Monday, May 14, 2012

Chick Lit Author Blog Hop 2012 - The Incomparable Bernadette Strachan




A few years ago, I was browsing in Borders (RIP Borders) when I happened upon a book with the most adorable cover. It featured a woman with flippy hair, a flippy skirt, a little dog and a parasol amidst several colorful beach umbrellas. Naturally I picked up this book, Little White Lies by Bernadette Strachan. I read the back copy, smiled and headed straight for the register.

Fast-forward a couple of months and I was the proud owner of all the books Ms. Strachan had had published.  And she had become one of my all-time favorite authors.

I’m really not sure what I love best about her writing. It’s got to be a toss up between her outrageous characters and her hilarious turns of phrase.  Just to pick a couple of examples at random, Ms. Strachan creates memorable characters such as Blair Taylor, the perma-tanned television host from Handbags and Halos who’s addicted to astrology readings and colonic irrigations and Sister Jane, the rabble-rousing nun from Diamonds and Daisies whose fierce competitive side bursts through during a piggyback race scene.

Here are a couple of snippets I found just now as I was flipping through my books:

“Like Marmite and Barbara Streisand, beach huts divide people into two distinct camps. You either love them or you hate them.  Billie loathed Marmite and the way it made her breath smell of the undead; Ms. Streisand’s heavy-handed way with a ballad gave her the dry heaves; but she loved beach huts. She was mad about their cheerful décor, their dinky dimensions and their unabashed kiss-me-quick vulgarity.”
From Little White Lies

“The arthritic wheezing of the buses circling the green hissed minibreak.  Yehudi’s bow scratched out the word on his violin, and the birds twittered, minbreak, minibreak as they squabbled over worms in the grass.  Or so it seemed to Ruby as she made her way to Drama Queen’s.”
From How to Lose a Husband and Gain a Life

I ask you, have you ever heard of a more creative way to convey the fact that someone needed a vacation?!

Not that Ms. Strachan’s books are all light-hearted tales of the candy-in-the-sky variety. Not even close. Her characters deal with all sorts of issues including abandonment, disgrace, infidelity, homelessness, homophobia, disability and more. But the stories unfold in such a delightful and fresh way, they’re anything but heavy. Not to mention the plot twists. Ms. Strachan’s books are anything but predictable.  I can’t praise this fabulous writer enough, but I’d better stop before I get carried away. Highly recommended!

Love,
Libby


And now for the prizes!  Leave a comment below with your name and email address and you'll be entered to win a copy of my ebook, Fashioning a Romance, which is coming out this Friday!

And for a chance to win the Chick Lit Author Blog Hop Grand Prize of a $150 Sephora gift card, here's what you need to do:

1. Collect all 34 secret words. There will be secret words hidden in each of the blog posts on the hop, and they'll be italicized, so they're easy to locate. Hint: mine is pink as well. Figured I'd better do that since I italicized the book titles.

2. Submit your list of 34 secret words to CLABlogHop@aol.com before midnight on Sunday, May 20th and you'll be entered into the Grand Prize drawing!

3. The Grand Prize winner will be announced on Monday, May 21 and the $150 Sephora gift card can be redeemed online or at any Sephora store in the US.  The contest is open to US residents only.

Below is the Linky list with all 34 participating authors' blogs. You'll have an opportunity to win a different ebook at each blog hop stop. Happy hopping!!





24 comments:

  1. Thanks for doing the hop!

    <3 Tobi
    tobihelton at gmail dot com

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  2. Thank you so much for participating in the hop! I love reading Chick Lit!
    Rhonda D
    slinkydennis@yahoo.com

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  3. Thanks for the contest.

    brn2shop9
    brn2shop9 at gmail dot com

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  4. I’m a new fan! I'm so excited about this blog hop because I get to meet new great authors like you. :)
    caribellacreations at gmail dot com

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  5. Love the sound of your book! :)

    Thanks for taking part in the hop! I'm really enjoying meeting all the great new authors!

    Lisa @ Lost in Literature
    llongi717 (at) yahoo (dot) com

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  6. Don't you love it when you find an author you have to devour? Uh, devour the books, not the author... Anyway, makes for the best reading. pwriter1(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  7. Thanks for doing this, its fun!
    Pinksapphire118 at gmail .com

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  8. Thanks for being a part of the blog hop!!
    Theresa Crowell
    theresacrowell(at)msn(dot)com

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  9. Oh my goodness, my pleasure everyone! It's always great to connect with people who like to read the same kind of things. Thanks for stopping by, thanks for the lovely compliments, and thanks for the laugh, Patricia W. OMG, devouring new authors. Hehehe.

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  10. thanks for being a part of the hop! I love finding new authors/series to add to my TBR list!

    mimirose41209 at hotmail dot com


    ps best of luck on your release later this week!

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  11. Allyson
    I am going to look her up. Good luck on your release this week. Thanks for being part of the hop.
    allysonbrann06 at yahoo dot com

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  12. Now another author to add to my growing list!! Loving this blog hop! Congrats and best wishes on the upcoming book.

    -Savannah Page
    info[at]savannahpage[.]com

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  13. I love those types of chick lit books . Ones not depending on a male figure in the story line.
    rdg.rendezvous@gmail.com

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  14. What a great story of how you got hooked on chick lit! And congrats on the book release

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  15. Aw, I just have to say thank you for all the nice things everyone has to say about my upcoming book launch! Much appreciated!!

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  16. Loved discovering some new books and authors on this hop. Thank you for the giveaway!

    Margaret
    singitm(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  17. What a great endorsement of Bernadette Strachan! Thanks for the heads up.

    Amy Sherman

    abcdsherman at gmail dot com

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  18. looking forward to winning a FREE Chick Lit e-book! i have seem to become a book whore lately!

    gina herberg
    maxpinet@aol.com

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  19. I am having such a good time reading all the post from this hop. Thanks for doing it.

    gatormaryd(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  20. Good luck with your new book! How exciting! Only a couple of days away!
    Cheryl Rhodes
    appytails@telus.net

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  21. Your new book sounds really good! Adding you to Goodreads. Good luck on your release!

    leoandchelle at yahoo dot com

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  22. Aw, thank you all SO much! I am totally feeling the love. Hope someone organizes a chick lit convention someday for authors and readers. Maybe I will! :-)

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  23. I was a Borders fan too. :( Although my Kindle and Amazon have become my BFFs lately. Best of success to you with your upcoming novel-- I look forward to reading it!
    Erica Kincannon
    Ericalkincannon@gmail.com

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  24. I love finding new authors that you just feel the need to read all their books. Twice. :)

    Congrats on the book release!

    Ocbride (at) gmail (dot) com

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