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Muffins and Mayhem, Recipes for a Happy (if disorderly) Life
AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win: Goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader
Dear Reader,
Bestselling author Jane Green, today's guest columnist is someone I can relate to, she's a foodie and passionate cook. Jane says she only cooks food that is "incredibly easy, but has to look as if you have slaved over a hot stove for hours." She's my kind of woman!
Jane is on tour for her latest novel, ANOTHER PIECE OF MY HEART. If you're in Connecticut this week be sure to visit Jane at the Greenwich Library on March 20th and the Westport Library on March 21st.
Because Jane is on tour she won't be able to answer your emails, but she'd love to hear from you, you can reach her at: http://www.janegreen.com/index.php/contact/
I have ten copies of ANOTHER PIECE OF MY HEART to give away to lucky readers. To enter, send an email with your mailing address (in case you win) to: enter-to-win-smp@emailbookclub.com
Thanks for taking time to stop by the book clubs, Jane...
For my thirteenth novel, I turned, as I so often do, to my own life for inspiration. Another Piece of My Heart is not about me, nor my family, but now that I am in a Blended Family, I started to explore the issues around that, talking to people, reading books, and lurking for hours on step-parent forums.
The dynamic I kept coming across was that of the woman who married a man with children, expecting it to be hearts and roses, thinking that because she is a good person, because she is determined, she will overcome any difficulties the children may have with her, through love, and sheer force of will.
I was so interested in the changing archetype. As times have changed and children are given more power than ever before, it seems that the wicked stepmother--one of the most damaging roles to have come out of fairytales--may have given way to manipulative and brutal stepchildren, who are very aware of the power they hold over a guilty parent.
But ultimately this is a story about what it takes to create a family. Times are changing, and unconventional families are becoming more and more the norm. What matters to me, and the message that I hope to put across in my books, is that we are all flawed, all trying to find our way as best we can, and ultimately the goal is to find contentment, and love.
I loved writing these characters, and particularly the twists and turns of the story. Just when we think Andi and Ethan have found peace, Emily returns to tip their world upside down, and even though redemption doesn't seem possible, they all find their way by the end.
I so hope you enjoy reading this,
My warmest wishes,
Jane
Most weekends Jane's cooking for a minimum of twenty people in her home in Westport, Connecticut, where she lives with her husband and their blended family. When she is not writing, cooking, filling her house with friends and looking after their animals, she is usually thanking the Lord for caffeine-filled energy drinks. Visit her website at: http://www.janegreen.com/
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
www.muffinsandmayhem.com
* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE LIFE OF JOHN THOMPSON, A FUGITIVE SLAVE by John Thompson. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/March12Classics
AUTHORBUZZ: AWKWARD MOMENTS WITH MEN: Stories About the Sex We Can't Live Without (Nonfiction) by Megan Leigh Byrd and Shannon Lee Miller
After writing this book, we're most grateful we managed to survive the stories within it. It's nothing short of miraculous that we're not eating, praying, or loving in Nepal. Capturing what truly happens when opposite sexes brush elbows and unmentionables.
Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on AWKWARD MOMENTS WITH MEN to read more and to email authors Megan Leigh Byrd and Shannon Lee Miller, you'll get a reply.
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