Celeb Rehab, Part 2

From best-selling chick-lit novelist Wendy Holden, part 2 of an exclusive short story for BettyConfidential.

-Wendy Holden

The story so far:  Because of her addiction to gossip, our heroine has lost her boyfriend (he didn’t want to hear about Simon Cowell) and her job (her boss caught her looking at a celebrity site once too often).  She decides to go cold turkey on gossip by traveling to England to spend some time with her Aunt Jane, a Shakespeare scholar. Aunt Jane introduces her assistant, Jasper, and our heroine is speechless:  “I stared back, open-mouthed. I hadn’t been expecting an assistant, let alone one this hot.”

Jasper was very English. He had a Hugh Grant accent and the same pretty-boy looks, although younger by about 20 years. He explained to me that he and Jane were working on a book about Shakespeare; Dad had been right. “I love Shakespeare,” I couldn’t help exclaiming.

“You do?” Jasper looked interested. “Which play?”

I pulled a face. “Um, I guess I mean Joseph Fiennes,” I muttered sheepishly.

Fortunately, Jasper seemed to think this was funny. For all his spectacular looks, he was a nice guy. So nice, and so interested in me, that I soon felt I could tell him the truth about why I had come here. My celebrity rehab.

“And I think it’s working,” I told him. “You can’t imagine what a joy it is not to spend the whole day wondering about Catherine Zeta-Jones’ diet.”

Jasper laughed – harder than I thought the remark merited. “I can see there’s a certain liberation in that,” he agreed, wiping his eyes.

Jane, Jasper and I had a wonderful week together. We talked about all sorts of things over the supper table, often far into the night. If I had worried that, after all those years of obsessing over the A-list, I would be unable to talk about anything else, it turned out I had plenty of opinions.

Want to catch up on yesterday’s installment? Click here to read Part 1 of Celeb Rehab

 During the day Jane and Jasper worked and I explored the village and the surrounding countryside on – of all things – Jane’s old bicycle. My skin improved faster than it ever had with any star-endorsed face-cream and my figure faster than with any celeb diet. I was looking pretty good, I knew – as was Jasper. I had never seen anyone like him, and he was a great guy, too. Clever, witty, kind. I was in love, and he seemed fairly keen on me.

One night, as we sat chatting alone together, Jasper leaned over. “I think I’ve fallen in love with you,” he muttered. He made as if to kiss me, but, in spite of every nerve in my body urging otherwise, I backed away.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

“Jane, obviously,” I replied. She was old enough to be Jasper’s mother, but as I knew from my extensive studies of Hollywood, that never stopped anyone.

Jasper laughed. “Didn’t you know?”

“Know what?”

“Jane has a girlfriend. Lives in LA. Works in film development for..”

I shot out a hand. “Don’t tell me. I don’t want to hear about films. It will only start me off again and I was doing so well.”

Jasper shot me a strange look, but kissed me nonetheless. A swooningly sensual and deliciously lengthy experience which took my mind off my aunt’s unexpected film connections and even more unexpected sexual direction in order to concentrate most rewardingly on my own.

From then on, Jasper and I were inseparable, although the fact he would never leave the house or the garden could be frustrating.

“Agoraphobic,” he shrugged. Which, I decided, was English for not wanting to go for walks. I had seen some exercise equipment in his room though; he didn’t seem opposed to exertion and he had the biceps – and the rest – to prove it.

One day, on a walk myself, I went into the village shop for some milk. It also served as the village gossip exchange and as I waited for the lady in front of me in  line to finish her description of her hip replacement I glanced at the rack of celebrity magazines. Most front pages seemed to feature a large-breasted person called Jordan at whom I stared with a detachment that would have been impossible a mere month ago. I really was getting better. My money was running out too; soon, I reflected sadly, it would be time to leave Jasper and Jane and return to New York City.

I sighed, and, just as I turned to the counter my gaze slid over a magazine with a picture of a handsome dark-haired young man on the cover. He looked extraordinarily like Jasper. So amazingly like him that I decided to buy the magazine as a joke.

