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Dear Reader,
I am on vacation today. Seth and Bailey, my two lovely grandchildren from Wisconsin, are here for their annual summer visit. So author Caroline Leavitt is filling in for me today. By the way, I have been a waitress, and have even owned a restaurant. (You'll understand, after you read Caroline's column.) Be sure to say hello. Caroline loves to hear from readers and she's giving away two copies of "Pictures of You". She'll even draw in them, too! You can reach Caroline at: carolineleavitt@gmail.com
Thanks Caroline for filling in for me.--Suzanne Beecher
Can I Take Your Order?
By Caroline Leavitt
One of the things I love the most about Suzanne Beecher is how fearless she is, and how charismatic. I've know Suzanne for years now, and I, of course, follow DearReader. When I was asked to write a guest column, I began to think about Suzanne's philosophy for making her dreams come true. Want to know my dream these days?
Now coming to a theater near you.
Sigh. For me, that's the Holy Grail. A movie of my novel, Pictures of You. I've been courted by Hollywood before. Four of my novels were optioned for screen and for three days Madonna (Really! I'm not lying!) was considering my novel Into Thin Air for the movies as her directorial debut before she decided to go on tour instead. Right now, a lot of producers and directors are talking to me about Pictures of You, and almost always, I'm asked, "whom do you see playing your characters?"
The funny thing is my answer is no one. I never think about actors or actresses. But my dirty little secret is I think about MY cameo.
I admit I almost always want to be one of the waitresses in my novels. I want to be the woman with her hair pulled back in a careless ponytail (and maybe the rubber band is a little frayed), the woman who might be snapping gum or balancing plates of omelets and fries. I want to be the woman who snarls, "Are you memorizing the menu or are you ready to order?"
The funny thing is I've never been a waitress. I was hired at McDonald's when I was 17, but because they couldn't find a uniform small enough for me (go figure), I never did the job. When I first moved to Manhattan, I considered waitressing, but no one would ever hire me. "You seem too nervous," I was told. So what is the mystique for me? Maybe it's because that like being a writer, being a waitress is a job you can do anywhere. It's different every hour and every day, though of course, you have regulars. And in a way, it's performance art. Or maybe it's simply that the waitresses I write about are strong, career waitresses. They know their way around a rowdy table and they can balance five plates along one arm!
So go ahead. Ask me about potential movie deals on the horizon. But instead of asking me whom I see as my lead characters, ask me whether or not I envision my waitress chewing gum or not. (I don't.)
Caroline Leavitt
You can reach Caroline at: carolineleavitt@gmail.com
http://www.carolineleavitt.com/
Introducing Caroline Leavitt...
Caroline is the New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You, as well as eight other novels. A book critic for People and The Boston Globe, she lives in Hoboken, NJ with her husband, the writer Jeff Tamarkin and their son Max. She has never been a waitress.
AUTHORBUZZ: To read more about BEST KEPT SECRET, and to enter this author's book and Artesian Chocolate giveaway, click on the link below, then click on BEST KEPT SECRET.
Amy Hatvany, today's featured author, writes...
Cadence Sutton seemed to have it all. But after the messy demise of her marriage, Cadence's drinking moves from a glass of wine to help her relax in the evening to a perilous two-bottle-a-day addiction. Suddenly, she must face the reality of her situation or lose the one thing most precious to her...
To read more about BEST KEPT SECRET goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader
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