EXAHOLICS, PRINCE HARRY AND BOOK SALES

Bookman: 1. a person who has a love of books and especially of reading. 2. a person who is involved in the writing, publishing, or selling of books. Oh, hi that's me!!

LIFE OF A BOOKMAN

Don't send this to friends: I’m giving you an off-my-typical-genre(s) throwback to a book I’ve wanted to send at least five people reading this to but fear offending them. Exaholics: Breaking Your Addiction to an Ex by Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby. If you’ve ever had someone in your life - or been the someone in your life - that just cannot get over an ex… THIS is the book. Dr. Bobby paints romantic love as the mother drug. Through that lens she examines all the ways we get stuck in unhealthy cycles, unable to let go of someone that we know isn’t good for us. If that sounds familiar read this book, and sever those old attachments people!

What I'm writing: Wow, wow, wow. Thank you to so so many of you that filled out my survey about your reading preferences. I was overwhelmed with your support (and with all the kind messages). I LOVE how many of you are fully on board to read my historical fiction! Stay tuned.

WOMEN'S STUDIES

What gets passed down becomes our history. A few for the canon:

The Bachelor of Buckingham Palace. I had a long-haul flight this week, and I binged this Wondery podcast about the 2013 reality dating show “I Wanna Marry Harry” that duped women into believing they were being courted by Prince Harry - and the media storm that ensued, which portrayed the 12 women contestants as idiots. And yet, it’s taken 11 years to talk about the long line of producers and television executives that lied and manipulated this group of women for national entertainment? It’s an interesting listen and might (definitely?) piss you off.

PASS IT ON

Stories are heirlooms. Here's one of mine:

A post about book sales went viral, but this article in Slate breaks down everything it got wrong. People DO buy books, lots of them.

I devoured this publishing deep dive while en route to a stunning beach town, Buzios, the beloved getaway of French actress Brigitte Bardot when she wanted to escape the spotlight. If you ever find yourself in Rio, you must take this 3-hour drive east to paradise. This beach trip with my parents meant that I missed Madonna's history-making Copacabana concert. But it was said that an emotional montage of her career played over the big screens at one point, with the quote, “The most controversial thing I've ever done was to stick around.” F*CK YA MADONNA!

It's a good reminder: keep going...and creating...and making...and failing...and succeeding...and becoming...and sticking around.

Woman on xx