Book Spotlight: On Top of the World by David Lamb

We're happy to host David Lamb's ON TOP OF THE WORLD (UNTIL THE BELL CHIMES) virtual book tour today!  Please leave a comment or question for David to let him know you stopped by!

Title: ON TOP OF THE WORLD (UNTIL THE BELL CHIMES)

Author: David Lamb

Publisher: Woolly Mammoth Books

Pages: 240

Genre: Contemporary Fiction/Contemporary
Romance/Multicultural/Humor/Satire

Purchase Information:

Amazon
| iTunes
| B&N

2016 BEST FICTION-Pacific Book Awards. 

FROM THE FUNNY AND NATURALLY BRILLIANT DAVID LAMB, award-winning playwright of the New York Times celebrated play, Platanos Y Collard Greens, comes a modern spin on Dickens' classic tale that perfectly combines humor and romance in a story re-imagined for our digital, consumerist age. This version of Scrooge and Belle is familiar, yet unlike any you've come across before. Scrooge, or rather Scrooje, is music's biggest superstar, with one hundred million albums sold, fifteen million devoted YouTube subscribers, two and a half million Facebook likes, and twenty-five million fanatical Twitter followers known as Scroojites. Belle, is a legal shark who gulps down her opposition voraciously and whose beauty and stunning figure causes traffic accidents as she zips through the sidewalks of Manhattan stylishly adorned and taking no prisoners. They never imagined being music's most powerful couple, but that's exactly what happened when Belle fell head over heels and gave the Coke-bottle glasses wearing, plaid and stripe attired, scrawny, biggest nerd on her college campus the ultimate makeover, turning him into a fashion impresario whose style sets trends from Milan to NY Fashion Week and who can be seen courtside at the NBA Finals sporting a perfectly-fitted cashmere suit. Then it happens. Belle realizes too late that she's created a chart-topping monster as Scrooje's ego explodes and he starts acting a fool. Now, it's been three years since they ve spoken. But tonight at Hollywood s biggest red carpet event, with the whole world watching, they'll be given a second chance. Will Scrooje listen to the ghostly-advice of Marley, his best friend since the fourth grade, who at the time of his untimely drowning at his Brazilian poolside birthday bash was as big a star as Scrooje? Will Scrooje finally do right by his number one artist, Cratchit, a genius comedian, who Scrooje invariably rip offs every chance he gets? And with twenty-five million viewers tuned in will Scrooje finally shed his ego, jeopardize his image and declare his love for Belle, the one he betrayed and let slip away? Second chances don't often come around. Will Belle even give him a chance? Mixing heart, soul, bling and romance in a fresh, original satire about race, class and celebrity worship Lamb establishes himself as one of the most talented and amazing writers today. And leaves no doubt that the Pacific Book Awards chose wisely when they selected On Top Of The World as the year's Best Fiction.

Book Excerpt:

The devil doesn’t wear Prada, he wears Sean John and I was the idiot who taught him how to shop.

That was what I got for reading Frankenstein in college. I’d been turned into a mad scientist without even realizing it. Just my luck, I was a math major and the one literature course I took had tricked me into creating a monster.

When I first met Scrooʝe, he—like most humans with XY chromosomes—was a fashion emergency. Awkwardly walking around campus—lost, desperately in need of a haircut, and for some strange reason wearing glasses so big he looked like an owl hunting for prey. He was just plain pitiful.

But I have to confess, from the moment I saw him my heart sang a happy song and I couldn’t look away. Something between us was magnetic.

Hey, what can I say, I was always the kind of girl who liked rescue projects. When I was eight years old, I turned my family’s garage into a makeshift animal shelter, and damn near gave my father a heart attack when a hungry pack of strays rushed at him as he pulled into the driveway.

So naturally, one look into Scrooʝe’s sad puppy dog eyes and I felt right away—he was the one.

Before I knew it, we were college sweethearts and best friends. Of course, I had to clean him up, but after a few months under my tutelage everyone noticed his transformation. They saw that with his gorgeous toffee skin, deliciously full lips and sexy broad shoulders he was the cutest boy on campus.  Pretty soon I had girls telling me I needed to start a makeover service.

That was how it all started. Who could have known that a simple makeover would unleash the devilish genius of the sweetest, shyest, most socially awkward boy I’d ever met, and transform him into music’s biggest superstar with an ego the size of Texas yet more fragile than an egg yolk? And a whole lot messier! Not me.

Without a doubt we’ve traveled a long crazy road together. Scrooʝe was the first boy I gave my heart to. Our relationship went from me rescuing him in college, to him rescuing me in law school, to our emergence as music’s power couple. He was the artist/entrepreneur, and I was the best lawyer love could buy.

