Taking complex psychological concepts and turning them into easily understood bites of practical and usable techniques is one of the strengths of Neil Pasricha, The New York Times million-copy bestselling author. In his latest book, You Are Awesome: How to Navigate Change, Wrestle with Failure, and Live an Intentional Life(part of his Book of Awesome Series), Pasricha shows use a path forward and a way to achieve resiliency—the ability to accept and learn from failure.
“Some people think my concepts are simple,” says Pasricha. “That’s fine. They are. I take big concepts and hundreds of scientific studies and my work is to distill, distill, distill until it is in its simplest and most actionable form. Each of my recent books takes years of reading hundreds of books and research studies, about three-to-six months to write, and about ten deep edits back and forth over about two years.”
Because his concepts are so simple,
Pasricha says some people might initially reject them but he developed them as
a way to work through his own double whammy Within a short period of time his
wife left him as well.
“The reason I began writing my blog, 1000 Awesome Things, and my first book, The Book of Awesome, is because I felt terrible,” he says about those times. “I define resilience as the ability to see that thin sliver of light right between the door and the frame right after you hear the latch click.”
Though he seems amazingly upbeat,
Pasricha doesn’t see himself as an optimist, just a person who is resilient
enough to face life’s crisis. It’s a lesson, he says, that may seem obvious,
but we often overlook. In psychological terms some of his techniques would
be called cognitive reframing, the ability to view and experience events,
ideas, concepts and emotion to find more positive alternatives. Or as Pasricha
puts it in his book, “Don’t magnify. Don’t Biggify. Don’t amplify.” By building
resiliency and the ability to overcome, it breaks a vicious cycle that holds us
back.
Any last words of advice I ask him.
“Life is short,” says Pasricha. “Time is short. And the master attention manipulators of cell phones, news media, and big tech have deep claws. If you managed to momentarily break free and read my book, or listen to my podcast, or read any book for that matter, then you broke out of the matrix. Congrats.”
ifyougo:
When: Wednesday, November 13, 2019 at 7:00 PM
Where: Anderson’s
Bookshop La Grange, 26 S. La Grange Rd, La Grange, IL
Cost: This event is free and open to the
public. To join the signing line, please purchase the author’s latest book, You
are Awesome, from Anderson’s Bookshop. To purchase please stop into or call
Anderson’s Bookshop La Grange (708) 582-6353.
Foster House & Stable home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright located in the West Pullman area.
World famous for its
architecture, Chicago boasts works by such greats ranging from the Frank Lloyd
Wright to William LeBaron Jenney, designer of the world’s first skyscraper. No
other city in the world has more Ludwig Mies van der Rohe buildings than Chicago.
Yet for many, the largest landmass in the city is like an uncharted territory
when it comes to outstanding architectural design.
“60% of Chicago is the South Side,” says
noted photographer and journalist Lee Bey. “It’s geographic area that is twice
the size of Brooklyn and the size of Philadelphia. But over the years it’s been
ignored by many Chicagoans as well as the architectural press, architectural
tours and lecturers.”
Chicago Vocational High School at 2100 E. 87th Street—the largest Art Deco building that’s not a skyscraper in Chicago
Bey, who is considered an architectural expect, grew up on the South Side and has long appreciated the treasures found there. He shares this passion in his recently releases book Southern Exposure: The Overlooked Architecture of Chicago’s South Side, which he describes as a wake-up call.
Author and photographer Lee Bey
“You can’t have
anything that big and ignore it,” says Bey who is also a lecturer at the School
of the Art Institute. “Chicago can’t be a world class city if they overlook the
South Side and the West Side.”
Because I grew up in
Northwest Indiana, I am familiar with the South Side and some of its
architectural marvels such as the sprawling Chicago
Vocational High School at 2100 E. 87th Street—the largest Art Deco building
that’s not a skyscraper in Chicago and
the Middle Eastern/Moorish/Persian-style building with a towering minaret at 79th and Stony
Island that’s on the right when turning on to Stony Island from the Chicago
Skyway.
But I
didn’t know about The National Pythian Temple, The Overton Hygienic Building
and The Chicago Bee Building or that there was a Frank Lloyd Wright home that
was over a century old for sale in the West Pullman area. Known as the Foster
House and Stable, it was designated a Chicago landmark in 1996 and can be had
for around $200,000.
