Betty's Lit Lounge

Welcome to Betty's Lit Lounge!

The BettyConfidential.com spot for book lovers

-Stephanie Elliot

You're obviously a reader, because, heck, you're doing so right now, and we're so excited to be unveiling a new feature for you here at BettyConfidential.com!

Once a reader, always a reader, and obviously, I'm also a writer, and I'll be bringing to you on these virtual pages information about the books you'll WANT to know about, the authors you can't wait to meet, and I'm so excited to be doing so! We'll have featured books bi-weekly including fabulous GIVEAWAYS so come back often to win books from incredibly talented authors!

I've been reading, well, since I first learned how to read. One of my first faves was Flat Stanley, which I received in second grade, and I'll tell you right now, that was in 1976 or so. So yeah, go ahead. Do the math. I fit into the BC demo. And when my kids brought home Flat Stanley like 30 years after I first read the book, I freaked out. And then my kids freaked out too because I knew a bulletin board fell onto Stanley's head and that his mom put him in a cigarette case and mailed him to a friend. A cigarette case? Really?

The first book I ever bought with my own money was Blubber by Judy Blume. Fifth grade. I devoured it. I was also scared to death to discover it held the first bad word I would ever read in a book: Damn. I was such a good kid I knew I had to tell my mom I was reading a smutty book. She explained to me something about poetic licensing and that sometimes authors took liberties like that to make a point. Damn, that's cool. Now that I think about it, Damn is probably in the Bible. And probably like 100 times.

Speaking of the Bible (another great read, by the way!), I became the Catholic school girl no mom wanted their daughter to hang out with. Because after Blubber, I introduced all the girls to Judy Blume books. And subsequently got in trouble when the parents discovered that it was I who brought Deenie and Forever into their little darlings' innocent worlds. Anyone remember "Ralph" from Forever? Page 54, I think. Just kidding, I don't really remember what page "Ralph" shows up!

Currently, I am reading what I think is my first ever LITERARY book: On Chesil Beach, by Ian McEwan, and I'm shocked that I'm going all lit! But I'm loving it! On my nightstand is also Identical, by Ellen Hopkins, young adult author of Crank, Glass, Burned and
Impulse. She's an amazing author who writes on tough teen subjects beautifully in verse.

Being a book lover, I also try to get close and personal with authors any chance I can. I've had the pleasure of eating truffles off the floor in front of Ms. Jen Lancaster (Such a Pretty Fat), of drinking margaritas with Emily Giffin (Something Borrowed, Love the One You're With), of having Jennifer Weiner (Good in Bed, Certain Girls) shout out in a crowd that "there's my stalker!" I have driven three hours through tornadoes to attend Jess Riley's book launch party (Driving Sideways), and have sat hung over at an author panel while a moderator gave away the ending to Marisa De Los Santos' latest book (Belong to Me). Some of these experiences may not have been my proudest literary moments, but I'm here to share! And I can't wait to do so!

Stephanie

Also Betty's parenting editor, Stephanie Elliot is excited to add Betty's Lit Lounge editor to her resume. Her first novel, 40 Weeks, comes out as soon as a publisher gets his head out of the ground and realizes it's a kick-ass book, because her agent already knows it is! She blogs as Manic Mommy at www.manicmommy.net. She will also answer your parenting and pregnancy questions at Just Another Manic Mommy.