Saturday, June 26, 2010

My speech from the HOOK, LINE AND SINK HIM launch party benefit at RA

The HOOK, LINE AND SINK HIM launch party benefit couldn't have gone any better. Perfect weather, a wonderful crowd, lots of laughing, eating, drinking and celebrating my book, while helping a great cause; the Lynn Sage Cancer research foundation.

The only glitch was that no one could hear my speech! I needed a microphone. But, oh well. It was my first launch party, so you have to expect some mistakes, right?

That being said, I've decided to post my speech, so that anyone who attended the party can actually read what I so wanted to say to my guests that night.

And for those of you who weren't there, you might enjoy it, as well!

Here goes:

The year was 1997. I was dating this guy I was crazy about. As I did with all the men I dated, I built him up to be the greatest guy on earth and was sure we were ending up together. So, one day, we were supposed to go to the Cubs game, and he said he had to cancel because he had to take his mom out for her birthday. The same day, one of my closest friends, Risa Meisner, called and told me she had two tickets to the game, did I want to go. Since I was obviously free, I accepted and was very much looking forward to a fun-filled afternoon with a dear friend at a great place. As expected, we were having a great time. The sun was shining, the crowd was fun, the Cubs were winning, we were drinking beer… And then came the seventh inning stretch. I stood up and began to sing Take me out to the ballgame with Harry Carey, when all of a sudden, something made me glance a few rows over from where I was sitting. There was my guy, who was supposedly with his mother. The worst part was, he wasn’t singing take me out to the ball game. He was kissing a girl, and I don’t just mean a casual peck. Mauling is a better word. But as I stood there with my jaw on the ground, devastated, humiliated and feeling hopelessness that I would never find true love, I could not have known at the time, that there was a silver lining. This and other relationship experiences would provide amazing material for romantic comedy fiction that I would later write.
Stories like these…and trust me, I have lots more… have provided me my best material for the novels I’ve written, including HLSH.



I actually wrote HOOK, LINE AND SINK HIM at my kitchen table.
For years, I would wake up at 5am, sitting at my table in my pj’s with a cup of coffee, writing and rewriting HOOK, LINE AND SINK HIM and other novels. And while I wrote, I would giggle and wonder if other people would giggle if they read what I was writing. At parts, I would burst out laughing and think, “Would other people think this is funny?” At the sad parts, I would tear up and think, “Surely, this will tug at people’s emotions.” But I wasn’t sure.
I then started sending out the manuscript to agents and publishers. I’ve been in sales most of my life so I was pretty confident I could sell something. Boy, was I in for a surprise. The girl who thought she was a super sales rep, was like a guppie in a shark tank. Selling this book was a total nightmare!
On my computer, I’ve currently saved over 500 rejection emails from publishers and agents.
Over the years, I did have some close calls. I once had a contract from a major NY agent who pitched one of my novels to Random House. That fell through. At one point, Vivica Fox was going to play the lead in a screenplay I wrote. That fell through.
I can’t count the number of nights I cried from frustration, and ate entire pints of Ben and Jerry’s out of nervousness, or sipped red wine to soothe the anxiety and try to cope with the roller coaster the unpublished author rides.
But still, I kept writing. And submitting. And bearing rejection
And then one day, someone said yes. Blackhawk Publishing took a chance on me. And I am so grateful to them. Because they are what brought me to tonight. To all this.
I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen with my books. I hope to publish many others and that I’m on my way. And I hope that this is the first of many book premiere parties. But one thing’s for certain. I worked conscientiously, almost obsessively, for 5 years. I persevered, I stayed the course when the rejections were overwhelming and when agents flat out told me I had no talent. And in return, I got to see the manuscript I wrote at my kitchen table turn into a novel and end up in bookstores. And that’s something that is indescribably amazing to me, something I will always carry around with me in my heart and something of which I will always be proud.


I wrote HOOK, LINE AND SINK HIM because I wanted to make people laugh, and I wanted to move them. I chose to write in the male perspective, so here I am, a 44 year old divorced woman writing in the voice of a 30 year old non-commital single guy. The reason it’s moving, is because listening to Jeff tell HIS side of the story, and going along with him on his journey will touch you, I think. It’s a journey that starts with a completely immature, frightened, clueless guy regarding love and relationships, and through starting a business helping other women get their guys to commit, and falling in love through all this, Jeff learns that if you’re willing to put your fears aside, take a chance, and open your heart, a commited relationship (with the right person) can be quite fulfilling and bring true happiness.

