20 Questions with Author Donna Joy Usher

Born in Brisbane, Donna is
now a dentist by day and
writer by night. When not
doing either of those things,
she likes spending time
with her husband and two
little dogs, fishing & camping,
motorbike riding, traveling,
drinking wine & eating
chocolate. Donna lives on the
New South Wales Central Coast.
Tara Babcock awakes the morning after 
her 30th birthday with a hangover that 
could kill an elephant - and the knowledge 
she is still no closer to achieving closure 
on her marriage breakup. Things go from 
bad to worse when she discovers that, 
not only is her ex-husband engaged to 
her cousin - Tash, the woman he left her 
for - but that Jake is also running for Lord 
Major of Sydney. Desperate to leave the 
destructive relationship behind and with 
nothing to lose, she decides- with 
encouragement from her three best 
friends - to follow the dubious advice 
from a magazine article, Closure in Seven 
Easy Steps. The Seven Steps to Closure 
follows Tara on her sometimes 
disastrous - always hilarious - path 
to achieve the seemingly impossible.
Kindle or Nook? 
Kindle

iPhone or BlackBerry? 
iPhone

Coke or Pepsi? 
If I had to drink one of them, I would choose Coke.

Coffee or tea? 
Both – coffee in the morning and tea at night.

Ice cream or frozen yogurt? 
Baskin Robbins Chocolate Peanut Butter ice-cream.

Flats or heels? 
Flats

Facebook or Twitter? 
Twitter

     Call or text message? 
     Text

     Favorite song right now? 
     "50 Ways to Say Goodbye" by Train

     Celebrity crush? 
     Daniel Craig

     Movie you saw recently? 
     Breaking Dawn Part 2

     Favorite television show right now? 
     Homeland

     Favorite snack food? 
     Red Rock Deli Sea Salt Chips

     Your most overused word or phrase? 
     (According to my husband) I’m sorry, which part of that didn’t you understand?
     
     Your hidden talent? 
     Getting strangers up on the dance floor.

     Your biggest pet peeve? 
     Being in a confined space with someone else’s screaming child.

     Favorite activity when you’re not writing? 
     Stand up paddle boarding

     Favorite authors?
     Marian Keyes, Stephenie Meyer, Janet Evanovich, Jim Butcher, Kristy Berridge, Rachel Amphlett

     Favorite books?
     Dresden File Series and the Twilight Series

     Comment heard most often from your readers?
     I laughed out loud.

     Thanks, Donna!

Chick Lit On TV: The Carrie Diaries, Episode 3

Nancy's Discussion of The Carrie Diaries, Episode 3

I love the way his hair swoops onto hers. Adorable!
Oh, Carrie. Snooping around and telling everyone about it will always backfire. In "Read Before Use," Carrie is determined to find out why her dad, Tom, won't let her date Sebastian. Why is Sebastian labeled a bad boy? Carrie's curiosity takes over, which only leads to trouble. Despite the warnings, she hangs out with him anyway. I liked when Carrie and Sebastian listened to music together, sharing headphones. It was a cute scene and even cuter when Sebastian got her headphones of her own. 

Meanwhile, Tom finds out that when he tells women he's a widower, they are instantly attracted to him. But he isn't ready to get romantically involved with anyone, despite his first visit to a singles bar. Dorrit steals a hamster from the pet store, hides it from Tom, then loses it. Nothing too thrilling going on with her story line, but she plays the part of bratty little sister well. Elsewhere, Mouse is preparing for her date with her on/off boyfriend, and Maggie is trying to get over her breakup with Walt. 

Carrie discovers that Sebastian got kicked out of his last school for having "intimate relations" with his art history teacher. This is reminiscent of Pacey's affair with a teacher in Dawson's Creek. I thought it was funny when Carrie asks Sebastian, "Where did you learn to kiss like that?" and he responds, "I had a good teacher." Ha! She freaks out. End of date. But it isn't until the end of the episode that she tells him she looked through her dad's files and found out about his past. Big mistake. Looks like Carrie's romance with Sebastian is over...for now. 

I enjoyed this episode. Like the two episodes before, it was entertaining without being overly dramatic or cheesy. The show has a fun, nostalgic quality with plenty of adorable outfits and great 80s songs.  

I want to hear from you! What do you think of The Carrie Diaries? Love it? Hate it? Let's discuss! Share your reactions in the comments. Thanks!

Coming Soon: Someday, Someday, Maybe

Release Date: April 30, 2013

It’s January 1995, and Franny Banks has just six months left of the three-year deadline she set for herself when she came to New York, dreaming of Broadway and doing “important” work. But all she has to show for her efforts so far is a part in an ad for ugly Christmas sweaters, and a gig waiting tables at a comedy club. Her roommates―her best friend Jane, and Dan, an aspiring sci-fi writer―are supportive, yet Franny knows a two-person fan club doesn’t exactly count as success. Everyone tells her she needs a backup plan, and though she can almost picture moving back home and settling down with her perfectly nice ex-boyfriend, she’s not ready to give up on her goal of having a career like her idols Diane Keaton and Meryl Streep. Not just yet. But while she dreams of filling their shoes, in the meantime, she’d happily settle for a speaking part in almost anything—and finding a hair product combination that works.
 
