Ladies' Lounge

Guest Blog: What it Was Like to Record My Own Audiobook (and a giveaway!)

April 4, 2012 at 1:04 pm , by Ladies' Lounge

In her twelve best-selling novels (Promises to Keep, To Have and to Hold, The Beach House), British-born writer Jane Green has consistently mined the very issues that LHJ readers hold most dear—marriage, motherhood, friendship, home. Green’s latest, Another Piece of My Heart, takes on the subject of blended families. Using alternating points-of-view, Green tells the story of how Andi’s marriage is threatened by the hostility and rebelliousness of her husband’s teenage daughter, Emily. Like Green’s other books, Another Piece of My Heart immediately shot to the top of the bestseller lists and has been released in an audio version. (We at LHJ are big fans of audiobooks! Can you say “multi-tasking”?) But this time, instead of having the book read by a professional actress, Green’s publisher agreed to let the author narrate the audiobook herself. Here’s Green’s account of the experience—and click here to listen to a sample of the result.

Despite my love of performing, I would have made a horrible actress. The last time I thought about acting was at University, where I followed my gang of friends—all actors—to their auditions, and somehow found myself on stage during a student production of Cabaret, doing a rather dismal and painfully self-conscious Sally Bowles.

I laid my acting dreams to rest, but have always indulged my secret desire by throwing myself fully into character when reading my books aloud at events, dreaming of the day I might be allowed to read my own audiobook.

The publishing people in charge smiled indulgently. Every author thinks they can read their own book, they said. Few of them are any good, they said. Eventually, skepticism written all over their faces, they agreed to let me audition, and I gave it my all as I became first Andi, then Emily, switching back to the narrator.

I passed the test, despite having a very British accent, for my very American book, and blocked several days out of my diary to sit in a small cubicle in New York to read the novel I had worked so hard on.

I loved every minute of the recording, but it was an eye-opener. Reading the book out loud threw up every mistake, every repetition, every flat sentence that could have been better. I made changes where I could—I still had two weeks to get final edits in—and vowed to read my books aloud in future before handing them in, if only to catch all those mistakes. Finding unique voices for each character was also hard for me, as a non-actress. Minor characters would appear whom I had completely forgotten about, leaving me with no idea what they were supposed to sound like in order to differentiate them from the others.

The response has been mixed, the biggest criticism being the issue of having an English voice read American characters, which I understand. I’d love to try again, although I recognize now how hard it is—and, perhaps, why novels should be read by actors. They bring a unique dimension to the task. Having said that, let me remind everything that it was my first time. And were I to be invited to read the next book, I would make two changes:

First, I would ensure I have a different voice for each and every character.

And second, at least one of those characters will be English!

Want to listen to Green read her fabulous book? You’re in luck! We’re giving away 10 copies of the Another Piece of My Heart audiobook! Just post a comment below and you’ll automatically be entered to win.

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Win Seasons One and Two of The Good Wife on DVD!

March 29, 2012 at 10:00 am , by Ladies' Lounge

The Good Wife is one of our top must-see TV dramas, so we were thrilled to talk with actress Christine Baranski for the In My Words interview in our May issue. One of our favorite soundbites? When asked what she loves most about her take-charge lawyer character Diane she says, “She can live in a man’s world, talk with them and have love affairs with them, without losing herself.” We love that about Diane too!

If you haven’t seen The Good Wife, which is currently in its third season, don’t fret—25 lucky readers will win seasons one and two on DVD! And if you’re already a devoted fan of the series, consider this an opportunity to re-watch some of your favorite episodes. All you have to do is comment on this blog post and you’re entered to win.

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Book Club Guest Blog: Signs of Life and the Healing Power of Literature

March 19, 2012 at 12:45 pm , by Ladies' Lounge

Today’s post is by Neely Kennedy of Reading Group Choices, a leading online resource for book club tips and discussible selections.

