A Colorful Review, A Guest Post...and a giveaway!

Fun trailer, right? You should read the book!

I could tell y'all all about the fantastic way the author threads color through the book and relates it to life. I could tell about her dreams and her little red suitcase. I could tell all about the way she grabs your attention from the beginning of the book and holds it to the very end. I could tell you how, at the end, you are ready to dive right in to the sequel (Hint, hint Cat!). I could even tell you all about the amazing cities and experiences she has lived in and through. But I won't.

You can discover all of that by reading the book yourself.

What I will tell you is that, after reading Any Color But Beige Living Life in Color, you will feel as though you have made a new friend. A friend you are interested in and care about. A friend who makes you think and observe life closer. A friend who has opened up her life to you and shared her ups and downs; her loves and heartaches; her travels and her home; her bold decisions and her wrong turns...it's all in there!

And so, without further ado, I give you a guest post from Cat(therine) Larose! (Oh, the giveaway rules follow Cat's post)...

Recreating Yourself – Encore!

We recreate ourselves constantly whether we realize it or not. It happens naturally as we live our lives. Outwardly we go from daughter, to wife, to mother. We graduate, we work, we earn money, we raise a family and, in the process of living, we raise ourselves. These are the facets of our life that the world sees. We’re “on script” so to speak.

But there are times when the script doesn’t match the internal voice of our character. That is the time we start rewriting our scripts, adjusting our personal narratives and changing ourselves.

Sometimes we make small and incremental changes in dialogue, like learning to say “no” when all our lives we’ve been saying “yes.” Sometimes we change our costumes, like getting into shape and upgrading our looks so we suit our new roles. And sometimes we make fundamental changes, like changing careers, going back to school or leaving the safety and security of life as we know it for the unknown – performing without a net.

Change, and the act of re-creation or reinvention, are never easy. When we’re going through it we often question our motives, our sanity and our judgment –and rightly so. It’s important to make sure that change is warranted because change for the sake of change is counterproductive. It’s like changing four quarters for a dollar – you’re no further ahead than when you started.

Naysayers, family and friends among them, who are stuck in their own personal ruts, will warn you off change and call your decisions into question. Don’t second-guess yourself! Don’t let “analysis paralysis” rule your life either!

Six years ago I recreated my life. As an international color marketer I was busy adding color to everyone else’s life but my own so I rewrote my script, changing my character from a long-time married suburban wife, to a single woman living in cosmopolitan Montreal.

I didn’t do it overnight. In fact, I thought about it for 13 years before making a change that I knew was unavoidable. Once made, I never looked back. Everything changed: my outlook, my attitude and my approach to life. I rewrote my inner dialogue from negative to positive, gave myself a new setting, and added an interesting cast of characters to my love life.

For the first time in years I knew what it felt like to be fully alive. I took my life off autopilot and started flying solo, free to feel the full range of emotions I had been avoiding for years: love, lust, longing, happiness, sadness and, finally, contentment.

Recently I completed my memoir Any Color but Beige: Living Life in Color. When I read it, I am amazed at the number of recreations there are in my life. I didn’t realize it as it was happening; it’s only now in retrospect that I can see the metamorphosis, the gradual pushing of boundaries from the safety of a beige chrysalis to a world awash in color. And this is only just the beginning because the one thing I realized when I finished the book was that as long as I’m alive, I’m never really done.

F. Scott Fitzgerald once said, “There are no second acts in American life.” He was wrong, not only are there second acts; there are encores and lots of them. So take a bow and get ready for the next performance.

AND NOW- THE GIVEAWAYS!!

I have TWO ! 

FIRST: You can win a copy of Cat's book Any Color But Beige Living Life in Color (you can chose print OR e-book copy)

SECOND:  is a Book Club Contest that will be awarded on Dec. 19. 
 
On Monday,December 19 at the end of her WOW Blog Tour, Cat Larose will be awarding a special Book Club Prize !  

The prize includes 10 copies of her memoir Any Color But Beige, a guide on how your book club can enjoy Any Color But Beige, a virtual visit from Cat Larose, and several other surprises.  

If you want to enter this contest just leave a comment after this post with the words “Book Club Contest” in the message. 

You can enter to win both the individual contest for one copy of Any Color But Beige and the Book Club Contest but you have to leave two different comments.  

Don't forget to tell everyone who belongs to your Book Club to enter the contest!
 

I will choose (randomly) a name and submit it to WOW! by Sunday, December 18. That name will be entered as a semi-finalist and entered into a drawing at www.random.org.  

Ok, just in case anyone is confused--because I kind of was after I read the giveaway rules...

You need to leave TWO SEPARATE comments: one stating that you would like to win a copy of Cat's book and another one stating that you want to enter the Book Club Contest. 

The BOOK contest will end on Wednesday, November 30th at midnight.

The BOOK CLUB contest will end on December 15th at midnight!

Want more about Cat? She'll be featured at various places this week:

Wednesday, November 16 @ Musings from the Slushpile

Cat Larose is giving away tips on speaking or "Dear God, Please Don't Make Me Sound Stupid" as well as a copy of her memoir.

http://blog.juliealindsey.com

Thursday, November 17 @ Misadventures with Andi

Andi, who had misadventures all over the world, reviews Any Color But Beige--a memoir full of traveling. Return tomorrow for more fun!

www.misadventureswithandi.com

Friday, November 18 @ Misadventures with Andi

Inspired by Cat Larose's globetrotting? Your next trip will be great if you follow Cat's recommendations for the five things everyone should have int heir suitcase. Also enter to winAny Color But Beige to read on your next trip!

www.misadventureswithandi.com

Tuesday, November 22 @ Selling Books

Learn everything you wanted to know about Cat Larose, author of Any Color But Beige.

http://SellingBooks.com/

Author's Websites: 
                                                
Catherine Larose’s book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9vh0IkE3YU&feature=related

Catherine Larose’s blog: http://cafegirlchronicles.wordpress.com

Are You Ready to Par-TAY?

You may be wondering where I am today. I am not here at my usual post. No, I am busy putting on my virtual party dress and getting ready for a rare event – an on-line house party! Yes, a proper on-line party to launch Carol’s debut novel MiniSkirts and Laughter Lines. 
 

It should prove to be a fabulous opportunity to meet new bloggers and friends; a huge cyber gathering, so come on and join me. I can invite as many guests as I want and you only need to bring a sense of fun with you. You will be able to mix and meet a variety of people from Blogland.

There will actually be virtual games (have you ever tried ‘Pin the tail on a virtual donkey or virtual juggling?’), virtual food – you won’t get fat on that, music of your choosing. There is a ‘Mini Skirt’ competition with a few surprises. Please, pretty please, come and vote for me – I really want to win the special laughter line gel pen and makeup. There is also a ‘Laughter Line’ contest where you can vote for your favourite joke – an event which should bring a smile to your face.

In various ‘rooms’ you will be able to mingle and ‘chat’ to other bloggers and ‘A’ list celebrities. There are even some Guests of Honour. There will be virtual dancing and of course, as it is a book launch party, the opportunity to read some of Carol’s very entertaining novel and even win a copy.

Have you read the book already? Then come over and leave a comment – it could win you a prize. Are you on Facebook? Then ‘like’ Carol E Wyer’s page and answer the question ‘What film/book or television series makes you laugh most?’It could win you a copy of the book.

Have you never heard of Carol? Well, come and join her, me and all of us. The party starts at midnight UK time Friday 16^th 2011 and will go on all day. Come on, you can skip off work for a while...’

See y'all there! Be there or be SQUARE!