Bee Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone celebrating today! I want to thank all of you who read The Chick Lit Bee. I’m so grateful for your support! I truly feel like I’m part of a very special community of women’s fiction authors and readers and I’m so appreciative. 

Specifically, thank you to Lucie Simone and Samantha Robey for encouraging me from the very beginning and continuously supporting The Chick Lit Bee. Huge thank you to Shannon Hart for helping me make The Chick Lit Bee what it is and contributing so many wonderful stories. I’m so glad we have been able to work together on something that means so much to both of us. 

Thank you to everyone who stays in touch with me by email, comments on posts and sends messages via Twitter and Facebook for showing such great camaraderie. I’m amazed by how much and how fast The Chick Lit Bee has grown and I will continue to do the very best I can to support the genre. Chick lit fans around the world are a very loyal group, joining together to form a community of incredible storytellers and truly remarkable people. I’m having a wonderful time getting to know you.  

Have a fantastic day!


An Author Undercover: Melissa Senate’s Secret Pseudonym

When I read the news that Melissa Senate, author of ten novels, will be releasing her eleventh novel under a secret pseudonym, I was disappointed. In her post where she reveals the news, she is optimistic about this decision (who in her shoes wouldn’t spin it to be something positive?), but I’m not as enthusiastic about it. I wish Melissa the best of luck and this post is in no way putting her down. While it might be the best decision for her and her career, I don’t agree with it. Melissa isn’t the only one who made the decision though. From her post, it seems like publisher Simon & Schuster gave her an ultimatum: either they publish her book under a new name or they don’t publish it all. Obviously, most authors would want to continue to use their own name that has been on all of their books and has become their brand. However, when faced with the you-do-what-we-tell-you-or-you-won’t-have-a-big-publisher-behind-you ultimatum, I can understand feeling as if this is the only route to take. What I don’t understand is Simon & Schuster’s reasons for doing this. Melissa’s last couple of books didn’t do as well as they hoped, but everyone has a slump once in a while, especially with the economic problems and the changes in the publishing industry. Plus, putting all of the blame for the low sales on the author’s name is unfair. It takes a team to publish, market, promote, and sell a book. 

We all know that women’s fiction/chick lit isn’t doing as well as it has in previous years. Big publishers are trying to force trends and mostly publishing “serious women’s fiction” since they feel that the market was saturated with too much chick lit. However, chick lit is still very much in demand and authors of this genre are choosing to self-publish to get their books out there because elsewhere, they don’t have a chance. I wonder why Melissa didn’t decide to self- publish her eleventh book under her own name. I know it takes a lot of work to self-publish a book, but with the already established readership of her books in her own name, it seems worth it to take that leap. 

There are several reasons why Melissa’s switch to a secret pen name is problematic. She has a fan base of people who love books written by Melissa Senate with the name Melissa Senate on the cover. With this new secret name, her fans will have no idea that the “debut author” she presents herself as is really her, so people that would have bought a Melissa Senate book may not buy the new one under the pseudonym. In this scenario, the Melissa Senate fans are not considered at all. They won’t know when her eleventh book is released because it’s essentially a secret. The fans are left in the dust as Melissa pursues an unnecessary rebuild of her whole career and starts from scratch. But aren’t the purposes of writing and sharing stories to entertain people and give them an escape? If writing books becomes a completely selfish pursuit fueled by monetary gain, then motives should be reevaluated. 

It’s also really difficult for a debut author to sell a lot of books. Few debuts become runaway bestsellers, so the sales of the pseudonym book might wind up being less than the sales of a Melissa Senate book that would have been or would not have been a bestseller. It’s all about the brand. I don’t understand why a publisher that is clearly only concerned about money in this situation and is trying to make money off of a new, different name would throw away a well-established name. It sounds like more of a risk than self-publishing. Simon & Schuster wants to trick people into buying a Melissa Senate book by repackaging it as something else. Melissa said that the new book will be in the same genre as all of her other books, so the only difference is the fake name on the cover. It is a deceitful way to try to make more money and it probably won’t work for the reasons I already stated. 

I know this post might sound a little harsh, but I just don’t like the dishonest nature of the secret pseudonym after a brand has been established and readers have become invested. I also don’t like to see a publisher practically forcing an author to compromise their own identity in order to try to sell more books. It isn’t right. It also puts chick lit in a bad light like chick lit authors should hide and completely reinvent themselves to succeed in such a “dead” genre. Where is the respect for chick lit and chick lit authors? 

I commend Melissa for doing something daring for a fresh start, but it’s also disappointing that she wasn’t willing to stay true to herself and her readers, even if that meant giving up the big publisher to pursue other options. 
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What do you think?

Book Review: Dollars to Donuts


*This review is part of Kathleen Kole's blog tour hosted by CLP Blog Tours.

