CONFESSIONS, FESTIVALS AND VERY ONLINE NOVELS

LIFE OF A BOOKMAN

Bookman: 1. a person who has a love of books and especially of reading. 2. a person who is involved in the writing, publishing, or selling of books. Oh, hi that's me!!

Very Online Anxiety: I was a ball of nerves the entire time I was reading Yellow Face by R. F. Kuang. It's a satirical novel for sure, and it hits. What was true in 2023 is just as true today. Struggling white author June Hayward steals her recently deceased friend's manuscript about Chinese laborers in WWI —until her deception begins to unravel, forcing her to confront the consequences of her cultural appropriation and identity theft. I will say I found myself skimming a lot because I was bored with the main characters brooding. And I didn't love the ending. But wow, if you want the inside scoop of how publishing works, especially at the highest echelons of those literary houses, this book felt VERY on point. While I don't count myself aaas one of them, I know a lot of people who loved this book!

What I'm writing: I have written absolutely nothing since last week!!!!! But that's ok, because sometimes that's what is UP!!

WOMEN’S STUDIES

What gets passed down becomes our history. Game nights just got an upgrade from my number one Game Girl, Lisa Raphael. You know when you have that friend so f*cking talented that everything they do is brilliant, is a pleasure, is just so so good. Well, that's Lisa. If this name rings a big ole bell it's because in my rebrand last year, she was the driving force. And before that, she was the brains and co-pilot of WOMAN ON. And now, we can add game designer to this list. Over the weekend I had the cutie patootie cards spread out, reading the instructions and giggling on the couch with my galpal in town. We both reveled in Lisa's genius in creating BRANDNAME: The Naming Game. If you're looking for a fun game for your and your crew that's oh so on brand, do not walk, do not trot, don't even run!! FLY to pick this game up right now, right here.

PASS IT ON

Stories are heirlooms. Here's one of mine:

Last weekend was Savannah Book Festival, aka my favorite weekend of the year!!! And to make it even better one of my best friends in the world flew down so we could go to all the talks, talk and talk and talk so much we missed some of the talks, and then to end our time together with a talk about what we might not have known to talk about. It was so fulfilling. Anna Quindelen was top notch, she casually name dropped being best friends with Anne Pachette on stage and wow I wanted to know more. Ben Mezrich was an equal delight, how he's flipping the model on publishing and hollywood and finding massive success. When we weren't talking about book or buying them, these are some stray links that came up and worth talking about:

Confessions of a Ghost (no, not me. Only ever been on the receiving end of that one!)

DAISY now selling at her first store in Savannah.

Melissa Pritchard's Flight of the Wild Swan, and a treat of a Sav Book Festival Session.

The AI-Driven Leader by Geoff Woods, which I've recommended to every business leader person I know.

Woman on xx