And now, we’re strangers. It’s been three years since we’ve seen or spoken to each other, and sometimes, against my better judgment, I find myself thinking about him and feel a smile creep across my face. 

This morning was one of those times when my thoughts turned to Scrooʝe. Normally I’d tell myself off for not letting go, but today I gave myself a break. After all, it isn’t every day that you might not just run into your ex, but do it live on television at Hollywood’s biggest event.

“Everything’s gonna be fine, girl,” I told myself as I contemplated everything that could go wrong if we ran into each other at The Awards. I was especially dreading an untimely re-emergence of my long-standing “klutz curse”.

My whole life, I’d been jinxed with “inopportune clumsiness”. As the ring girl at my parents’ vow renewal, I stumbled, fell in the grass, and lost the rings. As a tiny ballerina, I was the best in my class, until the day of the recital when I went tumbling down like Humpty Dumpty.

Now with the whole world watching, I simply could not afford such an embarrassing spill.

As I sat in the back of a sleek limousine on my way to the ceremony, gazing up at the L.A. skyline, nervously checking my hair in the mirror for the dozenth time in half a dozen minutes, I tried to push down the queasiness threatening to erupt from the pit of my stomach. The last thing I needed was to step onto the red carpet covered in this afternoon’s lunch. The paparazzi would surely have a field day with that one.

Well, like I said it was exactly three years to the day that I stomped out of Scrooʝe’s life, but tonight we were both nominated for Awards. I knew God worked in mysterious ways, but now I was convinced she also had a sense of humor.

I never thought I’d be nominated for anything, but life had other plans. After we broke up, I quickly discovered that the best cure for PTRS—post-traumatic-relationship-stress—was writing. By the time I finished hammering those computer keys, I was author of an award-winning, best-selling, drama-filled, tragically comic novel that Hollywood just had to have. Now here I was nominated for an Award as one of the producers of the year’s biggest movie.

Once word got out that I was nominated, I was immediately blessed (or cursed depending on your view) with a merry-go-round of opinions. From my hair to my makeup to my shoes to my dress, from my eyebrows to my voice, to making sure I didn’t have ashy knees—everyone had an opinion. Normally I was unflappable, but with so many people giving so many conflicting opinions I was suddenly a nervous wreck. Finally, I stopped answering the phone because I couldn’t take any more unsolicited advice. If someone did manage to reach me on the phone, before they could even say a word I’d say, “No, I don’t know what I’m going to wear, and no, I don’t know how I’m doing my hair,” before abruptly clicking off.
          Unbelievable, Russell Simmons can show up without a tie and wearing sneakers, yet still be a style icon. But let a woman have one eyelash out of place and it’ll be the lead on the evening news.

Two nights before The Awards, I tried to veg out with an episode of Soccer Moms From Hell. But before I could lose myself in the drama, my cell phone buzzed with a text. “Oh, come on!” I yelled, throwing my hands up unnecessarily dramatically. Then I looked at it. It was from my father. He wrote simply—Be you.

At least there was one man in the world I could still count on. Two days later, on my way to The Awards I tried to wrap my head around the idea that I’d soon be standing on the stage with millions watching. This was not part of the plan. I was a behind-the-scenes kind of gal, not at all attracted to the limelight. So, as I pulled up to The Awards, my nerves fluttered in my stomach like butterflies. But despite my anxiety, when I last checked the mirror I didn’t look too shabby. Thank God, Michelle Obama isn’t the only one who looks perfect in a Carolina Herrera gown.

As I climbed out of the limo and walked the red carpet, waving at the crowd gathered to cheer on their favorite artists, I thought about everything that had led up to this moment and even though I was anxious on the inside, on the outside I smiled as if I weren’t the least bit concerned all while praying for two things—please, don’t let me fall in front of all these people, and please, please, don’t let me run into Scrooʝe.

  About the Author

 

David Lamb is a native New Yorker, born and raised, bitten with the writing bug since he was in elementary school and had handwriting nobody could decipher. Like Charles Dickens, David grew up a poor boy in the big city who found that the pen really is mightier than the sword. In middle school Lamb’s hero was David Lampel whose velvet voice could be heard reporting the news over David’s grandmother’s radio. Whenever he heard him on the radio, David would substitute Lamb for Lampel and pretend he was delivering the news. Sure that he was destined to be a famous reporter David was happy to go to a high school with a journalism program. Like most kids, by the time he finished high school he had a whole new career in mind. After high school he went to Hunter College and majored in Economics because he wanted to be cool like that college kid who came to speak at his last year of high school. He was an Economics major, he was dressed sharp and above-all the girls thought he was the man! So like any unreasonable high school boy fueled by overactive hormones David figured if he majored in Economics they’d think he was cool. After finishing college David went on to law school at NYU, but all the time writing was still his heart. While working as a lawyer by day, at night he transformed into a writer and eventually wrote and produced the award-winning hit off-Broadway romantic comedy Platanos Y Collard Greens. Being a writer and having the chance make people laugh out loud while challenging them to think about the world around them, and inspire each of us to believe in the power of love and our own ability to overcome life’s challenges is a great gift that David truly enjoys and thanks you for allowing him to share with you in On Top Of The World (Until The Bell Chimes).

