So here I am on the other side of the first round of book launch events. How do I feel? A trifle overwhelmed, fighting a cold that’s turned into bronchitis, and deeply touched by the honest and positive responses to my memoir. Always before, I’ve hidden behind my characters when voicing my feelings. I’ve spoken in their thoughts and through their words and actions. This time, I brought my full self to the page, and it’s been both an exhilarating and a slightly unnerving experience. But what I’ve heard again and again is what I wanted to hear: You brought your mother to life, and you kept the focus on her. You told her story honestly. You were tough on yourself too.
I am grateful to so many of you who’ve bought the book, attended one of my events, interviewed me on a podcast, thrown me a party, written a review, or emailed me directly with your thoughts and reactions. Once again, here are ways you can order the book in case you think it might make a lovely holiday present. Barnes and Noble, Bookshop.org, Politics and Prose, RJ Julia Books, Regal House Publishers, Amazon, and in the UK. And if you’d like signed copies, just email me and we’ll make that happen.
Here are some pictures from a few of my events. Although Evan Thomas, my gracious conversation partner at Politics and Prose, voiced doubts about me doing a reading, I insisted and, in the end, I made him laugh.
My daughter gave me a Washington, D.C. party complete with a remarkable and delicious cake.
In Middletown, Connecticut, I had a fascinating conversation with Jesse Nasta, a Wesleyan history professor and the director of the Middlesex County Historical Society. My whole family is buried in the Indian Hill Cemetery on the hill above Middletown and before our conversation, Jesse showed slides detailing the long history of the Alsops in the town.
And I had a lovely, candid conversation with my dear friend, Tim Gunn at the New York Society Library about growing up in cold war Washington, an experience we share and have discussed often over breakfast at our local diner.
So what’s next? More events on the east coast and in Florida in the months to come. You can check them out on the events page of my website and on this page, read some of the columns I’ve written or listen to interviews I’ve done about various aspects of the memoir from the historical focus to the caregiving stories.
But first and foremost, I’m a writer and for the most part, writers write alone. In these past weeks, I’ve felt surrounded and buoyed up by the company of readers like yourselves, responding to my story. My usually quiet study is full of your voices, and I am grateful for them. And I’m always delighted to meet with book clubs whether in person or by Zoom. Check out the book club page on my website if you are interested.
However, as I quote in my TEDx talk, entitled Risking Exposure: The Creative Life, Cheryl Strayed captures the creative anxiety building in my head when she says, “There is an ache inside me that is only soothed by writing.” Soon I will turn away from writing about a book which is what publicity demands to writing a book which is what my inner self is demanding.
