I love April 23rd. For one thing, it's Shakespeare's birthday (well, his supposed birthday: he was christened on April 26th, and that was traditionally done at three days of age). It was also---and this is for certain---the birthday of Adelene DeSoto, my beloved "Dede," who was a third parent for me and is more responsible than any other single person for the work I do today. Wherever you are, Dede---and I know it's somewhere splendid---I love you with all my heart and I appreciate all that you gave me more every day.
The Minute is going out a bit late today since I just returned from a lovely date from with lovely daughter, followed by a huge dose of inspiration at the Matrix Awards Luncheon put on by New York Women in Communications. There was an amazing amount of womanpower in that room. Among the award recipients and presenters were Hillary Clinton, Pamela Fiori, Martha Stewart, Joan Didion, Nora Ephron, and (not a woman but someone with a lot of power) Rupert Murdoch. Although I often disagree with his positions, he does own HarperCollins and they keep publishing my books, so I am grateful. Looking up at the glittering dais and seeing him seated adjacent to Martha Stewart, I was thinking, "Boss and former boss. Not bad." You can read more about this annual event if you'd like at www.nywici.com.
Also last week (busy week), William came back from the country for two-and-a-half days so we could attend the Humane Society of the United States Litigation Awards. That was such a heartwarming evening. So many attorneys around the country volunteer their time to help the most powerless members of our society, the animals. Their most recent success was in finding existing law that led to the closure of the last three horse slaughterhouses in the US. Now horses sold at auction or by individuals will not get into the hands of people who intend to kill them. In one way, it's a drop in an endless sea, but for those horses, it's everything. William is doing great. He's finished the screenplay he went away to write and it looks as if it's going to get into the hands of some people who, if they like it, may be able to make this happen. The movie business is so tough---it makes the book business look like Sunday School---so if this is his break, I am beyond overjoyed. In addition, he's roughed out yet another screenplay, this one a children's movie, and it's looking terrific, too. You know, I write books and do coaching to help people, mostly other women, go for their dreams, and it is very gratifying to see this man that I love so much going for his. He read the manuscript of Fat, Broke & Lonely No More on the train ride to the Finger Lakes Region where he's doing his writer's retreat, and he said, "You ask in the book what people loved to do before they were seven, and to take that as an indication of their mission. When I was that young---and my mom may have told you this---I spent hours lining up my toy soldiers and creating stories about them. I've always been a storyteller, even though all these years have come in between." Wow. That was a heart-warmer. NEW YORK BOOK LAUNCH! This is going to be such a terrific event - I can just feel it. Please save the date. Book Preview: INTRODUCTION COUNTDOWN TO VICTORIA'S NEW, 10th, and (we're hearing!) BEST BOOK EVER, ...5 weeks and 4 days!
Thanks for sharing a little of your Monday (or Tuesday---like I said, this is late) with me. I appreciate you a lot.
My very best,
Victoria
The helpful people at Barnes & Noble have come through again in support of my work. They've given me the best venue in New York City for my book launch and I am so appreciative. Here's the scoop:
Monday, June 4, 7 p.m.
Barnes & Noble Lincoln Triangle (66th & Broadway)
Presentation & Signing, plus Broadway star Sherry Boone, premiering her new song "We Are."
I wish I could bring Sherry Boone all over the country with me. She is an incredible talent and she's also an important part of Fat, Broke & Lonely No More in that we're "action partners" for one another. I have a whole chapter in the book called "One Other Person Has to Be In on This" that's inspired by my relationship with Sherry. We talk almost every day and turn over what we need to do to get a little closer to our dreams and to be of greater service to the world. If you can come on the 4th, you'll love meeting Sherry. If you're elsewhere in the world, you can "meet" her in the pages of Fat, Broke & Lonely No More.
