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Guest Post: Jill Mansell, Author of Millie’s Fling

Millie’s Fling, which hit stores on Sept. 1, continues Jill Mansell’s invasion of the U.S. market and stars kind hearted Millie and her friend Hester, as they search for love.

Jill Mansell, author of Millie’s Fling, offered to share with my readers a bit about her writing life. Please give Jill a warm welcome:

Have you ever wondered what a writer’s life is like? Honestly, it’s so weird. There’s nothing else like it. So many mundane household tasks. If you didn’t talk to yourself you’d go mad. Just this morning I dropped a pan of new potatoes on the kitchen floor; they went rolling off in all directions and I heard myself shouting at them like naughty children. I actually told them off! Twenty minutes later, I’m trying to scrub mustard out of an empty jar because all our glass has to be recycled to save the environment. Now I like the environment, but I hate mustard. This is a distressing job for me and I’d much rather throw the jar in the trash. Spending my time doing this isn’t remotely glamorous and I’d far rather be sitting down and getting on with some work.

Then again, I say this, but I’m a writer so I’m also a professional procrastinator. Once all the mundane household chores are done, I can find any number of other things to do before settling down to write. I check the TV listings, see what’s on. Then I have some breakfast. Check my emails. Chat to everyone I know on Twitter. (My British publishers suggested I start up a Twitter account – I think they’re going to live to regret it. My writing time hasn’t so much decreased as evaporated. In a few months they’re going to ask where the next book is and I’ll point like a simpleton at my head.) Then I check the blogs I like to follow, the links posted on them… which takes me to new, as yet undiscovered places that distract me for another hour…

And then it’s lunchtime, hooray! All this serious research has made me hungry.

After this, I’ll sort out the washing, try out my new mascara (an oscillating one that tickles my eyelashes!) and repaint my toenails. Whilst contemplating what I’m shortly about to write. Soon my kids will be home from school and wanting something to eat, only nothing I suggest will be quite good enough.

OK, done a bit of writing now. Not as much as my publishers would like, but better than nothing. And you know what they say, a page a day makes a book a year. Actually I write by hand so whoever said it was either talking about a very thin book or they didn’t get their sums right.

Ooh, phone, that’ll be my daughter telling me to pick her up from school. Which signals the end of my working day.

Am I doing something wrong? I’m sure Jackie Collins’ life is more glamorous than this.

But glamorous or not, I’ve managed to write a few books and Millie’s Fling is one that’s been particularly welcomed by readers in the UK. It’s fun and frothy and will hopefully make you laugh. I hope you enjoy it!

About the Author:
Jill Mansell is one of the UK’s premiere contemporary authors who has written nearly 20 romances with multi-generational appeal and has sold nearly 4 million copies of her books in the UK. Releasing her latest novel this Fall, Millie’s Fling, Mansell’s writing style can be best described as Sex & the City meets Bridget Jones’s Diary.” She worked for many years at the Burden Neurological Hospital, Bristol, and now writes full time. She lives with her partner and their children in Bristol, England. For more information on Jill in the UK, and for information on her U.S. releases.

Sourcebooks has kindly offered my U.S. and Canada readers a chance to win 1 of 2 copies of Millie’s Fling.

1. For one entry, leave me a comment about the best chicklit book you’ve read this year and why I should read it.

2. Blog, tweet, etc. about the giveaway and leave me a comment about doing so.

Deadline for the giveaway is Sept. 11, 2009 at 11:59PM

Good Luck!

Interested in the rest of the tour, here’s the schedule:

August 31: Romance Reader at Heart Novel Thoughts Blog

September 1: A Bookworm’s World

September 2: Booking Mama

September 3: Cindy’s Love of Books

September 7: My Friend Amy

September 8: Night Owl Romance

September 9: Scribe Vibe

September 10: Books by TJ Baff

September 11: Diary of an Eccentric