“Ooh, Josh Slade,” said the lady at the counter, admiringly. “My daughter’s potty about him.”

Potty! I grinned. I never ceased to enjoy the way the English expressed themselves.

I’d stuffed the magazine in the plastic bag along with the milk, but on the way home I got it out. Just to test myself, you understand, but also to…

Josh Slade. He really had looked like…

I looked at the picture on the cover thoughtfully. He really did look weirdly like Jasper. The resemblance was amazing. Perhaps he had a twin who was an American actor?

I read the story, which was – rather dramatically - headlined ‘MISSING’.

Star Actor Goes Mysteriously To Ground, read the subhead.

Is fame too much for Josh Slade? Is being hot just too hot? Whatever the truth, there’s gotta be a reason why the star of smash-hit romcom Dog For Christmas seems to have disappeared off the face of the Tinseltown earth. His agent and publicist insist that the self-effacing Slade, who apparently plans to move to the other side of the camera, just wants privacy. But we understand he has taken time out to write a film script on the subject of Shakespeare. News reaches us, in fact, that Slade could be at an undisclosed address in the English countryside, consulting a literary academic…

I stopped dead in the lane. There was a crashing sensation in my head. Jasper – Josh?

Could it be? But Jasper was English.

On the other hand, Josh was an actor. Was Jasper just a part? And Aunt Jane was an academic. One who was very good at keeping secrets, by the looks of things.

Had her film-industry girlfriend provided the link?

I walked slowly back, shaking my head in amazement. It was crazy. I had been doing so well in celebrity rehab. I no longer gave a thought to film stars; where they lived, what they looked like and who they loved. I had at last accepted that such people had no interest in people like me and no relevance to my own existence. My future must be free of them.

But I had been wrong. And I also had a feeling I was about to suffer the most enormous relapse.

About the Author
Women’s fiction author Wendy Holden was a journalist for The Sunday Times, Tatler and The Mail on Sunday before becoming a full-time author. She has now published nine novels, all top-10 bestsellers in the UK, and is married with two young children. Her novels include Farm Fatale, Bad Heir Day, Simply Divine, Gossip Hound, The Wives of Bath, The School for Husbands, Azur Like it, and Filthy Rich. Her latest bestseller, Beautiful People, will be released by Sourcebooks Landmark in April 2010.

Celeb Rehab

From best-selling chick-lit novelist Wendy Holden, an exclusive short story for BettyConfidential.

-Wendy Holden

I don’t know about you, but I’m mildly interested in celebrities. OK, I admit it, I’m crazy about them. Obsessed. I’m the one before the TV at midnight gawping at Homestyles of the Rich and Famous instead of getting my eight hours’ beauty sleep. I’m the one you can’t see on the subway because, even though my legs and body are there, my head’s hidden behind a bright pink magazine cover with a huge picture of Brangelina on it.

At least, it was. That was the old me. But, last winter, I realized I couldn’t go on like this. The first clue was when my boyfriend laid down his fork on the kitchen counter, looked me in the eye and said, in answer to my question, that, no, he had no idea if Simon Cowell has the back of his hands waxed. He added that he didn’t care either and, as it was obvious we both had different interests we should both go our different ways.

The second clue was when, a few days later, I was trawling the internet for the latest gossip about the Jolie-Pitts. I’d just dragged up yet another pic of Angelina doing her red-carpet vampire pout thing next to Brad in one of his hat and scarf combos when I realised I was not alone. My boss had sneaked up behind me and was staring at my screen.

“Them!” my boss exclaimed. “They’ve got about a million kids, and she never looks as if she eats anything. He never looks like he sleeps. They probably fight the whole time.” Then, as I turned to face him and take this fascinating point a little further, he snarled “And speaking of fights, I’ve given you three written warnings about this. You’re fired.”