I'm getting more and more excited about the debut of Fat, Broke & Lonely No More. Joya sent out postcards today to everyone who's volunteered to be a book godparent and help spread the word. If you'd like to join that group, just email Joya at charmedassistant@aol.com. In any case, it is my pleasure and delight to give you the first-ever-anywhere preview of the new book. Here is the Introduction. I hope you like it.
As the reader of this book you deserve to be in on how it came about. My editor called and said, "We've been playing with a title we really like but we didn't know who could write it. Then it occurred to me: You could write it!" I loved that he'd thought of me to take on this title, surely something graceful and gracious, beautiful and uplifting. "Fat, Broke and Lonely!" he announced enthusiastically. I felt as if I'd been punched.
You see, I've been fat, broke and lonely, and I don't like these words---especially "fat" because I was hurt the most by that one. I haven't been overweight in more than twenty years, but I am still well aware that fat isn't a mere synonym for overweight. In our society, fat is a somatic epithet, a judgment, and a weapon. To this day, when I know that someone else has been stung by the word, I flinch with them. Broke and lonely are less piercing but scarcely more appealing. The three together paint a picture no one wants to see. Nevertheless, before I could say, "I wouldn't write a book called that in a million years," I remembered something: Although I have been fat, broke and lonely, I'm not anymore and I haven't been for some time.
This is how I see it today: there is shared responsibility for the problem. The giant corporations that produce much of our food and the planning commissions that decide to build developments without sidewalks do play a role in our collective fatness. The advertisers who adroitly convince us that we ought to be able to buy everything they're peddling, and still come up with the money for the next status symbol or must-have toy, are far from blameless for the debt pandemic. Living in a society short on the extended families and close communities that human beings have depended on since before we walked upright is undeniably part of the reason that so many of us feel lonely and disconnected.
Knowing this, you deserve to take a minute (or as long as you need) to feel righteously outraged at a culture that makes it so easy to be fat, broke and lonely. When you're finished, though, it's still up to you to find a way out.
As someone who's done that, I figured my editor had a point: I'm supposed to share what I know with people who want it. This includes individuals who might describe themselves as fat and/or broke and/or lonely, and the many others who are just so afraid of ending up there that they run themselves ragged at the gym, on the job, and in their relationships. They're operating under the logical assumption that a perfect person can't possibly be fat, broke and lonely, so doing everything perfectly has to be the best cover. But after the killer workout, the plum assignment, and the dream date, the fear of becoming fat, broke and lonely hasn't gone anywhere.
Obviously, I said I'd write the book. We tweaked the title to Fat, Broke & Lonely No More. Being able to say "No more!"---and mean it---in your own life has less to do with food or money or the people who are (or are not) sending you text-messages than it does about you, on the inside. Your core beliefs. What you want for yourself. Your spirituality.
Don't blow this off as New Age mumbo-jumbo or the sole purview of the baptized, born again, or bat-mitzvahed. It's simply understanding that there is more going on here than our five senses can fathom, that you're more remarkable than you may have thought, and that you have some control, via your thoughts, words, and attitude, over how you experience life. For example, when you focus on fat, broke and lonely, that's what shows up: "I'm fat and disgusting: I need to eat something... I'll never have enough money: I need to buy something... I'll never meet the right person: I need to call what's-his-name. I mean, he only had that one DUI and something could have been wrong with the Breathalyzer...." I wrote Fat, Broke & Lonely No More to help you part company with this plague once and for all. For this to work, you'll have to put what you read about into practice. Every chapter ends with the directive, "Take an action." Your actions, far more than my words, will make the difference. Your actions will give you access to the missing ingredient that, like caulk or Hamburger Helper, can fill the empty places. With it, there's always enough, and this sufficiency feels like a banquet. Or a trust fund. Or a standing ovation.
Fat, Broke & Lonely No More: Your Personal Solution to Overeating, Overspending, and Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places
coming from HarperOne on June 1, 2007
If you'd like to pre-order online, here are links to the big guys:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Or, call your favorite independent bookstore to reserve your copy!
(To find an independent bookstore in your area, you can search on booksense.com here.)
