A Little More Lonely

I did an audio interview with author Emily White (Lonely: A Memoir) that recently aired in two parts on the WMNF Evening News. Here are the links to Part I and Part II.

I love non-fiction author interviews so much that I've volunteered to produce an hour or two worth of them to be aired on WMNF during the holidays, when the Evening News takes a few much-needed days off.

If you have any favorite non-fiction books from 2010, please share! And if you're interested in interviewing an author (or two) and have some time to give to WMNF, I'd be happy to assist you with the production process, from scheduling the interview to post-production. (You have to read the book yourself though.)

Lonely

Several months ago I was getting settled into a new job at my local library when I came across one of my soon-to-be favorite sights: a cart full of brand new arrivals to be checked in and distributed to the stacks or waiting lists.

On this particular cart sat a book with with a sky-blue cover and one word emblazoning the spine. Lonely. A memoir by Emily White. I was a pretty solitary kid growing up and on into my early adulthood, and this one-word title spoke directly to me.

Within the week not only did I have the book in hand, but I was determined to interview the author and sell the story. Too many people suffered from loneliness, I thought. I'd really like the mainstream press to cover something like this.

But selling stories isn't as easy as it used to be. Lots of places will gladly take a writer's wares for next to nothing (so artists and writer's are subject to socialism, but we can't get socialized medicine to take care of us when we're ill?!). Despite my insatiable need to volunteer in my community, I draw the line at working for free.

Luckily I did manage to get the story sold, to the St. Petersburg Times (my first story for them, if you don't count the music story I did in February for their free tabloid tbt*).

There's no reward quite like writing what you know.

No, Really, Life is Looking 'Up'

I spent last week preparing to interview Emily White, author of the new book Lonely. (Stay tuned for details of when that story goes to print.) But in my research, I stumbled across Up!, a new book by David Niven.

Last year I read his fun book 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People, which has cute anecdotes followed by tidbits of scientific research to back them up.

In my life I've definitely fallen more into the lonely category than the happy one. Both Lonely and 100 Simple Secrets have allowed me to understand why I've felt so bad and so good. That understanding has in turn lead me to have more control, not really over my feelings, but by being able to recognize an incoming bad mood, I can take the needed steps to veer it off its course.

You can listen to the interview I did with David Niven on his book Up! on the archives of the WMNF Evening News.