April Patterson is trying to get used to life in the small town of Boxwood Hills. She moved from the big city to live with her boyfriend, Kevin. April feels like a fish out of water who is constantly being watched by the nosy neighbors who won’t leave her alone. Drama runs high in her neighborhood and April finds herself involved in a very strange scandal. The weirdness starts when a dead squirrel shows up in a neighbor’s trash can wrapped in April’s clothes. The situation is over exaggerated as everyone tries to figure out who put the squirrel in there. They wonder if their community is being targeted by some sort of criminals. The ridiculous antics of the neighbors are not all that April worries about though. When Kevin brings Gerritt, a new guy in town, to their home and asks April if Gerritt can stay there since his house was damaged in a storm, she reluctantly agrees. Gerritt is attractive and charming and April is immediately drawn to him. She is falling for another man right under her boyfriend's nose much to the disapproval of her intrusive sister, Jessica. It turns into quite an awkward mess. There are also two women lurking around town who seem to be stalking April, making her wonder if she really belongs in the odd world of Boxwood Hills. 

Dollars to Donuts is a fun, humorous novel about all of the misunderstandings that can occur in a small town where everyone knows everyone else’s business. There is a bit of mystery and just the right amount of romance to keep readers interested throughout. Kole has a captivating writing style with plenty of dialogue that allows readers to see the story unfold. However, some of the dialogue is repetitive and could have been cut. There are only seven chapters in the novel, so there are long stretches of content that could have been broken up with more chapters. The ending is abrupt, but perhaps that is paving the way for a sequel. Overall, Dollars to Donuts is an entertaining, quick read that fans of witty women’s fiction will enjoy.  

Kathleen Kole was born in Edmonton AB and graduated from college with a diploma in radio and television arts. She has written in the fields of advertising, television and newspaper. Kathleen relocated from Edmonton to Kelowna BC and resides there with her husband, son and dog. Dollars to Donuts is Kathleen's second self-published novel and she is currently working on her third, Favorable Conditions, to be published in December. To learn more, please visit her website, Facebook, and Twitter. 

To read Nancy’s review of Kathleen’s debut novel, Breaking Even, please click here. 

Book Review: Growing Up Beautiful


Star, Joanne and Casey are three girls who have absolutely nothing in common except for their desire to make it big as models in Milan in the one month they have there with an agency.

Star, who is foul-mouthed, occasionally obnoxious but probably has a kind heart deep down inside, has an additional agenda: to find her prince charming: a loaded rich man who can take care of her and her mother, and take them out from the slum life they were living back in the US. Too bad her attitude keeps her from getting jobs and the man she thinks is her financial savior has one too many secrets to hide.

Casey, naive and gullible, is so overwhelmed by everything, she can’t tell the difference between right and wrong, even when right (as in Mr. Right) is standing right in front of her.

Joanne, who has a Ivy League education waiting for her back home, is quickly the favorite at the agency and gets all the jobs everyone wants – and the photographer they all lust over too. Now that she’s in love with him as much as he’s loved her since the first time he saw her behind his lens, she can’t decide: should she stay in Milan and change the entire course of her life, or go back and lead the path her parents set out for her?

Growing Up Beautiful showcases the story behind the glitz and glamour of the world of modeling. This debut novel by Lori Jones features the raw, hard truth of what happens off the runway and off the pages of the glossy magazines, like only a true insider could tell. It’s certainly a page-turner, although some scenes were quite short and tended to jump to the next scene rather quickly. All in all, an enjoyable read for those who have always wondered about the world of modeling.

Lori Jones had a sixteen year modeling career from 1981 through 1997. Her career began after graduating from the Barbizon School of Modeling and signing on with the Wilhelmina Agency in Los Angeles. Bookings included runway, print for magazines, catalogs, TV commercials, and an album cover for Kool and the Gang's Ladies Night. Lori moved to Milan in 1982 and modeled in Milan, Germany and Spain over the next five years. Always interested in writing, she kept journals of her work experiences, which included her extensive travels throughout Europe and Africa, and the people she met along the way. Growing Up Beautiful is a fictional account of how three young models grow up in the foreign world of fashion in the 1980’s.

Stories from the Hart: Chasing Charlie, Part 2

Chasing Charlie by Shannon Hart, author of Until the End of Forever
Part 2 (To read Part 1, click here.)

I watched him wave goodbye to Mr. Dalton, the postman, just as he got one foot out of the door. Mr. Dalton must have said something to make him laugh because all of a sudden his wide, gorgeous smile was painted on his face. I felt my cheeks warm up. God, I missed that smile.

