Party Pics! Book signing in Orlando / readings in NYC


FINALLY! My book Crazy Little Thing: Why Love and Sex Drive Us Mad, from  Cleis Press / Viva Editions was released on Dec. 1 in bookstores and also on Barnes & Noble's Nook and on Amazon's Kindle and on the same day my good friends at RhodeHaus Productions put on a party at Sip Orlando.
(You'll not the peacock feather pen I signed with; Doug Rhodehamel made that for me from the feathers of one of the peacocks you'll read about in the book; photo by Peggy Arminas DeFilippo).
(Kirk Johnston, Skip Sell, me and Jim Crescitelli, photos by Doug Rhodehamel)

Tparty couldn't have gone any better. Not only did I completely sell out of books but I got to meet a lot of new people, see a lot of people I hadn't seen in a long time and to really enjoy the fact that after all the months of work and waiting people could finally hold it in their hands (or download it onto their respective devices) and enjoy it, which I suspect they are...I was told about one woman who called in late to work the next morning because she didn't want to put it down.
(the book line; about two hours into the three hour event we ran out. The lady in the leopard coat was the last one who had the opportunity to get a copy.

Sip couldn't have been better to us and I had the good fortune to have Orlando's legendary performer Sam Singhaus DJing for me (yes, he played tons of Queen at my request) and all told I don't think I could have asked for a better event so thank you to all those who came out!
with Chip Apple.


With Todd Barczak and Dave Plotkin


Who says you're never as appreciated in your home town as you are elsewhere?

But it's nice to be appreciate elsewhere, too, especially when that elsewhere is Manhattan, where I actually got to debut the book at the wonderful and historic Bluestockings Bookstore, Cafe and Activist Center. Despite the icy cold rain we had a nice crowd, sold books and I got introduced to the terrific staff at Bluestockings, a comfortable and definitely well-stocked (floor to ceiling) and welcoming store on NYC's lower East Side. Thanks to Lee and the rest of the terrific staff and everyone who came out! (and to Lu Chekowsky for taking pics)


The next night I got to speak at the Chat Lounge via Tied Up Events which was a waaaaay more relaxed evening than I'd anticipated, especially after the organizers at Tied Up, Dee "Dive" Dennis and Tess Denasi told me I'd be talking for about two hours....I prepared like I was taking the final exam of my life! Thankfully it was a lot more laid back than I thought it would be. 

Tess and Diva were wonderfully welcoming, which was especially nice since it had been a day that saw pockets of mayhem in the city. Mayor Bloomberg having booted the Occupy Wall Street crowd out of Zuccotti Park the morning I flew in. Two hundred people were arrested on the day my event was to take place downtown on Broome St. and OWS was rumored as threatening to delay the subways and block the Brooklyn Bridge. New York One news footage as I left my digs on the upper west side showed them marching towards downtown. Great.  That'll show all those billionaires who take the subway or drive home to Brooklyn, right? Idiots.

When I found out people weren't going to come that night because they were concerned - understandably so - that this might cause problems getting home I damned near turned Republican.  
 With that in mind I was especially grateful to those who did brave both those circumstances and the wet cold to make it out that night and, as one of the 99%, I was also really happy to sell some books!

 True to the name of the event we did have a lot of really nice chat and I was so pleased to get to debut "Crazy" in NYC - twice (Photos by - and with - Bethy Estrella).



From there I had a reading at Books Inc Bookstore and Cafe on December 19, and I have to say that this is far and away the most expansive used bookstore I've been to in a long, long time - an unbelievably array of titles reasonably priced - and strangely enough the first one I picked up was "The Scarsdale Diet," by Dr. Herman Tarnower, who was shot by his long-time girlfriend Jean Harris in one of the most famous and notorious criminal cases of the 1980's. I'd written to Jean Harris early on in my quest for interviewees for "Crazy Little Thing," but never got a response and frankly I can understand why. It's not really that surprising when people don't want to open up about the lowest ebb or worst trauma of their lives which makes it that much more gratifying that so many people did grant me that kind of access. 


(at Books Inc, Gainesville)


(post reading and Q&A chatter)

So, Books Inc was fabulous (so was the dinner we had at Emiliano's before hand) and they said it was the best presentation they've had all year - huzzah for mutual admiration societies! We're sure we'll be back - and also thanks to Paige Anderson (below, with me and Sam at the University Club) for being such a lovely hostess!




That's it for this leg of the promo tour, but there will be more events coming up so stay tuned!


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