Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Guest Blogger, Margo Candela

Photo by Alex Ben Parks
I’d like to welcome author Margo Candela as the special guest blogger here today at Thoughts in Progress on her virtual blog tour with WOW! Women On Writing.

Margo is touring with her fourth novel GOODBYE TO ALL THAT. Her book about the life of a movie producer's assistant out of control life will have you laughing, cheering and booing as Raquel tries to fall in love, create a star, and play marital counselor--all while stuck in bumper to bumper LA traffic. Thanks to Margo and WOW! Women On Writing  I have one copy of GOODBYE TO ALL THAT to give away to one lucky person who comments on this post between now and 8 p.m. (EST) on Wednesday, Sept. 8. Be sure to include your e-mail address with your comments if it’s not included in your profile.
 
Margo stops by today to talk about how chick lit hasn’t ruined her life. She plans to stop back by during the day to answer any questions you might have or respond to your comments.

Once out of college, when I finally had the time and money to read what I wanted, I picked up a copy of Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary before a weekend trip with my boyfriend. Up until then I had been reading books like The English Patient

and Marriage Shock: the Transformation of Women into Wives. I came back from that trip hooked on chick lit and engaged (despite having read Marriage Shock).
 
It wasn’t until a few years later, after the dotcom boom went bust and I found myself at home with a newborn, that I seriously considered writing a novel. It might have been the lack of sleep, both from nursing and constant reading, but I really thought I could give it an honest go.
 
I wasn’t living the typical chick lit life—there were no mimosa filled brunches, sizzling romantic triangles and most of my bosses weren’t that bad. I wasn’t teetering around Manhattan in too high heels or jetting off to Capri with a playboy boyfriend. What resonated with me were the stories of young women taking charge of their lives, with sometimes disastrous but highly entertaining results.
 
By that time I started to think about what my novel would be about, I’d read tons of chick lit, everything Helen Fielding, Sophie Kinsella, Jennifer Weiner and more. There was a

formula (gal with job wants better job and guy to go with it) and a certain tone (breezy, funny, nothing too heavy) and the covers screamed “read me while eating ice cream.”
 
This, I decided, was the writing world for me. My son started pre-school in the fall of 2003 and I came to an agreement with my husband. I’d spent three years raising the kid full-time which earned me three years to get my writing career underway. I made that deadline, signing my first book contract in early 2006, and have seen my book covers go from blah to great and my writing style grow up along with the genre.
 
Stories have gone beyond shopping, losing weight and happy endings don’t always have to be about landing a great job or bagging a guy.  As someone who writes it and hopes to continue to do so, I can honestly say chick lit changed my life. 

 
Margo, thanks so much for guest blogging here today. I’d say chick lit has changed your life, but in a very good way.

For a little background on Margo. When she’s not writing, Margo vacuums. It’s her secret solution to writer’s block and when she hits the Times bestseller list Margo dreams of buying a Dyson DC 25 Animal. And shoes. Ask her the about the black heels on the cover of GOODBYE TO ALL THAT. For more information on Margo, check her website: http://www.margocandela.com/ and her blog:     http://margocandela.blogspot.com/

Here’s a brief synopsis of GOODBYE TO ALL THAT: “Raquel Azorian is Hollywood’s invisible woman. She stands in the shining light of young starlets giving their careers nudges, her memos help boss Bert create money-making productions, and her practicality keeps her quirky family co-existing peacefully. Amazingly, no one notices. But then Raquel decides she deserves a chance to be the star. Why can’t she have the gorgeous boyfriend? Why can’t she tell the VPs to deal with their own snafus and grab a little power for herself? Why can’t she stop being the middleman in countless family dramas? When Raquel takes off her invisibility cloak everyone in Hollywood notices! Don’t miss it.”




15 comments:

  1. Thank you Mason for hosting Margo.
    Margo, I am a huge fan of chick lit, precisely because it is a fun, light read.
    I think chick lit is all about people and relationships, but it does have its critics.How do you react to the people who decry chick lit as silly and unrealistic?

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  2. I enjoyed Margo's comments today and am certainly happy chick lit hasn't ruined her life! It's a vital section of my home library, that's for sure! Thanks!
    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

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  3. I'll have to try the vacuuming trick! Housework really is a good thing to do while you're writing...it's so mindless that it's a good time to do some mental aerobics.

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  4. I enjoyed reading about Margo's move into a writer's life - it's so interesting how we all manage to cope with it all :)

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  5. Margo, thanks for guest blogging here today. Best of luck with your new book.

    Hi everyone, thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your day.

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  6. Living in LA and driving in the bumper to bumper traffic, it is nice to see a different look on this "glam" town. I am looking forward to reading her book. Thanks for having Margo on the blog today discussing Chick lit, I do have my favorites as well. Janet Evanovich is so funny.

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  7. I love the sound of this book. And how Margo came to write chick lit. Do you have any idea how long my list of books to find is?

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  8. What a treat! Thanks for all the feedback!

    I'll be stopping by throughout the day (I call it productive procrastination) so if anyone wants to ask a question, feel free. And good luck with the contest!

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  9. My life was chick lit, though like Margo, without the mimosas and Jimmy Choo shoes. Heartbreak followed by new love affairs, moments of anxiety swallowed up deliciously by triumphs of self-discovery and progress. I wanted to write the Great American Novel, but wrote Chick Lit instead. Just felt more real! And I haven't regretted it for an instant.

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  10. The synopsis sounds like a fun read.

    And, of course, it's good to know that chick lit hasn't ruined your life. In fact, it sounds like it has been very good for you (and you for it)!

    Helen

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  11. Chick lit is all about attitude and some people can't handle women who have one. Too bad for them because they're missing out on some good books. Funny, smart, complicated it what most women are and what we want to read about.

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  12. Yay for chick lit (or rom-coms, or whatever we're meant to be calling it). She sounds like a woman after my chick-lit loving heart and I'll definitely be adding her books to be Goodreads list - right now! :)

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  13. I wonder how many can say chick lit saved their life?

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  14. Chick lit are wonderful, quick, fun reads, definitely picks up the spirit at times.

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  15. Read me while I'm eating ice cream! Has to be one of the best lines ever.

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I'd love to hear your thoughts on today's post. Thanks for dropping by.