Marci Nault's 5 Firsts and Lasts

Today's guest: Marci Nault Why we love her: We love the way she writes about friendship and love and everything in between!

Her latest: The Lake House (Out May 7th!)

The scoop: Achingly tender, yet filled with laughter, The Lake House brings to life the wide range of human emotions and the difficult journey from heartbreak to healing.

VICTORIA ROSE. Fifty years before, a group of teenage friends promised each other never to leave their idyllic lakeside town. But the call of Hollywood and a bigger life was too strong for Victoria . . . and she alone broke that pledge. Now she has come home, intent on making peace with her demons, even if her former friends shut her out. Haunted by tragedy, she longs to find solace with her childhood sweetheart, but even this tender man may be unable to forgive and forget.

HEATHER BREGMAN. At twenty-eight, after years as a globe-trotting columnist, she’s abandoned her controlling fiancé and their glamorous city life to build one on her own terms. Lulled by a Victorian house and a gorgeous locale, she’s determined to make the little community her home. But the residents, fearful of change and outsiders, will stop at nothing to sabotage her dreams of lakeside tranquility.As Victoria and Heather become unlikely friends, their mutual struggle to find acceptance—with their neighbors and in their own hearts—explores the chance events that shape a community and offer the opportunity to start again.

Our thoughts: A wonderful summer read!

Fun fact: Marci Nault is also the creator of 101 Dreams Come True, a website about going after your “bucket list.” On the site visitors can follow along as Marci accomplishes items on her list and documents her journey.

Giveaway: Two copies! Just leave a comment and be entered to win. We'll select the winners on Sunday, May 5th after 12pm PST.

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

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...MARCI NAULT'S 5 FIRSTS AND LASTS

1. Kiss

My first kisses were on the kindergarten bus. Every morning my mother would braid my long, blonde hair that reached the back of my knees. When I stepped onto the bus the boys would tug on my braids and then pull me into their seats and kiss me. I would push them away and say, “I hate your guts!” My mother always worried I wouldn’t be invited to the prom because by then I would’ve told every boy in my class how much I hated him.

In the end the hair proved useful. I had my mother put my hair in two ponytails with three braids on each side. When the boys tried to grab me I spun around really fast and smacked them with my hair.

This wasn’t exactly my last kiss, but it’s a better story. I was at Carnival in Rio stuck in the subway (long story). Hordes of people were dancing and singing while moving past me.

Then all of a sudden the most beautiful man I’d ever seen walked right up to me, told me I was beautiful, dipped me back and kissed me full on the mouth. (It turns out that this is a Carnival tradition.) He lifted me back up, took my hand and placed it on his bare, fit chest and said, “My heart beats for you.” I looked down at his gorgeous body; his tight buns shown off in black, boxer brief type swim trunks, and admired the Brazilian male form. Along with the sexy boxers was a pink tutu around his hips, a fluffy pink bikini on his chest and a tiny pink tiara in his thick, black hair. (Yes, costumes and drag are also a Carnival tradition.)

2. Book you read

Green Eggs and Ham was the first book I ever read on my own. I was four and so proud that I could read. I’ve had my nose in a book ever since.

The last book I read was Gone Girl and though I loved it, I was upset with the ending – great discussion piece though. Read it for yourself and decide.

3. Risk you took

First Risk I ever took was when I was fourteen and my brother took me rappelling. I was terrified of heights and was a bit of a momma’s girl. I remember leaning back, having to actually sit in mid-air trusting the harness and rope, while looking down the 120-foot drop. I was terrified, but then I was zipping down and bouncing off the rocks having the time of my life. After that I became addicted to taking risks.

The last time I took a risk was deciding to drive in Rio de Janeiro. I was starting a two-month trip through South America right after Christmas 2012 and didn’t realize that Rio was one of the biggest destinations for New Years. The hotels were all booked, and the closest place I could find in my price range was a four-hour drive south of Rio in a coastal town called Ubatuba.

Driving in Rio wasn’t recommended, but what else could I do? Within fifteen minutes of being on the road I began to feel like I was in a video game with cars weaving, beeping, and speeding while people crossed the highways dropping fruit. I became lost and the only thing I could do was wait until I found a large gas station to ask for directions.

At the station, the men were shocked that I was driving alone. Four of them tried to help me by playing charades (I didn’t know any Portuguese). Somehow I found my way and the next day I was sitting on a beach, drinking coconut water and staring at gorgeous men playing volleyball. (Brazilian men are some of the most beautiful in the world.)