So I’d lost boyfriend and job in the same week, and all because I couldn’t get out of bed without my fix of star gossip and celebrity tittle-tattle. Basically, I’d become a celeb-dependant; my obsession with the lives of the famous was ruining my own. I’d wasted my chances of romance and promotion.

I had to go cold turkey on the stars.

What I needed was a sort of celeb rehab; a place I could go where there would be no gossip magazines, no television, no websites; basically nothing to encourage the wasting of time and energy wondering about Madonna’s ropy arms or whether off-the-shoulder really suited Michelle O.

Was there anywhere like that in America? I doubted it. I even considered Alaska, but figured I’d only get fixated on Sarah Palin. Then, talking to my parents one day, I suddenly remembered I had an aunt who lived in England. She was a writer, somewhere in the countryside. I had no idea where, I’d never stayed with her; never been to England, for that matter.

“You want Jane’s number?” Dad was clearly amazed. “But you haven’t seen her for years. I mean, she came to your christening, but that was before she went to live in the UK…”

“Yeah, well,” I said. “I guess it’s time we met.” I had no intention of telling my parents I was looking for celeb rehab, They worried about me enough as it was.

“You got time off?” Dad demanded. I confirmed that I had indeed gotten time off, but avoided revealing just how much. Eternity, frankly. Of course I needed a new job, but I needed to get my head straight first. “Come visit us then,” my father urged.

I was determined to resist this. My parents were retirees in Miami, which was, of course J-Lo Central - with Madonna and Gloria Estefan thrown in. Gently I repeated that I wanted to go to England, making it sound like a romantic whim. “I saw this great film about the poet Keats recently,” I told Dad. “England looked really pretty.”

“Keats?” he repeated, astonished. I could understand it; I’d never shown much interested in literature before and had only gone to see the film because I thought the actor was hot.

“Yeah,” I said, warming to my theme. “So I guess I’m interested in writers now. Aunt Jane’s into literature, right?”

“She’s an academic,” he confirmed, doubtfully. “Writes about – I dunno – Shakespeare and those guys. But, hey, I don’t know what sort of set-up Keats had, but Jane lives like a hermit. In some cottage in the middle of nowhere. She hasn’t even got TV.”

“She sounds great,” I said firmly. “Keats didn’t have TV either.”

“There are no stores where Jane is,” Dad warned darkly. “No Macy’s or Bloomies.”

“Great.” I’d seen SJP once in Bloomingdales; I didn’t want to risk anything like that.

“No movie theaters. No bars.”

“Fine.”

“Well, if you’re sure..” Dad sounded doubtful.

I was. I got the number. And while calling her, out of the blue, was a little daunting, Aunt Jane sounded friendly enough. “It will be nice to see you, Gracie darling,” she said. Darling, I thought. How English. She’d obviously gone native. I pictured someone with grey hair in a bun, acres of tweeds and those wonky glasses that hooked over your nose.

The airport was a nightmare, of course. All those newsstands with grinning celebrity faces. There was a front page about George Clooney that almost broke me, but I held my nerve and boarded the plane with my resolve intact.

When the air hostess ran through the films on offer, I shook my head. “You’re sure?” she smiled. “We’re offering Dog For Christmas, that new romcom that’s made a big star out of Josh Slade. He’s come from nowhere but now he’s the talk of Hollywood.”

I shook my head again. It had been over a fortnight since I had gone cold turkey on Tinseltown and, while who was in and who was out had once been life or death to me, I knew I could no longer afford to care. The name Josh Slade rang a vague bell, but I couldn’t place his face. Yet now he was a superstar, apparently. It was, I reflected, crazy how fast it could be. I found I was rather looking forward to life in the slow lane.

“Josh Slade was on this flight last week,” the hostess said dreamily. I looked at her ruefully, recognising a fellow-sufferer. She needed celeb rehab too, by the sound of it.

I’d pictured Aunt Jane’s house as some sort of overgrown cottage in the woods, like something from a fairytale, but in reality – and rather to my relief - it was a neat, cheerful little place set in a walled garden on the outskirts of a very Englishy village.

