Friday, February 13, 2015

The Big Love Letter Event: Liza Palmer


Welcome to week two of The Big Love Letter Event! For those of you who missed the introductory post a couple weeks ago, this event will run every Friday through March 13th and will consist of love letters written by some truly amazing authors. Danny from Bewitched Bookworms and I will each be hosting different letters every week (Danny's post will be up on Saturday this week – hop over there tomorrow for a little something special from Nikki Kelly!), so be sure and check out both blogs for a bigger and better celebration of all things swoon-worthy. We'll also be hosting a fantastic giveaway, so don't forget to check the bottom of the post for all the details, as well as links to all the previous love letters in case you missed them!

Today I'm immensely pleased to welcome author Liza Palmer to the blog with a fun and different kind of love letter. We left the guidelines for these letters wide open, wanting the authors to write whatever made them happy, so it's always an absolute blast to see what they come up with. Below is Liza's letter to the movie Ladyhawke (mentioned in her latest release, Girl Before A Mirror), a film I'm clearly going to have to track down to watch this weekend. Movies from the 1980's for the win, always!

Dearest Ladyhawke The Movie:

You are the story of the Captain of the Guard and “the face of love.” You are the story of how sometimes even epic love is about making sure your partner has clothes after a day spent being a hawk. You are the story about a man and a woman who had everything taken from them and even though it was revenge and sorrow that may have fueled them in the beginning, it was love and hope they chose in the end. 

“Impossible. Impossible. Nothing is impossible.” 

These are your opening lines. And these opening lines are at the very heart of the tale you tell. That while we’d think the impossible is the fantastical idea that by day she is a hawk and by night he is a wolf, what is truly impossible for the lovers to believe in is the hope that one day they could free themselves from the curse. You are the story of how Navarre and Isabeau, two lovers who are “always together, eternally apart,” learn to trust and forgive. That the Bishops’s dark curse was as burdensome as the grudges they held.   

You taught me what love is, Ladyhawke. You gave me a discerning heroine who never let her sorrow get the best of her and an alpha male who knew that true strength was found in tenderness.  

This isn’t a story of young love. This is a love that has been through the ringer and survived not on drama and adrenaline, but on the daily grind. For two years, Isabeau and Navarre waited for a sign. For two years, they existed out of sight with just the other’s company. For two years they just showed up. 

You taught me that love is not about possession. It is a marriage of equals. You also taught me that true love is more about what one does, and less about what one says. Actions, not words. You protect me during the day and I’ve got your back at night. Theirs is a love beyond words. 

A 1980s time capsule that had its talons in me from the first second of those opening credits. Rocking music playing behind mall glamour shots of a hawk flying past sunsets and sunrises and as a kid I remember being instantly enamored. You were something else. 

You were the first DVD I ever bought, Ladyhawke. Did you know that? That was back before you could just stream movies into your house from space. No, I had to work for you, Ladyhawke. But, you wouldn’t have it any other way.  That’s the only kind of love that you understand. 

Hawks and wolves forever, 
Liza Palmer

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GIRL BEFORE A MIRROR


The author of Conversations with a Fat Girl—optioned for HBO—returns with the hilarious and heartfelt story of a woman who must learn how to be the heroine of her own life-a journey that will teach her priceless lessons about love, friendship, family, work, and her own heart.

An account executive in a Mad Men world, Anna Wyatt is at a crossroads. Recently divorced, she’s done a lot of emotional housecleaning, including a self-imposed dating sabbatical. But now that she’s turned forty, she’s struggling to figure out what her life needs. Brainstorming to win over an important new client, she discovers a self-help book—Be the Heroine, Find Your Hero—that offers her unexpected insights and leads her to a most unlikely place: a romance writers’ conference. If she can sign the Romance Cover Model of the Year Pageant winner for her campaign—and meet the author who has inspired her to take control of her life—she’ll win the account.

For Anna, taking control means taking chances, including getting to know Sasha, her pretty young colleague on the project, and indulging in a steamy elevator ride with Lincoln Mallory, a dashing financial consultant she meets in the hotel. When the conference ends, Anna and Lincoln must decide if their intense connection is strong enough to survive outside the romantic fantasy they’ve created. Yet Lincoln is only one of Anna’s dilemmas. Now that her campaign is off the ground, others in the office want to steal her success, and her alcoholic brother, Ferdie, is spiraling out of control.

To have the life she wants-to be happy without guilt, to be accepted for herself, to love and to be loved, to just be—she has to put herself first, accept her imperfections, embrace her passions, and finally be the heroine of her own story.


GoodreadsAmazonB&N 

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LIZA PALMER


Liza Palmer is the internationally bestselling author of Conversations with the Fat GirlConversations with the Fat Girl became an international bestseller its first week in publication, as well as hitting Number 1 on the Fiction Heatseekers List in the UK the week before the book debuted. Conversations with the Fat Girl has been optioned for series by the producers of Rome, Band of Brothers and Generation Kill.

