So, just when I was saying how my whole life was about writing and wearing my PJ's, like all the time - I went and got myself a date with a powerpoint presentation in front of 60 super-important people at publisher HQ!

It wasn't my ideal choice of dates but it was with some rather important people from the world of schmooze who could potentially make Lola a big star, so I had to work it for my girl, right?!

My ed-girl, probably for the best, had NOT warned me quite how big this whole thing was.
Now HC are a big-ass publisher, they print books by crazy-famous types and instead of the famous-type books greeting me on arrival, the entire foyer was filled with Lola Love books, my books - whoop, whoop!
Everywhere I looked, Lola was working it on the cover of style="font-style:italic;">Think Pink and bathing in fabulousness on the cover of Beauty*Licious, I was giddy.

In fact, I was giddy and I was beyond nervous.

And the nerves did NOT go away.
I was briefed on what I had to say by my ed-girl and ed-girl's boss - yep, that's how important it was, there were bosses of bosses - 'cept when all these super-important people came into the room I froze. I got a serious attack of the frights. I got pink in the face, I stumbled on words and for the first time in a long time I really felt scared.

Y'see, I'm actually quite a shy girl. I know it's hard to believe, but I've learned a whole lot of Think Pink techniques to make sure I'm able to do all the fab stuff I want to do in the world, but speaking in public, well, that freaks me out.

When I worked as a youth worker, I loved talking to young people, but if I had to talk to a group of people I worked with, I would get so nervous, that sometimes I'd ring in sick just so I didn't have to do it.

It wasn't 'til I worked the pink thinkin', that I realised I wouldn't get good unless I practiced, so that's what I did.
I learned to prepare, know my stuff, take deep breaths and speak clearly and slowly - except yesterday, I couldn't flick the pink switch.

I was prepared, and I deffo know my stuff - it was all about Lola for goodness sake, but I'd forgotten to channel my inner fabulousness, I hadn't taken five minutes to take deep breaths, instead I'd spent my prep time getting all eaten up with worry.

It was all over before it had begun. I'd felt the fear and I did it anyway. My first instinct was to run, but I muddled my way through with cheeks so pink they matched my Bnevertoobusytobebeautiful lipstick, but the important thing was I did it. I didn't do it well, but I did it. I messed up, but I did it.

Luckily, my ed-girl and my ed-girl's boss worked their much-practiced magic on the crowd, reminding them just how fabulous Lola is and that they should all totally fall in love with her.

My ed-girl told me that my nerves had translated as passion, and that these usually crazy-cynical types had actually liked me, so much so, that they stayed after the presentation to discuss my concept with me, the crazy pink cheeked lady and some even asked me to sign books for them...

Turns out not being perfect is really okay.
That's not to say that I won't try harder next time to be better, because I will, I wanna be good at what I do, but I also won't beat myself up for not being perfect this time round...

On the way home, I got on the tube to Waterloo with an amazing looking woman, she was about 70 and had a whole lady-about-town look going on. She had a full face of make-up and was ultra-glam. She pulled me to her side and said, "Well, don't you look just fabulous, I love all your colour, the world needs more people like you."
How adorable is that?

And just in case there was any teensy tiny bad thoughts left over this morning, The Man put on the Hairspray soundtrack and made me dance it out! There really is nothing like a Hairspray soundtrack to turn a frown upside down.

How am I EVER going to get any work done now I know my latest girl crush and now OSCAR winner, Diablo Cody has a blog?



Can't hang around here, I've got a LOT of reading to do.

Hola chiquitas!

I am totes aware that I'm being a hella tardy blog-girl right now.

It's not that I don't want to share Lisa Land with you, it's just that right now, if you came to visit it would be like taking a one-way ticket to yawnsville, Arizona...

For shizzle. (Yes, I am still lovin' JUNO!)

I have very little to report, because I've rarely left the Pink Palace - in fact, this past week, I've only seen daylight for an hour a day to go do my beach walkin' this isn't due to a five day fab film fest incuding such greats as Pretty in Pink, Ghost World, Amelie, Clueless or a read-a-thon of epic proportions - my to-be-read list is a book in itself, no, these scenarios are just the stuff of my pink tinted dreams, what's really happened is, I have become what people who wear suits a lot say they are...a busy person.