“That
house would sell for a lot more in other parts of Chicago,” says Bey, noting
the home is in good condition.
Even
Bey sometimes comes across an unknown find.
“I was
caught by surprise when I saw Stony Island Church of Christ at1600 E. 84th,” he
recalls. “It looked like it was designed by Ray Stuermer and I went home and
looked it up and it was,” says Bey.
While watching a documentary of Eero Saarinen and discovering
they’d left out his buildings for the University of Chicago, Bey knew he had to
rectify the neglect of architect on the South Side.
“If they could leave out Eero, then something needed to be
done,” he says, writing in his book that “for decades
” For decades, most of the buildings in that vast area have Bey writes.
most of the buildings in that vast area have been
flat-out ignored by the architectural press, architectural tours, and lectures
— and many Chicagoans.”
It’s a call to action,
he says noting that Bowen High School would be a city landmark and on the
National Register if it were located on the North Side. After all, the Carl
Schurz High School on the Northside were built the same year and both were
designed by the same architect, Dwight Perkins, chief architect of the Chicago Board of Education
between 1906 and 1909. But Schurz has been a city landmark since 1978 and made the
National Register of Historic Places in 2011. Bowen, located in a mostly black
and Latino South Side community, has neither.
“It’s astounding what’s
there, he says. “There’s architecture on the South Side by architects that
people would immediately recognize. People should care about them and get out
and see them,”
Ifyougo:
What: Ley Bey talks and
book signings.
When & Where:
Epstein Global is hosting Lee Bey on November 7th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. Bey
will be speaking in their offices, 600 West Fulton, Chicago, IL.
Anyone interested in
attending, please contact Noel Abbott at Epstein. (312) 429-8048;
nabbott@epsteinglobal.com.
I was going to write a column about New Year’s Eve celebration foods but got distracted by Ten Restaurants That Changed America by Paul Freedman (Liveright 2018; $23.95), a look at how food evolved in this country. I’m going to be interviewing the author after I finish the book but instead of reading it from front to cover as soon as I read the introduction I turned to the chapter on Howard Johnson’s because those orange roofed restaurants and lodges are part of my youth. I worked at HoJo’s when I was a teen and as a young girl, when we traveled to New York, Connecticut and along the eastern seaboard, we typically stayed at their lodges.
I remember the sparkling pool, so inviting after a long day in the car, trying to read a book or do crossword puzzles while whizzing along—we only had an AM radio in the car and my mother didn’t like the noise of it when she was driving. Dinner was typically fried clams, hamburgers or clam chowder and always one of their many flavors of ice cream. Probably most famous for their clam dishes, the chapter about Ho Jo’s in Freedman’s book is titled Howard Johnson’s: As American As Fried Clams. If you’re wondering about all the clam dishes, Johnson was from Massachusetts and the chain started off in New England. And maybe people ate more clams back then.
At one time, according to the book,
during the 1970s, Howard Johnson had 929 restaurants and 526 motor lodges
stretching across the U.S. In the 1960s, the restaurants served more meals
outside the home than any company or organization except for the U.S. Army.
There actually was a Howard Johnson (his middle name was Deering) and he was
born in 1897 and though he liked to present himself, even at the height of his
company’s success, as a simple man, he married four times, owned a yacht, three
houses and a substantial art collection. Oh, and he didn’t really eat at Howard
Johnson’s much. Instead he liked high-end French dining like Le Pavillon and
the Stork Club, both fancy and ultra-expensive New York restaurants.
I’m not quite sure if there are any
HoJo’s left. There were a handful less than a decade ago including on in Times
Square and another in Bangor, Maine but those are gone. A Google search
indicates that the last one, in Lake George, New York, was, as of earlier this
year, was up for sale as a possible site for redevelopment. It had just
re-opened the year before after being closed for four years. Unfortunately the
person who had re-opened it had some legal issues. For more information, check
out hojoland.com, a Website for all things Howard Johnson’s.
Occasionally I see a building that
looks like it was once a HoJo but has been converted to another use and the
orange roof has usually been replaced. Because there are websites for almost
anything, there are a few identifying converted HoJo’s as well.