We all know a Jeff. I bet every single woman in this room has dated a Jeff. When I was single I dated several of them. That’s how I was able to let him tell the story.

One of my graduate school professors from Boston University, Nancy Day, who is now the Chair of the school of journalism at Columbia College, just finished this book and said to me, “Wow…you really nailed that non-commital guy. He’s my son exactly!”

There are three main Characters in HOOK, LINE AND SINKHIM:

1. Jeff-a pretty likable guy, except you’ll pretty much want to slap him at the beginning of the book. By the end, though, you’ll understand him and you’ll want to hug him.
2. Dave-jeff’s best friend. He’s the guy all girls love to be friends with. Plus, his heart’s the size of Chicago.
3. Anna-We all have a little bit of anna in us. Anna is successful and beautiful and smart. But she’s desperate. Her clock’s ticking and she wants to be married and have babies. You may be a little bit annoyed by her at times, for her desperation and her willingness to trick a guy into marriage, but part of you may cut her some slack because maybe you or someone you know were her at one point in your life.
4. There are so many other colorful characters, all very different, but all with one thing in common; they all want to find true love.
I recently had four work related meetings in a two-day timeframe. One was with an intellectual, artsy 62 year old divorced woman, one was with a 34 year old writer who just broke off her engagement, one was with a 50 year old divorced guy who was very serious and businesslike, and one was with a 23 year old, just out of college, vivacious, fun-loving party girl. All had something in common that verified to me, how true to life HLSH is. ALL of these people wanted desperately to find love. Each one made a point to tell me that! So I think true love is universal. We all want that, and anyone who tells you otherwise is full of it!



I hope you enjoy the book. If you like to laugh, chuckle, get tears in your eyes, and say awww…. A lot, I think you will.
______________________________________________________

I’d like to thank everyone for coming here tonight to support me and to support the Lynn Sage Cancer Research Foundation. I’m overwhelmed by all the support from people in my amazing community, offering to help me and call everyone they know and try to hook me up with media contacts and connections. It means the world.
I’d also like to thank RA and all of the local businesses that participated in giving away free stuff for the gift bags. I’d like to thank Gabby Oppenheimer and Lauren Rafael for volunteering.
I’d like to thank Ruby Kang and Jamie Gelb for flying in for this!
There’s a group of people who deserve to be mentioned. The people who I gave my unpublished manuscripts to, asked them to read, and give me their opinions. They spent hours and hours reading for me.
My mom, Frieda Pilossoph, my agent, Tina Tsallas, my sister-in-law, Vicki Pilossoph, and my friends, Jennifer Devine, Liz Becker, Jackie Langas, Sandy Sroubek, Melissa Uhlig, Leslie Resis, John Fitzpatrick, Lynn Bruno, Holly Hamburg, Kristin Portolese, Melinda Boutsikakis, Susan Slutzky, Rachel Siegel, Julie Tucker, Laura Harris, and Chris Reiter. Thank you all so much.
I’d like to thank my family. To have their love has made me able to achieve this.
I’d like to thank my boyfriend, Mark, who I love dearly and who got me over my fear of dating Jewish guys.
And to my children, Isaac and Anna. I’m blessed beyond belief to have them. Thank you guys for being so good. They stuffed the gift bags! I love you.

I want to finish with a story I recently wrote for an interview. I think it’s a good way to show you the passion I have for what I do.

While walking on the beach one day with my sister, she said to me, “Whenever I’m feeling sad, whenever I have a problem I’m upset about, being here on the beach is the thing that makes me feel better.” My response was, “That’s exactly how I feel about writing.”
Writing has gotten me through some really difficult times, including when my dad was sick and during the months I was going through a divorce. Whenever I felt depressed or helpless or anxious, typing on my computer keyboard never failed to help soothe the pain and angst, and make me feel encouragement and optimism about the future.
Writing is my outlet. It does it for me.
What I wish for everyone here tonight, is that you have something that does it for you. Something that has nothing to do with your spouse or your family or your children. Something you enjoy that’s just for YOU. Whether it’s a sport, a hobby, a job, volunteer work, music, theater, or writing, find something you really like. It will help you find peace within yourself. And it will make you happy. And that’s a good thing.
Thank you again for your support, and for coming here to celebrate with me. Have a great time!

2 comments:

Sa Toya said...

Great atuff! I really hope I get to read it!!!! Sounds like my kinda book.

Wall-to-wall books said...

Hey, I finished your book! I liked it a lot!!! So I'm ready to do my review next week (Thur). I will keep in touch.

Great speech.

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