Falling Down, The Blog

Thank the Lord and Pass the Ammunition

Okay, I know I keep saying this about the other authors on the Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit, but I really want to read this book.  It's exactly the sort of escapist (i.e. fun)  fiction I love to lose myself in.  (Also the kind I aspire to write.  Nothing makes me happier to hear than that someone 'couldn't put my book down." ) Besides, if you're being thrifty (and who's not, these days) books are an incredible bang for your entertainment buck.  Even if you're the kind of reader Woody Allen joked about who took Evelyn Wood's Speed Reading course, read War and Peace, and said, "It's about Russia," a book will give you hours and hours of distraction from the world. At pennies per hour.  PENNIES, I tell you!  Plus it's GREEN in the sense that it needs no plugging in, it is re-giftable in almost infinite measure, and it allows you to be completely happy staying home and not driving anywhere.   Now that's what I call public transportation.

Praise for Dear Neighbor, Drop Dead

"Through a winning blend of hip and humble humor, Rosenberg simultaneously skerwers and celebrates the institution of suburban sisterhood." - Booklist

"Great read. Hilarious and heartwarming!" - "Good Housekeeping Quick and Simple Magazine’s Book Pick of the Week (July 22, 2008)

Saralee Rosenberg’s latest novel is zany and will have you laughing out loud. But under all the hilarity is a wonderfully touching story that grabs you at page one and doesn’t let go until the end." -Debbi Honorof, Book Columnist, "Long Island Woman"

"Mindy Sherman is as loveable and funny a hero as any I’ve read in years... I laughed, I cried, and loved every minute!" - Valerie Frankel, author of Thin Is The New Happy

"Heartfelt, wildly funny, and pitch perfect. Rosenberg knows her turf like a Sherpa."
- Leslie Carroll, author of Choosing Sophie

"Filled with belly laughs and a great big heart! I loved this smart, saucy take on suburban angst. Every page is a gem!" - Ellen Meister, author of The Smart One

Lucy had Ethel living next door but I want to borrow my sugar from MIndy Sherman. I loved Mindy! Part "Dear Abby," part "Mr Rogers," part Bette Midler, what's not to love? If Mindy was YOUR neighbor, you'd never leave home again." - -Christine O’Hagan, author of The Book of Kehls.

"I just had to send you an e-mail concerning your book, Dear Neighbor, Drop Dead. I’m on vacation and finished it late last night. I have never laughed and cried so much while reading a book. Bravo!" -

Nora Ephron Hates Her Neck. Big Deal! Mindy Sherman hates her whole body.

In Mindy's yoga-obsessed, thirty-is-the-new-wife neighborhood, every day is a battle between Dunkin' Donuts, her jaws-of-life jeans, and Beth Diamond, the self-absorbed sancti-mommy next door who looks sixteen from the back. So much for sharing the chores, the stores, and the occasional mischief to rival Wisteria Lane.

It's another day, another dilemma until Beth's marriage becomes fodder on Facebook. Suddenly the Ivy League blonde needs to be "friended," and Mindy is the last mom standing. Together they take on hormones and hunger, family feuds and fidelity, and a harrowing journey that spills the truth about an unplanned pregnancy and a seventy-year old miracle that altered their fates forever.

Dear Neighbor, Drop Dead is a hilarious, stirring romp over fences and defenses that begs the question, what did you do to deserve living next door to a crazy woman? Sometimes it's worth finding out.

TIME OF MY LIFE

What a fabulous day to usher in the aptly named novel, Time of My Life.  All my favorite people seem to be winning things, and Allison is no exception, having already landed on the New York Times' Best Seller list!  Huzzah! 

 

Advance Praise for TIME OF MY LIFE:

 

A Today Show Top 10 Must-Read for the Fall Season

 

“Scotch’s novel is a clever, entertaining look at the compromises women make – and the dangers of getting what you asked for.”

—People

 

[A] hilarious read.”

—Redbook

 

“Insightful and honest, Winn Scotch keeps it light but delves into the dark doubts of the road not taken.”

