" and I couldn't agree more. Sarah Dunn's first novel grabs you from page one when Alison's boyfriend steps out for mustard and never returns.  It's a beach read that also makes you think. Is there a better combination?

3. Something Borrowed & Something Blue by Emily Giffin Emily Giffin is inspirational because her debut novel Something Borrowed hit the NY Times best seller list and when you read it, it's obvious why it did. She has incredible talent because she writes about a girl who sleeps with her best friend's fiancé but still has the ability to make you feel for and even like her. Her follow up novel, Something Blue is the same story but told from the perspective of the friend who was cheated on in Something Borrowed. The one you thought was a shallow, heartless be-yotch but now you suddenly root for and understand.  That, my friends, is talent.

4. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri This is my intellectual book. Not that the others aren't well written with big words. But this has that little sticker on the front that says "Winner of the Pulitzer Prize." If you haven't heard of this author or book, you've probably heard of the movie the Namesake. It was adapted from her novel of the same name (the movie did NOT do the book justice, but do they ever?). Interpreter of Maladies is a series of short stories and Jhumpa's debut novel. The way she writes about people "seeking love beyond the barriers of nations and generations" as described on the back of her book, makes you feel like you're right there in the room with her characters, smelling the food they're cooking, feeling the emotions they're feeling and hoping, as much as they are, that it will all work out.

5. Time of My Life by Allison Winn Scotch I just read this book and fell in love. It's all about those two little words so many of us ask ourselves, "What if?" If you've ever questioned your life, wondered what would've happened if you'd married your college sweetheart or if you hadn't, this book will make you look at and appreciate your life for what it really is.

6. Conversations with the Fat Girl by Liza Palmer Just a few exciting things about this book... It was Liza's debut novel and the first novel for the publisher 5 Spot; it went on to be an international best seller and has been optioned to HBO for a series! Her writing is hilarious, (and so is she--Liz and I saw her speak along with Megan Crane whose book Frenemies is sitting on my nightstand calling out to me) and she's truly the master of snappy dialogue. Her story really hits home for anyone who's ever felt like they could not catch a break and who's ever been insecure or questioned his or her entire life. Face it girls and boys, that's all of us. And if it's not, you suck or you're lying!

7. Sammy's Hill & Sammy's House by Kristin Gore Kristin Gore, you may or may not know, is Al Gore's daughter who established herself as a writer on SNL. Her main character in both books, Sammy, is flawed and quirky (my favorite combo) and even has a pet gold fish (hate them, but gave it a pass because it's funny) and I love her!  Both books are so much fun!

8. Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld I love the way Curtis Sittenfeld writes. She paints you an incredibly detailed picture of what her main characters are seeing and feeling. I love this story about a 14 year old girl who feels completely out of place in her prep school. She never fits in over the four years she attends. We all have our junior high and high school traumatic experiences that have followed us through life. I know I empathized with this awkward adolescent (In fact, is there any other kind?). You should've seen me! I had glasses, braces and a perm that I poured a bottle of Infusium on every day. My hair was actually hard to the touch (I'll find & post a picture for you).

9.  The Wonder Spot by Melissa Bank I also loved The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing but The Wonder Spot is lesser known and reminds me a lot of Prep in the way it's written. Like Prep, it's about a girl who feels like she doesn't fit in- anywhere. Through a series of missteps, she searches for the life she wants to have. It's a wise and funny book-- fow show.

10. The Guy Not Taken by Jennifer Weiner It goes without saying that Good in Bed and In Her Shoes are fantastic. There's just something about the short story that I love and maybe that's why it's this book by Jennifer Weiner that I'm choosing to highlight. It just can't be easy to tell a compelling and interesting story in only a few pages. I like being left wanting more and personally feel that she could've developed several of these stories into novels!  You should do it, Jennifer!

11. The Bachelorette Party by Karen McCullah Lutz First...a bit of interesting trivia about this author. She wrote the screenplay for 10 Things I Hate About You and Legally Blonde. This is another debut novel that centers around one night. A night we've all experienced... whether we've been the fool in the veil running around Vegas or one of the fools with a plastic penis around her neck chasing after the fool in the veil. This is a fun page turner that I read might be turned into a movie. From chick lit to chick flick!

12. Beginner's Greek by James Collins I loved this book because it was different than anything I'd read in a long time. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that it was written by a man about a man who still believes in romance and fate.  It's a story about a man who craves a happy ending and (SPOILER ALERT) he gets it too!

