I had heard of Miss Collins rough teenage years and I thought her novels to be steamy tomes for housewives. I had never read any of her books and was surprised when I was invited to a roundtable discussion for her latest book, The Santangelos. After all, this woman has sold 500 Million books, what could I possibly do to aid her?
That is when I got the shock of my week – this Hollywood celeb, this famous author, this English accented sister to another famous celeb, was just a gracious, charming, friendly hostess! She immediately put us at ease and just wanted to chat about her book, and about what we felt about the current state of affairs of the paparazzi.
Jackie Colllins had just started the process of charming the pants off of even me! You will have to read to the end for those details!
For the sake of full disclosure, I had been warned that Miss Collins was a sweet and approachable “famous person.” My dear college friend, Mindy R., had worked with Miss Collins on one of her past book tours and shared what a sweetheart she was. I had also worked with Miss Collins daughter a few years back when her daughter was a clothes designer, and she was also a sweetheart. So truthfully I was pre-disposed to being ready to fall in love!
The single most important piece of information that came out of that afternoon’s chat was when Miss Collins discussed her years as a wife in London who supported her husband’s night club business by joining him every night at the club for the 15 years they owned it. She watched everyone. Miss Collins is a natural observer and this skill is the thing that gave her years worth of material for her many books! When she writes, she is writing first hand about the things she has seen in London, Hollywood, and every where else she has been. And many of us reading these books are dying for this inside information! And she writes in such a way that no one figure is easily identifiable, and at the same time, many of the actual “characters” think they are reading about themselves! This is her winning formula!
Miss Collins then proceeded to tell us about some of the real life experiences that she has had, and the ones she has viewed. Things that she said if she put them all in one book, her readers would never believe it was non-fiction! The rumors are true, there are people out there who are the caricatures that we suspected they were! I love how Miss Collins brings these people to our homes through her books, because we only see the crazy attention seekers on TV and in the newspapers, it is wonderful to see the behind the scenes agents, writers, and supporting cast of folks who also make up this part of society.
I also found out that Miss Collins was one of the first to present women as strong, independent main characters, starting in the 1980’s. And by way of summing that up , she asked us how old did we think her main character, Lucky Santangelo was? While we were trying to answer she then said, well how old is James Bond? It doesn’t matter, no one cares how old he is, he is timeless, and so we were taught a lesson in feminism!
I enjoyed the book. There were some loose ends, some questions I had as to “Why?” and they were eventually answered at the end of the book, and in our conversation. The bottom line is, for the last few years, I have only read books based on some of my science fiction TV shows, and more recently some of my son’s 6th grade literature so we could help him write his various school papers, and those were never comfortable reads! It was quite a different experience to read my first Jackie Collins book which had me captivated from the first chapter. I look forward to reading many more of her books, especially now that I know I want to try to figure out who the real life basis is for some of the characters, and also to see who ridiculous some of these people are now that I know they actually do exist! Please click here for more information on Miss Collins new book, The Santangelos! You can also here Miss Collins talk about her book below:
And then Miss Collins wrote me, the character of Mitch, into The Santangelos. Yes, I am in one of her books. Literally in the one that I own. Try to read the inscription, Miss Collins was clearly able to charm my pants off to be able to best describe my character, remember, she is an observer of all!!
Disclosure: I received a gift bag for attending the event. All opinions are always 100% honest and my own. Event pictures are courtesy of my friend Geanine! The other pictures were taken at my home, on my bed. It seemed appropriate.
How COOL that you’re in one of the books? Not everyone can say that… AND and autographed copy. SO very special.
She is an amazing author. How cool that you got to meet her.
Oh Man… Lucky You… Jackie Collins Really!!! She is such a timeless author and I love her books.
Jackie Collins is a great author. I’ve read several of her books, and they’re always a good read.
How lucky for you to be able to meet her in person AND get an autographed book. Looks like you had a fun visit with her.
That is SO awesome that you got to meet Jackie Collins! I can’t wait to read The Santangelos!
First of all, I’m jealous you met Jackie! Second of all, this book looks really good! I will have to get my hands on it.
This sounds like a great book. I will add it to my must read list.
It’s been quite sometimes I haven’t read Jackie’s books. I have some of here old, brilliant novels. Lucky you to have met her in person and get your novel signed 🙂
Wow. This is amazing. I haven’t read one of her books in a long time but she’s amazing and this is literally awesome! What a cool experience!
She sounds like a wonderful author! I’ll have to check out this book!
I seriously had to swallow my jealously before commenting because I would have died to meet Jackie Collins. I remember both my mom and grandmother reading her novels. They are just stories that never go out of style!
This sounds like a really good book. I bet it was neat to interact with Jackie too.
OMG – that is so awesome and I’m so jealous! I would love to meet Jackie Collins – I’ve read all her book. They’re always great for a fun summer read at the beach!
Ooo so exciting. I just love her books
That is really cool that you got to meet her and pretty neat that she autographed her book for you. Looks like it was a really fun time.
Wow! It’s nice to see that someone so famous is still fun and down to earth! Fabulous post!
You’re cracking me up. It does seem appropriate to snap photos in your bedroom considering the subject matter. I haven’t read any of her books, but this one sounds like a great summer read. I know I’d love to put off reading Red Badge of Courage again as long as possible.
This looks like a really fun event. I love her books.
Ohhhh, I love Jackie Collins. My mom would kill to be in your shoes meeting her. What a great experience. I had no idea she was an author. She’s still gorgeous.
This sounds like an awesome book! That’s pretty neat that you go to meet her in person to chat about it.
I am so happy you were able to do this, I must check out her new book. I am on a mission to test out new books and when I move I want to read every night …. must get this book!
How awesome is it that you got to personally meet her andshe signed you a personal copy! Lucky you got to meet her!
I think it’s awesome that you got to meet Jackie Collins! I’ve read many of her books, but haven’t read any in a bit. I need to pick up some, because they are great summer reads!
Wow, lucky you! I would love to meet Jackie Collins one day. And that note! I am sure she made you blush!
What an awesome event!! Jackie Collins is a brilliant author. I need to pick up this book!
That is awesome that you got to meet her. I don’t think I have read any of her books but I am always up for checking out new books.