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Spotlight and Guest Post: When Girlfriends Break Hearts by Savannah Page
When Girlfriends Break Hearts
written by Savannah Page
published by Pearls and Pages
find it here: Amazon, Goodreads
About the book – from the author: A novel about the bonds of friendship, the power of forgiveness, and the lessons you learn when you let go.
Sophie Wharton doesn’t like losing control, especially of her life. She’s always been the girl who’s kept it together—the girl with a charming boyfriend, a lively social life, and plans to start her own bakery. Life is great for Sophie a few years out of college in Seattle…or so she thinks.
Then a series of events start to turn Sophie’s perfectly ordered world upside down.
After three years, her boyfriend suddenly decides to call it quits. Her close camaraderie of girlfriends is starting to fall apart. Secrets are exposed. And when she thinks things couldn’t get any worse, Sophie learns that one of her friends is fighting a devastating battle.
Now living with her best friend Claire, Sophie struggles with learning to forgive or forget those who break hearts, while trying to accept that there are some situations she cannot control. But is there still a light at the end of the tunnel? Can a girl find the “good” in the “bad”?
This is a heartfelt story about what happens when friendships take different paths and when life doesn’t exactly go according to plan. It’s a story about betrayal, forgiveness, acceptance, and letting go. About what happens when girlfriends break hearts.
Every Free Chance Book Reviews would like to welcome Savannah Page, author of When Girlfriends Break Hearts and Bumped to Berlin, to the blog today!!! She has written the following for all of you!
Thank you so much, Chrissy, for inviting me to guest post on your Blog and for doing a When Girlfriends Break Hearts spotlight! And thank you, readers and blog followers, for stopping by today!
I recently saw a quote from an actor (whose name escapes me) that if you’re to play your character well and true, then you must love your character, even if there isn’t much to admire about her. You have to know her, inside and out, to be able to play an authentic and believable character. The quote resonated with me (the name of the actor, apparently not), so while pondering what to write about for Chrissy’s fabulous Blog, I decided to run with this unnamed actor’s message.
Before I get started, I can’t say that I becomemy novels’ characters. If that happened it would be a very confusing place upstairs in my noggin and probably give a whole new meaning to multiple personalities. The loving part, however, is something that I think I’ve got down pat. I even love my (gasp!) antagonists. Okay, I write chick lit and antagonists aren’t usually the big bad creepers they are in thrillers, so they’re not impossible to love. But still, they’re not easy to love, and I love them nevertheless.
I love each and every one of my characters because the love I feel for them makes them real. And when my characters feel real to me—when I can imagine them going with me to the coffee shop or on my Fave Five call list—I know I’ve created believable characters. I’ve created characters that my readers can also believe are real and, therefore, they can find themselves transported to my fictitious world! They can enjoy the reading experience as if it was a real day out with the girls, or a real walk in the park, or an actual date with Prince Charming.
When Girlfriends Break Hearts is the first chick lit piece I’ve published, and its sequel (When Girlfriends Step Up) is coming out this Thursday! These books are part of a six- or seven-book series—the When Girlfriends… series. There are six best girlfriends in this group and each one gets their own book. Why seven? Well, one particular character might need two books to tell her story. 😉 As I currently write the third novel in the series, I’m finding that the women in this fictitious “girlfriend group” have become very special to me. Am I beginning to believe they’re real? Definitely! But shhh, don’t call the shrink just yet. I think Sophie, Robin, Claire, Emily, Jackie, and Lara are all real because I love them so much. I love them for their flaws and their almost-perfections, for their brazen outlooks on life and their insecurities, for their mistakes and their proud moments.
As a writer I believe you need to be so engrossed in your work that your characters do receive your love, they do become real, and, when you’re brought back to reality on occasion, you can’t help but feel a little sad that they’re not actual people. You miss them, in a way. (I say “on occasion” because even when I’m not in the writing room I’m imagining scenes between the women and figuring out plot developments. Get me in the shower and my synapses are firing like mad for some reason!)
So, let’s take the protagonist of When Girlfriends Break Hearts as an example: Sophie Wharton. I love this character so much. (And not just because she’s the leading lady of my first book in the series.) Sophie is a control freak who can’t get her life together and back in order because of, well, life. She’s faced with challenges, and I love her not because she tries to learn how to dust herself off, but mostly because she actually does fall. She’s…real.
The protagonist of my new novel, When Girlfriends Step Up, is Robin Sinclair, and I love her because she’s the most self-conscious and meek, yet also the most brave and empowering of the women. She’s got quite a lot on her plate as a single mom, but her ability to see past herself and at the greater picture just makes me smile.
Characters like Claire make me laugh. She’ll jog every single day because it’s good for her, then considers baked Cheetos a healthy snack option. She thinks at least three applications of sunscreen in an hour should do the trick, and she subscribes to the theory that when at first you don’t succeed, nag, nag again. She’s head-over-heels with her freshman love from college, but she is still lacking the bling. And her paranoid little self doesn’t handle that too well. I love her because she’s that sunshine type of hyper energy, and, once upon a time, I could relate to the, “Am I ever going to get married?!” quandary.
