I am really excited to welcome Sarah Pekkanen, author of These Girls, to Peeking Between the Pages. I had the absolute pleasure of reading These Girls (my review) and I loved it! It’s a great story of friendship and the power of that friendship in the good and the bad. I can’t wait to read more of Sarah’s books and lucky me my Kindle holds quite a few of them. In the meantime Sarah joins us today with a fantastic guest post on her workspace so enjoy…
Sarah’s desk which is used mostly for the business side of stuff (reading contracts, etc.)
Every day, I wake up and immediately head for my workspace – a long, wooden desk that faces my sunlit flower garden. My desk is immaculately organized; only my computer and the pages of my work in progress adorn the pristine space. I take a deep breath, poise my fingers over the keyboard, and –
I can’t lie any longer. I used to dream about having a serene, perfect workspace, and I’d envy writers who retreated to a little cottage on the beach to churn our chapters in between napping and watching rose-and-orange tinted sunrises. But the contours of my life would never stretch to fit such a scenario. I have three young boys, and I like being the one to pick them up from school and fix them a snack and take them to baseball practice. So I fit in my writing on the fly. I bring my laptop with me absolutely everywhere – in fact, I feel panicky if I look at the passenger’s side seat of my car and realize it isn’t there. It’s almost like my fifth limb. Wherever I go, I seem to be able to fit in little pockets of writing time. Recently, my son had an orthodontist’s appointment, and the waiting room was a dream: soft chairs, nice music, and one of those coffeemakers with little individual pods. I wanted to break back in after closing time to write some more!
Now that my youngest son is in preschool, I often go to a coffeeshop after dropping him off. I slip on my headphones and blast music while I type. And I get tons of writing done in my car (er, while my husband is driving!) I’ve learned to keep my eyes down on my keyboard and ignore the passing scenery. If I don’t look up, I don’t get carsick. I actually wrote most of my second short story “Love, Accidentally” on the way home from a resort where we celebrated his parents’ 50th wedding anniversary!
Someday I might have that bleached wood desk, and a silent day stretching in front of me in which to write. And I know I’ll miss the times that I squeezed in a page in the preschool pick up line, waiting for a little person to hop into my car and show me his finger-painting masterpieces.
These other two pictures are Sarah writing on the fly – –and loaded down at the door ready to go! Thank you so much for this fantastic guest post Sarah! Your little boy is such a darling!
About These Girls (from Sarah’s website)
In her third novel, internationally bestselling author Sarah Pekkanen examines the lives of three women working and living together in New York City and shows that family secrets may shape us all, but it’s the rich, complicated layers of friendship that can save us.Cate, Renee, and Abby have come to New York for very different reasons, and in a bustling city of millions, they are linked together through circumstance and chance.
Cate has just been named the features editor of Gloss, a high-end lifestyle magazine. It’s a professional coup, but her new job comes with more complications than Cate ever anticipated.
Cate’s roommate Renee will do anything to nab the plum job of beauty editor at Gloss. But snide comments about Renee’s weight send her into an emotional tailspin. Soon she is taking black market diet pills—despite the racing heartbeat and trembling hands that signal she’s heading for real danger.
Then there’s Abby, whom they take in as a third roommate. Once a joyful graduate student working as a nanny part time, she abruptly fled a seemingly happy life in the D.C. suburbs. No one knows what shattered Abby—or why she left everything she once loved behind.
Pekkanen’s most compelling, true-to-life novel yet tells the story of three very different women as they navigate the complications of careers and love—and find the lifeline they need in each other.
Buy These Girls at Amazon.com, Indiebound, B&N, and Amazon.ca
About Sarah Pekkanen (from Amazon.com)
Sarah Pekkanen is the internationally-bestselling author of the novels The Opposite of Me and Skipping a Beat and the upcoming These Girls, as well as the linked short stories available for ereaders titled “All Is Bright” and “Love, Accidentally.” Please find her on Facebook and twitter! For more information please visit her website at www.sarahpekkanen.com
BIO: Sarah is the mother of three young boys, which explains why she wrote part of her novel at Chuck E. Cheese. Seriously. Sarah penned her first book, Miscellaneous Tales and Poems, at the age of 10. When publishers failed to jump upon this literary masterpiece (hey, all the poems rhymed!) Sarah followed up by sending them a sternly-worded letter on Raggedy Ann stationery. Sarah still has that letter, and carries it to New York every time she has meetings with her publisher, as a reminder that dreams do come true. At least some dreams – Brad Pitt has yet to show up on her doorstep wearing nothing but a toolbelt and asking if she needs anything fixed. So maybe it’s only G-rated dreams that come true. Other tidbits about Sarah: She was once rejected as a contestant on “Wheel of Fortune.” She wrote an article for People magazine on a parrot psychologist. In college, she worked as a model and as an extra on the set of Hollywood movies.
Sarah’s website
Find Sarah on Facebook
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GIVEAWAY DETAILS
I have one copy of These Girls by Sarah Pekkanen to share with my readers. To enter…
- For 1 entry simply leave me a comment entering the giveaway.
- For 2 entries, follow my blog. If you already do, thank you, and please let me know so I can pass the extra entry on to you as well.
- For 3 entries, blog or tweet this giveaway and spread the word.
- For 4 entries, follow my blog on Networked Blogs. You can click here to be taken directly there. Log in to your Facebook account and click follow. Thanks!
This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents only (no PO boxes) and I will draw for the winner on Saturday, May 5/12. Good luck!