Kicking off Chick Lit Month with Kaira Rouda...plus a book giveaway

It's May once again, and you know what that means, right? It's International Chick Lit Month! We're hosting at the ICLM blog for the third year in a row and also celebrating it right here at CLC! This year, we're focusing on characters and we have invited authors to talk about them in fun ways. The main activity we're doing at the ICLM blog is having authors take their characters on "friend dates." So we thought we'd ask authors visiting CLC to do so, as well (amongst some other options).

Our first guest for this month is Kaira Rouda. In 2011, we featured her debut novel, Here, Home, Hope (reviewed here). She came to visit in 2012 when All the Difference was published. She's back this year with her third novel, In the Mirror, and today is the pub day! To celebrate, she has FIVE copies for some lucky readers in the US and/or Canada!

Additionally, her novella, Mother's Day, is 99 cents on Amazon; a perfect little treat for the mothers in your life.

When not spending time with her made up characters, Kaira is busy with her own supporting cast: Four kids, three dogs and her amazing husband, who helps keep their California home from falling into complete chaos. She enjoys yoga, spending time with friends and never tires of watching the sunset at the beach. You can find her at her website, Facebook, and Twitter.

My Girls' Day Out

I would go on a friend date with Maddie, a supporting character who appears in each of my three Grandville novels! Maddie is Kelly’s friend in HERE, HOME, HOPE; she is the society reporter and friend of Janet’s in ALL THE DIFFERENCE; and she’s one of the book club members who rally to support Jennifer in IN THE MIRROR.

Maddie is one of those women everyone would want as a friend, as is the real person I based the character on, my friend Maureen. Maddie, like Maureen, doesn’t take anything for granted in life, she values friendships, she’s intelligent and she’s hilarious. Maureen and I met in real life in the editorial department of a newspaper. She is a couple years older than me, and I was a brand new reporter while she was the assistant magazine editor. Our desks were next to each other, but she wouldn’t give me the time of day.

Literally. I asked and she ignored me.

She thought I was “too spunky”, which I am when I’m nervous. I have the tendency to “over-bubble” as my friends and family know. Anyway, I made it my mission to crack Maureen’s hard shell and once I did – we became fast friends. She and I formed a book club together that met for more than a decade. As volunteers, we created the city’s first homeless shelter for families together. And as friends, we celebrated each other’s life stages – babies, weddings, tragedies, deaths. We live in different cities now, but, as with any old, great friend, when we get together, we pick up just where we left off. I love her.

And I love Maddie, the character who represents long-time friendship in my novels. She’s the gal you can call no matter what. She’s the one who still sneaks cigarettes when she drinks. (Maureen quit!) Maddie is the friend who will cry with you, laugh with you but never diminish those feelings. She’ll keep your confidence close, your heart safe.

So if Maddie and I could hang out for a day, we’d spend it talking. We’d walk through the Short North in downtown Columbus. (A really great area full of galleries and great restaurants.) We’d head over for lunch at Lindey’s, a restaurant in the German Village section of Columbus and a recurring setting in many of my novels. It’s a spot with an outside terrace arranged beneath the shade of a giant Linden tree. I spent my summers in college waiting tables here, so my mind often returns to this place, fondly.


But mostly, we’d just talk and laugh and remember. We’d hug each other tight and look forward to our next get-together, because that’s what friends like Maddie, and Maureen, are for! (Remember that song? "In good times, and bad times, I’ll be on your side forever more." )

Thanks to Kaira for visiting with us and sharing her book with our readers.

How to win:  Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


US/Canada only. Giveaway ends May 6th at midnight EST.