I haven’t blogged in quite a while. Needless to say, it’s
been a busy few months. I spent most of the fall and early winter hammering
away at my dissertation. And now that I’ve submitted a full draft to my
advisor, the waiting begins. Hopefully I’ll hear something within the next
several weeks, and then I can move forward with any revisions necessary to get
me closer to the all-important final oral hearing. Hopefully by the summer this
seven-year journey will finally reach its end.
As one can imagine there hasn’t been much spare time. The
little I had, however, I spent promoting the book. Since October, I’ve accepted
a number of invitations to appear at book club meetings throughout Western New
York. It began with a visit to a meeting of the Sista Chat Book Club in Buffalo. It was their anniversary, and I
was honored to be a part of the celebration. Not only did I participate in a
robust discussion with them, I was asked to say the grace before dinner, which
I did. Of course, I don’t have to tell you how good the food was. In any
language, the term “Buffalo” means “delicious food.” I can thank Buffalo School
Board member Sharon B. Cottman for the invitation. Ironically, the meeting took
place on Brunswick Boulevard, on the same block where my family used to live
when I was in my late teens and early twenties. I enjoyed that impromptu trip
down memory lane.
 |
| Sista Chat Book Club |
Four days later, I was back in Buffalo for a meeting with
the Oh Calamity Book Club, which took
place at Shango’s Restaurant on Main Street in the University Heights district.
This invitation came from Donald Stephans, a teacher in the Sweet Home school
district of Amherst (a suburb of Buffalo). During the discussion, I was asked
by one of the members, “How does it feel to have people talking about your
characters like they’re real people?” I chuckled and said it was kind of cool. Truth
is, it was quite humbling. When you’re a first-time author, you appreciate any
attention you get for your work. And for people to take it seriously and
actually express appreciation for it is immensely gratifying. Naturally, I
don’t like wearing my emotions on my sleeve in public, so I kept that part to
myself. What was also interesting about that night was that across town, at the
same time, there was another book club hosting a discussion of my book. I
didn’t learn about this until afterward, when I was notified via Facebook by
one of their members. Had they told me in advance I would have tried to make an
appearance, but I guess they were fine without me.
 |
| Oh Calamity Book Club |
In November, I was invited to a meeting of the Bistro
Bookers, an event co-sponsored by the Buffalo Public Library. This took place
at Chef’s Restaurant, an Italian eatery on Seneca Street in South Buffalo (by
now, it must be clear that one of the perks of being an author is getting
treated to lots of good food and drinks!). This event was a bit more formal
than the others. There were between 80-100 people in attendance, and I stood at
a lectern and delivered a prepared speech about Garden and the lengthy process of writing it. I also talked about
my feelings on the use of corporal punishment and how I hope my novel can help
amplify the message of practicing non-violence in the home. For this
invitation, I am indebted to Olga Karman, a poet and former professor at
D’Youville College.
In January, I was invited to speak with the seniors at
Canopy of Neighbors. The event was scheduled for 10am. But I actually showed up
a few minutes late, because I had had a terribly bad morning. I woke in my hotel
around 6am and spent three hours vomiting all over the place. Maybe my blood
sugar. Maybe food poisoning. Who knows? In any case, I dragged myself
(nauseated and dizzy) to Temple Beth Zion in downtown Buffalo, where a crowd of
over thirty people were waiting. I did some reading, and we discussed ideas
from a wide range of topics related to the main themes of the story. To be
honest, I had never imagined that the message of my novel would resonate with
so many different audiences. I enjoyed the exchanges so much that before long I
had forgotten about how bad I had felt earlier. For this honor, I am grateful
to Sasha Yerkovich and the Board of Directors, who invited me.
 |
| Canopy of Neighbors |
At the moment now, I’m taking it easy, although things will
begin to pick up again very soon. I have an event scheduled for late February, then
another one after that. And my advisor will most likely be getting back to me
during this time, which means I’ll probably have to venture back underground
for a while. I'll keep you guys posted. In the meantime, feel free to like my Facebook author page to get more regular updates on what's going on with Garden.