Though the restaurants are gone, many of the recipes remain and I looked up a few that I remember enjoying way back when and was fascinated to find out that the legendary French chef Jacque Pepin once worked at HoJo’s, a time he talks about in his memoir, The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen. Pepin, who would make their clam chowder in 3,000-gallon amounts, recreated the recipe for home cooks, saying he makes it “when a bit of Howard Johnson’s nostalgia creeps in.” His contains pancetta which I’m guessing is a substitute for the bacon in the original recipe and he also uses Yukon Gold potatoes and I don’t think that variety was common back in 1929 when Johnson opened his first restaurant.
Jacques Pepin Howard Johnson’s Clam Chowder
5 quahog clams or 10 to 12 large cherrystone clams
4 cups water
4 ounces pancetta or lean, cured pork, cut into 1-inch pieces
(about ¾ cup)
1 tablespoon good olive oil
1 large onion (about 8 ounces), peeled and cut into 1-inch
pieces (1-1/2 cups)
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice
(2-1/4 cups)
1 cup light cream
1 cup milk
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Wash the clams well under cold water, and put them in a saucepan
with 2 cups of the water. Bring to a boil (this will take about 5 minutes), and
boil gently for 10 minutes. Drain off and reserve the cooking liquid, remove
the clams from their shells, and cut the clams into 1/2 –inch pieces (1-1/2
cups). Put the clam pieces in a bowl, then carefully pour the cooking liquid
into another bowl, leaving behind any sediment or dirt. (You should have about
2-1/2 cups of stock.) Set aside the stock and the clams.
Put the pancetta or pork pieces in a large saucepan, and cover
with the remaining 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, and boil for 30 seconds.
Drain the pancetta, and wash it in a sieve under cold water. Rinse the
saucepan, and return the pancetta to the pan with the oil. Place over medium
heat, and cook gently, stirring occasionally, for 7 to 8 minutes. Add the onion
and garlic, and continue cooking, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the flour,
mix it in well, and cook for 10 seconds. Add the reserved stock and the thyme,
and bring to a boil. Then add the potatoes and clams, bring to a boil, cover,
reduce the heat to very low, and cook gently for 2 hours.
At serving time, add the cream, milk, and pepper, bring to a
boil, and serve. (Note: No salt should be needed because of the clam juice and
pancetta, but taste and season to your liking.)
Howard
Johnson’s Fried Clams
1 cup
evaporated milk
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon
vanilla
Dash salt
and pepper
4 dozen
freshly shucked clams
1 cup cake
flour
1 cup yellow
cornmeal
Oil for
frying
Combine
evaporated milk and whole milk, egg, vanilla, salt, and pepper. Soak clams in
liquid and then dredge in combination of cake flour and cornmeal, fluffing them
in the flour mixture for light but thorough coverage. Shake off excess flour
and fry in oil. Serve with French-fried potatoes, tartar sauce, homemade rolls,
and butter.
Howard
Johnson’s Chicken Croquettes
6 tablespoons
chicken fat (can use butter instead)
1 ¼ cups
flour
2 1/4 quarts
chicken stock. hot
6
tablespoons chopped onions
2 tablespoons
chopped parsley
3 cups bread
crumbs
3 eggs
1 tablespoon
salt
1 teaspoon
black pepper
2 pounds
boneless chicken, finely minced
Sauté onions
in chicken fat but do not brown.
Make a roux
(recipe below). Add hot chicken stock, and add seasonings. Stir constantly
until mixture thickens and is well blended.
Add minced
chicken and chopped parsley. Cook 5 minutes more, then remove from fire and
chill. Scoop and shape into croquettes. Dip in flour, egg wash and bread crumbs
and fry in deep fat until lightly browned on all sides.
These were
served a cream sauce (see recipe below).
Roux
1/4 pound
butter
1 stalk
celery, minced
1 cup
all-purpose flour
Cream Sauce
2
tablespoons butter
3
tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon
salt
Dash of
cayenne pepper
1 cup
chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
Melt butter
in pan; stir in flour and seasonings. Cook on low until smooth; stirring
constantly, add broth and milk slowly; to maintain thickness, stir on medium
heat until all milk and broth is added and sauce is thick.
In a heavy
pot, melt butter and then add the minced celery. Stir in the flour and cook for
3 minutes., stirring constantly. Fold in the chicken meat and allow to cool.
