Hey There!

Amanda and I have spent a large part of this summer editing essays (and writing our own) for a collection of essays addressed to birth mothers. The end result is Silent Embrace, Perspectives on Birth in Adoption.  The essays are so touching, many heartbreaking.  Our hope is that they offer insight into open and opening adoption. Stay tuned to learn more….

Janis Joplin, Rise Up Singing was named one of the big books of the show at Book Expo 2010 in New York.  The book will find its way to store shelves on October 1, 2010. It’s hard to believe that it’s been so many years since I first heard Janis on the radio and then watched her climb to fame.

While I was a young teen, I used to sit in my bedroom and write poetry (pretty bad poetry, but you have to start somewhere) and crank my stereo so loud I managed to shut out the rest of the world.

I couldn’t get over Janis’s voice. But her personality and stardom had an impact. She demonstrated independence and unique style. I copied both. In choosing to write about Janis, I wanted people to see that we don’t always have to run in a group, we can make individual choices and we can celebrate our unique talents and ideas.

I hope the attention that Janis is getting reflects all of this. But stay tuned……..

  I received the cover for my biography of Janis Joplin. It’s coming out in October but I’ll be signing advance reader copies in a little less than a month. This was a five year project, a labor of love that came about because, when I was a teen, I would listen to Janis while I wrote wicked bad poetry. She seemed to be everything I wanted to be — a unique woman who lived her life according to her own terms, an idealist who refused to compromise, an artist. I admired her talent and her ability to show her flaws to the world without apology.

I set out to live my own life without compromise and to stand alone, if necessary, with my ideals and beliefs. But Janis’s life became my cautionary tale when she died in 1970. In the end, Janis taught me to be my own person and not to do drugs.

Sometimes I imagine what she would be singing if she were still alive. I believe she’d be onstage still, strutting her talent right alongside all the other rock and roll and blues greats who recognize that you’re always fully alive with music.

Janis Joplin, Rise Up Singing is already posted on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. I’m sure your local bookseller can also pre-order a copy. I can’t wait for you to see the amazing, amazing images and to read about Janis, the first queen of rock and roll.