Working Girl Chick Lit Special Duo: Holly's Inbox Review & 100th Follower Book Giveaway

In honor of working women everywhere, to wrap up the month of May and to celebrate the 100+ followers who’ve joined my book blog, I’ve got a specially paired post today, starting with my review of Holly’s Inbox and read on for details of my 100^th follower contest! Read on…

Holly's Inbox by Holly Denham

Written under the pseudonym, Holly Denham, Bill Surie crafts an addictive novel full of gossip, scandal and all the office antics you could ever desire. Holly’s Inbox introduces readers to the world of one British receptionist and you won’t believe what goes on behind her desk. Told in a unique format, exclusively made up of emails between Holly, her coworkers, friends and family, you won’t miss a single juicy detail as there’s no one to censor Holly’s emails.

At the beginning of the novel, we meet Holly Denham who has just been hired as a receptionist at DK Huerst and Co., a banking company. Her first day is a nightmare, wrought with mean girls, tough tasks and frozen mice. Luckily by the end of the first month, Holly bonds with the other receptionist on the switchboard, Trish, which helps make the day go by much smoother, happier and faster. Still, an awful coworker, who they nickname Cruella, is out for Holly, constantly reporting her mistakes to management and looking for ways to get her in trouble. Things seem to be looking a little brighter when Holly starts dating a white collar business guy upstairs, James, but if old high school “pal”, Jennie, another coworker upstairs, can do anything about it, Holly’s relationship with him will be over before it even starts. To add fuel to the fire, Holly finds out an old flame of hers, Toby, will be starting work at DK Huerst and she couldn’t be more mortified. I was kept guessing til the very end what the big secret with Toby was and I think you won’t be disappointed.

Holly’s Inbox has a lot of the typical chick lit side stories going on, including the mean boss, Shella, the flamboyantly gay best friend, Jason, and the irresponsible, gorgeous, and very sexual best friend, Aisha. There’s a little something for everyone with other characters like a crazy Granny, an off-the-wall brother, Charlie and exotic animal lovers and friends, Alice and Matt. All in all, despite its common themes, Holly’s Inbox was able to maintain a mostly unpredictable story in the details of its plot and it was a really fun read. At 672 pages, it’s a little overwhelming to look at and a lot like carrying around a Bible, but with the email format, you’ll be amazed at how quick you can fly right through this novel. It was so good, I’m currently reading the sequel, Holly’s Inbox: Scandal in the City and it’s just as delicious. 

4/5 Stars

I read Holly’s Inbox as the book-of-the-month for my Goodreads’ group, the Chick Lit Book Club in honor of all the celebratory days and weeks in the month of May for working women. Some of the holidays celebrating women and their many careers included National Teacher Appreciation Month; National Health Administrator's, Nurses, Police & Emergency Medical Services Weeks; and Golfer's, Armed Forces & Memorial Day. Since I, too, am a working woman, juggling being a book blogger, a student and aspiring writer with my current day job as an administrative assistant, I thought what better theme to combine with my latest giveaway to celebrate my followers. I think most women these days, whether they work a traditional 9 to 5 job or do something else, are juggling many more tasks, activities, responsibilities and obligations than ever before. I don’t know about you, but reading chick lit novels has been one of my favorite releases and escapes from the reality of it all for some time. So in honor of working women, no matter what you might do, I have a fabulous collection of working girl chick lit novels to choose from in honor of my 100^th follower joining Lip Gloss and Literature. In the books below, you will get a taste of life working as a receptionist, image consultant, fashion assistant, psychologist, yoga instructor and a columnist. I hope you will find something from this list that you’ll like to try. See the links for my reviews.

***Working Girl Chick Lit 100^th Follower Contest***

1.      Open to followers Worldwide

2.      Must comment below with a valid email address where I can contact you if you win

3.      Must be a follower of Lip Gloss and Literature

4.      Winner will have their CHOICE of ONE of the below listed books.

5.      Contest will be open until June 8^th, 2011, 11:59PM.

6.      Winner will be chosen via Random.org and Announced Thursday, June 9^th, 2011.

7.      For extra entries: (Please post a separate comment and link to your blog or tweet.)

8.      Blog or Tweet about this contest (if you don’t have a blog or a Twitter account, you can post it on Goodreads, Book Blogs or another book related site.)

9.      Link to this giveaway on your blog.

10. Add this contest to another Sweeps or Giveaway Site.

11.   Follow me on Twitter or (at cgraceh)

12.  Follow my book reviews on Goodreads (cgraceh)

13.   Add a new comment for each extra entry.

Holly’s Inbox by Holly Denham

Love Struck by Chantel Simmons

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

The Map of True Places by Brunonia Barry

Tales from the Yoga Studio by Rain Mitchell

Everleigh in NYC by Cathleen Holst

A BiG THANK YOU to EVERYONE who's followed my blog, new followers and anyone who might follow int he future. As always, this contest is for YOU! If you ever have any questions, suggestions, comments or otherwise, please feel free to contact me at cgraceh at gmail dot com. Good luck, everyone!!!