Howard
Johnson’s Boston Brown Bread
1 cup unsifted
whole wheat flour
1 cup
unsifted rye flour
1 cup yellow
corn meal
11/2
teaspoon baking soda
11/2
teaspoon salt
3/4 cup
molasses
2 cups
buttermilk
Grease and
flour a 2 quart mold. Combine flours, corn meal, soda ,salt. Stir in molasses,
buttermilk.
Turn into
mold, cover tightly. Place on trivet in deep kettle. Add enough boiling water
to kettle
to come half
way up sides of mold; cover. Steam 3 1/2 hr., or until done. Remove from mold
to cake
Patricia Schultz and I had only been on the phone together for five minutes before we decided to make the trip to New Zealand—neither of us had been and both of us wanted to go. And no, I haven’t bought my ticket yet but that’s how mesmerizing Schultz, who introduced the concept of bucket list travel when she wrote the first edition of her #1 New York Times bestseller 1000 Places to See Before You Die in 2003. It was so popular that over the years more than 3.5 million copies have been sold.
Now Schultz has updated her book with
a new twist, her words accompanied by mesmerizing and amazing handpicked photos
of some of the most beautiful places in world. The book itself, weighing six pounds with 544
pages, is oversized eye candy—compelling us to pack our bags and head out to
explore.
1,000 Places to See Before You Die
(Deluxe Edition): The World as You’ve Never Seen It Before was years in the
making—after all Schultz had to travel to all those places.
Calling her new book, a veritable
scrapbook of her life, she says she became teary eyed when choosing the photos.
In its pages she takes us to destinations so exotic many might have remained
unknown to most of us if not for her writing. One such is Masai Mara, the
world’s greatest animal migration that takes place each May when hundreds of
thousands of wildebeests travel north from the Serengeti in Tanzania to the
grasslands of Kenya’s Masai Mara. It’s a two to three month journey and the wildebeests
are joining by other migrating herds including antelope, zebras and gazelles
swelling the animal population to a million or so. There’s also ballooning over
Cappadocia, a Byzantine wonderland encompassing a natural and seemingly endless
landscape of caves and peaks of shaped by eons of weather with wonderfully
colored striations of stone. Even better, Schultz points out, you can take a
side trip to Kaymakli, an ancient underground city just 12 miles away.
For those less inclined for such
travels or whose pocketbooks don’t open that large, Schultz features closer to
home destinations that are still special such as Mackinac Island where cars
were banned in the mid-1890s, New York City (where Schultz resides when not on
the road) and one of my favorites, Stowe, Vermont. And, of course, the majestic
Grand Canyon.
While Schultz’s parents weren’t world
travelers, they encouraged her to find her way to what she loved. But for her,
it’s not just the road, it’s the people she meets as well. When the first
editor of her book proved so successful, she treated herself to a trip to Machu
Picchu in the Urubamba Valley of the Cuzco Region of Peru often known as the
Lost City of the Incas. Located 7800-feet above sea level, it’s isolated at the
top of a mountain surrounded by jungles and other peaks. There she met a
90-year-old woman who had been inspired by her book to travel there.
“She asked me if I had heard of the
book,” says Schultz. “Peru was the first stamp in her first passport.”
This venturesome woman who had
traveled outside the U.S. for the first time in her ninth decade, offered the
seasoned travel writer a pearl of wisdom that has remained with her for the
last16 years.
“She told me to make sure to see the difficult
places first,” recalls Schultz. “You can see the easy ones when you’re not as
active or energetic.”
Is Schultz burned
out by travel? Has she reached the point of been-there-done-that?
Schultz answers
with an emphatic no.
“There are still so many places I
want to visit,” she says, noting that her list remains long. “I doubt if I’ll
get to do them all, but I will try to do as many as I can.”
Ifyougo:
What: Authors Group Presents Patricia Schultz, 1000 Places to
See Before You Die; Luncheon
When: Tue, Oct 29, 2019 from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Where: Union League Club of Chicago, 65 W. Jackson Blvd.,
Chicago, IL
Where: Anderson’s Bookshop La Grange, 26 S La Grange Rd, La
Grange, IL
Cost: This event is free and open to the public. To
join the signing line, please purchase the author’s latest book, 1,000 Places to See Before You Die Deluxe
Edition, from Anderson’s Bookshop. To purchase please
stop into or call Anderson’s Bookshop La Grange (708) 582-6353 or order
online andersonsbookshop.com
W. Bruce Cameron continues the story
of Bailey, now an angel dog, in his latest book, A Dog’s Promise.
