So is Divorce Party a novel about a husband and wife who plan to announce their divorce at a party to celebrate their 35th anniversary?

Or is it a movie comedy to be made by Jennifer Aniston?

Or is Divorce Party a television reality show that will show a husband and wife following divorce, and then ask audience members American Idol-style to vote on which spouse was responsible for the breaking up? The “winning” spouse, the one who is not voted as responsible, will win cash.

The answer is that it’s all three.

The novel, written by Laura Dave, is set in Montauk, at the end of Long Island, and it’s about the end of a marriage. As the book puts it, it looks at “the moment toward the end … when you realize that there is something behind this person’s eyes that you were never able to touch, no matter how hard you tried. You can only guess at it, where things really end … where they really begin…”

A second story line follows the divorcing couple’s son, who is about to introduce his commitment-phobic fiancée, no doubt to be played by Jennifer Aniston in the movie.

The movie? Aniston and her partner, Kristin Hahn, optioned the novel before it was even published. If things move forward, Aniston will star in the film, which will be made at Universal and released in 2010. "We're drawn to stories about people finding their voice and finding their way,” she told Variety.

But she turns 40 next year, so Aniston will either have to play a cougar dating a younger man, or change the script to make it a 40th anniversary party.

And that reality TV show? Not nearly so high brow.

The third pilot has been been shot in Dallas for Divorce Party, which was created by Bobby Goldstein, a former divorce lawyer who is behind such classy WB reality shows as Cheaters: Totally Busted?

It seems like every time I turn around, I’m writing about rising divorce rates in the UK. More people got divorced leading up to the holidays. Then more people got divorced on the first Monday back to work after the New Year. Valentine’s Day was a tragedy for marriage. And now summer holidays are taking their toll on the institution of marriage in merry old England.

After divorce experts warned us that the divorce rate would be at its highest in January, July divorce petitions slashed expectations at 150% of last year’s numbers. Why the spike? Apparently vacations are stressful. Really, really stressful.

The spokesman for one London lawyers office says couples are “thrown together for two weeks solid with a spouse they wouldn’t normally see for more than a few hours a day. Throw in alcohol, travel delays, bickering kids and a hotel or apartment that’s tiny or not up to scratch, and it all becomes a pressure cooker just waiting to blow.”

Maybe if they’d known they’d be getting divorced afterwards, they wouldn’t have splurged for the couples massage. One commentator on the website for The Sun, known as Lolly1010, summed it up nicely, I think. “If a marriage can't survive a 2 week holiday, it's not very strong in the first place.”

Experts predict August or September are only going to get worse, so watch this space. If the divorce rate keeps skyrocketing we’ll start seeing divorces between people who weren’t married in the first place.

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Suzanne Maxwell built her Lovin' Oven bakery in Lancaster, TX, by specializing in wedding cakes. Then a customer came into her bakery at 181 Historic Town Square (972 227 4425) and asked for a cake to celebrate her divorce. Since then, Maxwell has done dozens of cakes (only one for a man). Sometimes the groom appears at the top, head down. Sometimes the ex-wives ask for special messages. The cakes, needless to say, are shared with friends. The video on local station WOAI in San Antonio, TX, is here.

If you were making a divorce cake, what would it look like? What would it say? And how would you serve it? Comment with your ideas.

Heather Mills is planning a seven-day divorce party for her and 25 of her closest friends. The cost? $500,000. Mills plans to fly the group to Necker Island, a private Caribbean spot, to the tune of $49,000 a night.

The interesting bit about this is the fact that Mills was extremely concerned with her public image during the divorce proceedings with ex Paul McCartney. She made a point of rebutting comments that she was only in it for the money, vehemently denying she was a "gold-digger," and emphasizing that she needed proper support to care for their daughter, Beatrice.

But the extravagance of this party seems to speak otherwise.

Don't get me wrong. It's her money now, fair and square. She entitled to do with it what she pleases. Not sure if it's sending the right message, which seems to be a little "in your face, Paul," doesn't it?

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First Wives World productions brought "Hot Flashes," the FWW-exclusive fictional blog by television-alum Mimi Schmir (Grey's Anatomy, Shark, Felicity) to the people on Thursday — and the people raved. A-listers from both coasts mingled at NYC hot-spot Ultra, gathering to listen to film, television, and theater's finest actresses read excerpts of Schmir's take on the rollercoaster that is menopausal life through the eyes of her heroine, Esme. "As we had hoped, Thursday night became a true convergence of emotions, connections, and industries," says FWW partner Jonas Neilson.

Amy Brenneman (Private Practice, Judging Amy), Kim Raver (Lipstick Jungle), Daphne Rubin-Vega (Rent), and Jessica Hecht (Friends) brought Esme to life as they read episodes of the first-person blog. Neilson explained that the second official reading underscored what Business Week described as "Broadway to Broadband" (and now potentially "Broadcast") as never before.

"It was a wonderful event showing what 'Hot Flashes' represents, and it was interpreted wonderfully by the great performances of our actresses," notes First Wives World's Antonio Martinez. "They gave it a new life that just exploded from the page."

Adds Neilson: "It's one thing to set out to build a social network for women to connect with women; it's another to have them connect emotionally with a fictional character and narrative in such a new, innovative way. Seeing the crowd laugh, emote, and join in Esme's journey was a quite a moment for all of us."

