Making friends with Ashley Ream, plus a book giveaway

**Giveaway is now closed**

This March is "Friendship Month" at Chick Lit Central. To kick it off on the very first day of the month, we have Ashley Ream, debut author of "Losing Clementine," here to talk about friendship with us. Ashley Ream's first job was working for a newspaper when she was 16 years old. After working in newsrooms across Missouri, Florida and Texas, she decided to pursue fiction. She currently lives in Los Angeles, where she works at a nonprofit and is finishing her next novel. "Losing Clementine" is about a woman who has resolved to kill herself in 30 days. Her "To Do" list is long but manageable. She must secure the means to end her life and tie up any loose ends she’s been avoiding. She begins by throwing her teapot out the window, and a countdown to her final days ensues.

Thanks to HarperCollins, we have a copy of "Losing Clementine" for one lucky reader in the US.

You can find Ashley at her website, as well as on Facebook and Twitter. Time to make a new friend!


Chick lit main character you'd want to be best friends with:
Lily Ivory from Juliet Blackwell's witchcraft series. (HEXES AND HEMLINES is the most recent title.) Lily owns a vintage clothing store (which I love) in San Francisco (which I also love) and reminds me a lot of Juliet (who is a friend of mine.) What more could you ask for?

How did you meet your best friend?
My friend Janice and I were assigned to be roommates our freshman year of college. Of all the nonsmokers who requested that particularly dorm, our names fell alphabetically to one another. More than a decade later, she's still assigned to me.

Favorite memory shared with your best friend:
We're still making memories. I don't think my favorite has happened yet, but there was a trip to Key West back in our college days.

Favorite destination for a girls weekend/trip:
There's a particular beach house in Ventura, California that my girlfriend rented for her 40th birthday. It has a wrap-around porch, windows that open to the sound of the surf and an oyster shack just a short walk down the sand. The oyster seller is also the oyster farmer, and we brought home a fresh sack to eat with glasses of champagne.

Was there ever a time where you thought you knew a friend but it turned out you didn't know them at all?
Yes, but in really wonderful ways. I have friends who are artists, writers, geneticists, television directors, nonprofit leaders, professors. Incredible, amazing, inspiring women. Frequently, one of them will do something that knocks my socks off, and I have to re-learn just what powerful, brilliant women they are because it's even better than I thought.

What do you enjoy doing with friends the most?
Laughing and opening bottles of wine.

The nicest thing your best friend has ever done for you:
The thing my girlfriends and I all do for each other is clap the loudest and break one another's falls. Again and again. It's the best support system.

Favorite movie about friendship:
Mystic Pizza (I can't help myself.)

Three words to describe your best friend:
There's a whole group of us. I'd say: smart, talented, independent.

Favorite place to hang out with your friends:
On the couch with our shoes off.

Special thanks to Ashley for her friendly answers and to HarperCollins for sharing "Losing Clementine" with our readers.

How to win "Losing Clementine":
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: How did you meet your best friend?
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 March 6th at midnight EST.