Party for Just Say Yes
August 11, 2008
So my third LBD novel, Just Say Yes, is officially here… and all this week I’ll be telling you how a bit more about it. I am hoping an excerpt will go up on the LBD site any moment. Fingers crossed.
Today I’d like to kick off with a chance to win a signed copy. But first, the video that started it all off…
I got the idea for Just Say Yes last year when Annette (the creator of www.richardarmitageonline) sent me an email to brighten up a dull morning.
Annette’s email contained a link to a YouTube video in which an American man proposed to his girlfriend during an advertising break for her favourite TV show. It’s a brilliant video. I love watching it and it always makes me smile to see people this happy!
Of course, the girlfriend was ecstatic but I started wondering: what if this happened to you and you said ‘no’? Why might you say no? What makes people chose to make public proposals and dramatic romantic gestures?
I suppose the new book is rather satirical on the subject of reality TV and it’s also about themes of truth/lies and deception/honesty. I think it’s the sunniest book I’ve written so far but mainly, I wanted it to be a sexy, feelgood read. I absolutely loved writing it and I hope you enjoy reading it.
Win a signed copy
If you’d like to win a signed copy of Just Say Yes, just leave a post on the blog or email me via the contact form with your idea of the best or the worst places to make a proposal – or even a romantic declaration.
Later this week, I’ll be blogging about Cornwall, the glorious setting for Just Say Yes.
Posted by Phillipa @ 4:31 am | Leave a Comment
Maggie Spiers Says:
Hi Pippa
Here I am, a bit late, but I got up late! I’m still champing at the bit to read JSY, Amazon and Royal Mail are being a bit slow, so I’m biting my fists (nails went long ago) waiting for it. The rest of life will have to wait once it arrives!
Love Maggie xx
Maggie Spiers Says:
PS I’m thinking about the romantic settings question.
M xx
Phillipa Says:
Hi Maggie – you’re not late. I am! I hope people will drop by during the whole week, in fact.:)
Yes, I heard some people haven’t received their copies yet although others definitely have!
Lovely to see you here.
p x
Nell Dixon Says:
Mr Nell is not a romantic. In fact he even haggled with the jeweller over the price of my engagement ring – and yes I was there and it wasn’t a new ring! We’ve been married for almost 24 years now though so I suppose he must get some things right lol
ellenrhian Says:
This is a true story.A friend of mine had been trying to ask his girl[another friend of mine] to marry him for a while.Somehow ,he always chickened out.We were all in the local pub,he’d had a few pints,so decided to brave it.Wanting to get J. on her own,he followed her into the Ladies.She was on the loo,doing ‘big jobs’when he proposed through the door.Not suprisingly she turned him down,but accepted him later,when a few of us girls made him realise ,that a romantic scenario was called for,when proposing marriage to someone.
They were married for 40 years,very happily,but sadly, M.died last year.At his funeral,his first proposal was remembered & everyone had a chuckle including J.
That has got to be one of the least romantic proposal situations ever
Phillipa Says:
Hi nell
Well Mr B *can* be romantic – he just pops up and suprises me from time to time (ohh, Matron…). He did propose on one kneee on Cannock Chase – but we were on the way to get the ring t the time so I was a sure thing. We didn’t haggle because Mr B’s auntie is a jeweller and she sold us the ring at a discount! I’ve been married 21 years now. 🙂
Phillipa Says:
Oh Elly,
That’s is really funny – worthy of a scene in a Richard Curtis film or the Vicar of Dibley. I love it! What a shame M is no longer with us. What a great story!
Jude Says:
Can’t wait to read it.
What an amazing way to do it – aaah! Great vid. j
Rosy Thornton Says:
Mr RT proposed (well, first broached the subject, anyway) on one of the old Sealink cross-channel ferries – out on deck in a Force 9, while everybody but us on the whole ship was busily vomiting (several of them over the railings quite close by). Does that count as romantic?
