Reading With Robin on Women's Wellness Day
Robin Kall, GoLocalProv Book Columnist
Reading With Robin on Women's Wellness Day
“Women’s Wellness Day is an opportunity to do something just for you. To spend a Saturday with a best friend, or sister—or on your own—having fun, learning things that can help make your life better. Do a little shopping at the mini-boutiques, enjoy a really nice buffet lunch, just kick back and let the day be yours. The presentations this year are mostly new, so for those women who attend every year—and there are quite a few—I think they’ll like how we refreshed the program. In addition to listening to medical experts talk about a range of topics including nutrition, sex, sleep, stress, and so on, this year women can learn tips about de-cluttering from an expert on organizing any part of your home of business life. We’ll also have a weight-loss expert giving a presentation. We’ll have a presentation on the health and wellness benefits of being part of a book club! As always, we have introduction to yoga and introduction to meditation from the amazing folks at All That Matters. We will also have a quiet room where woman can have a free mini-Reiki session. There’s a person who can give you make-up tips. There’s just so much to choose from. Or, you can enjoy a cup of coffee and shop to your heart’s content! I actually do almost all my Christmas shopping that day—and I buy a few treats for myself, too!”
“The highlight of the day is our keynote speaker. We’ve always had a celebrity author as our keynote and we’ve had some good ones over the last 8 years. But I can honestly say I think Claire Cook will be our best yet. She is funny, wise, kind, down-to-earth, smart—did I mention funny?—and full of a positive energy that is a force field unto itself! She’ll be talking about the subject of her newest book, Never Too Late: Your Roadmap to Reinvention. She’s truly a reinvention expert, and a great speaker, and just fun. Did I mention she’s a New York Times best-selling author? She will also be autographing copies of her book, which we will have for sale at the event.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“This is just a glimpse of what Women’s Wellness Day is all about. Our attendees love it, and leave with the handy goodie bag we give each person, filled with all kinds of handy items. To see the details, all you have to do is go to www.schospital.com and on the homepage under Lectures & Events click on the link for Women’s Wellness Day. Or call us at 788-1173.”
Claire Cook and I go way back. All the way back to Must Love Dogs which had just been published when we met. In anticipation of her Rhode Island visit I had a few questions for my friend.
Q- What are you most looking forward to about coming up North for Women’s Wellness Day?
A – Seeing you again, of course, Robin! I’m also really looking forward to connecting with the women who attend Women’s Wellness Day—I hear it’s a fun, fabulous event. And even though I’ve been in Atlanta for a couple of years, I’m still a New Englander at heart and I really miss the beach, so I can't wait to breathe some of that crisp September salt air! I’m also thinking of setting a walking adventure for a sequel to my novel, The Wildwater Walking Club, in the area, so I hope to do some location scouting while I’m there, too.
Q- Is it ever really too late?
A- Dreams don't have an expiration date. Not even a best by date. If it's still your dream, it's still your dream. My first book was published when I was 45. At 50, I walked the red carpet at the Hollywood premiere of the movie adaptation of Must Love Dogs, starring Diane Lane and John Cusack. And this year, just after I turned 60 (how can it be!), I hit the New York Times bestseller list for the very first time with my novel Life’s a Beach. Take it from me, it is never, EVER too late!
Q- What are a few pearls you hope attendees will take away from your keynote on WWD?
A- I hope the women who attend walk away inspired and ready to move forward in their own lives, and also knowing that we can make lots of mistakes—I certainly have!—and still get where we’re going.
Beyond that, here are five of my favorite pieces of reinvention advice in case anyone reading this can’t make it to Women’s Wellness Day, though I hope you will!
1. Rise above the negativity. Whatever the motive, lots of people will tell you why you can’t or shouldn’t do whatever it is you want to do. You just have to decide to do it anyway. You might want to protect yourself a bit in the beginning, too. I didn’t tell anyone about my first novel until it was finished. You don’t need anyone’s permission—just do it!
2. Be who you really are. The big buzz word these days is branding, but I think of it as authenticity. This is the first job I’ve ever had where I wasn’t pretending, or at least trying to pretend, to be a slightly different person. Who I am and what I write are totally in synch. There’s tremendous power in that!
3. Confound expectations. If everybody’s doing it, it’s already been done. Put a little surprise in everything you do. Originality counts!
4. Do something nice for someone. It’s easy to get needy when you’re struggling to figure out what’s next, but many of the great things that have happened to me were triggered by something nice I did for someone else. People talk—your actions determine what they say. As one of my characters in Multiple Choice once said, karma is a boomerang!
5. Get your tech together. Everything you need to know about the world you want to conquer can be found online. Get your computer skills up to speed – fast! Take a class or find a computer mentor. Research. Network. Create an online presence on Facebook and Twitter. The Internet is a great equalizer – and there are so many opportunities out there just waiting for you to take advantage of them!
Q- What are you working on now?
Must Love Dogs: Bark & Roll Forever, Book 4 in the Must Love Dogs series, just came out, and I decided that instead of jumping right into Book 5, I’d follow up Never Too Late with another nonfiction book, this one about how to grow awesome instead of old. So I’m doing a TON of reading and research about how to rock this aging thing. I’m learning so much, and I can’t wait to share it all with everybody.
Reading With Robin will have a breakout session at Women’s Wellness Day where we’ll be talking about the benefits of belonging to a book club! Reading connects us and opens up a world of dialog about whatever topic you’re interested in. Community equals wellness and a reading community, what’s better than that?
