Category Archives: News

Professional Review for “Three Questions”

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You set about writing one thing for one audience, and you end up hitting another demographic that you didn’t know would even be interested in what you had to say. Male readers are starting to read my book!

I’m so grateful to have readers who appreciate it – male or female.

Jon-david, local Chicago celeb, hairdresser and fellow author of a series called The Mafia Hairdresser, says it best in his recent AWESOME review of my book at The Local Tourist blog:

I hate Chick-Lit. I’m a dude. I may be gay and a hairdresser, but I’m a guy so I think like a guy: I do not want to over analyze broken relationships nor talk about my feelings let alone read about them.

However, he went on to say:

Meagan Adele Lopez has woven what seems to be two storylines, a philosophy to ask questions of oneself and others for personal growth, and page turning prose into a delightfully relatable story that both women and men of all ages can enjoy. Her writing style seems as straightforward and transparent as the main character seems to be but when you get near the end of the book you irrefutably understand that you never saw what was coming because you thought you knew where you were going.

I’m so touched that my first professional review is a GLIMMERING one! I couldn’t have asked for more praise in this review.

A little bit more of the review to whet your appetite, (and if you want to read the full review, please go to this link “Book Review: Three Questions”):

And my hats off to Meagan Adele Lopez for coercing me to feel like I caught a glimmer of what it was like to actually reason like a woman; as well as be able to show how a man thinks. I related to the men characters and that is why I know men will love Three Question too but damn it if this book won’t get you thinking or relating about how you (dis?)function in your own relationships and career goals.

Thank you so much, Jon-david! I’m so appreciative that you not only took the time to read my novel, but write about it.

Announcing… the Second Edition Paperback & Book Trailer

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Thanks to Kickstarter, I was able to produce a high quality book trailer that is finally available for your viewing! Some of you got a sneak peak on my Facebook page, but this is the official announcement. I hope you enjoy. Leave a comment and tell me what you think!

If you don’t know what “Three Questions” is about, perhaps this will help you figure it out:

Finally, the newly edited, newly formatted paperback is available! Click on the Amazon link to purchase or the image above!

I have my first book club reading it as we speak, and a second possibly by the end of the month. If you are a member of a book club, don’t hesitate to get in touch (we’ll work out some kind of group discount).

Also, click on this Paypal button below to order a signed edition of the new version.

Guest Posts & Happy Stuff

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All this plane flying has given me some time to write a few guest posts on other blogs (stay tuned for another one on Smitten By Britain‘s blog as well).

First up, I got to thinking more and more about why British actors are on our airwaves, and are seemingly better actors than us, the American counterparts.

This is what I came up with on Michelle‘s blog, The American Resident: Are British Actors Better than American Actors?

Then, a year ago, Toni Hargis, a British expat who now lives in Chicago and who met up with us in London during out expat bloggers convention (I’m exaggerating, there were about 6 of us), asked me to write about my repatriation experience.

Finally I got around to writing it: Repatriation: An American’s Story.

She also finished my novel, and wrote a smashing review! (You can read all my current reviews here – be sure to leave one if you haven’t already.)

“Don’t be fooled into thinking this is just another “girls-gone-wild” or chic-lit debut novel. Not only is “Three Questions” the delightful love story of American Adele and an Englishman named Guy- it asks surprisingly searching questions of both the characters and the reader.
From the simple – “What is your favorite meal?” to the scary “How would you describe your mom?”, Lopez delves deep into her characters’ hearts and souls. You’ll be rooting for the lovers throughout the book, and you won’t be disappointed with the denouement.”

8 days left before my Kickstarter ends – help me turn my novel into a screenplay through your contributions, and some great rewards (if you haven’t already). Email everyone you know, tweet out to the world, and post on Facebook! We can do this together!

 

What does success mean to you?

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Giving back isn’t something I’ve been particularly good at.

One year my family and I worked in a soup kitchen for Christmas, I was the spokesperson for the National Rainforest Association at USC, and I went to impoverished schools to teach them improv during high school. But, I could do more. We all could.

Digital Hope is an organization that reminds me that I want to do more.

Digital Hope is a nonprofit organization that performs volunteer projects around the world for high-impact, independent organizations – places like orphanages, wildlife sanctuaries or schools – and they use the power of social media to fund each project.

Johnny Roa, the founder of Digital Hope, asked me a question last weekend – “If you found a large amount of money lying on the floor, what would you do with it?” I paused, thoughts of movies being made, flats in Paris and travel immediately entered my mind. But, I honestly didn’t know exactly what I would do with this large undisclosed sum.

He did. He knew exactly what he wanted to do with a large sum of cash (mind you, he didn’t find it, he earned it.)

That’s also a similar question he asks donors: “If you are going to donate money, wouldn’t you want to know exactly where it was going?”

Well, many nonprofits give less than 50%, some as bad as only 1%, of all donations to the actual cause – allowing the rest to go to administrative fees, salaries and well, could you call it profits? Johnny tells me that there are even a few cases where for-profits masquerade as not-for-profits. (Click here and here for examples of both.)

Another thing that Johnny discovered while researching other charities and non-profits was that many of their CEO’s were making nearly half a million dollars, sometimes more. Upon first glance, it seems fair that if said CEO’s work hard, and contribute to the well-being of others that they should be given a fair wage. However, what most people don’t realize is that this means the first 15,000 $20 donations would go directly into the CEO’s pocket. If you donated your hard-earned money, wouldn’t you want to know that it was going to the people and the causes you were fighting for, and not the CEO living in his/her penthouse apartment?

Johnny wanted to find another way to live his life.

I interviewed Johnny back in December for a completely different thing entirely. He also happens to own a few companies himself, one of which is a user-experience strategy and design firm called AKTA. The interview was for a presentation he was giving at a midVentures DESIGN + DEVELOP series (midVentures being the company I used to work for, and who recently threw Chicago’s TechWeek). He answered the email from a bus driving through the Chilean mountains.

At the time, I thought: This guy certainly has it all. Successful businessman, world traveler. What more could you ask for?

But, he had already started thinking about the “best case scenario,” as he calls it. Before Digital Hope, his “best case scenario” basically involved making money, making other people a lot of money, employing others, traveling as he likes, etc – all that comes with a comfortable lifestyle.  He writes in a blog post:

“I posed this question to my best friend when I was first thinking about Digital Hope: “can you imagine the best case scenario of a day’s work being that you saved a child’s life, or put a roof over a family’s head?”. Even as I was saying it, I knew I had to have that. I must know what it feels like to have an outcome other than the traditional definition of success.”

Johnny and Ruairi Digital Hope
So, he started Digital Hope, he gave a large sum of his own towards this charity, he’s finding incredible investors to put money into the administrative day-to-day operations (to make sure that 100% of money donated by you and me goes to help those in need and NOT pay for their operations). He and his best friend Ruairi Hyland, are trading the big city life for a life on the road, living out of a backpack, traveling the world helping those in need.

Yes, they will change the world, I have no doubts, one brick at a time.

They are searching for underfunded charities the world-wide who have great people behind them, but just need a little more money, a little more time, and a little more help. Digital Hope will use social media to find donors, to spread the word, to film their interactions with the locals, and to show you how they are helping. They want the donors to see where their money is being used (and no, their airfare and accommodations will not be included in that).

They are literally giving hope to others through digital means.

Jock is inspired, I am inspired. If I go missing in January, it’s because I have packed myself into Johnny and Ruairi’s suitcase. If you want to find out more, please follow them on Twitter, and check out their website.