Leading Ladies Part Two

Today is the turn of Lacey, Romy and Joanne P to share with us their favourite leading ladies of the silver screen.

Lacey:

My favorite leading lady would have to be Julia Roberts. Julia has demonstrated her talent and versatility in every movie she’s starred in, from drama, Erin Brockovich and romantic comedy, Notting Hill to psychological thriller, Sleeping with the Enemy, and crime comedy, Ocean’s Eleven.

Pretty Woman is an all time favorite of mine and it was actually the first of Julia’s movies that I got my hands on. She was every inch the spunky, uneducated, streetwise Vivian, you couldn’t help but love.

Sleeping with the Enemy came next, and once again, Julia personified her character Laura, an abused wife, who fakes her own death to escape her husband. You can’t help but become invested in the characters that Julia portrays and every single time she has had me on the edge of my seat hoping that she’ll get her happily ever after.

Julia ability to balance her incredible career with a family life, including three children, has made her an inspirational leading lady both on and off screen.

Romy:

I tend to idolise strong women. I've even been accused of writing "ball breaker" heroines. So when I thought about which leading lady I admired, it's hardly surprising that the first character to spring to mind was Linda Hamilton's Sarah O'Connor in Terminator 2. I'll admit I know very little about Linda Hamilton, but I love the concept of a woman who will do anything to protect her child, and who makes herself over in order to do what must be done. Sarah O'Connor shows us that any woman, no matter how ordinary she seems, has the potential to be extraordinary.

However, as movie actresses go, my favourites are those glamorous icons of the early 20th century: women like the sassy Myrna Loy or the classy Grace Kelly.

My current favourite is an actress who made very few movies and who is remembered not for the films she made in Hollywood (which she turned her back on) but for a couple of German art films, and that was silent movie actress Louise Brooks. Her life was as interesting and complicated as any movie. And that's just given me an idea for a story ....

Joanne P:

A favourite leading Lady for me has to be Barbra Streisand. I find her just fascinating to watch, she has such charisma and screen presence.

Although she isn't 'conventionally beautiful',  there's something captivating about her face  - her haunting eyes and her range of expressions that makes her stunning to watch on screen. 

Her performances as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl and as Katie in The Way We Were really move me - she is such a 'real' actress.  I find myself drawn in by her completely and crying buckets for her characters, even if its a movie i've  seen ten times over. 

In more recent years, she really made me laugh as Roz in 'Meet The Fockers' - how genius to pair her up with Dustin Hoffman!  

Not to mention her brilliance as a singer and song writer, and the way that she has used her fame to speak up on political issues that matter to her.

She has proper old school star quality, and for me that makes her pretty perfect as a leading lady.

Happy Dancing!

Congratulations to our very own Maya Minx who has won the chance to pitch to Angela James of Carina Press over on eHarlequin. We're all snoopy dancing for you, Maya.

While we're celebrating, this seems like a great opportunity to give a round of applause and a huge thank you to all the editors at Harlequin. They have been busy this year! Aside from the Medical Fast Track and New Voices contest, they've signed seven debut authors this year - and the year isn't even over yet.

Congratulations to the following new authors:

• Elaine Golden - who sold to Historical Undone in June
• Natasha Tate - who sold to Modern
• New Zealander Soraya Lane - who sold to Romance/Cherish in August (better known to regulars on eHarlequin as Soraya Nicholas)
• Cat Schield - who sold to Desire in September
• Wendy Marcus - a follower of this blog (squee!!) who recently sold to the Medical Line
• Leonie Knight - also a recent sale to the Medical Line
• And last but not least, Amy Strnad, who has only just announced her happy news. Congratulations on selling to Modern Heat/Riva, Amy, and thanks for the lovely comments you left on some of the Minxes' New Voices entries. We love you too! Amy is taking the pen name Aimee Carson.

Ladies - we're hoping to host every one of you in our Author Spotlights when your books are released!

If there's anyone I've left out of this love fest, my apologies - and please drop us a line to introduce yourself.  And help yourselves to a glass of bubbly.

Author Spotlight: Julie Cohen

This week we're excited to welcome Julie Cohen back to the blog and to hear all about her new release with Headline.

1. Where were you in your writing career 5 years ago?

In October 2005, I was working on my fourth Mills & Boon book, MARRIED IN A RUSH. I’d sold my first title back in July 2004, but because of scheduling and line changes none of them were due to start coming out until March 2006, when my first book was going to be a lead title for the new Modern Heat line. So I was steadily working on building a backlog of titles to be published. Meanwhile, my agent was working on selling my first single title book, SPIRIT WILLING, FLESH WEAK. Though I wasn’t actually published yet, because of all this frantic activity going on behind the scenes, within a year I would have five books out with two different publishers. A level of overachievement which I hope to never have to match again.

