Booklist review of SCOT ON THE ROCKS

From Booklist: This rollicking debut novel finds heroine Brooke Miller in the midst of a quandary. A successful Manhattan attorney dating Douglas, a handsome Scotsman, Brooke responds to the news that her ex-boyfriend Trip is engaged to a movie star by telling a small lie and claiming that she and Douglas are engaged as well. Brooke figures Douglas is about to pop the question any day now, so she has a nasty surprise when instead of proposing, he unceremoniously dumps her and reveals his infidelity. Distraught, Brooke tries to win him back, then concocts another plan: she persuades her handsome coworker Jack to put on a Scottish brogue and pretend to be Douglas at Trip's wedding. Brooke doesn't imagine just how complicated things can get. A breezy romantic comedy with plenty of laughs.

Kristine HuntleyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Let's talk best friends

In SCOT ON THE ROCKS, Brooke and Vanessa are best friends, but are complete and total opposites in every way imaginable. How do Brooke and Vanessa's relationships mirror each other? How do Brooke and Vanessa, themselves, mirror each other?

In your relationships with your friends, do you tend to be close with people who are the most like you, or the most unlike you? In your romantic relationships? (And don't forget to send this to your best friend, too!)

xoxo brenda

Writing exercise: Stranger than fiction

ARMED WITH THE IDEA FOR YOUR STORY, NOW YOU'RE READY TO START WRITING YOUR BOOK!

You've got the idea for a book. So, where do you start?

Try this writing exercise to get you going:

1) Picture your protagonist (if you don't have a specific protagonist in mind, use yourself! After all, they say that your first novel is usually all about you....).

2) What does your protagonist want most in life (she has to want something, otherwise there is no point to the book….)?

3) What is standing in her way (try to come up with two obstacles)?

4) How does she overcome these obstacles?
Congratulations! You have the broad outline of your book! Granted, it's a very bare bones outline of a book, but it's something to start with nonetheless. You are on your way to creating a novel that will sell! Post your writing exercises here!

Stranger than fiction

So, you think you've got a story to tell…. How do you tell it?

Ever read a novel and think to yourself, "Hey, I could write that?" Well, you can! But don't be fooled by the fun, informal tone of many of today's novels—it's more than just throwing together a bunch of crazy stories. Good novels must follow the rules of conventional fiction.

With that in mind, your story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. There must be conflict driving your story; things must actually happen.

Take that "Stranger than Fiction" moment of yours that you want to turn into a novel and ask yourself: what is the beginning, middle, and end of this story? Post your stories here!

Crazy wedding stories!

I asked you for your crazy wedding stories and I got some doozies!

Here's a sneak peek:"It was bad enough that my brother was getting married before me, but then my boyfriend broke up with me right before the wedding. My best friend said she'd come with me so that I'd have someone to hang out with, and everything was going fine. Fine, that is, until the bride, my sister-in-law-to-be, told me that everyone thought that my best friend and I were lesbians...."

Anonymous
Anytown, USA