Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Carla Caruso & What Ifs

Carla Caruso is here on the blog today. Please make her feel welcome!

Carla will be giving away an e-book copy of her new release Second Chance to one lucky commenter! I really enjoyed the story. Flora's a great character!

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What ifs

Anyone who’s human – or breathing – would have experienced “what ifs” in their life. I have many times.
One particular incident that sticks out in my mind is when I moved from Adelaide to Sydney with my husband. Being a journalist, I was offered a job as a subeditor at a kids’ magazine at a big publisher. I ended up not taking the job, considering it beneath my skills and pay level, having previously worked as a reporter at a daily newspaper in Adelaide. I didn’t realise that, while in Adelaide I was a big fish in a little pond, the opposite was true in Sydney. I had to start again – prove myself.
I’d always dreamed of working at one of the big women’s glossies and that opportunity would have been the perfect stepping stone, but now I’ll never know. After turning down the offer, the GFC happened and jobs dried up. I’ve since freelanced for many of the big guns, but never worked in their pristine, manicured offices during my three-year stint in Sydney. And it’s something I’ll always wonder about…

Similarly, everyone would have a war story about The One Who Got Away. Like many women, I’ve spent too many hours fretting about relationships gone sour, wondering if only I’d said this or done that…
I recently interviewed life and business coach Lisa Phillips, behind Amazing Coaching, and she had some good advice for keeping the “past in the past”. She told me: “Let it go and instead of concentrating on someone else, concentrate on being fabulous. We can spend too long on ‘if onlys’.”

It’s so true. My heroine, Flora, in my latest novel, Second Chance (Destiny Romance), has a serious case of what-if-itis. On the night of her 36th birthday, she’s full of regrets and the celebrations have turned sour. She wishes she could be 20 again. Then she finds herself zapped back in time, landing in the summer of 1998 when she was, indeed, 20. The Spice Girls are at the top of the charts and The X-Files is the hit TV show. It’s also the week Flora’s life unravelled.
For Flora, this is a chance to change her future: win back the love of her life, stay friends with her former best mate and succeed in landing her dream job. It should be easy. But her ex’s best friend, Lance Devic, who she never really noticed before, keeps popping up and messing with her head. 

And, after a while, Flora begins to wonder if living in the past really will deliver her the happiness she seeks... It’s a good lesson. Check out more here: http://www.destinyromance.com/products/9781743480748/second-chance
Carla around the web:

Website       Author Page          Twitter
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Awesome story and I LOVE the phrase 'what-if-itis' - I'm definitely going to have to borrow that!

I tend to use my What if... questions to flesh out my plots and my future, rather than looking back to the past.

What about you? Are you a forward or a backward What-iffer?

17 comments:

Natalie Aguirre said...

That's great advice. I sometimes think about the what if's but not too much. Great advice not to.

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Great premise for the book! Yes, it's easy to wonder "what if?" isn't it? Good advice to let it go. Best wishes for the new release!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

We can't change the past, so why worry?
Congratulations, Carla!

Old Kitty said...

Hi Jemi! Hi Carla!! Well I hope Flora's second chance helps her to find happiness! Take care
x

Jemi Fraser said...

Natalie - the backwards What Ifs can be very dangerous!

Elizabeth - it is! And the books is a lot of fun! :)

Alex - exactly - much better to worry about the things we can work on!

Old Kitty - it's a fun book and Flora faces all kinds of challenges! :)

Unknown said...

Cool premise for the book, and very apt writing advice.

Jemi Fraser said...

Damyanti - it's a fun book too! :)

Nicki Elson said...

Love the premise & kind of fun to go back to the 90s.

Jemi Fraser said...

Nicki - the 90s were fun! If we ignore some of the hair choices anyway :)

Nick Wilford said...

Congrats to Carla and great idea for the book. It's interesting to wonder where we'd be if we'd done something different, also asking what if is a great way to generate stories in general!

Jemi Fraser said...

Nick - that's how I usually use my what ifs too. And the book is a lot of fun! :)

Michelle 4 Laughs said...

I tend to use my 'what if's' on the future. More possibilities and more fun that way.

Jemi Fraser said...

Michelle - I totally agree - they're lots of fun! But Carla sure had a lot of fun in her book going backwards :)

Unknown said...

Another antipodean! All the best with your novel, Carla.

And I'm not a 'what if' kinda person, (which is saying something) as my head more often than not in the clouds. Go figure!

Jemi Fraser said...

Wendy - that's the kinds of what ifs I tend to do - the forward ones :)

Unknown said...

Thanks for all the lovely comments. Glad to see not too many have a case of the what-if-itis then. And hi to Jemi!

Jemi Fraser said...

Hi Carla - we do seem to have a forward thinking bunch in the writing community!! :)