There’s a new post up on Gothamist about my novel - a long interview with me. Please check it out.
We’ve just sold PROSPECT PARK WEST in Germany and Brazil - more news on the foreign front to come. Very exciting!
The Community Bookstore reading last week was great - so many long-time Slopers of all stripes showed up, and a lot of local mom friends. We had an enjoyable discussion after my reading about the way “Park Slope is its own worst enemy.” It was good to see the different types of people there, especially the self-described “big homo” who wanted his book signed. Speaking of which, if you couldn’t make the reading but want an autographed copy, go over to Community and buy one - I signed their entire stock. And please tell any friends who stopped by in September and were told that the store was out of books that they are now on hand!! (I had to send people to the chain store down the street in the interim.) Books will also be at Boing and BoingBoing in the next week.
I wanted to tell you about TWO upcoming readings and one TV appearance, all of which I’m excited about:
1. On Wednesday, October 7 at 7 PM I will be on a Learning Annex panel called “The Secrets of Publishing” with literary agents, editors, and television producers, moderated by Susan Shapiro (Speed Shrinking) and also featuring book editor Kerri Kolen, TV producer Lou Wallach, NYTimes editor Frank Flaherty, agent Ryan Fischer-Harbage and magazine editor Paula Derrow. All info is here. I will be signing and selling books. Admission is $44.95 but the Learning Annex is offering a SPECIAL DISCOUNT OF $9.95 for anyone who uses the code SHAPIRO at checkout. Please invite any aspiring writer friends!
2. On Thursday, October 8 from 7-9, Momasphere will host me for a reading at Richard Meier On Prospect Park. Bookcourt will sell discounted copies of the book at the event for $20. The event is for moms of all ages and opinions. Richard Meier On Prospect Park, 1 Grand Army Plaza in Prospect Heights. (Don’t tell Richard Meier that his building is technically not in Park Slope.) There will be food, wine, giveaways, music and more. Advance tickets are $10 here.
3. If you live in NYC, tune into Channel 4 News - WNBC - on Thursday, October 8 between 5 and 6. I will be talking about PROSPECT PARK WEST on their brand new news program, LXNY, which you may have seen in the back of a taxicab.
Also, there are tons of new links up on my Press/Reviews page, including the New York Times, Boston Globe, Today Show, BrooklynBased and more. Please check them out if you are so inclined.
Learning Annex and Richard Meier
Community Bookstore 9/29!
I am back from my delightful West Coast tour and want to urge all of you to come on down to Community Bookstore, my local indie store, on 9/29 @ 7 PM for what is sure to be a controversial and entertaining event. If any of the “haters” show up you can see if they are wearing baggy t-shirts - or not. Maybe I will come as a hater myself just to throw everyone off. And there is FREE WINE! Seriously, this should be a provocative night and is so far, the only Park Slope reading planned from PROSPECT PARK WEST.
Community Bookstore
143 Seventh Avenue (Carroll/Garfield) in Park Slope, Brooklyn
Tues 9/29 7-8:30 PM
Also, if you live in NYC, please tune into Channel 4 News - WNBC - on THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, BETWEEN 5 AND 6. (THIS IS A DIFFERENT DATE THAN WHAT I POSTED PREVIOUSLY.) I will be live on their brand new news program, LXNY, which you may have seen in the back of a taxicab.
In the Flesh Thursday 9/17
The Bookcourt reading was a phenomenal night and I was delighted to see so many friends, old and new, there. PPW is a Bookcourt Bestseller, which means it’s 20% off ($20), so if you live in Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn Heights or nearby, please head over and buy a copy there.
This Thursday 9/17 I’ll be reading at Rachel Kramer Bussel’s “In the Flesh Erotic Reading Series.”
Happy Ending Lounge, 302 Broome St. in Chinatown. Doors at 7, Reading at 8.
Other readers are Susan Shapiro (Speed Shrinking, Five Men Who Broke My Heart), fellow Park Slope lady Julie Metz (Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal), Diana Joseph (I’m Sorry You Feel That Way), Kerry Cohen (Loose Girl) and Literary Death Match alum Joshua Lyon (Pill Head).
Free candy and cupcakes by Baked by Melissa will be served. Copies of the authors’ books will be for sale by Mobile Libris.
PPW in New York Times Home section
The reporter Steven Kurutz did a great job interviewing me and giving a smart take on PROSPECT PARK WEST, the Slope, and me as a novelist and mother. And the great photographer Piotr Redlinski made my apartment look like Vermeer, as Julie Metz said about his shoot in her own place.
Here is the link to the story.
A few people asked about my glam clothes. This was very flattering as they cost a total of about $50, not including the unpictured shoes. Here is a Michelle Obama-style shout-out to my “designers”: J Crew (brown tank top, 2 for $25), LOVE NYC (black pencil skirt, by Rose Baron’s no-longer existent awesome body-conscious line), and 1 of a Find Vintage on Lincoln Place (Akerberg designed by Wendt lizard-print lounge lizard button-down). Shoes were Michael Kors wedge sandals from Eric on Seventh Ave.
TWO PPW READINGS THIS WEEK:
Bookcourt, 163 Court St. in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, Tuesday 9/15 @ 7 PM - free wine
In the Flesh Reading Series, Happy Ending Lounge, 302 Broome St. in Chinatown, doors @ 7, reading @ 8 - with Julie Metz, Josh Lyon, Susan Shapiro, Kerry Cohen and Diana Joseph - curated by salty siren Rachel Kramer Bussel
PPW in Time Out New York and USA Today
Two very nice links to report -
USA Today says the book is eagerly anticipated
and TONY gives a thoughtful review to the subject matter and execution
Also wanted to let everyone know how excited I am to be reading at the AJC Decatur Festival of Books, one of the biggest book festivals in the country. Here is the link to my event, which is this Saturday, September 5 @ 5:30 in a Baptist Church. My reading will be followed by a mom fashion show, an event I cannot imagine happening in Park Slope for reasons I cannot iterate here, for fear of having something slung at me from a Maya wrap on Seventh Avenue.