4. Hell ya moment

My first Hell ya moment was when I decided to take volleyball lessons. I was so horrible at this sport that guys would push me off the court at backyard barbecues in order to keep the ball away from me. Embarrassed and tired of being pushed around I took an after dark course at the local high school. When I returned the following summer to play with my friends I jumped up and spiked the ball (well as strong as I could put it down at that time) right between two of the guys that had shoved me off the court.

My last Hell Ya moment: I run an online bridal boutique www.Elegantbridaldesigns.com and I went to a wholesaler show with really exclusive lines that tend to stick their noses up at online stores. I was determined to get what I needed from the show so instead of feeling like I didn’t belong I pretended that they needed me more than I needed them. I walked away with the three new distributors I wanted. Fake it till you make it.

5. Aha moment

I was in Yosemite for the first time and had climbed the rocks of one of the popular waterfalls to get away from the crowds below. I had a pool of water all to myself and a view of the entire valley. I stood feeling the mist from the waterfall and the wind from the valley and thought, “This world is awesome. I want to see it all.” From then on I was addicted to travel.

My last Aha Moment was at the Adult Nationals Figure Skating Competition in Scottsdale, AZ in April. I was about to perform for five judges and a huge crowd, and my nerves were getting the best of me. I kept thinking about everything that could go wrong and how badly I might perform. I had a chat in my head and said, “You love to skate. Go out and have fun and forget about being perfect. Skate for the love of it.”

My friends all said that I had the cheesiest smile on my face that lit up the arena as I neared the end of my program. I let go of the expectations and just lived for the moment and took the bronze medal.

I’m trying to take this attitude into my writing and life.

Thanks, Marci!

Valerie Frankel's 5 Things I'd Tell the Teen Me

Y'all know how much we loved Thin is the New Happy and It's Hard Not to Hate You by Valerie Frankel. Well, she's baaaack with Four of a Kind, a novel we're considering one of our new faves. It's about the secrets lives of four women and a monthly poker game (get it? four of a kind...) where they lay their cards on the table- literally. It's juicy, hilarious and insightful with just the right amount of sass. There's a character to which every woman can relate. As you read, are you Bess, Robin, Carla or Alicia? Excited to read it? You're in luck! We've got 5 copies of Four of a Kind to give away- just leave a comment and you'll be entered to win one of five copies. We'll randomly select the winners after 6PM PST on Sunday, March 4.

We also love Valerie's list of things she wishes she'd told her teen self. (We hate to admit it, but she's so right about #2.)

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...VALERIE FRANKEL'S 5 THINGS I'D TELL THE TEEN ME

1.     Find Your Truth. At first, I tried to fit in. I acted and dressed like a born-on-a-schooner preppy. As a pudgy, frizzy-haired Jew, that didn’t play. Then I tried not to fit it, and went full-on ‘80s punk with a black-and-orange Mohawk, safety pin jewelry, and snarly attitude. As a suburban New Jersey doctor’s daughter, the Cockney guttersnipe thing was a bit forced. Somewhere between those extremes was the real me. I would’ve figured out my personal style—and drawn confidence from it—a lot sooner if I’d stopped trying to look and act just like my peers, or nothing like them.

2.     Let Mom Win. My mother and I had some epic battles during my teen years. Now that I’m a mother, and my two teenage daughters often drive me up a freakin’ wall, I can see now that—in some cases—I should have just gone along with Mom’s plan. If for nothing more, we would have argued less. We might’ve learned to smooth over some of our big conflicts if we hadn’t fought the little ones to the death.

3.     Forever Is For Later. Why did I think any guy I spoke to might be my next major boyfriend? I put the pressure of eternity in a hallway “hello.” If I hadn’t hung my romantic dreams on, say, a guy I made eye contact with on the cafeteria patio, maybe I would have actually managed to talk to him.

4.     Appreciate Your Weight. I thought I was a hideously fat teenager, but I would be thrilled now to weigh what I did then. My teen years set the foundation for thirty years of bad body image that followed. If I could re-do it, I would have elevated my thinking from constant self-criticism to appreciation. It’s a lot to ask of your teen self, or any teenager, to be grateful for what you have and not to obsess about what you want, though. It’s a lot to ask of forty-year-olds, too.

5.     Write a series of books about young witches and wizards at a secret school for magic in England. Or, for that matter, Take your babysitting and waitress savings—$500 in 1983—and buy shares in Microsoft. Today, they’d be worth $1,000,000,000,000. I shit you not.

Thanks, Valerie!  xoxo, Liz & Lisa

To find out more about the fabulous Valerie Frankel, visit her website and follow her on Twitter and Facebook.