Aunt Jane was trendier than I was expecting, with well-cut short hair and chic Perspex glasses. But she seemed to lead a pretty quiet life. She spent a great deal of every day writing; up in her big, book-lined studio at the top of the house. With…

“Darling, this is Jasper, my PA,” Jane said.

I stared back, open-mouthed. I hadn’t been expecting an assistant, let alone one this hot.

Click here to read the rest of this story!

About the Author
Women’s fiction author Wendy Holden was a journalist for The Sunday Times, Tatler and The Mail on Sunday before becoming a full-time author. She has now published nine novels, all top-10 bestsellers in the UK, and is married with two young children. Her novels include Farm Fatale, Bad Heir Day, Simply Divine, Gossip Hound, The Wives of Bath, The School for Husbands, Azur Like it, and Filthy Rich. Her latest bestseller, Beautiful People, will be released by Sourcebooks Landmark in April 2010.

8 Memoirs to Remember When You’re Looking for Your Next Read

Amazing lives provide amazing reading in these great memoirs to add to your must-read list.

-Stephanie Elliot

They say truth is stranger than fiction, because it is, and it’s often more entertaining as well. Here’s a list of some of the hottest memoirs out right now that are sure to prove the most memorable. From divorce to celebrity, medical conditions, star animals, food love and loathing, you’ll find something here for your bookshelf!

Split – Suzanne Finnamore

Split is a raw and fierce account of a woman on the brink of divorce. When her husband informs her that he deserves to be happy and leaves the family, Suzanne Finnamore is left reeling. With a toddler to take care of, she now has to learn how to survive on her own. Later, she discovers that her ex-husband’s means of happiness is, of course, another woman, whom Suzanne refers to as “The Thing Woman”.

This memoir is a must-read for anyone in a relationship. It’s a great, yet scary reminder that love isn’t always a guarantee, and neither are children the anchor to keeping a marriage sanctioned.

Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti – Giulia Melucci

In this sentimental and heartfelt memoir, Giulia recalls her share of heartbreak and shares openly the loves of her life. I’m not too sure though if she wasn’t a bit more into feeding her lovers than they were in being fed, which parallels into her love life. If only her men loved her as much as she loved making pasta!

Me Cheeta: My Life in Hollywood – Cheeta

For the animal lover in us all, Me Cheeta, My Life in Hollywood is the fictional memoir of the famed chimp who starred in 11 Tarzan movies. If you’ve always wanted to know about the sidekick to Tarzan and what his take was on Hollywood, then this is the book for you.

Mommywood – Tori Spelling

Who doesn’t love a juicy celeb memoir? Tori dishes about her “normal” suburban mom life, from cleaning poo from a pool to dodging 90210 costars at birthday parties. Tori’s mommy-tell-all is pure celebrity parenting at its best … or, at its worst – you decide! If you’re a fan of Tori and Dean’s reality show, you’ll want the inside scoop on what it’s like to be the celeb mother of two.

What I Thought I Knew – Alice Eve Cohen

A 44-year-old woman is diagnosed with a stomach tumor only to discover she is pregnant after a lifetime of infertility. This memoir is a fascinating example of how the medical industry can screw up a person’s life by a misdiagnosis. When Alice finally comes out of the shock of discovering she’s six months pregnant, she then has very difficult choices to make – whether or not to abort her child, whether she should give the baby up for adoption. This book has many Oh-My-God moments that make it hard to put down.

Lopsided – Meredith Norton

Not your typical “I’ve got breast cancer” memoir, Norton tells the story of her fight with cancer without self-pity or stereotypes. Readers who appreciate the humor of David Sedaris and Augusten Burroughs will enjoy this memoir. At times light, sometimes heavy, this is a real look at a disease that’s a reality for way too many women.

