Exciting (and Stressful) Times in Newbie Novelist’s Life

Okay – the exciting stuff:

a) Got an AWSOME new blurb from Lara Rios, author of Becoming Latine in 10 Easy Steps, as well as her newest, Becoming Americana. I met Lara at both the Chica Lit conference in Miami organized by Alisa Valdes-Rodrigues (who may be going by Alisa Lynn Valdes now…) and again at the nationals in Atlanta where she gave a great presentation about how to take the cliché out of your Latin characters (Lara is Argentine herself so I was very, very nervous she’s find my portrayal of some of the characters in FL clichéd… which makes her glowing quote glow that much brighter). So without further ado, here’s what Lara had to say about Fashionably Late:

Girls just want to have fun! Especially Ali who is tired of pleasing everyone, but herself. This novel has it all: glimpses of Lebanese and Cuban culture, sexy men, fresh, sparkling storytelling, witty and fun dialogue; and a heroine who is so adorable, you want to give her a big hug and tell her everything is going to be okay. Don't miss this delightful novel!

-- Lara Rios, author of BECOMING LATINA IN 10 EASY STEPS

b) I received my copyedits in the mail today…Yawza (this is both exciting and stressful, in case you're wondering about the 'stressful' thing in the header). I think the whole ‘professional’ side of this professional writing thing is finally starting to sink in… lots and lots of strange-looking symbols sprinkled all over my manuscript… meaning I will have to go through this thing with a fine-toothed comb yet again. I knew it was coming, but still… it just feels like time to move on. Like we’re done with this. Sigh. This is actually a good thing as I’d like to come up with some really good discussion questions for the novel, so here’s my chance.

This morning Diana (of Secret Society Girl fame) posted a list of the top 100 romances of all time as asked us how many we’d read. As yours truly hasn’t touched a romance since she was twelve (unless Outlander counts, which I suppose it sort of does), she performed quite pathetically.

T0 make myself feel better, here’s the Guardian’s list of all time best fiction novel. Not romance, ladies and gentlemen, but what we call the Classics. Unfortunately, my performance is still quite pathetic:

Pride & Prejudice – Jane Austen (of course)
Wuthering Heights – Emily Brontë
Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert (I think I should get extra points for this since I read it in the original French…)
One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
1984 – George Orwell
Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
1,001 Arabian Nights (okay, didn’t make it through the whole thing but still…)
Edgar Allan Poe’s collected stories (see above…)

Now, I’d like to say that I’ve read a lot of fine fiction that didn’t make it up there, like say, The Plague by Albert Camus, or Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz, or even Roots by Alex Haley. I even think that The Chronicles of Narnia and anything by Lucy Maud Montgomery should make it somewhere up there. Goes to show just how subjective these things are (or just how much great literature there is out there?…)