Charlie checked his watch before taking a left turn, heading down the street. I almost nodded when Dan asked if we should follow him, but common sense kicked in. I couldn’t even bring myself to get out of the car and talk to him, what use would following him be? It was a terrible idea. What if it made him even angrier than he already was?

Besides, I didn’t really know what to say to him anyway. I guess I didn’t really think this whole thing through after all. I ran on emotions; I raced back to Los Angeles, and I let myself come all the way down here with a fit-for-a-movie romantic scenario in my head. I actually pictured myself running into his arms, and him, not even allowing me to say I was sorry, holding me tight, not needing any explanations because he just loved me unconditionally. I should slap myself silly for having been that naive.

“What am I going to do?” I asked myself, a lot louder than I had planned. In fact, I didn’t plan on asking that question out loud at all.

“Do you want me to actually answer that?” Dan asked, taking off his chauffer’s hat and turning around.

“I don’t know what to do here, Dan. I mean, I came here thinking I could talk to him and try to win him back. But I don’t know where to begin.”

“Just begin with what everyone expects to hear. Just say you’re sorry.”

“I did say I was sorry! A million times! It’s not enough,” I said, still able to clearly see that hurt look on Charlie’s face the day he found out who I was.

“Maybe there was something wrong with the way you said it. Maybe you didn’t sound like you were sorry about what you did, but rather, sorry that he had to find out.”

I wondered when Dan turned from chauffeur to relationship expert, but the more important question at hand was, was he right?

I had just come back from the gym when I found him sitting in front of my building. I was happy to see him, but judging by the look on his face, I either looked hideous after my workout, or something pretty bad had happened. I went with my gut feeling and went with the latter. I was right.

At first, he couldn’t even say it. He just kept tightening his jaw every time I asked what was wrong. The half an hour we sat there together was pure torture, and when I finally said I was going up to my apartment to take a shower, he grabbed my wrist and said that my father’s lawyer contacted him and asked if our relationship was serious, because if it was, there were some confidentiality and some other nonsense type agreements that Dad (or rather, his stupid lawyer who had me followed for months) wanted him to sign before Charlie could create any “problems” for the family. Then, with hurt, anger and disappointment, he looked at me and asked, “Who the hell are you?”

I felt like a knife just went through my chest and the pain never really went away until I boarded that flight out of Paris. As soon as I stepped foot out of the plane, after two months of suffering, I felt warmth crawl back into my heart. Too bad that warmth turned cold as soon as I saw Charlie earlier at the diner.

“Miss, if you don’t mind me saying this…” Dan started saying, as he gave me a serious look, similar to the one my guidance counselor used to give me in high school. “Get the hell out of the car and go talk to him.”

“Excuse me?” Baffled by the sudden disappearance of Dan’s manners, I raised my voice. He was the most soft-spoken and gentle person I knew yet there he was, kicking me out of my father’s car.

“I’m sorry to be so harsh, Miss. But if you don’t get out of the car, you’re going to regret not taking the chance to make things right. You’ve come this far. He’s already mad at you, you’ve already broken up, what more do you have to lose?”

His directness caught me completely off guard, but everything he said made sense. I knew he was right, but my fear kept me glued to the backseat. I didn’t understand it myself, especially when I was so gung-ho about it before.

“Look, he’s walking back,” Dan said, lifting his brows, prompting me to quickly turn around and see for myself. True enough, Charlie was walking back towards the diner, with both hands stuck in his pocket. “So do you want to get out yourself or do I have to drag you out?”

I took a deep breath and unbuckled my seat belt. I opened the door and stepped out, nearly crashing into Charlie, who looked as pale as if he had just seen a ghost. I didn’t know I had that effect on people.

“Kate,” he said, with his eyes wide in horror. “What are you doing here?”

I could hear my heart beating so loud it was like it was outside my ribcage. With everything I had in me, I forced myself to open my mouth and say, “Can we talk?”

He seemed to need time to think about it, which I didn’t really take as a good sign. If he missed me as much as I missed him, he shouldn’t have needed to think twice, right?

“Charlie, please,” I said, feeling the tears build up in my eyes.

“What is there to talk about?”

“Charlie, come on. Give me a chance to explain… “ I begged.

“I’ve heard your explanation before, Kate. Is it a different one now?” He was still as angry as he was that day on the steps of my building. Two months had gone by, and he still didn’t have it in him to forgive me.

“The last time I tried to explain, you didn’t really want to listen. I know you’re angry. I know you feel betrayed and hurt and I’m sorry. I made a stupid judgment call. I thought the truth would scare you away and I didn’t want to scare you away. All I wanted was to be someone you thought you could be with and you know what,” I said, with tears streaming down my cheeks. “It was so easy for me to lie because I loved being that girl. I loved being the girl you thought I was. All the money, the VIP treatment… I didn’t need any of those things! I just needed you. I still need you.”