People Are Unappealing: Even Me – Sara Barron

Sara Barron wrote her first porno at the age of 11, has dated clowns, janitors and a man who will only have sex while wearing three condoms. She has been a waitress, an actress, a Banana Republic employee, an Olive Garden tie-wearin’ servant, and a Coyote Ugly bar babe. She has a FUPA (you’ll have to read the book to find out what THAT stands for!), a bad habit of itching, has been featured on Jerry Springer, has served plenty of asshole celebrities at a posh NY restaurant she calls HELL, and has had a run-in with a hotel heiress that rhymes with Haris Pilton.

The hilariously true stories in Barron’s collection will have you saying both, “Thank God that I’m not her” and “WOW! I wish I could have been there for THAT!”

Hungry: A Mother and Daughter Fight Anorexia – Sheila & Lisa Himmel

What happens to a family when Mom is a food critic, Dad is an excellent cook, and the daughter vacillates between anorexia and bulimia? Hungry tells both mother and daughter accounts of these illnesses as they try to come to terms and beat the disease. This memoir combines the vastly two different aspects of eating – our food-obsessed world with very serious disorders, all found within the confines of this family, who braves criticism to tell their story.

What’s your favorite memoir?

Exclusive Interview

Interview: Zoey Dean on "Hollywood Is Like High School with Money"

The author dishes on chick lit, real-life Hollywood horror stories, and mean girls

-April Daniels Hussar

Equal parts Gossip Girl, Devil Wears Prada, and Jane Austen, set in the wonderful, bizarre-o world known as Hollywood -- Hollywood Is Like High School with Money is hands down the summer's most fun beach read. The plot is simple: Taylor Henning moves from Iowa to LaLaLand to launch her film career as a high powered creative exec's assistant's assistant - but, as this little fish in big pond soon learns, it's a world of sink or swim. Just like in high school, the mean girls rule, and the only way to survive is to sharpen your perfectly whitened teeth. Who better to give Taylor survival lessons (not to mention a to-die-for wardrobe - we all know the clothes make the girl in high school and beyond) than Quinn, the 16-year-old uber-Mean Girl daughter of Taylor's boss? Taylor takes Quinn's lessons to heart -- from "fake it ‘till you make it" to "lunch is a battleground" -- and it soon seems Taylor will indeed claw her way to the top of the Hollywood food chain. Read more about Zoey Dean...

Betty Books

Best Chick Lit Books, Summer 2009

Books you'll want to have on your nightstand and at the beach

-Stephanie Elliot

What is summer without a great book to read? Well, Betty has a load of books to share with you. Some of these are out in paperback now, and some will be available later this summer. Get a start on your reading list and add some of these great books to your nightstand and your beach bag! There's always room for another fab book, and we've got them right here.

Real Life & Liars, Kristina Riggle - Kristina Riggle's debut is about a family that comes together one weekend to celebrate the parents' 35th anniversary and where a very important family secret is about to be revealed! Listed as Target's August Break-Out book, Real Life & Liars will sure to be a hit with fans of Laura Dave and Allison Winn Scotch. Order your copy here: Real Life & Liars Read more on the best Chick Lit books for Summer 2009...

Betty Book Giveaway

Stop Second-Guessing Yourself, The Toddler Years

Author, Jen Singer, navigates us through these crazy years!

-Stephanie Elliot

Enter to win a copy HERE!

As mothers, we're always wondering if what we're doing is right for our kids. Jen Singer, famed author and owner of the popular parenting website, www.mommasaid.net, has cleared up a few things in her new book, Stop Second-Guessing Yourself, The Toddler Years.

With funny chapters such as:

If You'll Just Go to Sleep, I'll Take you To Disney World in the Morning to helping you through Potty Training, food issues, bedtime and more, Jen's book will have you laughing AND figuring out exactly what you need to do to get through The Toddler Years without having to commit yourself! Read more on how to enter to win Stop Second-Guessing Yourself...

Betty Book Giveaway!

The Divorce Party, A Novel

A chat with author Laura Dave

-Stephanie Elliot

Three Lucky Betty Readers to Win Signed Copies of The Divorce Party! Enter here by July 5, 2009!