2. Where did you get the idea from for this particular book?

I am a total sucker for twin stories. To the extent that when I ordered books for research for writing GETTING AWAY WITH IT, I realised when they turned up that I’d read several of them already. I also love, love, love writing books about deception and identity. So the idea of a story about a woman pretending to be her identical twin sister wasn’t new, but it was irresistible.

3. Where do you hope to be in 5 years time?

On a Greek island, lying on a beach, being fed ripe grapes and retsina by David Tennant. Oh, wait. You mean in my career? Well, I have wild dreams of course of hitting bestseller lists and being invited to amazing parties et cetera, but really, I’d like to still be published, still be making a living by writing books. It’s been my lifelong dream and I can’t imagine anything better.

4. Which was the last book you read that you wish you'd written?

TAKE A CHANCE ON ME by Jill Mansell. Jill has a wonderful, effortless way of instantly drawing you into her characters’ lives. I love her voice, and I love how she makes you laugh and makes you care. There were some really touching moments in this book, too. Also, when I read it on a train, women who also love Jill Mansell books started chatting with me. Fab.

5. Was there any particular author or book that made you want to be a writer?

The Earthsea trilogy, by Ursula LeGuin. When I was ten or so, her richly-imagined fantasy world blew me away and I immediately started working on my own (blatantly ripped-off) version. Drew a map and everything. The map was way better than the story.

6. Do you find writing love scenes giggle-worthy or cringe-worthy?

Neither, really, though more giggly than cringey. As my books have got longer, I’ve found myself writing fewer and fewer sex scenes and they’ve started to be even more emotionally important. So I take them pretty seriously. That said, I may occasionally indulge in a glass of wine or two while I’m writing them, and then I might giggle. A bit. Well, okay, a lot.

7. What's the most romantic moment of your life so far?

I used one of my first advance cheques to pay for a holiday in Venice for me and my husband. As the holiday was because of romance, we agreed he would kiss me every time we crossed a bridge. And there are a lot of bridges in Venice.

8. What do you wish you'd known about being an author before you were pubbed?

How the writing itself doesn’t get much easier. Sure, the experience of having written several novels definitely helps. And it helps to have professionals on my side, giving me advice. But the actual writing can still be hard work, and I’m still beseiged by crows of doubt on a regular basis. I thought once you were published, it all got to be second nature. Ha! As a matter of fact, I’m more neurotic than I ever was before—not least because I know exactly how lucky I am to be published!

9. What's the best writing advice you've ever been given?

When I was starting out, bestselling M&B Modern author (and dear friend) Kate Walker told me, “Don’t be afraid of emotion.” Like so many beginning authors, I was afraid of really digging deep into my characters and putting them in situations where they would suffer. I liked my characters too much to put them through it. But if they don’t suffer, they don’t learn. And if they don’t learn, they can’t earn their happy ever after. I still use that advice today, often in revisions where I have to uncover another layer of emotion.

10. Tell us about your latest release.

GETTING AWAY WITH IT is my first standalone women’s fiction title with Headline Review. It’s the story of stunt woman Liza Haven, whose life is shattered when a film stunt goes horribly wrong. She goes back to the village where she grew up with her perfect identical twin sister, Lee—only to find that Lee has disappeared, leaving behind their difficult mother, their flagging family business and a dangerously attractive boyfriend. What’s more, everyone in the village thinks that Liza is Lee.

It’s a book about identity, disappointment, love, danger and the true meaning of ice cream, and it’s out in hardback and trade paperback on 28 October. It’ll be out in mass-market paperback in April 2011.

11. What's next for you?

Right now I’m working on my follow-up book to GETTING AWAY WITH IT. It’s another contemporary women’s fiction novel, about a woman who gets a job in a stately home where everyone’s pretending it’s 1814. It’s sort of two stories in one—the contemporary story, and the Regency story—and it is just fantastic fun to write and research. I’ve been going to Regency re-enactment events and meeting fascinating people. That book should be out in 2011.

Thank you to the Minxes for having me again!

You can order the discounted hardback of GETTING AWAY WITH IT with free shipping here:

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9780755350605/Getting-Away-With-It

COMPETITION: If you’d like a chance to win a rare, exclusive early reading copy of GETTING AWAY WITH IT,

all you have to do is sign up for Julie’s newsletter. She’ll be holding a draw on her website to give away three copies. If you’d like to enter, either:

a) leave your email address in a comment to this post (to be safer from spammers, replace the @ symbol with the word “at”).

OR

b) send Julie an email: julie at julie-cohen.com (replacing, as above, the “at” with the @ symbol) Use “contest” or something similar as the subject line, so I know it’s not spam.

This is open to anyone, worldwide..