We were actually on out way back from my brother’s wedding in the Hotel de Ville in Versailles (my brother being someone from whom Mr RT might take a few romantic tips). His precise words, out of the blue: ‘We could do that.’ Me (baffled): ‘Do what?’ Mr RT: ‘Have one of those things, like they had.’ Me: ‘What – a wedding?’ Mr RT: ‘Mmm.’
Rosy x
That lamb tagine sounds fab, btw. And congrats again on the Official Publication!
Christina Phillips Says:
My husband asked me to marry him – in a very roundabout way! – one Sunday lunchtime on the way home from the pub. Of course, ever since he’s maintained he was drunk at the time and wasn’t responsible for his actions but since we’ve just celebrated our 25th anniversary I think it worked out ok!!!!
Jessica Raymond Says:
I was completely taken aback with my proposal. We’d just fed the 5-month-old and put him to bed, then gone to bed ourselves feeling knackered. I rolled over to kiss The Bloke goodnight and he just said it. I thought he was joking at first because it was so much from thin air and I was looking rough as a badger at the time (I had to do my nails the next day to justify the ring).
I think bad proposals have got to be the really public ones that you mention — oh, the pressure to say yes!!
LOL at “big jobs”, ellenrhian!
Vikki Tittley Says:
Since I have not had the pleasure of being proposed to, I’ve just found out how Dad proposed to Mom.
They were in his mother’s living room (well his as well), alone, and talking as you do and started mentioning their house and their this & their that. Mom turns to him & says “your talking like we are going to get married” and he replies with “well aren’t we?”
They were the gossip of the town as well cos they pulled the wedding forward, so everyone thought a baby was on the way (as you do in 1968), except the real reason was down to not being able to get a venue for the reception for the date they originally set! No child arrived for 2 years so that shut everyone up!
Elizabeth Hanbury Says:
It’s not a romantic gesture, but it is a romantic story…a friend of mine ended up marrying the bailiff who had come to her house with the Inland Revenue to collect payment in kind! Her husband had left her some weeks earlier and she was distraught. She called me that afternoon, very tearful and frightened so I went round. Little did she realise that the bailiff had taken a shine to her and kept her number;0) Months later, he asked her out and they’ve now been married for six years :0) She’d had all the romantic gestures in her first marriage – renewal of vows, exotic holidays, bouquets of flowers – but it was all meaningless as hubby number one had been cheating on her for years. It’s so nice to see her happy after all the heartache.
Many congrats on the official publication, Phillipa!
L x
Sue Says:
Hi Phillipa
Just come to check in after teaching aerobics! Can’t think of any funny stories, but one of my friends has just got engaged when her boyf proposed a year to the day after they met, under the same tree where they met at a picnic in Hyde Park. Ahhhh!
Both my sisters got engaged and married within a year or less of getting together, so their husbands must have said something right!!
Sue
Jessica Raymond Says:
I’ve just got round to watching the proposal video. He’s so sweet! Ad she *actually* hyperventilated, didn’t she? Aww… 🙂
Kate Hammond Says:
Alas, no proposals here (yet) but i have a story about some friends of mine who live in Australia and who got engaged earlier this year under the sea!
They were both enrolled on a scuba-diving course & he had spoken to the instructor about his plans (with the ring safely deposited within his wetsuit – don’t ask where) and he was shown how to propose using the official scuba-diving hand signals…sadly he didn’t think about the fact that she would also need to know the signals in order to understand what on earth he was on about….! Anyway after a considerable amount of flailing around under the ocean (she got the point when she saw the sparkler!) she said yes! They are getting hitched in Sydney next year (on dry land – thank goodness) & I can’t wait for my first ever trip down under! 🙂
Annette Says:
I don’t have a proposal story, but I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed Just Say Yes. Ever since last year, I’ve been dying to find out what you did with that story of the American guy proposing to his girlfriend on TV. I certainly wouldn’t have seen the possibilities for a novel in it, but you fairly leapt on it!
I thought Just Say Yes was great fun, and loved the hero – your best yet, in my opinion!