Putting On My Lip Gloss #4: From the Sidelines to Center Stage - Reading & Writing Characters

Reading about Characters….

A while back the Chicklit Club voted on the “Best” chick lit characters of all time. See who made the list:

http://www.chicklitclub.com/top10bestcharacters.html

L to R: Bridget Jones, Rebecca Bloomwood, Miranda Priestley (film adaptations)

Do you agree? Who are some of your favorite fictional characters?

As I’ve been working on my current WIP, I’ve been thinking a lot about characters. What point of view to tell their story in? Who to include? What should I call them? How much of their lives should I reveal? When should I introduce them? When should I show conflict between them and when should it be resolved?



Film version of One for the Money by Janet Evanovich 
(Katherine Heigl as Stephanie Plum, Middle)



 In my research on writing fiction, I have learned there are three (main) ways to craft a novel. One, from a message or idea; two from plot, action or events; and three, from character. For those of you who, like me, love chick lit, you are probably very familiar with the character-driven story. In chick lit, the story is often based around a strong leading heroine who finds herself in some kind of dire situation which thwarts her out of her comfort zone, forces her to take action and then causes her to grow from the inside-out. All in all, a character story can not exist without that specific character. Who else but Stephanie Plum could star in Janet Evanovich’s romantic, adventure-mysteries? Who but Miranda Priestley could have led the fashionistas in The Devil Wears Prada? There’s no character more synonymous with a shopping addiction than Sophia Kinsella’s beloved Becky Bloomwood. Who else could smoke 20 cigarettes a day; 4 pints of alcohol and end the night with 2 brownie sundaes like our lovable Bridget Jones? But what does it take to make a character so memorable that the reader wants to continue to read about their saga?

What do you look for in a character when you read? What are some of the most unique traits you have read about in characters?

Writing about characters…

One of my favorite websites is Girlfriends Book Club. It’s compiled by various chick lit and women’s fiction authors who rotate publishing posts every day. Not only is it a special treat for me because it is written by so many fantastic writers, but the content and advice is always a treasure! As fate would have it, wouldn’t you know it but all my favorite ladies had a bit to say about how to create that perfect leading lady:

http://girlfriendbooks.blogspot.com/2011/04/5-tips-for-creative-believable.html

Another one of my absolute favorite emails comes from Daily Writing Tips, an invaluable (and free) subscription. From using the zodiac calendar to archetypes and great literary personas, find out where writers draw inspiration for their characters:

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/use-archetypes-to-create-literary-characters/

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/5-qualities-to-consider-during-character-development/

Where do you draw your inspiration for characters?

Here are a few other various resources on Creating Characters:

http://storymind.com/dramatica/characters.htm

http://www.underdown.org/mf_characters_dialogue.htm

More helpful books on characters:

Creating Characters by Dwayne V. Swain

Characters & Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card

Writer’s Guide to Character Traits by Dr. Linda Edelstein

45 Master Characters by Victoria Schmidt

What are some traits that you feel MUST BE INCLUDED when creating a character?

Putting on My Lip Gloss is a series of blog posts that represent my personal thoughts, ideas and general ramblings related to chick lit reading and writing. Every day is an inspiration – I never know where my next post is going to come from, but when it does, I always feel like putting on my lip gloss! Thanks for reading.

I Heart Hollywood: Chick Lit Goes to the Movies

          Ah, Chick Flicks + Chick Lit Ficiton = some really good movie watching!! Helen Fielding brought Chick Lit to the big screen in 2001 with a cinematized Bridget Jones. The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger’s was a huge hit in 2006 with an even bigger cast. In the summer of 2010 Julia Roberts stole the scene in Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray Love.

          Go to the Screen Scene at the Chick Lit Club for all the latest in gossip, rumors and in-production chick lit flicks based on the chick lit novels you loved and adored! One of my favorites I’ve been looking forward to ever since reading it back in December 2009 is none other than Emily Giffin’s Something Borrowed. Ginner Goodwin and Kate Hudson star as best friends who are sleeping with the same guy who’s supposed to be getting married to one of them in this book-made-into-movie slated for release some time in 2011. Other favorites still awaiting production, screen writing or that have just been rumored to be picked up and dusted off their library shelves and reformatted for the big screen include Sophie Kinsella’s Can You Keep a Secret and The Undomestic Goddess, Enchanted, Inc by Shanna Swendson (one of my personal series faves about a girl in NY who discovers magic is real but that she is immune to it), another story about the “other woman”, Jane Fallon’s Getting Rid of Matthew, politico-daughter and chick lit author, Kristin Gire might see her first novel Sammy Hill in big lights, Lauren Conrad’s LA Candy – I can’t wait to see who will play Jane Roberts if LC is determined to stay behind-the-scenes -, Beth Harbison’s debut Shoe Addicts Anonymous which depicts the lives of four young woman who meet at the intersection of their passion for well-made, high-heeled footwear and so many more.

          If you are a fan of chick lit, now is a great time to hit the movies. What movie are you waiting for to come out most?? What chick lit book would you like to see turned into a movie? If you could choose the cast for any chick lit book made into a Hollywood premiere, who would you choose and why?