November 13, 2009
· Filed under Book Reviews · Tagged self awareness, trauma, relationships, inspiration, abuse, alcoholism, stepfather, rape, healing, therapy, intimacy, sex addiction, love addiction, brain, romance
Is It Love or Is It Addiction? The Book That Changed the Way We Think About Romance and Intimacy
By Brenda Schaeffer
Published May 2009 (Paperback, Third Printing) Hazelden
In this space that used to be my dining room, I have this fabulous stack of new and nearly new books. Today, I was compelled to read Is It Love or Is It Addiction?
I grew up in cruelty. I was trained, in essence, to accept, even attract, relationships that feel Read the rest of this entry »
November 12, 2009
· Filed under Book Reviews · Tagged abuse, alcoholism, career, Christmas, gay, happiness, healing, holiday stories, humor, inspiration, relationships, self awareness, storytelling, therapy, writing
You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas
By Augusten Burroughs
Published October 27, 2009 (Hardcover) St. Martin’s Press
First thing to know. You Better Not Cry is not a children’s book. Even if it does open with Augusten Burroughs as a kid pondering the relationship between Santa and Jesus. He writes, “It’s just that, most of the year, Jesus is naked except for his little rag and his thorn hat, and then on Christmas, he puts on his good red suit.”
OMG.
Oh, yeah, God. Augusten can’t figure out Read the rest of this entry »
November 11, 2009
· Filed under Author Interviews · Tagged abuse, bird by bird, inspiration, manifest, novel, optimism, positive thinking, self awareness, shitty first drafts, storytelling, writing
Interview with Anne Lamott
To Be Published April 6, 2010
Time slid fast this morning, greased by Anne Lamott’s inspiring answers. We were scheduled for a half hour, and we talked long past sixty-minutes. Annie graciously said to take all the time I wanted to interview her for the Writer’s Digest article.
We opened, talking about Imperfect Birds, the third of a trilogy that she began writing, she said, when she was still drinking heavily. Her concerns — Read the rest of this entry »
November 10, 2009
· Filed under Book Reviews · Tagged abuse, alcoholism, bipolar, fearless, fiction, goals, healing, illness, inspiration, mother, novel, optimism, passion, positive thinking, relationships, self awareness, stepfather, storytelling, therapy, writing
Imperfect Birds
By Anne Lamott
To Be Published April 6, 2010 (Hardcover) Riverhead
I’ve interviewed Anne Lamott a half dozen times — usually we talk about her non-fiction. Tomorrow morning, we’ll discuss her newest book Imperfect Birds — and her writing. I’m prepared. I’ve read a galley of her newest book, which won’t be published for five more months, and I jotted a stack of questions to lead me into a story I will write for Writer’s Digest. The thing is, the story’s gone deeper than that. Read the rest of this entry »
November 9, 2009
· Filed under Author Interviews, Book Reviews · Tagged crazy mothers, family, friendship, healing, inspiration, love, media, neglect, novel, optimism, pedophilia, positive thinking, PTSD, relationships, schizophrenia, self awareness, stepfather, therapy, trauma, veterans, writing
When She Flew
By Jennie Shortridge
Published November 3, 2009 (Paperback) NAL Accent Paperback Original
Jennie Shortridge. When I see her name, I feel a smile forming, and sense sweetness. And a song. And really, that’s Jennie. Smiling and sweet, just like her name. I haven’t heard her sing, but I know that’s how she met her husband — singing.
Jennie was on my show today to discuss her latest book When She Flew. I loved the book. Jennie wrote the true story Read the rest of this entry »
November 6, 2009
· Filed under Book Reviews · Tagged abuse, alcoholism, career, fearless, healing, inspiration, interviews, intuition, intuitive, Laura Day, passion, psychic, relationships, self awareness, storytelling, Sylvia Browne, therapy, trauma, writing
You Know Your Way Home
By Suzanne Jauchius
Published August 10, 2009 (Paperback) Bree Noa Publishing
I’ve heard of Suzanne Jauchius for years, but we’ve never met. Which is odd, because doing what I do — interviews — you’d think we would have met that way. I have interviewed just about every intuitive in the area, not to mention across the country…Sylvia Browne, Laura Day, Sue Storm, probably a dozen more. Around August, I saw Suzanne’s name posted in connection with a local bookstore, and I sensed the desire to meet her, whisper through me. Read the rest of this entry »
November 5, 2009
· Filed under Book Reviews · Tagged abuse, career, education, fearless, goals, grammar, grammar girl, healing, inspiration, MBA, self awareness, stepfather, storytelling, therapy, trauma, writing
The Grammar Devotional: Daily Tips for Successful Writing from Grammar Girl
By Mignon Fogarty
Published October 27, 2009 (Paperback) Holt
It’s fun how a few quirky individuals can create cult followings out of stuff most of us can’t — or don’t want to — wrap our minds around.
Like grammar. Thank you, Grammar Girl. Even Oprah blurbed the book: “Mignon has come up with clever ideas to help even the most grammatically challenged person remember the rules.”
I was in the mood to learn something new Read the rest of this entry »
November 4, 2009
· Filed under Book Reviews · Tagged abuse, alcoholism, father, healing, inspiration, memoir, mother, pedophilia, physical health, relationships, self awareness, stepfather, storytelling, therapy, trauma, writing
The Glass Castle
By Jeannette Walls
Published January 9, 2006 (Paperback) Scribner
I love books best when they’re new. The pages are smooth and unused. And, I love them when they’re hardcover, and the books are so new that the pub date is after I’ve received the books in the mail.
When I recently received Jeannette Walls’ brand new book Half Broke Horses, I realized my procrastinating was over. Read the rest of this entry »
November 3, 2009
· Filed under Book Reviews · Tagged abuse, alcoholism, Algonquin Table, career, Dorothy Parker, father, healing, inspiration, pedophilia, poetry, rape, stepfather, storytelling, suicide attempts, therapy, trauma, witty, writing
Not Much Fun: The Lost Poems of Dorothy Parker
By Stuart Y. Silverstein
Published October 20, 2009 (Paperback) Scribner
Unwittingly, I fell in love with Dorothy Parker’s quips long before I knew they were hers. Read every footnote in Not Much Fun — some of them take up half the page — and you will understand. One of the famed writers at the Algonquin Table in the twenties, Dottie, as she was called, was known to brandish her sharp wit in word games. Use horticulture in a sentence. Dottie said, “You can take a horticulture, but you can’t make her think.”
Something about her life compelled me to want to be her, although Read the rest of this entry »
November 2, 2009
· Filed under Author Interviews, Book Reviews · Tagged birth defects, cancer, diabetes, environment, EPA, healing, Obama Administration, physical health, self awareness, toxic, toxins
The Body Toxic: How the Hazardous Chemistry of Everyday Things Threatens Our Health and Well-being
By Nena Baker
Published July 21, 2009 (Paperback) North Point Press
I’m interviewing Nena Baker this afternoon on Open Book with Diana Page Jordan, about her book The Body Toxic, and Nena points past our two mics to my bright red plastic water bottle, and she says, basically, no, you can’t drink out of it.
But why not?! I love my water bottle. I was given it at Read the rest of this entry »