If you've not had the chance to experience the literary talents of Laura Dave you are sorely missing out. Dave has written London Is the Best City in America and The Divorce Party, which is recently out on paperback, and three lucky Betty readers will have a chance to win copies here!

I'll admit, when I first picked up London is the Best City in America, I was unsure about it, only because I'm not a fan of the "English" English, and I assumed (on title alone) there would be a lot of talk about "fags" and "mums" and the telly, and all that other Bridgetty-Jones stuff that I can't understand. Read more on how to enter to win The Divorce Party(with photo)...

Betty's Lit Lounge

Win Katherine Center's Everyone is Beautiful

Because falling in love with yourself may be the most difficult task

-Stephanie Elliot

Enter HERE BEFORE June 19 to win a signed copy of Everyone is Beautiful!

With spot-on precision about what it's like to parent young children, Katherine Center's Everyone Is Beautiful is a pure work of art and a charming love letter to all women and mothers. So often as I read, I felt I was being transported back in time to those crazy days of diapers, sippy cups, tantrums and "I don't feel like putting on my clothes" moods little children have. Read more about Everyone is Beautiful...

A Betty Book Must Read!

Jen Lancaster's Latest - Pretty in Plaid

Best-selling author dishes on her new memoir and growing up in the ‘80s

-Stephanie Elliot

Enter to win one of THREE copies of Pretty in Plaid!

From the very opening chapters of Pretty in Plaid, I became infatuated with the sash-wearing, Girl-Scout cookie totin' 8-year-old Jen Lancaster whose snark and smarts had me laughing out loud through every chapter thereafter. But then I had a quiet observation, thinking back to my own 8-year-old insecure self, wondering, "Would she have wanted to be my friend?"

Fortunately, for my now 40-year-old self, that doesn't matter now, because I do have the pleasure of being friends with the person behind the words! And Jen's as real in life as you find her in her books - charming, witty, and so personable, it won't matter if you pick up a truffle from the floor and eat it in front of her. I know this, because that's exactly what I did the first night we met. Read more about Jen Lancaster's Pretty in Plaid (with photo)...

Book Giveaway!

Chicken Soup for the Soul for Moms

Honoring the hardest workers out there!

-Stephanie Elliot

Enter HERE to win a copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul books!

Motherhood is hard work. It's often unrewarding and continuous, the only job I know of that's 24/7, 365 days a year. Show me a mom who has gotten through the day and feels like she completed everything she had to do, and I'll show you ... a fictional character, perhaps Super Woman, because she is something practically non-existent. It rarely happens.

We are so busy in our lives taking care of our children, the house, careers, laundry, errands, and general up-keep it takes to raise a family, that I'm sure some of you get through the day and wonder if you've had time to use the bathroom or even eat. It's a long, hard job many days.

Read more on Chicken Soup for the soul for moms (with photo)...

Mommy Matters

Real Moms Spill in True Mom Confessions: Real Moms Get Real

None of us is perfect, right?

-Stephanie Elliot

Hey Real Moms, Win a copy of True Mom Confessions: Real Moms Get Real

Enter Here!

Let kids go to bed without brushing their teeth: Check.

Let son wear dirty underwear three days in a row but turned them inside out because I didn't feel like doing laundry: Check.

Allowed daughter to make own bowl of ice cream as big as she wanted after begging her to eat the TWO chicken nuggets she's required to eat by-her-$65-per-half-hour dietitian: Check.

I'm a naughty mommy, and when I discovered there's a site out there for other naughty mommies like me, I couldn't get to it fast enough. It's like a secret society! A place where we don't have to wallow alone in our naughtiness, a place where we can go and shout joyously, "Me, too!" or "I did that!" or even, "I've got a better one!"

Read more about naughty moms ...

Betty Exclusive!

