I can’t believe it’s mid-September already and I haven’t posted anything since May. Bad, bad writer!

Actually, I don’t mind the Fall, especially since I’ll be spending a good part of it at my house in Bradenton FL.

On the “Teeth” front I have three speaking engagements coming up in the Tampa Bay area: November 1 at Tampa Palms Women’s Club in Tampa; November 13 at Plant City Women’s Club, Plant City FL; and Nov. 14 at the Apollo Beach Women’s Club, at the Summerfield Crossing Golf Course, Summerfield FL. You can look up these, and future talks on http://teethinapicklejar.com/news.htm

In July I was invited to appear at the meeting of the Tampa Bay Newcomers Book Club. About 30 people waited to grill me, figuratively speaking of course. I was happy to hear that they loved my book. YES!

“Teeth in a Pickle Jar” continues to do amazingly well. I am surprised, because I’ve been so busy working, I haven’t done any book promotion or publicity lately. Okay, maybe I should re-phrase it: I am NOT surprised the book is doing well. I AM surprised that it seems to sell even without any marketing efforts on my part. I guess this means that the word of mouth (from all those satisfied readers) is still the best publicity around.

I will sign off now but will be back soon to report on the upcoming crop of talks. In the meantime, keep reading!

I just realized what a bad blogger I am. How people manage to write blogs every single day I will never know, but these folks put me to shame. And I call myself a writer!

So anyway, “Teeth in a Pickle Jar” continues to do very well. I had several book talks / signings last month, namely at the South Manatee Library in Bradenton, FL at Temple Terrace Junior Women’s Club in Tampa FL, and at Tampa Bay Newcomers, also in Tampa. As always, I am amazed (and delighted) to get such a wonderful reception and feedback.

A lot of people tell me they come to my events because they are intrigued by the book’s title, “Teeth in a Pickle Jar” Well, that’s great because a book’s title should be catchy and whet people’s appetite to find out more, don’t you think? They often ask me what’s behind this quirky title. Well, behind this quirky title is a quirky book – and it is definitely not about dentistry!

I like quirky, don’t you? Okay, maybe not too quirky, which borders on weird, but I definitely enjoy some wackiness and a dash of idiosyncrasy. And of course, humor! Almost every critic who reviewed “Teeth in a Pickle Jar” said it was “funny, witty, humorous.” (You can read all the reviews here: http://teethinapicklejar.com/reviews.htm

I try to reflect the funny, upbeat, lighthearted and slightly irreverent tone of “Teeth” in my talks. It works! It’s great to hear people laugh out loud.

I think sense of humor is SO important, but unfortunately not enough people have it (or show it). Sure, life can be serious and even tragic at times, and the tears sometimes just flow (been there, done that). But hey, we gotta laugh too! It’s what gets us through the day. And if my book makes people laugh, well, I am honored!

Of course, there are sad moments in “Teeth” as well, because a great novel should be a reflection of life. And life, as we all know, has its ups and downs. So do the characters in my book. I want my readers to feel what my characters feel. I want them to be touched and inspired. Are you? Please let me know.

So here’s to good books and to laughter. May they be around for a long, long time.

I haven’t written much lately, but I prefer to do so when I actually have something to say.
Last week I was invited to speak about “Teeth in a Pickle Jar” to a group of women at the American Women’s Club (AWC) in Bern, Switzerland. There are AWCs all over the world; wherever there are American women, there’s bound to be an AWC or some form thereof. To date I was invited to speak to AWCs in Switzerland and Italy.

Of course, the bulk of my speaking engagements are in the U.S. (and most specifically in my home state of Florida), but I am happy when I get requests from other states and countries as well.

Okay, back to Bern. It was a sunny, clear and warm (for Switzerland) afternoon, so I thought surely people would rather enjoy the outdoors (and the spectacular scenery) than sit indoors and listen to an author. So, I was pleasantly surprised to find that a lively group of women showed up to hear my talk (and ask lots of questions afterwards).

After the talk refreshments were served, and I tried a Swiss version of that American specialty the brownie. It was from a mix purchased from a local supermarket, and it was very good.

In April I will speak about “Teeth in a Pickle Jar” at three venues in and near my hometown of Bradenton FL. On the 11th at the South Manatee Library in Bradenton; on the 19th at the Temple Terrace Junior Women’s Club near Tampa, and on the 24th at the monthly meeting of Tampa Bay Newcomers. And, believe it or not, I am already getting requests to speak this fall and even in January 2008!

I just recently received an email from a reader who attended one of my talks this past February in Pennsylvania. “Your book, just like your talk, was so funny and touching, “she wrote. “I started reading the book laughing and crying through it on a rainy Sunday morning and just couldn’t put it down until I found out what happened at the end. I finished it by dinnertime! Needless to say, I loved it!”

This is just the kind of reader feedback that an author wants to hear.

January has been a great month for me and “Teeth in a Pickle Jar.” It was great for me because I spent it in my home in Bradenton FL: Unless you are an avid skier or a masochist (I am neither), what could be better than spending the coldest month of the winter in warm weather? Okay, okay, you don’t have to answer that.

While in Bradenton I gave Creative Writing courses to a very nice and talented group of beginning writers. It was my first teaching experience. I am still waiting to get my apples!

I also gave a total of six talks about Teeth. The venues were in Venice, Sarasota, Tampa Bay area and central Florida. In Bradenton I was invited to speak at a meeting of Lions Club. What a wonderful group of people they are, and doing so much good for the community. I was honored to be their guest. Another memorable book talk was at the Lake Hamilton Women’s Club in Lake Hamilton FL. On the way back to Bradenton, on I-4 heading west toward Tampa, dark clouds started to gather. I wondered how a bright and sunny sky could so quickly morph into a mass of blackness. It was raining hard by the time I got to Bradenton, but it wasn’t until that night that a devastating tornado had swept central Florida. I was really anxious to hear that the wonderful group of people I had just spoken to was safe and sound, and that the town was not destroyed. It wasn’t until several days later that I had the good news: they were all fine, and the worst damage was 50 miles away. (more…)