Author Guest Post
Sue Watson: I would bake a cake for trainer Bob Harper from The Biggest Loser. I love that programme, and I love Bob. I also like to think that watching people work out speeds my metabolism! I’d bake a very British cake – a large Victoria Sandwich (named after Queen Victoria): a two-layer sponge cake sandwiched with vanilla buttercream and strawberry jam. Bob and I would have tea and cake on fine china and while we eat cake and chat, he’d fill me with the inspiration to lose weight. As for cake calories – surely eating cake with my trainer and talking ‘workouts’ will speed my metabolism...won’t it?
Lucie Simone: I didn’t grow up in a family of bakers. If we ever had cake, it came from a box mix and the frosting came out of a can. Don’t get me wrong, we all thought these were fabulous cakes. (Oh, how little we knew). But a few years ago, I discovered my inner baker; and in the past year, I’ve really gotten into baking cupcakes. So I’d bake chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting for my family, which, luckily, I get to do this Thanksgiving! I’ve been treating my co-workers to my cupcake creations for several months, so I’m really looking forward to sharing my newfound love with those I love the most.
Joel Zlotnik: Well, as long as it can be anyone, I think I'd like to bake a cake for Mila Kunis (before Ashton Kutcher of course). And I'm really not much of a baker, so I'd probably follow Scott's lead in my story and find whatever mix looks easiest to make from the grocery store shelves. It would be basic chocolate with chocolate frosting. She has to like chocolate, right? And Mila always seems so nice, I think she would really appreciate the effort and not care at all that the cake wasn't exactly a masterpiece. I'd write something on top of it, like: "How About Dinner?" And she'd say yes and we'd go to dinner and we'd crack each other up, laughing our way through the night and then we'd start dating and eventually get married and then we'd have an incredibly cool story to tell our kids ... how it all started with their dad baking a bad off-the-shelf cake for mom.
Cindy Arora: I've been thinking a lot about my grandma. We called her Mama Carmen, and she was a really spirited woman. Full of life, energy, sass, and interesting wisdom, so if I had the chance I would bake her a spice cake to match her own zesty personality. It's a classic yellow made with buttercream milk and spices including: nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and ginger. It's warm, sweet and playful and goes wonderfully with a cup of coffee. My grandmother died more than 10 years ago and oddly enough, I miss her more as each year passes -- not less. I'd love to bake her cake, introduce her to my son, and tell her about everything that has been happening the last decade. Including the arrival of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Oh boy! She'd love that.
About The Authors
Lucie Simone has a passion for travel, romance and all things chick lit. She also has a degree in Journalism and a Master of Fine Arts in Television Production. She is the author of novels, Hollywood Ending and Picture Perfect, both offering an insider’s take on life in the City of Angels. Her love of comedy (and living under the delusion that she might one day be an actress) resulted in a stint studying improvisation, which, ironically enough, taught her to be a better writer. She lives in Los Angeles (and loves it), but considers New York City her imaginary second home and visits the Big Apple as often as her bank account will allow. For more information on Lucie, please visit her website at www.luciesimone.com.
Cindy Arora was a staff writer at The San Gabriel Valley Tribune, The Orange County Register and Sacramento Magazine. She’s been published in Saveur, Tasting Table, Orange Coast Magazine and Fodor’s. She’s also mama to an adorable little boy, a feminist, a whiskey enthusiast, and proud to call herself a Chick Lit author. She is the author of Heartbreak Cake, a delicious debut novel, and a contributor to the anthology, Merry & Bright, with her story, Christmas at Mulberry Inn. To learn more about Cindy, please visit www.cindyarora.com.
Sue Watson is a former BBC TV Producer who woke up one morning to the realisation that there was no such thing as 'having it all.' Marriage, motherhood and a full-time career were taking over her life and what she really wanted to do was stay home all day, bake and eat cake, watch reality TV and write... in that order. So she quit the day job, baked a year’s supply of cupcakes and chased the dream. What followed was a lot of cake and many hours in the company of ‘The Real Housewives of New Jersey,’ ‘The Biggest Loser,’ and ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians.’ During this, time Sue also managed to write a few books too: Fat Girls and Fairy Cakes; Younger, Thinner, Blonder; Love, Lies and Lemon Cake; and her latest cake offering, Snow Angels, Secrets and Christmas Cake. Learn more about Sue by visiting www.suewatsonbooks.com.
Joel Zlotnik is a former Southern California journalist who was lucky enough to find a second career on the other side of the notepad, answering questions instead of asking them. He recently cancelled his cable so he would write more and quickly discovered online binge watching. You can find him living at the beach in South Orange County, where he listens to records, reads and watches the waves. Find some of his essays and short fiction at www.joelzlotnik.com.
Book Spotlight
Petit Four by Cindy Arora, Lucie Simone, Sue Watson & Joel Zlotnik
A Chick Lit Anthology
Publisher: Simon & Fig
Publication Date: November 5, 2014
Format: Paperback - 278 pages
Kindle - 474 KB
Nook - 583 KB
ISBN: 978-0990984801
ASIN: B00PB636D6
BNID: 2940150528055
Genre: Chick Lit / Romance
BUY THE ANTHOLOGY: Petit Four
Book Description:
When single mom and journalist, Olivia, sets out to find romance in Cindy Arora’s Cake Therapy, she gets a little help from her friends and more than a few slices of cake to coax her off the couch and into the arms of a truly great love. Lucie Simone’s Aprez Vous finds success-driven Tara in Paris reminiscing of her long lost love, Jean Marc, and her niece bound and determined to reunite them. In The Heart-Shaped Secret of Raspberry Jam by Sue Watson, cake enthusiast, Milly, meets her match in the kitchen, and other places, when new owners take over the tea rooms where she works and her talents and her heart are put to the test. And Scott, mayor of a small seaside community, flirts with political suicide in Joel Zlotnik’s Her Charms when he falls for new-in-town Nicole, an entrepreneur with a passion for cupcakes, and whose latest venture proves a little too sexy for the sleepy beach town.
From San Francisco to Paris, from small towns to tea rooms, this anthology tempts readers with humor, style, romance, and the powerful aphrodisiac that is cake. Petit Four is four stories, frosted with love.
Virtual Book Blitz Tour
Blitz Tour Schedule:
November 12 - Books Etc – Spotlight
November 13 - Books Etc – Q&A
November 14 - The Little Reading Cabin– Excerpt
November 17 - NovelEscapes - Q&A
November 18 - Two Children and a Migraine – Spotlight
November 19 - Chick LitPlus – Spotlight
November 20 - Chick Lit Goddess – Spotlight & Excerpt
November 21 - Jersey Girl Book Reviews – Spotlight & Guest Post
November 21 - Ski-Wee’s Book Corner - Spotlight
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