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What I'm writing in YEAR OF THE DOG

I just finished writing Year of the Dog ! It had a massive plot hole that I had to fix which turned out to be more work than I expected. Here’s a snippet: “Hey, Auntie Nell.” He wrapped his arms around her, bussing her on the cheek and breathing in pikake flowers and shortbread cookies. And suddenly he was nine years old again, and her solid presence had made his chaotic world stable once more. “What are you doing here?” He usually took her to dinner on Wednesday nights, but today was Tuesday. The edges of her smile faltered a little before brightening right back up again. “What, I can’t visit my nephew?” She angled around him to enter his home. “Is this your new house? Looks lovely.” Which was a blatant lie, because the fixer-upper was barely livable, much less acceptable to a neat-freak like his aunt. She also left four matching pink and purple floral suitcases on the stoop behind her. Only then did Ashwin notice the cab driver standing slightly to the side of the walkway. “Can ...
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A GIRL'S BEST FRIEND by Kristin Billerbeck

A GIRL'S BEST FRIEND (Spa Girls Collection #2) by Kristin Billerbeck

From the back cover:

THREE FRIENDS. ONE SPA. AND AN INFINITE AMOUNT OF OVERSHARING!

From the outside, Morgan Malliard has it all: diamonds at her disposal, a willowy figure, a doting daddy and all the elegance that money can buy. But money can’t buy happiness—or an identity to call her own—and Morgan is realizing her perfect life has no purpose other than spectacular grooming (which isn’t really a purpose at all . . . unless you’re a chimpanzee). Then a falling-out with her father drop-kicks Morgan into the real world, and she is suddenly forced to get an actual job, wear affordable shoes and cope with public transportation—not to mention deal with that mysterious hottie who may or may not be stalking her!

It’s time for a spa getaway with her best gals, Lilly and Poppy—because there’s just something about lying under a pile of sweet-smelling papaya plaster that can help a girl figure things out. Like the fact that life isn’t aobut living up to a perfect ideal, and that with God’s grace, the beauty of it may just be in the flaws after all . . .

Camy here:

I loved this book. I liked it better than SHE'S ALL THAT, book one of the Spa Girls Collection, because I related more to Morgan than I ever did to Lilly.

Lilly was neurotic in book one, and she's still neurotic in this one. I didn't quite buy her underlying fears behind the fiasco with meeting Mrs. Schwartz, even after discovering the reason why (don't worry, I'm not revealing any spoilers). She proved how strong she was in book one, so her motivations didn’t quite ring true for me, personally.

I'm totally gellin' with Morgan. She's a bit shallow but it's almost like a front. I can completely relate to her desire to please people. It's the engine in her Beamer. Everything she does, even succumbing to losers and being bullied around, is prodded by that desperation for everyone to like her. It's so much like who I am, maybe that's why I liked her so much.

I also related to her desperation for a husband to love her. It brought back the kind of angst I felt when I was single. Morgan works through her fears and lack of trust in God to a better place—not completely "with it," but more understanding of herself and her weaknesses, and God's strength.

I loved that the message behind her singleness wasn't to suck it up, or a pious sermon to make Jesus her only love, or even to just wait for her prince to come one day. Morgan is left to muddle it through herself until she dukes it out with God and comes to her own understanding of her Father's love.

The underlying characters of the people in Morgan's life deepen as the book moves forward, and there's nothing unbelievable in the extra layers revealed, but the story is richer as it progresses.

I literally couldn't put the book down once I picked it up. From chapter one, I was thrust into a new problem of Morgan's rather than anything leftover from book one in the Spa Girls Collection.

I think this would be appropriate for junior high girls, but many of the themes on singleness might not really appeal to them or fit where they are in their lives. However high school girls, collegiates, and 20- to 30-somethings will understand and relate to Morgan's troubles.

This was a great book. The author popped me into her convertible and took me for a ride through her story, and I never wanted to get off.
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Comments

Anonymous said…
As a growing writer and manic lover of "chick lit" I attack almost anything in the genre, but this was one of the best I ever read!
I totally related with Morgan's father problem--but I won't go there ;-)
I didn't want to put it down, I felt like the "spa girls" were my friends too.
Great read and even re-read!
Wed Oct 25, 09:35:00 AM 2006
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