In the LHJ book club pick, Signs of Life, author Natalie Taylor shares her story of loss, grief and healing following the untimely death of her husband. She finds love and hope in her baby, takes comfort in the support of her friends, and, as a high school English teacher, reflects on the wisdom she’s read in great books.

Here are some brief excerpts from the book that illustrate how Taylor used classic literature as therapy, helping her understand and deal with her grief.

After the death of her husband, Taylor suffers agonizing grief. She relates the shock and disbelief with characters from The Great Gatsby.

“Oh my God, I’m never going to see him again…I will never be able to go back…I know that even now, three months later, my brain hasn’t fully absorbed the concept. That’s what Gatsby and I also have in common. We can’t seem to swallow our own realities.”

When Taylor gives birth to her son, Kai, she is overcome with an a feeling of love and hopefulness that even the greatest poets cannot describe.

“The best way I can say it is that when a baby is born, the ghosts of the world’s greatest poets stand and listen to the cry of a life that just took its first breath and even they can’t find the words.”

As Taylor begins to redefine her life, she is inspired to avoid the ‘W’ of widowhood, like the label ‘A’ for adulterer in The Scarlet Letter.

“Suddenly literature turns into a good movie and you’re standing up in your seat, smiling and clapping in your head. You wish at some point in your life you get to tell someone how you really feel. It makes you wish you had the courage to redefine what your letter stood for.”

As Taylor finally sees the light at the end of the tunnel, Thoreau’s writing helps put her expectations for the future into perspective.

“…although Thoreau’s narrative of ice melting may not wow the average twenty-first century audience, the process itself is really amazing when you think about it. Nature understands that things take time. You can’t rush certain things if you want them to work correctly…Sometimes I really look forward to how I will feel in ten years.”

 

During your Signs of Life book club discussion, ask your members to:

• Share the three books that have made the biggest impact in their lives. What meaningful lessons did the books offer?
• Write his/her own six-word memoir.  For Example: Hope triumphs death; life goes on.

 

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Ali Fedotowsky Blogs The Bachelor: Season Finale!

March 13, 2012 at 11:17 am , by Ladies' Lounge

Another Bachelor season has come to an end and we have another happy couple…or do we? Let’s start from the beginning of this episode and discuss what happened.

First off, I think Ben’s sister and mother did a great job of asking Ben and the girls the right questions. I really appreciated that they went into it with an open mind and didn’t judge the girls until they met them for themselves. I think it was totally obvious that it was a “producer influenced” question when Ben’s sister asked him if there were any girls that the other girls didn’t like. This question was obviously going to be asked, but at the end of the day Ben’s family liked both girls and it seemed like they totally supported Ben in whatever decision he was going to make. And that’s what family should do.

I absolutely loved Lindzi’s time with his mom. You could tell that Lindzi meant what she said and really cared for Ben. It absolutely broke my heart watching his final date with her knowing that she wouldn’t be chosen in the end. I mean come on…wasn’t it obvious to us all at this point that Ben was crazy about Courtney? But why wasn’t Lindzi on the After the Final Rose special? What happened there? Although, I did stay tuned in to ABC to watch Jimmy Kimmel Live! to see what Lindzi had to say about Ben and the finale. She was super sweet while talking to Jimmy and genuinely seems happy, so I’m happy for her. I was was hoping she would explain why she wasn’t on After the Final Rose, but she’s in a good place now and that’s what’s important.

Back to what happened on the actual show. Courtney’s time with his mom and sister was great too. I really believed Courtney when she told them how much she cared for Ben. I think we saw a totally different side of her. I have to tell you guys that I was watching the finale with a couple of girls from Ben’s season (Rachel and Jaclyn) and they both said they really liked Courtney and that she was a sweet girl. They said that she was always sharing her clothes with the other girls and helping them get ready, so I’m kind of surprised we didn’t see the girls talk about this during the Women Tell All special. Anyway, I’m so glad Ben’s sister didn’t judge Courtney because she was a “model” or because she didn’t get along with the other girls. I respect her for that.