Curious? Check out "Hot Flashes" here.

(Photo: Frank Siciliano)

Back by popular demand, "Hot Flashes" is hitting Manhattan!

First Wives World productions is preparing to bring "Esme" to a live audience tonight in a second reading of "Hot Flashes," the FWW-exclusive fictional blog by television-alum Mimi Schmir (Grey's Anatomy, Shark, Felicity). Hollywood's hottest will gather over champagne and hors d'ouevres to read excerpts of Schmir's take on the rollercoaster that is menopausal life through the eyes of her heroine, Esme.

Broadwayworld.com aptly summarized the unique opportunity within "Hot Flashes," explaining that the blog is "venturing into a subject area that has yet to be explored on television: Menopause as mid-life reinvention."

FWW's premiere reading took place in Los Angeles in February, with actresses Amy Brenneman (Private Practice, Judging Amy), Dana Delany (Desperate Housewives), Kathyrn Morris (Cold Case), and Natasha Henstridge (Commander-in-Chief) reading portions of the true-to-life blog to an intimate gathering of television and film professionals.

Amy Brenneman will resume the role of Esme tonight; Kim Raver (Lipstick Jungle), Daphne Rubin-Vega (Rent), and Jessica Hecht (Friends) will join her in bringing FWW's favorite heroine to life.

The reading will take place today, Thursday, April 24th, in Manhattan. Check back tomorrow for full FWW coverage!

A recent CNN article highlighted divorce parties — and made a strong argument for the growing trend. Much like a wedding ceremony, a divorce party celebrates a pivotal transition in life. In fact, L.A.-based Christine Gallagher runs The Divorce Party Planner, a company devoted solely to planning such events.

Gallagher says divorce is a part of life, yet it's the only major milestone for which there is no ritual.

One divorcee that was interviewed agrees, adding that something as simple as a toaster, a common registry gift, means much more after a split than on the wedding day and recently set up a divorce registry for a friend. (Especially after hefty legal bills.)

Another ceremoniously reclaimed her maiden name. Former beauty queen Shanna Moakler held a Vegas bash, complete with a knife-wielding-bride cake topper. The groom? Dead. (The miniature one, of course. The real groom, Travis Barker, is alive and well.)

We're pro-divorce party. What better way to usher in a new perspective on life than with your closest friends and family.... Out with the old, in with the new, right?

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We've written before about wedding ring coffins, a tiny coffin, perfect for giving your ring a proper send off and perhaps for giving some closure to your divorce.

Did you purchase a wedding ring coffin? Do you know someone who's having a divorce party? Are you planning a ring burial? Well, if you do/are, be sure to bring your video camera.

The people at weddingringcoffin.com are now giving you the chance to win $1,000 by demonstrating what the wedding ring coffin is all about.

Here's what you do:

Make a video — less than two minutes — that includes the wedding ring coffin and what it means to you. You can be funny, serious, overjoyed, depressed — whatever, it's all up to you. Then upload your video to YouTube and send it in. For more information and to register click here.

The best part is, you don't actually even have to purchase a wedding ring coffin to participate as the company has made images available on their media page for just that purpose.

So, have an idea to send that ring packing? Could you use an extra $1,000 to boot? Give it a try, you might just get lucky!

There has been some speculation as to whether Hollywood celebrities take marriage as seriously as the rest of us "normal" folk, and not only that, but some also speculate whether they use marriage/divorce to gain publicity.

I think that, like everything else in life, there is probably no black or white here. There are probably some celebrities who do take their marriages seriously. There are probably some celebrities that divorce and go through the same motions and emotions that all of us "normal" people do.
And there are probably those that don't.

Case in point: I think anybody would be hard pressed to say that Britney Spears's first marriage was something that she thought seriously about. And how about the marriages of Angelina Jolie, Pam Anderson, and Renee Zellweger? Probably not something they took too seriously, considering the outcomes.

But then there are those that do or did. Paul Newman, Johnny Cash, Will Smith, amongst others. Get my point?

I don't like judging people, even when those people are celebrities, and if I've learned anything thus far it's that we all have our own set of circumstances that have brought us to where we are.

Not being a celebrity myself, I can only imagine how hard it is to maintain a "real" relationship under such scrutiny. I wonder how I would feel if it were my boyfriend or husband plastered on the cover of US Weekly under a headline that proclaims "Is He Cheating?!" I wonder how I would feel in a relationship having virtually no privacy and knowing full well that — at the very least — the media can't wait for us to break up.

And, if celebrities do use breakups to gain publicity, well then one might say, good for them. I mean, we do buy it.

The husband-and-wife team of Anton and Nataliya Popazov, performers in the Moscow State Circus, have been married for 20 years — and performing their daredevil act for many of those.

Make that "former husband-and-wife team." The two are currently in the throes of a divorce, yet they must fulfill the remaining eight months of their contract with the circus. The result? As part of their performance, Nataliya will continue to shoot an apple off of Anton's head with a crossbow.

As Anton told The Times of London, "I still trust her because Nataliya is very professional. It's not every man's cup of tea to have his ex-partner firing arrows at him every day, but the show must go on."

We can think of more than one divorcee who would love the chance to "perfect" her aim...

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