Dooce: It Sucked and Then I Cried

Exclusive interview with infamous mommy-blogger Heather Armstrong

-Stephanie Elliot

With a second daughter due in June and a memoir out about her first pregnancy and subsequent nine months of motherhood (which involved a short stay in a mental hospital), famed blogger Heather Armstrong of Dooce.com  doesn't think things suck quite so much these days.

Read more about Dooce...

Betty Book Giveaway!

The Break-Up Diet: A Memoir

When all else fails, chocolate heals

-Stephanie Elliot

Enter to win an autographed copy of The Break-Up Diet: A Memoir here!

Annette Fix thought she had it all. She had been the sole support for her son for 12 years and was planning her happily ever after with the man of her dreams, when her life turned upside down and she got dumped. Hard.

Her immediate remedy? Hot fudge topping, and not spoonfuls. She needed vats of it. And fast.

Her breakup - and how she recovered - is told boldly, heartbreakingly and humorously as it unfolded in her book, The Break-Up Diet: A Memoir. What I love about this memoir is that it's so much more about Annette's life than just her breakup. She had her chocolate and her Wonderboy son to get her through the rough spots, and she charged onward. An alternative title might be: An Exotic Dancin' Homeschoolin' Mom's Break-up Memoir.

Let's meet this amazing mother, shall we? Read more about Annette Fix...

Life Lessons

"The Bounce Back Book"

How to thrive in the face of adversity, setbacks and losses

-Stephanie Elliot

I'm not a pessimist, but it's safe to say that we've all either had our share of losses and sad times or that we will, at some point in our lives, experience setbacks and adversity. It's the nature of the game, a fact of life. It IS life. And therein lies the story of The Bounce Back Book: How to Thrive in the Face of Adversity, Setbacks, and Losses.

Whether you've experienced job loss (which many have during these economically challenging times), a breakup or even the death of a loved one, author Karen Salmansohn creatively and sympathetically helps you bounce back from your devastation. Read more about The Bounce Back Book...

Read This!

Cringe

Teenage diaries, journals, notes, letters, poems, and abandoned rock operas

-Stephanie Elliot

When I lifted my copy (not lifted it in the sense of STEALING IT! - but when I physically picked it up), the sheer weight of the book suggested there are secrets to be revealed in Cringe!

And secrets there are!

It's heavy in both senses of the word.

Cringe is what you do when you find your old journals, open them up and discover the passages you wrote about the angst over the boy who deemed you non-existent. The turmoil of finding out your best friend is also in love with THAT SAME BOY but he knows SHE EXISTS! And the fact that he knows she exists AND she has boobs! Read more about Cringe...

Memoir

An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination: A Memoir

A love letter to her first son

-Stephanie Elliot

Eight years ago I received one of those middle-of-the-night phone calls you never want to receive. It was my best friend, who, at 38 weeks pregnant, was calling me because her husband was out of town.

"The baby's not moving."

I drove her to the hospital and sat with her as we watched the resident OB perform the ultrasound. I knew before the words were spoken. All I had to do was watch his face. I saw his Adam's apple move within his throat as he swallowed, trying to find the words.

Her baby was stillborn.

It is still, eight years later, one of the most horrifying experiences in my life, and it didn't even happen to me. I remember making deals with God, threatening never to have any more children of my own, wondering how something like this could happen.

It happens a lot. More than you think. read more about McCracken's memoir...

A Book to Check Out

Friend or Frenemy?

A guide to the friends you need and the ones you don't

-Stephanie Elliot

When Friend or Frenemy? came across my desk, I was hooked at the title.

We all have friends, and like it or not, you know we've all got our frenemies too! These are the chicks we pretend to like because of either proximity or life instances that make it difficult to be anything other than friends with the person. These are the people that it's easier to just be a friend with than to not be a friend.

If only it was easy to just say to a frenemy, "Hey, look, you know we don't like each other, why the hell are we pretending? Can't we just say hi when we see each other and let that be well enough?"

Here's co-author Andrea Lavinthal taking it to the streets to ask what women think about their friends:

read more on Friend or Frenemy? and watch the video!