“Bailey has been sent to a boy in a
wheelchair whose family is really struggling with many issues and is being torn
apart,” says Cameron, who’s other two books featuring Bailey are the
bestsellers A Dog’s Purposeand A Dog’s Journey. “Bailey’s
mission to fulfill a promise to help these people out.”
Cameron’s last two books have been
made into movies starring Dennis Quaid, the scripts of which he and his wife, author
and comedian Cathryn Michon, co-authored with several other writers. There’s
little doubt that A Dog’s Promise will be too. But these wonderful
heartwarming stories about Bailey (who is joined by another special dog name
Lacey in this book) might never have been written if Cameron’s first writing
dream had come true.
“I started off thinking I’d write
thrillers for adults,” he says. “I’d turn out one once a year just like Michael
Connelly.”
Bailey as a cop, government agent or
spy?
Luckily it didn’t happen that way.
Instead, hoping to convince Michon, who was heartbroken over her loss of a
beloved dog, to let them adopt another dog, Cameron spun a canine tale to tell
her. She was so taken that she insisted he should turn his story into a book.
That morphed into his A Dog’s Purpose series (there’s also a puppy’s
purpose series as well). The two married and now have adopted what Cameron
describes as a “mixed DNA” dog they named Tucker.
“He’s sitting here right now as
we’re talking,” says Cameron who is currently working on a Christmas novella
about a dog and a new series, Lily’s to The Rescue starting in 2020. “He
may be expecting me to cook for him.”
Ah, a dog’s life.
If writing all these books, many of
which are New York Times and USA Today best sellers, seems to indicate a well-organized
mind, Cameron disagrees.
“My brain has always been a
cluttered attic full of stories,” he says. “I was the kid who instead of paying
attention in class, was writing stories.”
But just as Bailey has a purpose, so
does Cameron. One of the take-aways he’d like readers to get from his books is
this: if people would adopt canine values—respect, love, support and caring—the
world would be a much better place.
“I think A Dog’s Promise is a
story that can help us come together,” he says. “We build up all these
barriers. But if you just follow the path of this dog or any dog, you can
overcome what keeps us apart.”
Ifyougo:
What: W. Bruce Cameron presentation
and book signing
When: Tuesday, October 15 at 7 p.m.
Where: Stevenson Hall in the Wentz
Science Center on the campus of North Central College, 131 S. Loomis St.,
Napier, IL
Cost: A ticket for one person cost
$32.00 ($34.59 w/service fee). Includes a copy of the new book with a personalized
signing and photo. The ticket package for two is $42.00 ($45.09 w/service fee).
Admits two people and includes one copy of the new book with a personalized
signing and photo. To purchase tickets, brownpapertickets.com/event/4343095
A dream of a tsunami sweeping across the plains of Nebraska helped form the plot of Kassandra Montag’s After the Flood, her novel about a time in the future when rising waters engulf the earth, leaving only small chunks of land suitable for living.
Montag, who is from
Nebraska, had just moved back from Amsterdam when she had not only a dream as
well as a vision.
“I was
pregnant with my first child and I saw the image of a mother with her daughter
sailing on a boat in a future flooded world but separated from her other
daughter,” she says. “Then I re-discovered a line from a journal I had kept— ‘a
group of people huddle around a campfire, struggling to survive and looking for
a safe haven.’ Group dynamics has always been an interest of mine and these
story lines—a mother separated from her daughter and people trying to survive
in a post-apocalyptic world all came together and were part of the inspiration
for writing the book.”
After the Flood tells the story of Myra and her seven-year-old daughter Pearl who live on their small fishing boat and visit what’s left of dry land to trade for goods and gather information. When Myra learns her long missing daughter, Row, who was kidnapped by her father, has been seen near the Arctic Circle, she and Pearl make their way through the north treacherous and frozen waters. Their hope is that Row will still be there when they arrive. During their voyage the two join up with others who are also struggling to survive.
To
create this alternate universe, Montag studied a variety of subjects including stories
of the Bajau, a group of nomads in Southeast Asia who are sea dwellers, so used
to spending time in the water they can hold their breath for up to 13 minutes.
“I
also researched ancient seafarers like the Vikings, read guidebooks on how to
build fires, fish and other survival skills,” says Montag. “And I watched
sailing videos while eating my lunch.”