—Family Circle

 

“It’s a fantastic, often funny novel.”

—Hallmark Magazine

 

 “Scotch keeps one dexterous step ahead of page-flipping readers eager to guess the outcome.”
—Publishers Weekly

 

“Scotch’s second book shows a writer coming into her own, a storyteller who doesn’t take the easy way out, and a woman with a fine understanding of human nature.”
—Booklist

       Amazon has already run out of stock, so here's the link for Barnes and Noble.  Or better yet, go to your local bookstore.  Remember, books are one of the most inexpensive forms of entertainment, so you can tell yourself it's a belt-tightening thing. 

Here's our interview: 

1.    If I had to offer two bumper sticker explanations for my novel, they’d be “Appearances are deceiving” and “Mean people suck.”  Tell me what your slogans would be, and why.

Mine would be “Hindsight isn’t always 20/20” and “What if you could have a second chance?”  The book really asks people (I hope!) to consider what alternative choices they might have made in their lives, as well as consider how we often skew our memories of the past to help us make peace with our present.  But when we really put those memories under a microscope, we find that, in fact, they’re very different than what we now perceive. 

 

2.    Your two favorite movies over the past twelve months and why?

Oh man, let me think.  My husband and I try to get to the movies fairly often, but with two young kids, that doesn’t always happen.  Much less me remembering them months later!  Hmmm, okay, you know, I just googled 2008 movies, and honestly, maybe this says something about the state of movies today, but none of the ones I saw really jumped out at me as amazing!  But I can tell you which one I thought was the worst.  How about that?  That was Indiana Jones, Part 4.  Wow, this was the biggest pile of crap I have ever seen.  So, so, sooooo bad.  At one point, my husband and I looked at each other and just started laughing so hard, we had tears coming down our faces!  I have no idea who thought that script was a good idea, but it was horrid.

 

1. What was the one thing you learned in getting your book published that you were really surprised to find out?

A lot of a book’s success is out of your control.  As a first-time author, you like to think that if you write a good enough book and you hustle hard-enough, that you can really, really make a difference in a book’s success.  But a lot of it comes down to your print run and your publisher’s support, and without a big boost in both of these, you’ll likely end up mid-list.  Which is fine.  Perfectly fine.  But I think that expectations can sometimes overshoot reality, which a lot of authors find terribly (and understandably) frustrating.  I think a lot of us assume that if we really put in the effort, we’ll end up on the bestseller list…and sadly, this isn’t the case.  It’s a jarring reality check.

 

4.     If you had to pick one and only one condition (beyond computer or pen and paper) that would allow you to write would it be: a. solitude   b. caffiene   c.  sleep   d. food   e.  sex  or f.   ______

Impossible choices!  J  I cannot live without sleep, caffeine and food!  But, that said, I guess the one that I really, really, really cannot live without is sleep.  My wires just don’t cross correctly if I haven’t gotten seven hours, at the very minimum.  Not only do I lose the will to write and think creatively, I basically lose the will to live.  I’ve always wanted to go on The Amazing Race, but I recognize that I turn into such a lunatic without sleep, that I’d probably end up in Spain when I was supposed to be in France!

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5.      Do you have a favorite genre?  If so, who are your three favorite writers? If not, who are your three favorite writers and how have they influenced your work?  

I pretty much only read commercial fiction.  As mentioned above, I’m a busy working mom of two young kids, and I don’t have the mental energy to devote myself to highly literary works.  Which doesn’t mean that I only pick up brain candy.  In fact, I like to find books that hover somewhere in between mindless diversion and nearly over my head: I like my books to totally absorb me so that I can read them in three days flat, mull over the themes and implications, and leave me thinking, “I’m so glad that I just spend those hours reading that.”  Those are pretty much my criteria.  There are so many great writers out there right now, but a few include Laura Dave, Amanda Eyre Ward, Tom Perrotta, Erin Hildebrand, Julie Buxbaum, Jonathan Tropper and Joshua Ferris.  I’ve loved all of their recent books.