I sent this picture to my special gentleman friend over the weekend. He was out of town. With 75% percent of my offspring in town, I suggested we go bowling to work off some of that pecan pie. And here's the pic my dude sent me in response. Completely apropos, considering the story I published on A Woman With a Past: The Post-Apocalyptic Approach to Men, nearly two years ago to the day, on November 27, 2009. Many things have changed since then. Three things have … [Read more...]
The Privilege of Breathing
November 21, 2012 By
It was one of those "stuck behind a truck with a ladder" moments yesterday. Do you ever feel this way? Like your entire life is stuck in slow moving traffic? Zero forward momentum? I’ve frequently joked that “My Life Behind a Plumbing Truck” will be the title of my next book. Lord knows this book isn’t moving fast enough. Most authors, unless they’re either lying or have no ego, (unlikely) will tell you that they dream of their book being on the New York Times Best … [Read more...]
Son of Mine
November 18, 2012 By
Carrie Fisher was the host of Saturday Night Live that night. The Blues Brothers did Soul Man. It was a nice diversion while it lasted, seeing how I was in the grips of labor with my first baby, a paltry four or five centimeters, or some ridiculously insufficient degree of dilation to get the job done. Carrie came back out on stage, linking arms with Gilda, Jane, John, Bill, Garrett, Dan, and Lorraine. These were the glory days of SNL. Lorne Michaels came out. The … [Read more...]
First Best Seller List, I’ll Take It!
November 11, 2012 By
Hey ! It might just be the independent book sellers in St. Louis, but I'm bustin' at the seams to let y'all know Off the Leash made the best seller's list this week, coming in at number four!! I am like, SO happy about this! I even beat out Tony La Russa's book, ha! ADULTS 1. “Silenced Majority” • Amy Goodman 2. “Triangles” • Ellen Hopkins 3. “I Could Pee on This: And Other Poems by Cats” • Francesco Marciuliano 4. “Off the Leash” • Jean Ellen Whatley 5. “The … [Read more...]
Big Book Event, Some Even Have Pictures
November 7, 2012 By
So happy to be invited by Left Bank Books and the St. Louis Literary Consortium to be a featured author at the first-ever book event from ALL the independent publishers in the St. Louis region. This is a great way to come out to support local owned book stores and brave publishers who want to feature new voices. Come to the CWE this Friday night, I'll be at Left Bank from 6:00 to 8:00 PM signing books. Have a drink, buy a book, I'll sign it and give you a big hug. MEDIA … [Read more...]
Lovers, Brothers and Democrats
November 6, 2012 By
***This is an essay I submitted to Salon.*** Probably too late and too long, but I wanted to share with my readers.*** I’ve got that tingly feeling. Not the way you feel when you’re about to speak in front of an audience, not the way you feel when the house lights go down, or just before that first kiss, this tingly feeling is limited to my left arm. It’s tingling all the way from my elbow down to my pinky finger, where it stops, because there is no sensation there, at … [Read more...]
St. Louis Launch and a Whole Lotta Love
October 30, 2012 By
Thanks to all the wonderful folks who turned out last night for the kick-off event at Subterranean Books in the famous U City Loop in St. Louis. I tried not to be too loopy. That made my publisher, Blank Slate Press, very happy. This is just a brief snippet from the evening. Oh believe, me, there will be more. Peace and love. … [Read more...]
Thank you, St. Louis Cardinals
October 29, 2012 By
If Frankenstorm Sandy wasn't enough to keep folks home tonight, just think if the Cardinals had prevailed over San Francisco and IF they had behaved in their normal nail-biting manner, we would have been in Game 5 of the World Series tonight. NOBODY, not even my dog would have shown up for the book signing at Subterranean Books in the Loop tonight, even if I bribed her with a hamburger. Luck was with me. And so were a lot of loving friends, neighbors, fellow writers, … [Read more...]
Nothing Like Some Funk
October 26, 2012 By
I knew it was a good omen when the lead-in to my interview on KTRS, THE BIG 550 A.M. was The Average White Band's, Pick Up the Pieces. When you get an extra fourteen minutes, (I understand that's a lot) give a listen to a fun interview, tragic backstory notwithstanding, to the interview I did on Thursday with St. Louis radio host, McGraw Milhaven. After you click on the link, click on the AUDIO tat, and it's the show dated 10-25-12. Just click the right arrow on … [Read more...]
Plunging Necklines? No Need!
October 24, 2012 By
You know that old saying, "you've got a face for radio?" I'll be applying the pipes come tomorrow morning on The McGraw Show on KTRS, The BIG 550, A.M. in St. Louis. I will be on the air in the 9:00 hour, probably close to 9:15 -- 9:20. McGraw Milhaven and his producer, Frank Ladd have graciously asked me back to be on McGraw's show, after being the first radio station in St. Louis to feature Libby and I, on the VERY day we embarked ( all puns intended) on our road trip … [Read more...]
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