Emily is one of my most inspiring of characters. She’s a world-traveler and though she’s thousands of miles away from home (Seattle), and from her best mates, it’s as if she’s right around the corner. She has one of the biggest hearts and most open of minds. I love her because I understand her (okay, not the “I’m a wealthy world-traveler part”). I understand Emily because she, like myself and all of my friends, is thousands of miles away from her girls, but she still makes it happen. She still talks to them, emails them, and keeps alive relationships that are so strong. My own girlfriends and I have that kind of relationship. We’re all spread over the map now. And as much as I wish we were close enough to borrow a cup of sugar (or get together for Bachelor nights), the fact of the matter is…we can’t. But we’re still great friends. No matter the distance!
Jackie is my crazy character who I might love the most. (Yes, an author can have favorites. 🙂 ) She’s my wild-child with a penchant for the salt and pepper types and anything with a brand label. Trouble is, she can’t keep a job for very long, nor a boyfriend, so her life is…always interesting. She may be a bit flighty, but she loves her girlfriends and will always have their backs (even though it seems they’ve got hers 24/7 because of some shenanigan she’s gotten herself into). Jackie’s true devotion to her friends reminds me that endearing friendships are pretty darn amazing things.
And last, but never least, is Lara. Only a couple years older than the rest, but sometimes worlds ahead of the gang when it comes to “growing up”, she’s the maternal one. I love Lara because she helps keep me grounded as a writer. As much as I want to soap opera it up, Lara’s sitting there in her pants suit on the futon in my office, saying, “Savannah, not every day is a party.” Lara is the serious career woman and the caretaker of the group, but, as in the novel I’m currently working on, she’s finding herself turning to her girlfriends for some major help.
My characters. I love them. Sometimes I feel a little bit Sophie-ish one day. Or I make a total Claire move. Or I have a Lara moment. My characters are real. Well, as real as they’ll ever be until Nancy Myers picks up my books and decides films mustbe made. (Nancy, if you’re reading, I’m dead serious.) And that’s what I, as a reader, crave when I’ve got my hands on a new book. Are these characters real? Am I being transported to another world? Am I sad when I read ‘The End’? As a writer, I hope my books, and my girls, leave readers feeling just like that.
I suppose spending time writing a lengthy series about these girls is making me love them more and more. It’s quite nice having a series. I don’t have to bid these characters farewell after 80,000-something words. Of course, when the time comes, I’m sure it’ll be extremely difficult to say goodbye. There won’t be enough Puffs on the desk or jammed in pockets to console me. Guess I better put on my Robin face and buck up! But until book six or seven comes, I’ll keep on writing away for all of my When Girlfriends… readers. And for myself. And for my band of six girlfriends.
Thank you again for letting me share today, Chrissy! I hope you enjoy the first two books in the series and I look forward to your reviews!
P.S.— Last night I had an ah-ha moment in the shower (from where all the good strokes of genius come) about the actor in question. Joseph Gordon-Levitt! Phew! Glad to know my mind isn’t completely gone in my fictitious world.
About the author: Savannah Page, a native southern Californian and University of Tulsa graduate, lives in Berlin with her husband. She is the author of the contemporary women’s fiction/chick lit book, When Girlfriends Break Hearts, and its sequel, When Girlfriends Step Up. She is also the author of Bumped to Berlin, a personal narrative and her first book. When the keyboard gets to cool, Savannah enjoys a good book with a latte and jazz tunes, Frasier re-runs, and Pilates.
Find Ms. Page here: web, Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook
And check out her new release, When Girlfriends Step Up, due out on September 27th at Amazon for Kindle!
About the book: A novel about love and support, and learning that with enduring friendships, no woman is ever alone.
Robin Sinclair is young, determined, and has a promising career at a small publishing house in Seattle. Even though she considers herself unlucky in love, Robin still dreams of eventually meeting Mr. Right and having a happily-ever-after kind of life. And at twenty-five, the world of opportunity is wide. But it’s been a difficult year filled with trials…and it’s only just begun.
While long-time friendships are finally on the mend, and things are starting to look up again, Robin is faced with her biggest challenge yet. She’s single and pregnant.
Uncertain now of her future and scared of being alone, Robin must re-examine her life and choices, and summon the courage to step up.
With the love and support of her best girlfriends from college, especially her best friend and roommate, Lara, Robin will learn that when the going gets tough, the best of friends become family. And, perhaps, with their encouragement, Robin can mature and gain the confidence needed to become a single mother. And, who knows about being unlucky in love. Things are suddenly getting interesting with Robin’s attractive co-worker, Bobby.
This is the endearing sequel to When Girlfriends Break Hearts about maturity and perseverance. It’s a story about friends coming together as family, about finding the strength within and around, and about writing your ownhappily-ever-after. About what happens when girlfriends step up.
3 Comments
by Savannah Page
Thank you for the spotlight feature!! It was such a pleasure. 🙂
by The Every Free Chance Reader
No problem! Thank you for doing it! I cannot wait to read these books!!! =)