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | GOODREADS

 

Victoria Wells on Creating Sensuality in A Special Summer

Our guest blogger today is multicultural romance author, Victoria Wells. Her novel A Special Summer came out earlier this year.



About the Book:

In love with the man of her dreams, Summer Jackson is living her life in sheer bliss…so she thought. Devastation rocks her world when handsome Nick Stiles walks out on her, leaving her to pick up the shattered pieces.

As days, weeks, and months fade into the future, Summer is forced to push thoughts of loving Nick far from her heart and her mind. Thoughts that may possibly threaten to expose the secret she’s hiding.

Out of the blue Nick resurfaces with intentions of reclaiming Summer as his woman. That is…until he is confronted with a betrayal that is so insurmountable he finds himself in a blind rage, hell-bent on revenge.

Will Summer’s need to protect her secret destroy any hope she has of being in the arms of the only man she’s ever loved? Is Nick willing to forgive Summer for her acts of betrayal and deceit? Will this once passion filled love survive such treachery?

Victoria shares with us today how writers can create sensuality in their work. Here's what she has to say:

What is Sensuality? How is sensuality created? When one thinks of sensuality it may be assumed that it’s anything of sexual context. This definition however is contrary to what Webster has to say on the subject. For Webster defines it as being devoted to the pleasure of the senses.

Because sensuality is the hallmark of romance novels, I knew it was imperative for my characters Summer and Nick to possess this trait. In creating this atmosphere between the two, my desire was to have it be of an intimate nature and not one of lust.

Out of all the beautiful women in the room that night, Nick’s sense of sight gravitates him to one particular woman. It was Summer’s aura that had him captivated the entire night solely based on her physical attributes and demure demeanor. Whereas Summer’s senses of touch and smell were assaulted when she literally collides into Nick. Her equilibrium became off kilter when her body experienced foreign sensations as she inhaled Nick’s cologne while enveloped in his intimate embrace.

As an avid reader of romance for several years, I would like to think I’ve developed my own definition of sensuality. It’s that magnetic pull between the hero and heroine that sets them on a their romantic journey. After Nick and Summer’s initial meeting the sensual element of the story is enhanced by Nick’s pursuit of a shy, interested, yet unwilling Summer. The premise of the story is not a rushed romance where the couple has sex and fall in love in three weeks. The reader gets a sense that Summer is wooed and courted by Nick for months before the relationship is taken to that level of intimacy. Attributes of tenderness and patience are what draw the young beauty into his sensual web.

As an African American author writing about African American characters I felt it was my responsibility to portray that, which would appeal to anyone’s sensual nature. It was important to me that my characters demonstrated feelings and emotions that went beyond the physical. My yearning is that anyone who reads A Special Summer comes away with the notion that Summer and Nick feel in love with what they represented as their true selves. What can be more sensual than that?

A Special Summer is available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, and directly from the publisher.

About the author:

Victoria Wells is a Philadelphia native who has been an avid reader since childhood. Wells (Gaye Riddick-Burden) earned a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Nursing from La Salle University. Over her seventeen-year career as a nurse, Wells (Riddick-Burden) has written, lectured, and presented at national conferences extensively on sickle cell disease. Her dedication to caring for patients with this disease earned her the Regional and National 2005 Nursing Spectrum’s Nurse of the Year Nursing Excellence Award in Clinical Care.

Using writing as a tool to escape the hassles and worries of everyday life, Wells decided to pen a novel. In November 2006 she released her self-published debut romance novel, A Special Summer. After receiving positive feedback and believing her story portrayed strong, intelligent, self-sufficient African American characters dealing with and working through relationship issues, Wells decided to submit her manuscript for traditional publishing. In August 2007, Xpress Yourself Publishing made an offer to re-release A Special Summer, March 4, 2008.

Wells works as an adult nurse practitioner. She is married and the proud mom of three children.You can visit Victoria's website at www.victoria-wells.com or her blog at http://blog.victoria-wells.com.


A SPECIAL SUMMER VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR '08 will officially begin on June 1, 2008 and continue all month long. If you would like to follow Victoria's tour in progress, visit http://www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com/ in June. Leave a comment at any of her blog stops and become eligible to win a free copy of her book! One lucky winner will be announced at her tour page on June 30!

