THE DREADED HEAD SHOT

Okay, this is so embarrassing, but I've been using a twelve-year-old photo for publicity these past few years. It wasn't that I wanted people to think I was younger than I am (ok, I didn't care if they thought I was thinner!), but I hate being in front of the camera. I always feel so self-conscious and nervous and every picture makes me feel worse and worse. But in gearing up for this winter's Woodstock Writers Festival (lots more info will be coming soon), the great writer Susan Richards (Chosen by a Horse, Chosen Forever) offered up her husband, the amazing photographer, Dennis Stock, to take my portrait. Okay, Dennis is best known for having taken those iconic shots of James Dean and dozens of other Hollywood luminaries and I was plenty nervous. But Dennis took exactly ten minutes, snapped off a dozen shots, and produced something I not only can live with, but one I actually like.

Woodstock Now and Then

This Sunday night at 7 (Oct 18th), Michael Lang, Barbara Kopple and I will be presenting Barbara's film, Woodstock Now and Then, at the Linda in Albany as a benefit for WAMC. We will be doing a Q&A afterwards. Truthfully, I was entralled by both Michael and Barbara long before I ever met them, and becoming friends with them has been one of the thrills of my life. The film is one of the best rock n roll movies ever. There are still some tix left. Call the Linda box office (518-465-5233 ext 4) or get them online at www.thelinda.org Tickets are only $20. Hope to see you there.

FALL

I love this time of year, when the nights and mornings are cool, when Mums and peaches and apples are begging to be picked and planted, when the playoffs are happening and the Yankees are heading to a pennant series.

I hate this time of year, when leaves are falling and frost is on the car in the morning, when baseball only happens every other day and you know that it will be over in two weeks, or three, but no more 100 games to go.

All this to say, I am so thrilled to be a lifelong Yankee fan.

GREAT COVER FOR NEW BOOK

I don't think anyone would argue with me when I say that my hardcover for Hats & Eyeglasses was a serious miss. Dark and intimidating, it looked like the Titanic, and turned readers off. On the up side, my paperback cover is delicious and everyone loves it. But I worried when we were deciding on a cover for my new book, BRAZILIAN SEXY (SECRETS TO LIVING A GORGEOUS AND CONFIDENT LIFE), which I wrote with Janea Padilha, waxer to the stars. As soon as I saw it, though, I knew we had the exact right image--- sexy, funny, something that both men and women would want to pick up. Here's your first look. (And not sure why it looks blue-ish in this blog. It's really all skin tones and beige, very classy)

On Turning In My New Book

I just got the letter that all writers dream about--- my editor at Perigee/Penguin loves my new book and is putting it into production. Cue up the Hallelujah chorus. Light candles. Bow down and kiss the ground. That's how happy I am right now.

I will tell you more about the book as it gets closer to publication, but for now, let me say that the best part of having sold two books is realizing that I have another ten in me! When Hats & Eyeglasses got bought by Tarcher/Penguin, I felt this kind of deep-soul sadness.... what was I going to do now? I felt that I had no more stories in me.

I spent five weeks in utter despair.

And then I had an idea for another memoir, and I started jotting some notes. Then my agent had an idea, and that's the one we sold. Then something happened to a kid in my town, and I started writing about that. Then I started writing an erotic tale of a middle-aged couple. Then a mystery. I'm telling you, I am up to here with book ideas.

So now I am going to take a few weeks and bask in the being done feeling, because these last few months have felt like a sprint that would never end. But now they have and I'm so grateful. I want to bask in that glory. And the minute that feeling has passed, I'm going right back to work.

readings

When Hats & Eyeglasses first came out, I dreaded doing readings. I was nervous and stiff, and felt that I had to start at the beginning, so I would read the first 8 or 11 pages. When people would laugh, I would pause, purse my lips, and look up like a demented school-marm. That did the trick--- they would stop laughing at once. I can't really explain it-- it was like I felt embarrassed to be laughing at my own jokes, like that made me seem conceited or stuck up.

Then I had the amazing good fortune to read with Laura Shaine Cunningham (Sleeping Arrangements, A Place in the Country). Laura has been reading from those books for over twenty years, and yet she reads as if she has never seen the material before and it is THE funniest thing she ever read. She throws her head back and guffaws, and the audience roars its approval. I marveled at her, and she explained that she is genuinely proud of her work and loves to share it.

So I practiced. I read different parts of Hats & Eyeglasses, and people didn't seem to mind that I wasn't starting on page 1. I tried reading the funny parts, and the parts that made people squirm. And now I LOVE doing readings. It's my favorite part of being an author. I like the questions at the end, and I love connecting with the audience.

GREAT NEWS TIMES TWO!!!!

STEVE WON THE NY TIMES COLLECTIBLE CAR OF THE YEAR AWARD!!!!!!!!!

And some of you are directly responsible for it. Steve entered his fabulous "Marquis de Soto" in the contest, never expecting to make it to the finals. The car is a collage of pieces that he's been saving for years from twelve different 1950's cars


(including a 1957 de Soto, a 57 Buick, and a 55 Caddy), all grafted onto a 1998 Grand Marquis.

He was selected as one of the 30 finalists on December 1, The rules encouraged us to get as many friends as possible to vote every day for a month. So we went to our email lists and to facebook, and asked all our friends to lend a hand. AND WE DID IT! There were 6400 votes cast in the entire contest--- Steve got over a 1000 of them! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.

Sorry to those who have been asking us what happened--- the Times was clear that we had to keep it hush-hush and we didn't want to blow it.

Here's the link to the NY Times story and an amazing slide show of Steve and his able assistant, Mike Karpf, and their work.

Friend Steve on facebook if you haven't already--- he wants to thank you himself.

AND THE GORGEOUS PAPERBACK OF HATS & EYEGLASSES JUST HIT THE STORES (With a reading guide and a Q&A with the author).

Hats & Eyeglasses has been called “Intimate, exuberant.”---O, The Oprah Magazine; Fast-paced and amazingly funny.”---the New Orleans Times-Picayune; "You will feel not only as if you have known Martha all your life, but as if you still have one of her sweaters."---the New York Times; “Fearless… powerful, even uplifting and funny.”--- the New York Post; "A heady joyride. Fast, funny and frank."--- USA Today; "Funny and disturbing"--- The Washington Post; and "Frank and unaffected"--- Publisher's weekly

The paperback is cheaper than a latte and a scone! Please buy copies for your friends and family, your reading group, your gambling cousins, your aging aunts. I bet they all find something to like about it... Wait, did I just say "I bet"? There really is no stopping me!

Click here to order