Honorable Mention: See Jane Write, A Girl's Guide to Writing Chick LIt by Sarah Mlynowski & Farrin Jacobs

Liz and I will be the first to tell you that we had no idea what we were doing when we wrote our book. Only after we finished I'll Have Who She's Having, did we start reading books on how to write books. We definitely went about it backwards but that's just who we are. We didn't follow a lot of the rules like outlining (shh!!). And we didn't even know our ending until close to the ending.

See Jane Write, A Girl's Guide to Writing Chick Lit was a little treasure that we discovered on the shelf at Barnes & Noble and devoured while standing in the store.  In true Liz/Lisa fashion, we used it as a guide to see if the novel we'd already written had even a chance of making it.  See Jane Write, A Girl's Guide to Writing Chick Lit is very straightforward and funny. It also meant a lot to us because it was written by Sarah Mlynowski (who we love) and Farrin Jacobs (a former chick lit editor who became a writer who we also now love). They obviously believe in the chick lit genre.  They make no apologies for chick lit-- in fact they champion it. It's a great book that includes great tips from authors like Emily Giffin, Meg Cabot and Sophia Kinsella.

Be sure to tell us about your faves!

Top Ten All-Time Faves by Liz

Discussing all the reasons why I love chick lit has made me nostalgic for my favorite books.  So I've decided to list my top ten all-time favorites and would love to hear what is at the top of your reading list. Twilight disclaimer: Okay so it won't be on my top ten but I did like it!  It is beautifully written and engaging, but I wanted to highlight books that I've gone back and read two and three times just so I could visit the characters again. So don't tag me as a Twilight hater, I'm not. But I'm not gonna lie, Bella's damsel in distress act starting getting on my nerves in New Moon.

Liz's Top Ten All-Time Faves

1. Summer Sisters by Judy Blume

I'll admit that the only reason I had picked up this book was because of  my childhood loyalty to classics like Are You There God?  It's Me Margaret (They talked about her period! gasp!) and forbidden fare like Forever (oh, admit it, you know you all had a copy of it hidden under your bed in the 80's!)

However, Summer Sisters turned out to be a wonderful novel about the complex, lifelong friendship of two girls.  I have read it over ten times and still have my dog-eared copy on the bookshelf.  This is a must-read!

2. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and Little Altars Everywhere by Rebecca Wells

I love these two books and think that you should read Ya-Ya first and then Little Altars Everywhere second even though they were written in the opposite order. This is also a story about life-long friends set in the South.  I was so bummed when the movie came out, I thought it didn't do the book justice at all!

3. Something Borrowed and Something Blue by Emily Giffin

Lisa and I have talked about writing a book together for fifteen years, but it wasn't until we read these two books that we felt inspired to start.  What I love best about these books is that Something Borrowed is told in the voice of Rachel and then the story picks up again in something Blue in the voice of Darcy, Rachel's best friend.  Emily Giffin does a awesome job of making these women likeable even though they make bad decisions.

4. Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner

From page one, I was in love.  I know that In Her Shoes gets a lot more attention because of the movie, but I believe this story about Cannie's journey to self-discovery is her finest.

5. Jemina J by Jane Green

Love, love, love this story about a women who sends a man a fake picture and then has to reinvent herself into the fictional person she's created when he wants to meet her.

6. Seeing Me Naked by Liza Palmer

I love Liza's ability to write sophisticated characters that we can all still relate to.  A great read for anyone that feels they are always trying to live up to other's expectations.

7. Me Vs. Me by Sarah Mlynowski

I adore this book about a women who can't decide which path to choose so she starts to live them both after her wish on a falling star comes true.  I have such a soft spot for novels that have a little magic going on!

8. A Most Uncommon Degree of Popularity by Kathleen Gilles Seidel

I just read this book for the first time a few weeks ago and LOVED it.  Once I started it, I literally didn't put it down until I finished.  A story about trading in your corporate life for the mommy track and the competitive insanity that can come along with it.

9. Straight up and Dirty: A Memoir by Stephanie Klein

Lisa loves memoirs and turned me on to this hilarious story about a woman's journey to find herself again after divorce.  Stephanie's brutal honesty about life is refreshing and makes this a must-read.

10.  Names My Sisters Call Me by Megan Crane

I love Megan's witty humor and complicated characters that are filled with depth and emotion!  Smart and Sassy chick lit.

So there you have it!  What are your favorites?  I need some suggestions on what to read next!