After earning two Emmy nominations writing for the first season of VH1’s Pop Up Video, she now knows far too much about Fergie.

Palmer’s sixth novel, Girl Before a Mirror, is the story of Anna Wyatt, a driven ad exec who must attend the annual RomanceCon to land the Romance Novel Cover of Model of the year for Luxe Shower Gel’s spokesman.




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GIVEAWAY

Danny and I have (what we think) is a pretty fabulous giveaway that will run for the entirety of this event with 5 winners in total when all is said and done:

  • Winners 1-4: Each will get a book of your choice from one of the participating authors. (Open internationally as long as Book Depository ships to you! )
  • Winner 5  : Hardcover copy of LAILAH by Nikki Kelley plus some awesomely cute swag (international ). Prize is provided by author - thank you so much!

Don't forget to check back both here and at Bewitched Bookworms every Friday in February for more letters and a whole lot more love from these fantastic authors:

32 comments:

  1. I don't think I've watched this. I just looked it up on Amazon and saw that it's lumped in with a bunch of other 80s movies I love. I'll have to watch it. And the book sounds wonderful!

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    1. It looks like it might be right up there with Labyrinth so I'm going to make a point to see it for sure:)

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  2. Thank you for thr post and the giveaway! I love your event! It's as great as last year's. :)

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  3. I loved this movie and lot and I feel that if I were to watch it, I'd be bawling my eyes out for sure right now! What a wonderful (and underrated) movie and letter!

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  4. Woah, I'm definitely going to be tracking it down too, Jenny! I haven't even heard of this before but it seems like a must-watch sort of film. Lovely review, dear!

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    1. Exactly! Now I have a plan for my weekend ;-)

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  5. Love this Jenny! Thanks for sharing it with us and I really hope you have a fabulous weekend!!

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  6. That's really awesome that the author took a different route with this letter. It sounds like it was a powerful movie. I must check it out! :)
    Thanks for sharing, Jenny!

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    1. Yes! I love seeing what the authors come up with, and it's always especially fun when they do something different:)

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  7. This movie introduced me to Matthew Broderick! I loved the romance and the world. :)

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    1. Yay! I can't believe I didn't know about it before now!

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  8. I don't think I've watched the movie, I'll have to look it up it sounds amazing!

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  9. oh gosh, I remember Lady Hawk, I saw it when I was twelve. Terrific movie, I Need to watch it again sometime. I could also use a hiliarious romance, Thanks for the terrific post, have a wonderful weekend.

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  10. I love how the guy knows strength is tenderness and a girl needs to be strong!

    LOVELY letter :)

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    1. YES! I need to watch this movie immediately:)

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  11. Aww what a lovely letter!! :) I haven't heard of this story but as such mature characters aren't something I can connect with I'll leave it to the others. But it does seem like a great read. Maybe one day. Great post, Jenny :)

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  12. Um... wait... Jenny, does that mean you haven't seen Ladyhawke? SERIOUSLY? How are we even friends? ;) OMG! YOU MUST SEE THIS MOVIE. That is all. Plus, I can't resist a book that mentions one of my favorite movies.

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  13. Oh I saw this movie, and loved it. Thank you :) now I want to re-watch it and the book sounds delightful too.

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  14. Ladyhawke is one of my all-time favorite movies. Now I need to watch it again! Lovely letter.

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  15. haven't heard of that movie before

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  16. That was a good movie :) I should watch it again

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  17. Thank you for the lovely post ladies. I remember the first time I watched Ladyhawke, and boy the epic feels of two lovers destined yet cursed it gives. This love letter brought back it all, and I'm happy to know there's other fans out there. Yay! Thanks for sharing : )

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  18. I've never seen Ladyhawke. I thought I'd seen all of the 80s romantic movies there were to watch, but obviously I've been remiss. Lisa Palmer is one of my favorite authors and I'm so happy to see her included in your Valentine's event!

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  19. what a nice post, this book sound interesting :)

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  20. What a cute event! And I need to check out this movie now!

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  21. WHY HAVEN'T I SEEN THIS MOVIE BEFORE? Clearly, that is a big fail, because this letter made me tear up and it is EXACTLY what I'm looking for when I read a romance. It's exactly why I hate love triangles and drama, because you don't get to see the couple working together supporting each other. I love the love of actions and seeing it through the hardness of real life. GIRL BEFORE A MIRROR is such a gorgeous book and I adore Liza Palmer for this letter and that story.

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  22. I had not even heard of this author or the book until I read the awesome Love Letter. Now, it has been added to the ever-expanding TBR!

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