Montag,
who is a published poet, says that she was surprised at the reaction to her
book, which is scheduled to become a television series.
“As
a poet, you don’t get this type of interest,” she says.
Ultimately, she says,
the book is about what parts selfishness and selflessness play in the fight for
survival.
“It interested me how
the survival instinct can be inherently selfish in a dangerous world without
enough resources and others transcended those feelings,” she says. “I was also interested
in the way that survival can be seen as selfless as well, as an act of love
carrying on.”
For
those who were totally uncool in high school, not to worry. Neither was Felicia
Day, actress (Supernatural, The Magicians), producer and bestselling writer.
“I
wasted a lot of time early in my career trying to conform to what I thought Hollywood
would approve of,” says Day, who has five million social media fans. “It wasn’t
until I abandoned that mindset and started creating things based on my unique
point of view, that I finally found success. The things that make us different
are our creative superpowers. I truly believe that.”
“I heard a lot of feedback after I
wrote my memoir, that my story inspired people to start creating, and/or get
help around anxiety and depression,” says Day. “Hearing that motivated me to
write a book where the focus is more on the reader and not myself. I wanted to
make the process of self-improvement funny, interactive, and just a touch
geeky.”
Her
book is full of advice and techniques she’s cobbled together over the years as
she worked towards getting to the core of who she is as a creator. The process
of refining those techniques was a long one though and she constantly asked
herself if the reader would be discovering something new about themselves when reading
this section or doing this exercise? If it didn’t pass that sniff test, Day
threw it out and started all over again.
When
asked if she had any advice for readers in how to begin the process of getting
weird, Day recommended everyone put down their phones when they can and instead
carry a little notebook to for writing down their thoughts, dreams and
observations.
“You’d be amazed at all the creative ideas we let pass us by just because we don’t give ourselves the mental space to come up with them in the first place,” she says. “I am just excited for people to dive in and learn how to start incorporating more creativity in their lives in a fun and funny way. Being able to show the world who you truly are through your creativity is, in my opinion, the ultimate freedom.”
Visit Felicia at @feliciaday on Twitter and Instagram, or at FeliciaDayBook.com.
Ifyougo:
What:
Felicia Day presentation.
When:
October 5 at 4pm
Where: Sponsored by Anderson’s Bookshop but the event is being held at the Community Christian Church, 1635 Emerson Lane, Naperville, IL.
Cost:
Ticket for one person is $20.00 ($21.99 w/service fee) admits one person and
includes one copy of the new book, pre-signed; ticket package for two is $30.00
($32.49 w/service fee) admits two people and includes one copy of the new book.
Each ticket holder gets a photo with the author.
Never
one to hide her feelings, Lisbeth Salander is angry and back for vengeance in
the sixth novel of the series that started with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Abused
by both her mobster father as well as the psychiatrist treating her, Lisbeth is
an avenging angel of sorts—determined to punish evil and the powerful people
who prey on others. Her doppelganger is her own twin sister Camilla.
“The
sisters chose different sides,” says author David Lagercrantz,
discussing the plot of The Girl Who Lived Twice in a phone call from
Stockholm, Sweden where he lives. “Camilla chose the strength—her father and
Lisbeth chose taking care of the weak—protecting her mother from her father’s
violence. The sisters are bitter enemies, and this is their final battle.”
Though
social skills aren’t one of Salander’s strong suits—she likely falls on the
autism spectrum, she does have the ability to hack through the fire walls of
almost any computer system. Add to that
her martial arts abilities and photographic memory and she makes a worthy
adversary of her equally brilliant but pathological sister.
Lagercrantz, who is embarking on a two
month worldwide tour, took over writing the Salander series after the death of Steig
Larsson, author of the original three novels.
“I
was scared to death to death when they asked me to do this,” says Lagercrantz,
noting he was smuggled into a side door of the publishing house to avoid
speculation he was being selected to write the best selling thrillers. “It was
a suicidal mission in many ways to agree to do it because people loved his
books so much. But it’s been fantastic.”
Like
Larsson, Lagercrantz’s Salander novels are complex, leading Salander and Mikael
Blomkvist, the crusading journalist who befriended her, into a dark world of
scheming crooks, billionaires and corrupt politicians. The latter includes the
Minister of Defense, the only survivor of a Mount Everest climbing expedition
who may be involved in the murder of a homeless Nepalese Sherpa.