Ben’s last date with Courtney really showed us that they have a great connection. I could totally relate to what Ben was saying to Courtney about feeling at ease since everything was coming to an end. I remember feeling so relieved when I got down to my final two because you actually want it to be all over so you can just be with one person. Read more

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Guest Blog: How a Stay-At-Home Dad Penned His First Novel (And Win a Copy of His Book!)

March 12, 2012 at 3:31 pm , by Ladies' Lounge

The Expats, a first novel by former book editor Chris Pavone, is an international espionage thriller that’s invited comparisons to Graham Greene, John Le Carré and Robert Ludlum. The protagonist, Kate Moore, is (as was Pavone for a time) an expat and stay-at-home parent living a typical expat life in Luxembourg. But she’s also guarding a tremendous, life-defining secret—one that slowly begins to unravel her neat routines. As she begins to uncover secrets about the people around her, she finds herself buried in layers of deceit so thick they threaten her family, her marriage and her life. This expertly crafted story will keep you guessing until the very last page.

In this guest blog, Pavone explains how a mysterious woman on a park bench inspired him to write the book. Plus, find out how to win your own copy of The Expats at the end of the post!

I’d spent nearly two decades sitting behind desks in New York City publishing houses when suddenly I found myself in Luxembourg, sitting on benches in playgrounds in the cold damp, making small talk with vague acquaintances about the things we used to do, the people we used to be, before we became people who did this, here. We were expat stay-at-home parents—in my case, to an energetic pair of then-four-year-old twin boys.

We stay-at-home parents had all arrived via roughly the same path: our spouses got interesting/exciting/lucrative job offers abroad, and we thought it sounded fun (or at least different). So we packed up everything we could bring, and left behind everything we couldn’t. For many of us, the latter included the jobs, the careers, the selves that we’d spent our adult lives defining. Now we had to become other people.

For all the fun of constantly traveling around Europe, and for all the newness of this adventure, it was hard for me to embrace the routine. Taking the kids to their international school, attending class-parents meetings, going to the gym or French lessons or the supermarket. Driving around a city I didn’t really know, ignoring traffic laws I didn’t entirely understand, in a language I didn’t properly speak. Looking for the things that my family needed, or wanted: underwear and raincoats, DVDs and sticker books, a vacuum cleaner and a toaster, a cordless drill and a metric measuring tape. Food that I could pack for the kids’ lunch that they wouldn’t reject.

Read more

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Win a Giada De Laurentiis for Target Prize Pack!

March 1, 2012 at 8:00 am , by Ladies' Lounge

Do you love chef and Food Network personality Giada De Laurentiis as much as we do? She graces the cover of our April 2012 issue—which officially hits newsstands on March 13th—and in her interview with us she opens up about her adorable 4-year-old daughter, the importance of friends and family, and her passion for cooking. She also shared exclusive recipes from her new cookbook, Weeknights with Giada: Quick and Simple Recipes to Revamp Dinner, which comes out on March 27th. We loved her cookbook so much that we decided to we decided to give away a copy and throw in over $300 worth of products from her Target kitchen line, including a 10-piece cookware set! Click through the slide show below to see all of the products we’re including in the prize pack, and enter to win by leaving a comment below. Good luck!

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Win A Signed Copy of Kate Winslet’s The Golden Hat

March 1, 2012 at 6:00 am , by Ladies' Lounge

In our March issue, the beautiful Kate Winslet shared her new passion project—a crusade to spread autism awareness. After narrating a documentary on autistic children who themselves would never be able to speak, she knew she couldn’t just pack up and go home; she was desperate do something to help them. So Kate (and quite a few of her celebrity friends), put together a wonderful new book called The Golden Hat: Talking Back to Autism, sales of which will benefit Kate’s Golden Hat Foundation, a non-profit that advocates for the inclusion and education of autistic children everywhere.

We’re over the moon about this book, and can’t wait for you to pick it up—so we’re giving away 20 signed copies! To enter, just post a comment below.

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