BOOKIN' BINGO'S INAUGURAL INTERVIEW AND REVIEW!

How fitting that on the day our country inaugurates our new President, I get to inaugurate my First Author interview! This is a lady, in the true sense of the word, who befriended me when I first began to write reviews and before BOOKIN' WITH BINGO was even a twinkle in my eye.

I took a chance and wrote to her for a copy of her new book to review because I thought, what have I got to lose? Well, I didn't lose but rather I gained! I gained an autographed copy of the book and more importantly a new friend and mentor. She not only sent me the new hardback copy of the book and autographed it, but she did it right away on her way to the airport as she was leaving town for a few days.

She got me off on the right foot and has remained a supporter whenever I needed her. I read and reviewed her marvelous book and then went out searching for any of her other books I hadn't read as I had only read one before this one and that was WOMAN IN RED (can you guess yet?).

This author was born on the Fourth of July so these colors also match her birthday as well as the posting of my INAUGURAL INTERVIEW! She has written 15 books including a cookbook and one I just received as a gift from a friend GARDEN OF LIES.

So without any further ado, let me introduce to you (Please hum "Hail to the Chief") the author with the fascinating biography who has appeared on The View and Good Morning, America as well as many other shows......

Ms. Eileen Goudge

Author of DOMESTIC AFFAIRS!!!!

What are you currently working on or working on next?

ONCE IN A BLUE MOON, to be published in October ’09. It’s the story of two sisters who are separated at a young age, one adopted by a loving family, the other bounced from one foster home to the next. What happens when they’re reunited in adulthood? It’s anything but smooth sailing…

I also have a novella coming out in time for Mother’s Day. THE DIARY is about sisters (what can I say – I have four of them!) who discover an old diary of their mother’s while cleaning out her attic. What they discover in the pages of the diary will come as a surprise to them…and to the reader.

What have you just finished reading?

I just read an interesting and heartwrenching first novel titled STILL ALICE, about a woman, a 50-year-old Harvard professor, who is diagnosed with early on-set Alzheimer’s. My worst nightmare! No happy ending here, but there is a note of hope.

What books would you say have made the biggest impression on you, especially starting out?

When I was in the fourth grade, I read JANE EYRE and life was never the same after that. I was captivated from the first page and the last, and was inspired to launch my earliest efforts at writing . I blame Mr. Rochester for my early misapprehensions about men as well. (You know them – the moody, brooding types). To this day it is still the recipe for the ‘perfect’ novel – intrigue, romance, mystery, suspense, in all the right measures. I read it again recently and was just as captivated as I was at age nine!

What gets you started on a new book? A character or story idea or….?

The eternal question ‘what if?’ If I see someone on the subway, I have a whole story invented for them by the time he or she gets off at his or her stop. Sometimes an idea for a novel is sparked by a news story, but more often my ideas come from my own life. Luckily (or unluckily, depending on your point of view) I’ve led an interesting life. For more on that see my website at http://www.eileengoudge.com/.

After the success of SOMETHING WARM FROM THE OVEN, will there be another "cookbook" in your future?

I loved doing the cookbook but doubt I’ll do another one. For one thing, it’s a lot of work…and I had to chew a lot of sugarless gum to keep from gaining weight while testing all those recipes. Also, there’s no real money in it. If you’re not on TV, like Rachel Ray, forget it. Still, hearing from readers who’ve enjoyed my recipes truly warms my heart, and you can’t put a price on that.

What is your best advice to anyone, including young people, who want to be writers?

Read, read, read. I was a voracious reader growing up – still am (when I have the time). It was the best preparation I could’ve had. Also, write something every day, even if only a blog or entry in a journal. Practice may not make for perfect, in every case, but it will put you on the path to getting published. One word of advice: Don’t start thinking about getting an agent until you’ve REALLY done the work.

BOOKIN' BINGO'S REVIEW OF DOMESTIC AFFAIRS

For Eileen Goudge to write a novel better than Woman in Red is something I never saw coming until I opened to the first page of this remarkable book. Nevertheless, in Domestic Affairs, Goudge has done just that! She brings us a love story on so many levels that it grabs you in the beginning and never lets go until the last page. First and foremost, this love story is about friends-and how although their friendship definitely is a roller coaster over time, it never loses its effect on the lives of the people it touches, nor the reader. It is also about how only a deep friendship like this can change people’s lives forever especially when secrets shared in that relationship remain unspoken for years.

The story starts with the friendship and alliance of Abigail Armstrong with Lila and her brother, Vaughn, Meriwhether. These three grow up from children to teens, sharing what at a certain point is essentially too much to share. These secrets they share will direct the paths their lives take as they are torn apart in their youth, but then brings them back together later as adults. When Abby’s mother, the housekeeper for Lila and Vaughn’s family is unceremoniously fired and chased from the only home Abby has ever known, horrific feelings and secrets go with Abby and her mother, Rosalie, as they leave the Meriwhether estate.

Fast forward twenty-five years and the proverbial shoe is on the other foot as Lila, once a high member of New York society, is brought down by the results of her husband’s illegal actions. When he cowardly commits suicide rather than take his punishment, Lila’s life falls apart. She is a pariah to those she once courted and was courted by. She is left without anything and the only work she could take on was if someone wanted a socialite to run a party. With not much call for that “skill”, in an ironic twist, Lila is saved when she is hired to be a housekeeper in the now very successful, Martha Stewart-like, media maven, Abigail Armstrong. While this NEW Abby now will only deal decently with her housekeeper, in memory of her now deceased mother, she is quite the opposite in the business world. A sharp tongue and iron fist enables Abigail to run a top-notch business, while trying to still hold on to her husband and family. When Lila becomes her housekeeper, the revenge should be sweet, but is it?

Into this duo, a third important female character, Concepcion Delgado, enters. As a mother who wants to revenge her daughter’s tragic death at what she believes is caused by Abby’s company and how it runs its “sweatshops” she is on a mission to confront the people responsible. The cost of producing inexpensive while highly desirable linens is too much when Concepcion’s daughter pays the price with her life. Concepcion travels to find the driven leader of this company that she feels took her child from her.

As these three very different lives come headed on a collision course and confrontation, Eileen Goudge has not settled to just reward readers with the results of this meeting. Goudge has not forgotten to also expertly stir into this mix tragedies, illness, suicide, teen angst and the only thing needed to complete the end product, a former lover. All that a reader could want is there for them to sink their teeth into. The final morsel leaves the reader satisfied but also sorry to see it end. This is a MUST READ for everyone!