Talking “Broccoli” at My First Book Talk & Signing

To say I enjoyed every moment of my first book talk and signing last night would be an understatement. I am pretty certain I could make that a habit. It doesn’t get much better than that—talking about writing, reading, books, and broccoli while eating cannolis and biscotti and drinking a good cup of coffee amongst friends.

My lovely colleagues in Business Communication at Stevenson University, Chip Rouse, Leeanne Bell, and Deric Greene, hosted my event (we missed our dear colleague Heather Harris who is on sabbatical). I got choked up listening to the kind words Chip said as she introduced me. It was incredibly heartwarming. And then, when I got to the podium to talk, I became emotional as I saw the love on the faces of family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and current and former students as they made up the audience. I was touched that they made the effort to be there, and I’ll always remember how special it was.

I talked about my book, the process, what it’s like to be an independent, self-published author and why I chose that route, and, of course, broccoli. That great writer Anne Lamott discusses the art of listening to your broccoli in her wonderful writing book entitled Bird by Bird. It goes back to the old Mel Brooks movie where the psychiatrist says to his patient, “Listen to your broccoli, and your broccoli will tell you how to eat it.” I love Lamott’s use of this quote and her application of it to writing: writers must listen to their inner voice to see what can possibly come of their writing, their characters, and their plot. I shared this last night with the audience, and I actually heard the ones who got it chuckle (never mind that most of my students didn’t know who Mel Brooks is, but that’s a topic for another post on aging).

I’m so glad those of you who could come did. I’ll never forget it.

Thank you for your support, and I truly hope you enjoy my debut novel, Beneath the Mimosa Tree. It was definitely written with as much love as there was love in the room last night.