I always thought I knew what that term meant, and if, on my to-do list there were more than three things to do, which there usually were, I would go; "Oh my stars, I'm so busy right now" 'cept I wasn't. Not even close.

I'm not busy in the way those people in suits are either, you know, flying from here to there, flitting from meeting to meeting, no, I'm in my li'l house sat at my dining room table, sometimes on the sofa if I'm feeling really crazy, typing.
Words.

It does however, mean the following:

* I have very little, if anything, to share with your sweet selves - I could make stuff up, what with me being a writer and all, but then I'd be using up all my imagination on blog entries and not on writing books...

* My social life suffers - I know my postman better than my BFF right now...

* The house is a TIP - I'm not known for my ability to keep a clean house at the best of times, but right now, The Man and I are literally stepping on a carpet of magazines and papers and the shelves are inches thick with dust - it's not attractive...

* We get our shopping online - nothing you actually want ever comes - they make you up a new bag of treats instead. I'm hanging in there for the day I can replace my Tesco van with an Opodo one - that's when I'll know I've made it!

In other news, of which there is very little, my crush for Chris Fountain has developed into a li'l bit of unhealthy lovin'...



There's an interview over at www.pink-world.co.uk with the lady behind my new favourite website: www.lovelula.com go visit them both!

If you love your books about LA to be slightly trashy, but so well written you can't put them down then can I recommend The Second Assistant by Clare Naylor and Mimi Hare - I read The First Assistant first which was the wrong thing to do, but both are equally fab and have been such a treat to lose myself in before bedtime - Less TV, more reading should be my motto!

I have a longer than long to-be-read list, but would still very much welcome your fave chick lit recommendations please...

I LOVE me the chick lit - I do read other stuff, but when I really want to escape from the world and lose myself in a book - chick lit is like a big bar of chocolate and a comfy blankie - two of my favourite things! I'm quite particular in my chick lit reading though - right now, I like anything set in NY, LA and San fran other faves have been Jemima J by Jane Green and Lipstick Jungle by SATC author whose name has totes escaped me right now, needless to say the book was awesome and is now a TV show - someone in the UK please buy it!

Oh, I'm mucho excited about Gossip Girl - will it hurry up already? I got sent the entire set of books the other day and obviously won't be able to read them all before it starts but I am told they are so wrong, but so right - will let you know.

Ugly Betty still isn't back. That makes me sad.

Think that's everything.

Happy belated V-day!

Hope you gave yourself lots of love and treats and didn't wait for a boy-type to do it, coz while boy-types are nice and all, they don't always know what we really want, that's why I bought myself Diablo Cody's book from amazon - happy V-day to me!

The Man was a sweetster though, he pre-ordered me Stardust on DVD - happy, happy days, wrote me a poem - cute, and we sneaked off for an afternoon cinema double-bill! We watched Juno and National Treasure 2 - I LOVED Juno so much, everything about it was just increds - the music, the dialog - ADORED the dialog, the acting - quite possibly the most perfect movie. If you LOVE Ghost World which I absolutely, positively do, you'll LOVE this. And National Treasure, well, it was lots of fun! While I didn't believe for one minute you would ever be able to actually have a high-speed car chase through the streets of London, it was very funny and made me feel like a proper adventure girl!

WEB NEWS: The launch date of www.lolasland.com has been moved to mid-April - grr. It's outta my control but I've been assured that the extra time is needed in order to make it as prettylicious as possible - it will be worth it, I promise!

BOOK NEWS: Ed-girl has given fiction book 1 a tick v.g! Whoop, whoop!

This is goooooood news, except she's now kicking my bee-hind to send her book 2 - not so good news.

Why?

Because I'm really not happy with it yet. As this year got off to a not-so-nice start, I've been finding it soooo hard to find my Lola groove - I've tried, lots of times in fact, it just didn't happen. But the threat of an angry ed-girl and the synopsis for the book already being on amazon.co.uk is more than enough to make me feel the fear an do it anyway!