Tickets for this year’s annual event Evening With Authors including Orphan Train’s Christina Baker Kline, Marisa de los Santos and Ted Thompson can be purchased HERE. This event is Wednesday, October 7th and you can use the code RWRGoLocalProv for a 10% discount until August 15th. (Tickets will sell out.
Reading With Robin's Top Summer Picks
Providence Noir
The latest in the very popular “Noir” series is Providence Noir edited by Rhode Island’s own, Ann Hood. “Noir is about sex and money and sometimes about revenge, “ Otto Penzlet, the owner of the Mysterious Bookshop in Manhattan, told the New Yorker in 2010.
Where better than Providence for Hood to feature essays by authors and local favorites such as : Peter Farrelly, Pablo Rodriguez, Taylor Polites, Amity Gaige and of course, Ann Hood. This is a must-have for any self-respecting Rhode Island reader.
Girl in the Moonlight
Girl In The Moonlight by Charles Dubow is one of the books I read this past winter and was the first book I knew would be included in my summer reading event. (Summer Reading With Robin at the Dunes Club June 24th is sold out).
This novel is rich with passion and obsession as we follow Wylie Rose and his unrelenting pursuit of the elusive Cesca Bonet. Wylie having grown up with the Bonet children is cautioned by his father early on “ they’re beautiful, talented, rich. It’s all very seductive…” Will Wylie listen to his father? Who would?
The Mapmaker’s Children
I love reading a wonderfully written historical fiction novel and The Mapmaker’s Children is exactly that.
Sarah McCoy weaves the story of the very bold and artistic Sarah Brown who stumbles upon her father, Abolitionist John Brown’s work on the Underground Railroad with current day Eden Anderson’s story. Eden inhabits a house with a strong connection to the Underground Railroad and perhaps to Sarah Brown as well. This thrilling ride will keep you turning the pages until the very last stop.
Oh! You Pretty Things
I love sharing a debut novel and Oh! You Pretty Things by Shanna Mahin is one of those witty novels told with a sharp and original voice that is not to be missed. Set in Los Angeles this book is about celebrity and the people who push you down on their way up.
Mahin is a high school dropout who rallied late despite her ninth grade English teacher’s prediction of a lifetime of wasted potential. Who could possibly pass up the chance to read a novel by this author? Not me!
9 ½ Narrow…My Life In Sho
If these shoes could talk, well in this memoir they do. In this funny, poignant coming –of-age memoir, 9 ½ Narrow by Patricia Morrisroe shares the stories of a generation of women who have enjoyed a world of freedom and opportunity that there mothers did not have as well as Morrisroe’s own story.
From wedgies to earth shoes, heels and more this memoir spans five decades and countless footwear trends this clever book will induce you to look back and some of the shoes that carried you through.
Inside The O’Briens
Yes, that Lisa Genova from the author who brought us Still Alice and Love Anthony comes her latest novel about the O’Brien family of Charlestown, MA. (Bottom of the Hill as the area was called) Joe O’Brien is a respected Boston police officer and all around good guy when he begins experiencing bouts of strange, involuntary movements, fits of rage and disorganized thinking.
In this heartrending novel, what Genova did for Alzheimer’s disease in Still Alice, she will do once again for Huntington’s disease with her mesmerizing storytelling. Colorful language and passionate prose move this page-turner along all too quickly. Savor this one.
Royal Wedding
You are cordially invited to attend the royal wedding of Princess Mia Thermopolis of Genovia…well, not exactly. You are, however, invited to read the very first adult installment from Meg Cabot the author who brought us The Princess Diaries.
Fans of this popular series will be thrilled to know that Royal Wedding opens five years after Mia has graduated from college. Mia has a whole new life living in New York City, which is quite the opposite of her reign in Genovia. Even in the word of the royals there are bumps along the way and fairy-tales aren’t always what they seem.
I Regret Nothing
From the hilarious and brutally honest Lancaster comes the latest, a memoir about turning her midlife crises into a midlife opportunity. From attempting a juice cleanse and starting a new business to training for a 5K, Jen shares every effort at making her life better again and again. Lancaster embarks upon the first part of her journey with a warning from her husband, “Don’t get a tattoo.” Does she or doesn’t she?
The Dream Lover
Elizabeth and Berg –what else is there to talk about? From the beloved novelist who has written classics such as : Talk Before Sleep, True To Form and Ordinary Life: Stories, comes a gorgeous novel rich with history, bravado and passion. At the beginning of The Dream Lover we meet Aurore Dupin as she is leaving her estranged husband and their estate in the French countryside to begin a new life in Paris.
This storyline might not be quite as scandalous if it were set in modern day, but this story is set in the nineteenth century. It’s in Paris that upin gives herself a new name – George Sand and pursues her dream of becoming a writer and embracing the life she longs to write about.
Re Jane
Another debut and this one is a fresh and contemporary retelling of Jayne Eyre by Korean-American author Patricia Park. I had the pleasure of meeting Park recently and was so engrossed by her talk about this book that I couldn’t wait to add it to my summer reading stack.
Jane Re is a half-Korean, half-American orphan who has been trying to escape her life in Flushing, Queens. She just might find that new life a lot closer to home than she imagined. Jane embarks on a journey from Queens to Brooklyn and Seoul and back. Jane must find a balance between two cultures and learn to accept who she really is.