GETTING AWAY WITH IT
A little white lie. A whole lot of trouble...
Coming October 2010 from Headline Review

http://www.julie-cohen.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/julie.cohen.author
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/julie_cohen

Leading Ladies by Three Minxes

We all have favourite movies that remain unforgettable and become a part of us long after we've turned off the VCR or DVD or we've left the cinema and empty popcorn box behind; movies with characters that make us smile or LOL, or brings tear to our eyes.

Today, Minxes Suzanne, Sally and Maya bring you the leading ladies who have struck a chord with us and carved a place in our hearts.

Suzanne:

My favourite leading lady of all time has to be Margaret Sullivan in The Shop Around The Corner. This is a gem of a film - made in 1940 and directed by Ernst Lubitsch, it's inspired an array of other works: In the Good Old Summertime (musical starring Judy Garland), You've Got Mail (Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan) and the stage musical She Loves Me (I saw this years ago with Ruthie Henshall and John Gordon Sinclair - and it was fab). Worryingly, it was also the inspiration for Are You Being Served - but, thankfully, I already knew and loved the original film version when I found this out.

It's a predictable romcom, in that you know from the outset that Margaret will get her man (in this case James Stuart), but that doesn't make the journey any less enjoyable. Margaret's character is feisty and stubborn and funny. On being told by Stewart there are no job vacancies at the shop in question, she nonetheless makes a difficult sale, impressing the owner and landing herself work. In a lovely film she shines, and if you get the chance to see her in the role of Clara Novak, you should jump at it.


Sally:

My favorite leading lady is Holly Hunter. She's a very versatile actress, with a great emotive range, and is able to convey so much through her eyes that I find her compulsively watchable in any films that she appears in. She's not your average pin-up but her quiet strength shines through in all the character's she portrays. I loved her in Miss Firecracker, a movie where she competes in the Miss Firecracker beauty pageant - but my all time favorite is 1995 movie, Copycat.

Copycat is a much underrated thriller in my opinion, with some great performances all round. Holly plays Detective Monahan, a tough determined detective trying to track down a serial killer who is copying famous murders, and she has to work with agrophobe Dr Helen Hunter, played masterfully by Sigourney Weaver to catch the murderer. Harry Connick Jr. is totally blood chilling as evil Daryll Lee Cullum, and if you enjoy thrillers and haven't tried this one, watch it! If thrillers aren't your thing, then do check out Miss Firecracker ... Holly's tap dance is worth it!

Maya:

The Lake House, one of my all time favourite movies made me fall in love with Sandra Bullock. The film itself is extremely poignant with two people who meet “out of time” but are destined to be together. Sandra's performance is arresting to watch and I was on the brink of tears for most of the second half of the movie (something about star-crossed lovers and moving love letters do that to me, I’m afraid).

I also loved her in this movie because it was a departure from her usual funny girl routine, even though I think she’s also a wonderful comedienne. I absolutely adored her in The Proposal and she totally kicked ass in the Speed movies :).

But I think what raised Sandra Bullock to the top of my list was the way she dealt with her personal life in this past year.

Throughout the chaos engulfing her very public marriage break up, she remained dignified and strong, and that’s a quality I admire in my leading ladies.

This picture of her on the cover of People Magazine published just months after her divorce made me smile and go, “YEAH!”

For me, she’s definitely a wonderful leading lady and a huge inspiration!

We'd love to know who your leading ladies are!


Tune in next week for three more Minxy favourite leading ladies.

Time to Party!

Because it's Friday, but also because we deserve a party as a reward for our hard work during the past few month, whether we entered the New Voices Competition or held the hands of contestants.
For this party there are no burly bouncers and no guest list, just an open house for anyone who's suffering PTRSD (Post Traumatic Rose-Stress Disorder), Waitingforthelistitis or just fancies a nice party :-)

Help yourself to champagne and cake and mingle with the celebrities - Michael Weatherly and Daniel Craig have dressed up for us,

Simon Baker has gone for smart casual but Gilles Marini can't seem to keep

his clothes on and has made himself at home :-) So, get out those pink

feather boas, Ugg boots or whatever

takes your fancy. It's time to let off some steam and recharge those batteries for the next stage of our writing journey...

If anyone fancies a party game how about writing a story in ten words for Chick Lit Shorties? There are fab prizes - critiques, blog overhauls, Amazon gift cards... And we're not going to mention the 'c' word because this is about having fun. So while 'I entered New Voices and now I'm a nervous wreck' is a story in ten words and meets the requirements of the 'c' word it's not quite in the spirit of things. If you want to know more click here.

In keeping with the party spirit we also have a prize to award - Tami has won a copy of Suzanne Brandyn's 'Heat in the Outback'. Tami please pop over to Suzanne's website and use the contact info to let her have your snail mail address, the link is here.

Now, what music shall I put on, any requests?