Everything is riding on the upcoming showcase for her acting class, where she’ll finally have a chance to perform for people who could actually hire her. And she can’t let herself be distracted by James Franklin, a notorious flirt and the most successful actor in her class, even though he’s suddenly started paying attention. Meanwhile, her bank account is rapidly dwindling, her father wants her to come home, and her agent doesn’t return her calls. But for some reason, she keeps believing that she just might get what she came for.
 
Someday, Someday, Maybe is a story about hopes and dreams, being young in a city, and wanting something deeply, madly, desperately. It’s about finding love, finding yourself, and perhaps most difficult of all in New York City, finding an acting job.

Lauren Graham is an actress best known for her roles on the critically acclaimed series Gilmore Girls and Parenthood. She has performed on Broadway and appeared in such films as Bad Santa, Evan Almighty, and Because I Said So. She holds a BA in English from Barnard College and an MFA in acting from Southern Methodist University. She lives in New York and Los Angeles.

Coming Soon: Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella

Release date: April 23, 2013
Pre-order now!
Lottie just knows that her boyfriend is going to propose during lunch at one of London’s fanciest restaurants. But when his big question involves a trip abroad, not a trip down the aisle, she’s completely crushed. So when Ben, an old flame, calls her out of the blue and reminds Lottie of their pact to get married if they were both still single at thirty, she jumps at the chance. No formal dates—just a quick march to the altar and a honeymoon on Ikonos, the sun-drenched Greek island where they first met years ago.

Their family and friends are horrified. Fliss, Lottie’s older sister, knows that Lottie can be impulsive—but surely this is her worst decision yet. And Ben’s colleague Lorcan fears that this hasty marriage will ruin his friend’s career. To keep Lottie and Ben from making a terrible mistake, Fliss concocts an elaborate scheme to sabotage their wedding night. As she and Lorcan jet off to Ikonos in pursuit, Lottie and Ben are in for a honeymoon to remember, for better... or worse. 

Chick Lit On TV: The Carrie Diaries, Episode 2

Nancy's Discussion of The Carrie Diaries, Episode 2
Young Carrie Bradshaw is back this week. In "Lie with Me," there's a lot of fibbing going on, as expected from the episode title. Carrie is still juggling her double life. Regular high school kid most days, but on her internship day, she goes to Manhattan for a taste of the glamorous world of fashion, hiding it from her boss and her family. She's also trying to win the affection of new guy/bad boy Sebastian without letting the popular girl get to him first. Luckily for Carrie, Sebastian appears to be totally smitten with her and resists the advances of the other girl. I like Carrie and Sebastian together, and I'm sure it won't be long before they are an official couple, even though her dad forbid her from seeing him. That only makes her want him even more, of course. It was nice to see Carrie and her sister, Dorrit, getting along more, so I was disappointed when Carrie dumped Dorrit at the pool because she invited Sebastian instead. But at least she made it up to her later. They don't have that much of an age difference, so I'd like to see Dorrit included more in Carrie's life and see the two of them become friends, eventually. 

In the city, Carrie risks losing her internship to bring her purse to Larissa so it can be photographed for Interview magazine. Am I the only one who thought it was strange that Carrie left her purse there? She wanted it so badly in the first episode and didn't want to part with it, and then she willingly left it behind. I know the magazine was a big deal to her, but I was still surprised by that. And I have a feeling she won't get it back. Larissa isn't my favorite character. She seems untrustworthy, and I think she's going to get Carrie into trouble soon. But I did love her cell phone. It was gigantic! I remember having a toy phone when I was younger that looked just like that. 

Carrie's friends kicked it up a notch this week. They were way more dynamic than in the pilot. Did anyone else notice Carrie's dad's hair? It was so much longer than last week. There must have been a big gap between when they filmed the pilot and the second episode. Speaking of hair, I love Carrie's hair. It's big and curly and frizzy and wouldn't work for a lot of people, but on her, it's adorable. And the white sweater with the black hearts on it that she wore at the end was my favorite piece of clothing in this episode. 

They noticeably toned down the 80s music. There were a few popular songs, but not nearly as many as the pilot. And did you see the old footage of the city? It was near the beginning. I don't think they had any old clips of Manhattan in the first episode. I read an article that criticized the show for using modern day NY as the scenery for a show set in the 80s. Looks like they sort of corrected that this time around. But the old footage really stood out because it didn't match at all with the rest of the show.

Overall, an entertaining episode. I don't totally see where the show is going. There aren't enough conflicts at this point to really reel people in week after week. The episode ended on a happy, settled note and didn't really make me wonder what will happen next. But I'll tune in next week anyway because I like the characters, and the show has potential. 

I want to hear from you! What do you think of The Carrie Diaries? Love it? Hate it? Let's discuss! Share your reactions in the comments. Thanks!