Death and rebirth, a mother’s journey

Is the title of a lovely article written up after my talk in Santa Monica.  Read the entire piece here.  I have to thank the Santa Monica Associates for hosting such a terrific event.  After my reading (from my favorite “cemetery shopping” scene), there was a long and lively Q&A, as reported in the piece, and then a warm and intimate lunch with students, faculty and friends.  For now, this is the last scheduled event for the book, and I so appreciated such a nice send off.

Lanterman Regional Center

Next week, I’ll be reading and speaking at the Frank Lanterman Regional Center, an important place in my life, and that of my son.  Lanterman was the home of my son’s service coordinator, and the agency that funded many necessary therapies and support services for Evan throughout his life.  I stopped by the agency yesterday to sign books for the event, and found, as I talked to familiar friends, that in many ways, despite Evan being gone, Lanterman is still home to me.  I’ll be speaking about instincts, and reading from a section of the book that talks about how I rediscovered those I needed to be a mother to my son.  It’s a private event, but please do contact me if you’re interested in attending.

Literary Orange

Coming in April, I’ll be on a panel at Literary Orange entitled “Memoirs: Hope and Challenge” with authors Samantha Dunn and Norman Ollestad.  Samantha Dunn’s beautiful memoir, Not By Accident,  tells the story of her recovery from a devastating riding accident.  Normal Ollestad’s Crazy For the Storm is a riveting account of a small-plane crash the author experienced with his father when he was only eleven years-old.  Ollestad was the sole survivor of that crash, and his book is so much more than a telling of the event.  Andrew Tonkovich will moderate our panel, which takes place at 3 pm.  The entire days promises to be a terrific event, with appearances by Dean Koontz, Karen Joy Fowler and more.  Visit the Literary Orange website for more information about authors and schedule.

Poets & Writers Sponsored Reading at UC Riverside

My friend and fellow writer Michael Jaime-Becerra is hosting a fabulous Writers Week at UC Riverside in February and Poets & Writers has stepped in to co-sponsor the reading.  Please consider coming out Thursday, February 11th, at 12 Noon, in Room INTS 1128.

University of Redlands This Week

Come here me read and discuss This Lovely Life at the University of Redlands on Tuesday, December 8th at 4:00 pm.  The event is free and open to the public and there will be a reception afterwards.

Report from the Midwest

I’m back home (briefly) after a glorious trip to the midwest, to meet the fabulous Kate Hopper and Kate St. Vincent Vogl, and enjoy the splendors of skyways, Chi-Town and points in between.  The Mother Words Reading was truly a joy, with Kate Hopper delivering a fantastic turn out, and the Loft hosting so graciously.

Go on over to read Kate Hopper reporting on the Mother Words Reading, with some photos of the event, including this one in which my mouth is open and my hands are excessively gesturing, for reasons I cannot fathom.

Sorry for the tiny, distant quality.

The Loft, and Kate, and Kate St. Vincent Vogl were everything I could have imagined, and more.  The space is ideal for reading:  hearing one’s voice, seeing the audience, getting a sense of one’s  reception.  The walls are warm and the vibe utterly welcoming.  Later in the weekend my sister asked me if I was ever nervous when I read, and I told her, “Only twice.  First, at Bread Loaf, and then, at the Loft.”  Because ideal reading spaces actually do make you nervous, even as they reassure you that everything will be fine.

From the Loft and the Kates and a morning with fantastic NICU nurses at St. Paul Children’s Hospital, it was off Chicago to  a reading at Women and Children First.  Thanks again to my hosts there, and everyone who turned out.

Next up:   DC, and the East Coast in mid-October.  After that, there are some local readings here in Southern California, including the University of California, Irvine bookstore in November, and a University of Redlands reading in December.  As always, check the appearances page for more details.

More travels

This coming week I’ll be appearing at The Loft in Minneapolis, at the annual Mother Words reading series, along with Kate Hopper and Kate St. Vincent Vogl, author of Lost and Found: A Memoir of Mothers. This promises to be a terrific event, and both Kates are fabulous writers with whom I am delighted to read.  Find us there on Thursday, September 24th at 7 pm.

That same weekend finds me in Chicago, reading at the Women and Children First Bookstore on Sunday, September 26th at 4:30.  Those Chicagoans in the know recognized WCF as one of the pre-eminent local independent bookstores and I’m thrilled be standing at the podium there.

Mention in NY Times, and hometown reading tomorrow

Thanks to Laurie Tarkan for her effective and important piece in Tuesday’s New York Times, For Parents on NICU, Trauma May Last.  Tarkan takes a long hard look at an undernoticed phenonmenon among NICU parents, and what she turns up will surely resonate with many readers.

Tomorrow, look for me at my favorite local independent bookstore, Vroman’s, on Colorado Boulevard in my hometown of Pasadena.  As always, I hope to see you there!

On the road

This week I’m heading north to read at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers on Wednesday, August 5th. Then it’s on to San Francisco where I’ll be appearing on ABC-TV’s View From the Bay on Thursday, August 6th at 3 pm, followed by a reading at Book Passage Corte Madera that night at 7 pm.  If you’re in the area, please consider coming out!