Guest Post: Susan Mallery

Please join me in welcomingSusan Mallery, author of the new book, Already Home to Always With a Book! I will be reviewing this book next month so be sure to come back and see what I thought. Today Susan talks about what is on her DVR.

Susan Mallery has entertained millions of readers with her witty and emotional stories of women and the relationships that move them. In her latest novel, ALREADY HOME, Jenna Stevens, still reeling from a recent divorce, is unpleasantly surprised by the arrival of her birth parents, who seem to want her to feel a family bond immediately. She was perfectly happy with the loving, traditional parents who raised her. Can she learn to love a second mother without damaging her relationship with the woman who raised her? Join Susan’s Members Only area at www.susanmallery.com for exclusive sneak peeks, short stories, and more.

There’s nothing I love more than reading. My ideal weekend “getaway” would be to go nowhere – and I mean nowhere. I wouldn’t even leave my bed. Food would magically appear at mealtime, and I would have nothing on my agenda but working my way through my To Be Read pile of books. That stack of books has multiplied and is now actually several stacks. The producers of Hoarders have been calling for months, but I can never find the phone in time.

I adore reading, but every once in a while, after spending all day at my computer, my brain working overtime as I write, I don’t have the energy to read. Reading is an active pastime.

Watching TV, on the other hand, can be passive. Especially if you program your DVR to record such mentally stimulating fare as what’s on mine.

What’s on My DVR

 The Judds – As I write this, the series hasn’t started yet, but I’ve already programmed my DVR to save all six episodes for me. First of all, I love their music. But mainly, I’m fascinated by their relationship dynamic. They’re mother and daughter, but they’re also business partners, artistic partners, and they seem like rivals to me, as well.

I find the mother/daughter dynamic in general to be fascinating. It’s primal and complicated. Very few women are lucky enough to have a 100% positive relationship with their mothers. Usually, there are all sorts of other emotions mixed in. No one can push our buttons like the woman who raised us.

In ALREADY HOME, my latest novel, Jenna is 31 years old and loves her mother dearly, but still finds her exasperating at times. Then, when her birth mother also enters the picture, a third female in the mix causes all sorts of emotions to arise in both Jenna and her adoptive mother.

The Biggest Loser – My husband doesn’t understand my love of reality TV, so I try not to make him watch too much. I don’t record American Idol because I insist on watching it live so I can share the fun with all my friends on Twitter. Find me at www.twitter.com/susanmallery. He doesn’t mind that too much, especially this year because Pia is so cute. (Pia’s still in the competition as I’m writing this.) But one show is all I can ask of him, so I record The Biggest Loser and reward myself with it on those days when I finish writing my pages early.

America’s Next Top Model – I love this show. Let me say that again: I lo-o-o-oooove this show. Though I must say, I kind of hated the way they started this season. Did you see it? They tricked the top 14 girls. They told them they’d been rejected, so all these poor girls were crying, and then they surprised them by saying they were going forward after all. Why was that necessary? But that nastiness was over within the first ten minutes of the first episode, and then we get into the show.

So… what’s on your DVR? What do you like to watch when your brain is too tired to read?

Please join the Members Only area at www.susanmallery.com to read a free extended excerpt of ALREADY HOME!

About the author: New York Timesbestselling author Susan Mallery is known for emotionally complex stories told with charm and wit. With a keen eye for human nature, she breathes life into characters on the page and was recently honored with the prestigious National Readers’ Choice award. Susan has lived all over the United States, including a childhood in the suburbs of Los Angeles, graduate school in the hills of Pennsylvania, and several years in Texas. These days, she makes her home in Seattle, Washington. She’s there for the coffee, not the weather.

Thank you Susan for contributing this great guest post, and thanks to Eric at  Planned Television Arts  for coordinating it.

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9 Comments

  1. Suko
    March 25, 2011 / 1:25 am

    What a terrific guest post! I like the author's idea of a "getaway"! I don't watch much TV presently, but in the past I've enjoyed Top Chef, Project Runway, and other reality shows. 🙂

  2. Kristin
    March 25, 2011 / 12:33 pm

    Everything I watch, I end up DVRing it – Desperate Housewives, Brothers & Sisters, Grey's Anatomy, Bones, and General Hospital. It's a rare thing if I actually watch a show 'live'.

  3. Unknown
    March 25, 2011 / 12:52 pm

    Wow, girl! You are just kickin' it!

    I love Susan Mallery & Already Home was a terrific addition to her repertoire!

  4. Felicia the Geeky Blogger
    March 25, 2011 / 1:10 pm

    I always DVR my shows! I can't remember the last time I watched anything live 🙂

  5. Susan Mallery
    March 25, 2011 / 4:24 pm

    @Suko

    Oh, Suko! Project Runway is one of my absolute favorites! In fact, I love it so much that I used it as the inspiration for Megan from Sunset Bay. And Tim Gunn is one of my favorite people on TV. I would like Tim Gunn to invite me to his house for dinner. I would say yes.

  6. Susan Mallery
    March 25, 2011 / 4:26 pm

    @Kristin

    Kristin, I really don't watch much TV live, either. My husband loves sports, so I tend to read while he's watching a game. The one exception is American Idol, which I insist on watching live so I can tweet with my friends about it while we watch. But I watch the East Coast feed so it doesn't really cut into our "us" time much. (I'm in Seattle.)

    If you're on Twitter, come follow me: twitter.com/susanmallery

  7. Susan Mallery
    March 25, 2011 / 4:27 pm

    @Hott Books – Gina

    Thank you, Gina!!!! That makes me feel great!

  8. Susan Mallery
    March 25, 2011 / 4:29 pm

    @Felicia the Geeky Blogger

    Felicia, for me, it's either DVR or streaming online. I love that Lifetime puts some of their movies on their website. When I'm really too tired to read and my husband is watching a game, I'll sometimes watch a TV show or movie on my laptop. So we're together in the same room, but each doing our own thing. The secret to a happy marriage. LOL

  9. Susan Mallery
    March 25, 2011 / 8:30 pm

    By the way, I want to be sure everyone knows about my free app for the iPhone/iPad and Android. Within the app, you can read excerpts of my books, order them, watch my videos, listen to some podcasts, keep up with my news and appearances, and see pictures of my fashion maven dog, a toy poodle with an incredible wardrobe. 🙂 You'll find the app by searching for my name in the iTunes store and on the Android market. You gotta love free stuff!