I am also filled-to-the-brim with crazy-assed excitementos about It's a Girl Thing and Viva La Diva hitting a book shelf near you in about 6 weeks time - AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!
I haven't seen finished copies yet, but if the last two are anything to go by, they're going to be so freakin' pretty, that it won't even matter what the words say!

Actually, I was in my ed-girl's office last week and I caught sight of the possible new covers for the fiction books - ohmystars, they're gonna be so adorebells it's untrue.

What else?

Oh, I'm still lovin' Pilates, which is good news and do my indie rocker DVD at least twice a week. I'm also doing lots of beach walking in this lovely sunshine while listening to my current muso-boy faves: Nickelback and The Wombats.

I'm totes beside myself with excitement that the Writer's Strike is over - I've been having serious Ugly Betty withdrawal symptoms - there really is only so many time a girl can watch series 1 on repeat, y'know...

Oh, happy days - I've got a pink Blackberry - how freakin' swank am I??

Have a sunshine-filled weekend - I'm off to Watch The Bratz movie!

So, I know it's a long way off and all, but this year is a BIG birthday in Lisaland, and I don't plan on being grumpy 'bout it, oh no, it's going to be a totes celebration and I'm going to LA baby!



Yep, my b-day present to myself is a vacay to the City of Angels - I've had a slight obsession since I read Weetzie Bat my favourite book by my favourite author, Francesca Lia Block - I want to put my hands in Marilyn's handprints, I want to go to a FLB writing workshop, I want to meet my idol-girl Hilary Carlip, I wanna hang with the gorgeous Jess Weiner in her amazing city, I wanna go on a tour of celeb homes, I want to walk along Venice beach, I want to...you get the picture, right?

NY is still my abbo-fabbo favourite US city, I most deffo left my heart in San Francisco and The Man and I have a detailed plan to buy a bee-yoou-tiful pad there like Mia's in The Princess Diaries when we're successful writer-types, but LA...well, LA is LA, and I want to experience it!

When did that happen?

It's lent already!

I'm not a religious type, spiritual yes, organised religion? not so much.
So, when I asked The Man if instead of chocolate, I could give up returning calls for example, or maybe eating sprouts - you know, things that you wouldn't actually mind giving it up, but he said that, while they deffo sounds like good things to give up, that wasn't really the idea.

Oh.

Apparently, you have to give up something you dig to know what it's like to be without it. Who knew? Well, religious types, I guess.
Which is why I shall be giving up the chocolate.

Sad days.

I know I don't have to give up anything, but it's a good exercise in self-control, and will also mean that I won't feel ANY guilt when I get munchin' on a whole lot o' chocolate egg in a few weeks time.

Happy days.

Oh, I'm also gonna give up trash mags - I mentioned it a while back, but still the odd sneaky one would make it's way into my shopping basket, but no more.

As I'm working at not putting trash in my body, I'm also going to work at not trashin' my mind either - pics of celeb girls with their so-called bad bits circled is now off the menu.

I'm not sure I can stop reading Perez yet though, one thing at a time, 'k??

Things I'm loving right now...

Honey dew melon - I didn't think I could love a food type as much as I love chocolate, turns out I can AND it's good for me - chances!

Jeffery Lewis - he writes cute songs and makes comics to sell at his gigs, I'm really annoyed however, that I discovered him by watching a re-run of The Culture Show - that is NOT cool.

Pilates - ohmystars, I have worked muscles I didn't even know I had - it's good though - I've done the DVD twice now, but do think I'll seek out a class, The Man is into it too so we could be Bendy Wendy's together!

My crystals, colour and chakra course - it's so good and I feel very om-like when I do it!

Sophie - she's the new addition to Team Lola and is working on the site - she's too cool for school - love her!

LA Ink - which is not as good as Miami Ink, but much better than Tattoo Wars...

Not to mention he fact that I have two new books out in April. AGGGHHHH. How freakin' exciting is that? Not one book, but two books, at the same time - Whoop, whoop!

One of my perfect-o life moments was going to see Wicked, starring the UNBELIEVABLE talent that is Idina Menzel.
She made being green a completely do-able option and, ever since, I've had something of a girlcrush.
She recently appeared in feel-good film Enchanted, and this very morning I discovered this:



J'adore and totes perfect-o for a Monday morning...Sigh.