Seré Prince Halverson shares the "joys" of love and has a book to give away

**Giveaway is now closed**


Today we welcome debut author, Seré Prince Halverson, and her novel "The Underside of Joy" (reviewed here). Seré worked as a copywriter and creative director for 20 years while she wrote fiction and raised kids. She and her husband have four grown children, and live in Northern California.

Thanks to Penguin and KMSPR, we have one copy of "The Underside of Joy" to giveaway to a lucky reader anywhere in the US.

You can find Seré at her website, blog and on Facebook.

Favorite date in a novel:
My dear friend, Elle Newmark, wrote two gorgeous date scenes in her novel "The Sandalwood Tree." One involves a couple in the 1940s and a moon dial. The other takes place in India, and includes a Victorian woman waiting in the dark, a Sikh arriving on horseback, and a small chest filled with silk moths. Not your average dinner and a movie.

Favorite romantic movie:
Love Actually. And When Harry Met Sally. And Children of a Lesser God. And Stranger Than Fiction. And Il Postino. And...and...and...

Favorite couple from a TV series:
I’m loving all the couples on Parenthood right now.

Favorite romantic song:
"In My Life" by The Beatles

Most memorable date:
The first time my husband took me camping. He made this delicious dinner—stuffed pork tenderloin and ravioli with a pepper cream sauce, a salad, even dessert. It worked. The next year, all the kids came so the ambience was a bit different. But he still makes me amazing dinners on a regular basis.

How you met your spouse:
This is a fun one. Stan and I met in 8th grade history class. I was the new girl and immediately developed a big crush on him but he already had a following, which included more than a few pretty blonde cheerleaders. I didn’t get to really know him well until our senior year, and he asked me to the homecoming dance. We both wrote in our yearbooks that it was one of the best nights we’d ever had, but there was one of those weird high school miscommunications and we didn’t go out again, though we remained really good in-crush friends.

Flash forward to our 10-year high school reunion. We were both married to other people. We introduced our spouses, talked a bit, and went on our unmarried-to-each-other way.

Flash forward to our 20-year high school reunion. We’d both been divorced for three years. We both had two kids. We were the last to leave the reunion. At the picnic the next day, I brought my boys. Stan, smart guy that he is, horsed around with them, and later helped me tuck them into the car, so we could make the 10-hour drive back to San Diego. As we were leaving, my youngest, who was eight, said, “Mommy? You gotta maewwy that guy.” I told him that protocol required that guy to call me and ask me on a date first. And I reminded my son that Mommy wasn’t going to get married again. But when we got home, the phone was already ringing like blessed church bells.

Favorite moment from your wedding:
Oh, this is easy, though it will be another long answer to a short question. When I was a kid, living on the Puget Sound in Seattle, my mom taught me about wishing rocks. They’re rocks with an unbroken circle of white. Close your eyes, make a wish, and throw the rock into the water. When Stan and I were first getting reacquainted, we were walking along the beach (sorry for the cliché) and I told him about wishing rocks. So he started collecting them for me, and by the time we got married four years later, we had a boatload.

I wrote up a story (how unusual of me!) about our family and the rocks and printed it up on cards. We even had a circle of six wishing rocks(each circle on the rock part of the bigger circle) on our wedding invitation. The guests received wishing rocks when they arrived. We got married in a big circle, our four kids beside us, and family and friends around a beautiful pond on my sister-in-law’s property. At one point in the ceremony, everyone made a wish for us and threw their rocks into the pond. I wasn’t sure how it would go, but it was such a poignant, lovely moment—we felt all those unbroken circles and good wishes from our loved ones as the rocks splashed into the water.

Guy you would date from a chick lit novel:
Mark Darcy from Bridget Jones’ Diary. The Colin Firth version.

Favorite Valentine's Day memory:
This isn’t romantic, but it’s sweet. I remember making homemade Valentines with my boys when they were little. They were all boy, but they loved art projects, and the messier the better. We went all out with the white doilies and red paper and Victorian stickers. They put their hearts and souls into them and were so proud to take them to school. Now they’re big college guys, but they’re still sweet.

Best movie kiss:
There are too many. I cannot pick one. I tried, but I have to leave this one blank. If it had only been a multiple-choice question...

Special thanks to Seré for her long, but lovely answers to our questions and to Dutton for sharing "The Underside of Joy" with a lucky reader.

How to win "The Underside of Joy":
Please comment below with your e-mail address. (Please note: Entries without an e-mail address will NOT be counted. You can use AT and DOT to avoid spam. Or provide a link to your facebook page or blog if you can receive messages there.)

Bonus entries (can be listed all in one post):
1. Please tell us: What is your most memorable date?
2. Follow this blog and post a comment saying you are a follower (if you already follow, that's fine too).
3. Post this contest on Facebook or Twitter or in your blog, and leave a comment saying where you've posted it.
4. Join Chick Lit Central on Facebook. Edit settings if you don't want to receive a lot of messages at your e-mail account. Please read our posting guidelines as well. (If you're already a member, let us know that too.)
5. Add a friend to our Facebook group. (Tell us who you added.) Be sure to remind them to edit their settings.

US only. Giveaway ends February 27th at midnight EST.