Melissa Senate

I've been a huge Sarah Strohmeyer fan since her "establishment-bashing" debut a decade ago with the first Bubbles Yablonsky novel. (If you haven't read her Bubbles series, you must!) I was lucky to get my hands on an advance review copy of Sarah's brand-new novel, KINDRED SPIRITS, and let me tell you: it's as beautiful as the title. First and foremost, it's a book about friendship–female friendship. About empowerment. About seeking the truth. About smart, complex, interesting, very real grown-up women. It's a special book through and through, and I LOVED it.

When life gives you lemons, call your best girlfriends and whip up some lemon martinis. Such is the mantra for the Ladies' Society for the Conservation of Martinis, which was established after one fateful PTA meeting, when four young mothers-Lynne, Mary Kay, Beth, and Carol- discovered they had more in common than they ever thought possible. Meeting once a month, the women would share laughs and secrets and toast to their blossoming friendship with a clink of their sacred martini glasses. The Society was their salvation, their refuge, but when life-shattering circumstances force the group to dissolve, their friendship is never quite the same…until two years later, when a tragic event puts the Society back in session.

When Lynne passes away suddenly, she leaves behind one simple request: that her old friends sort through her belongings. Reluctantly, the women reunite to rummage through her closets. There's nothing remarkable; no kinky sex toys, no embarrassing diary. But buried deep within Lynne's lingerie drawer is an envelope addressed to the Society. And inside they find a letter that reveals a shocking secret and a final wish that will send the women on a life-changing journey…proving that nothing is more powerful than the will of a true girlfriend and a good, strong martini.

HOT PRAISE: 

You can read more about KINDRED SPIRITS at http://www.sarahstrohmeyer.com/ or on FB and TWITTER where I’m just plain old sarah strohmeyer. OR email me the old fashioned way at writesarah@aol.com

Thank you, Sarah! Sarah's website has her Facebook and Twitter links, an excerpt of the novel, and martini recipes, so go visit! Happy Reading! And Happy Fourth!

I loved this novel. Loved, loved, loved. I read it last year, when it came out in hardcover, and now the THE ONE THAT I WANT by New York Times bestselling author Allison Winn Scotch is out in paperback. It's as magical as it is down to earth, beautifully written, with a particularly honest core that stayed with me long after the last page. To celebrate the paperback publication, I'm thrilled to have Allison back on the blog to talk about the book, the inspiration and what inspires her.

What if you woke up one day to all your dreams coming true…but those dreams were more like nightmares?

Tilly Farmer is thirty-two years old and has the perfect life she always dreamed of: married to her high school sweetheart, working as a school guidance counselor, trying for a baby. Perfect. But one sweltering afternoon at the local fair, everything changes. Tilly wanders into a fortune teller's tent and meets an old childhood friend, who offers her more than just a reading. "I'm giving you the gift of clarity," her friend says. "It's what I always thought you needed." And soon enough, Tilly starts seeing things: her alcoholic father relapsing, staggering out of a bar with his car keys in hand; her husband uprooting their happy, stable life, a packed U-Haul in their driveway. And even more disturbing, these visions start coming true. Suddenly Tilly's perfect life, so meticulously mapped out, seems to be crumbling around her. And as she furiously races to keep up with - and hopefully change - her destiny, she faces the question: Which life does she want? The one she's carefully nursed for decades, or the one she never considered possible? What if you could see into the future? Would you want to know what fate has in store?

Q: Is there any personal experience that provides a "behind-the-book" story? Any real-life person or event that inspired your writing it?

Well, while very little of the book is autobiographical, certainly, I could relate to the notion of the ways that Tilly is stuck, even without her consciously realizing that she’s stuck. For much of my twenties, I lingered far too long in relationships that were doomed – always clinging to the bow of the ship as we went down sinking. And always, always in hindsight, there were pretty clear signs that my then-boyfriend wasn’t right for me or that the relationship had a whole host of problems – but it was so much easier to turn a blind eye, to pretend that there weren’t catastrophic problems because then, at least for a little while, I could feel like my life was going perfectly, going as planned. And that’s really Tilly’s biggest flaw: she just wants the pieces to fall into place after spending so much of her life with them OUT of place. Certainly, a lot of women both feel this way and mirror these actions. A lot of times, it’s easier to pretend that all is well rather than acknowledge the fissures and face the pain that something you truly hoped for may not come true. Whether with a career, a friendship or a romantic relationship.

Also, there’s the idea that so much of our journey is pre-determined, and that whatever course we’re on is the course we’re fated to take, whether or not it makes us happy. My parents – and I love them to death – but my parents always thought that I’d be an investment banker, like my brother. And for a while, I went along with that – I did the requisite interviews, I took the required courses in college. But – oh my gosh – I just knew in my gut that I would have been miserable. And it took a lot of energy and effort to forcibly change my track: I had some difficult discussions with my parents, and I had some difficult discussions with myself, both then, and then a few years later when I had pursued my dream of acting and was debating whether or not to give that up as well. Changing your life – or your expectations – is HARD work, grueling, exhausting, and many times, it’s just much easier not too. Again, that’s Tilly’s dilemma: how hard is she willing to work to achieve real happiness. I think that sometimes, we say that we want to be happier, but we’re not willing to make the changes – very difficult changes – to get there. This is the exact situation that Tilly finds herself in. How much responsibility is she willing to assume for her destiny and her contentedness?

Q: Your title remains mysterious, even upon reading the book. Who or what finally, is the One That I Want?

I always thought that the title referred to living the life that she wanted, but definitely, it can be construed in a lot of different ways, which was entirely intentional. I suspect when people pick up the book, they assume that the one that she wants is romantic, and by the book’s end, they may view it in a broader scope. Is she living the life that she wants? Is the READER living the life that she wants?

Q: What inspires you to write the stories you do—about women in conflict?

To be honest, I just enjoy writing about women who aren’t living their lives to the fullest – taking their lives apart and putting them back together in a more whole fashion. Probably because some of this is therapy for me (ha!), and probably also because I think we’re all striving to live more complete, more contented lives, and it’s always nice to read about characters who find a way – even if their roads are bumpy and the outcomes never entirely perfect – who do just that. I have a lot of affection for my characters, and I have a lot of affection for the women in my real life who aim to be happy, fulfilled, better women day in and day out. That’s all, I think, we can ask of ourselves, and I hope that when readers are done with my books, that’s what they contemplate as well.

Big thanks to Allison Winn Scotch for stopping by today to talk about THE ONE THAT I WANT. To learn more about Allison and her novels (and you must check out her blog, which is a treasure trove for writers), visit her website.

Happy Reading!