This virtual book tour has been brought to you by:

Multicultural Romance Heats Up with Vina St. Fran and One Foot Outside The Door

Today we are thrilled to welcome multicultural romance author, Vina St. Fran. Her debut novel, One Foot Outside the Door was recently released by ZAM Publishing. We’ll talk to Vina about her inspiration, her novel, and what’s coming up next.

Welcome to The Book Connection, Vina. It’s great to have you here. Tell us a bit about yourself.

Thank you! It’s great to be here! I was born in Detroit but raised in Southfield Michigan, a suburb outside of Detroit. I really started writing when I was seven, and I started out with poetry. As I continued on in school, I began writing plays and short stories. I also won the Pride Of Performance Award for Creative Writing from the city of Southfield in my senior year of high school.

Have you always concentrated on romance writing?

You know, I have always loved romance novels, but I didn’t know where my focus as a writer would take me. When I began to write my first book, “One Foot Outside The Door” at the midpoint, I realized that it was of either mainstream or multicultural fiction.

What inspires you to put pen to paper?

Current world or personal events have a bit of an impact. Additionally, my inner voice dictates to me when it is time to start writing.

What is One Foot Outside The Door all about?

Cyndarella Worthy, the heroine is a woman scorned by the past. Her first love leaves her and she is forced to draw her own conclusions. Is it because she is African-American, and Bashar Bazzi, her lover, is Iraqi? Bashar led her to believe that wasn’t the case, but a change of events, shatters his reasoning and her trust in men. Cyndarella completes college and is a successful businesswoman, and treats dating as if it were a sport. She plays to win. Thad Mitchell, an African-American gentleman, changes that and Cyndarella is finally able to love again. Within weeks of her upcoming wedding, Bashar resurfaces ready to claim his former flame by any means necessary. Can he win her heart again?


What do you like the most about your heroine, Cyndarella? Is there anything you dislike about her?

I really liked Cyndarella because she is tough, man. She also is not afraid of making a commitment if she has a reason too. Cyn, as she is nicknamed, knows what she wants or at least she thinks she does.

How about her current love interest, Thad Mitchell. Is he a good guy? What kinds of flaws does he have?

Thad is a good guy, but he is selfish. He likes to be in control and be the decision maker in the relationship which he finds challenging with Cyndarella because she is so spirited and independent.

Bashar Bazzi, Cyn’s high school sweetheart is Chaldean (Christian Arab). How did you go about creating Bashar’s personality? How did you relay his belief system to your readers?

Metropolitan Detroit is the largest Middle Eastern community outside of the Mid-East. With this being said, I learned a lot about the Chaldean community because they lived within my community. One of my dearest friends is Chaldean. It was through these relationships that Bashar was formed. The Chaldeans are Catholics and they take their faith seriously. There are also customs that are unlike Americans when it deals with matters of the heart. I incorporated the Chaldean belief system in "One Foot Outside The Door" at a slow pace, as not to lose or confuse my readers. I believe I have accomplished that goal.

Did you write any of your beliefs or personality traits into your characters?

Of course I did! Slightly, but specific, yet deliberate.

Tell us about your publisher, ZAM Publishing.

Zam Publishing is the company I formed to bring my books to market. Zam is really about the current face of our country in terms of diversity. Our mission is to bring multi-cultural fiction to market that other publishers would not take a chance on. There is a voice for everyone. We shouldn’t allow ourselves to be censored because of someone else’s standards. That is unfair. Right now, we are not accepting submissions, however, we will post on our website when that changes.

One Foot Outside The Door is the first book of a trilogy. Can you tell us a bit about the other two books you’ve got planned?

For starters, I must say that the readers will not be disappointed. However, Part Two, which has yet to be titled, is going to be intriguing, sexy, and more. It will also pull at your heartstrings in ways that I can’t elaborate on right now. It will be a treat!

Do you have other projects that are in the works?

Definitely, but my main focus is on completing the trilogy. The next book is scheduled for release in 2009.

Where can readers purchase One Foot Outside The Door?

They can purchase "One Foot Outside The Door" at BarnesandNoble.com, Amazon.com, and other major online book retailers.

Is there anything you would like to add?

I appreciate all of the support I’ve received from readers and reviewers. It means a lot to be embraced as an author, which I have aspired to be for as long as I can remember.

Thanks for stopping by Vina. I wish you much success in all you do.

Thank you, it’s been a pleasure!

ONE FOOT OUTSIDE THE DOOR VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR '08 will officially begin on May 1, 2008 and continue all month long. If you would like to follow Vina's tour in progress, visit http://www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com/ in May. Leave a comment at any of her blog stops and become eligible to win a free copy at the end of her tour! One lucky winner will be announced on this tour page on May 30!