By then, I realized we had an audience. Next to us, I caught a glimpse of the dozens of diner customers with their noses against the glass window, trying to catch the drama that was happening. Not that I could blame them; it was pretty intense. I’d be sticking my nose to the window myself if I were them.

Charlie didn’t move. He didn’t look straight at me, but at least he was still standing there. He didn’t walk away like he did that day in front of my building. He stood there, pained and angry.

“I’m sorry I lied about who I am. But I don’t even like who I am. None of it matters if I don’t have you.”

“Kate, you don’t understand. Yes, I am mad that you lied to me. I’m furious because I thought I knew everything about you. But more than that, I don’t see why you felt you needed to lie in the first place. Why? I’m not rich, I don’t have a trust fund in my name, but did you think that meant I would be afraid to be with you because you have all those things?”

Then I was the one who wasn’t moving. I had a feeling he’d ask another question – one that I was most afraid of.

“Or did you think I’d just be with you for the money?”

And there it was – the dreaded question. God, I hated that question.

“I lied because I didn’t want to scare you off. A lot of guys are intimidated by women who seem to have more and I liked you so much the thought of scaring you off was scaring me! Charlie, I never meant to hurt you. I swear I was going to tell you but I just never thought there was an appropriate time.”

“For goodness’ sake, Kate, we dated for a year! You couldn’t find a time to tell me in 52 weeks?”

It was getting harder and harder for me to breathe. My chest was aching and my shoulders kept shaking from all the crying. My eyes were burning and I didn’t want to even imagine how bad my mascara and eyeliner had run.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say. I’m sorry, Charlie. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I didn’t mean for it to get to this.” 

I waited for him to respond, but he didn’t. He was still just standing there, not moving, not reacting. He wasn’t doing anything at all.

“I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. I love you and more than anything, I want to be with you. But I get that it’s too hard… I mean, I understand that I disappointed you and… At this point, I’ll settle for forgiveness.”

I kept waiting for him to do something. The way he just froze there, I wasn’t even sure I saw him blink at all. But he didn’t. And after holding out for a few more seconds, I knew exactly what that meant. I nodded, understanding exactly what he was trying to tell me. It was over. We were completely and utterly over. There was no chance on earth that he’d forgive me and take me back. And I just had to deal with it. I blew it, and there was nothing I could do about it.

“Well, can’t say I didn’t try, right?” I said, before I took a few steps back. “Goodbye, Charlie.”

I turned around and headed straight for the car door. Dan had already started the engine. I guess he knew I had no hope and figured he’d help me make a fast getaway to save what tiny bit of dignity I had left. I couldn’t deny that I still hoped he’d call out my name and tell me to wait but even after I was fully seated and shut the door, he didn’t move.

“I’m sorry,” Dan said, as he fixed the rear view mirror then stepped slowly on the accelerator.

“It’s okay. I guess I deserve it.” I put my seat belt on and sighed. I didn’t know if I really deserved it, but I guess Charlie thought I did. I guess I hurt him more than I realized.

My cell phone started buzzing from inside my handbag. I was in no mood to talk to anyone, but I decided to check my phone anyway. My eyes all but popped out when I saw Charlie’s name and picture blinking on the screen.

“Charlie?” I said, as soon as I picked up.

“Tell Dan to stop the car,” he said, sounding as if he was running and out of breath.

“Stop the car!” I cried, frantically looking behind me. In reflex, Dan immediately hit the breaks, with screeching tires no less. In about two seconds flat, I had unbuckled myself and charged out of the car, ready for my second chance with Charlie. A dozen different scenarios had already started racing through my head.

Panting, Charlie finally reached the car. He took a few moments to catch his breath and kept wiping the bullet-sized drops of sweat from his forehead. I waited for him to calm down, hopeful and anxious.

“Look, Kate…” he started. He took a few more deep breaths. “I’m not ready to forgive you just yet. But… I want to try. I’ll need more time to trust you again… but we can be friends first if you want.”

It wasn’t exactly the answer I was hoping for. All those pictures I had in my head about him embracing me and never looking back disappeared into thin air. Instead of an embrace, and in the place of what I imagined would be a kiss, he was basically offering me a handshake instead. But then again, a handshake was better than nothing.

“That would be great,” I answered, not knowing what to expect next. Being his friend wasn’t what I had in mind, but it was definitely a better alternative to being his enemy.

“So… Umm… You want to grab a coffee? I know this really cool diner down the street,” he said, offering me his signature crooked smile – the first smile I had seen in months.

We didn’t exactly know how to just be friends. I imagined a lot of awkward silence and uncomfortable situations, but there was something in his crooked smile that told me even though we had to start from zero again, we were on the way to being just fine. 
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