Lagercrantz
says The Girl Who Lived Twice will be his final book in the series.
“They’d
like me to write ten or more, but I want to move on to my own fiction,” he says.
“It was a bittersweet decision.”
In
an intriguing aside, Lagercrantz lives in the same neighborhood as the
fictional Blomkvist and Salander.
“When
I’m walking, I sometime wonder if I’ll run into them,” he says.
What
would he say if he did?
“That
would be interesting, wouldn’t it?” he says.
Born
with cerebral palsy, for much of her life Keah Brown longed for normalcy,
hating the disability which she believed defined her in the eyes of others as
well as herself.
“It’s
very painful when people treat me differently,” says Brown, author of the
recently released The Pretty One: On
Life, Pop Culture, Disability, and Other Reasons to Fall in Love with Me.
“Black people with disabilities are all but invisible. We simply don’t exist.”
Brown,
whose cerebral palsy impacts the right side of her body, also suffers from
seasonal depression, chronic migraines and anxiety. But despite all this, she
also learned not to stand down.
“I
never gave anybody the chance to say anything to me, I showed I wouldn’t back
down,” she says, “I put forth a front that if you say anything to me, I’m going
to say it back.”
She
also, encouraged by her mother, started writing her thoughts and emotions into
poems and short stories at a young age.
“My
mom was really adamant that I finish school and also making sure I had every
opportunity to just be a kid,” she says.
All
this helped Brown discover her place in the world and an acceptance of herself
and a way of dealing with others. It’s a
journey of growth and shedding feelings of powerlessness. For most of her life she hated mirrors but
now that she embraces who she is, she no longer avoids them. Such empowerment
led her to create the hashtag #DisabledAndCute. She also is a contributor to
such magazines as Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire and Teen Vogue.
Brown
describes her book as a collection of essays about the idea that we’re on a
journey to joy.
“With this book,
people can see my journey and I really hope people can take things from I and to
look at their own lives,” says Brown. “I wanted to be sure to tell the whole
story, to create a kinship with others. By reading books like these outside of
our experiences, we could learn so much about other people and to open us up.”
Cerebral palsy
sometimes impacts Brown’s ability to write on certain days.
“Sometimes I don’t
have the energy, I have pain, so when I have those days, I take breaks or I’ll
write on my phone using an app,” she says. “But I try to get something done every day.”
Brown is already
focusing on her next book. She’d like to write fiction which Brown describes as
her first love.
In the meantime, she
encourages all of us to listen to people, whether they’re disabled or not. And
always continue on despite the odds.
“We all have bad days—all
of us,” she says. “I try to go forward though, no matter what.”
Ifyougo:
What:
When:
September 25 at 6:30 p.m.
Where:
American Writers Museum,180 N. Michigan Avenue, 2nd Floor, Chicago, IL
Cost:
Free for members; $12 for non-members.
FYI:
ASL Interpretation will be provided at this event; let the museum know how they
can make event more comfortable by contacting them or RSVP at
general@americanwritersmuseum.org or (312) 374-8790.
Waking up in a hospital, her brain foggy, Rose Dennis finds herself in a nightmare situation. She’s been committed to an Alzheimer’s Unit in a nursing home and has no memory of how she how she ended up there. But one thing Rose does know. Overhearing one of the administrators says that she’s “not making it through the week,” she realizes her only chance of staying alive is to escape from the nursing home.
Best selling author Nevada Barr, known for her award winning series about National Park Ranger Anna Pigeon, has created What Rose Forgot, a fascinating stand alone thriller in which we watch Rose try to outwit whoever is trying to kill her.
She starts by not taking her medications and by outwitting the nursing home aides, is able to escape. But that’s just the beginning. She needs to convince people she isn’t demented. But it’s her relatives who had the legal papers drawn up and authorities side with the nursing home. At times, even Rose isn’t sure she’s completely sane–that is until a person intent on killing her arrives.
Fortunately her sister Marion, a reclusive computer hacker as well as Rose’s thirteen-year old granddaughter Mel, and Mel’s friend Royal are on her side. Gathering her strength and her wits, Rose begins to fight back, intent on finding out who is after her. She’s going to have to be quick though and find out who wants her dead before they succeed.
Shelf Life 