Book bribe

Every year I do two fundraiser walkathons in May -- Grand Rapids' Hunger Walk and the national Great Strides campaign for Cystic Fibrosis. It's hard to ask people to support both so I keep coming up with tricks. I used to bring in cookies to work and offer them for a donation to the hunger walk. Now that I'm retired, I no longer go to the office so this year I've been offering my book as a bribe. A free autographed copy of Laughing for a Living to anyone who'll contribute $25 or more for the Hunger Walk. I've brought in seven contributions that way, edging up people who would have contributed much less. Laughing for a giving!

O'Hurley HaHa

Just finished talking with John O'Hurley in advance of his appearance with the tour of "Chicago" coming to Grand Rapids in May. Most folks think of O'Hurley on Seinfeld or Family Feud and don't realize he started out singing opera. He's also written some best selling books and founded a company to make energy out of waste materials. He's been taking his family -- wife and son -- on tour with him but now that the son is school age, he plans to move more into business so he won't have to travel as much. "You can do business meetings by Skype or conference call," he told me, "but you can't Skype a performance. Although I've known a few actors who should have."

Laughing on Kindle

Okay, now all you Kindle fans can download Laughing for a Living for just $2.99 from the Kindle Store. Of course, there are some concessions. If you want to see my baby photo or my picture of Julie Newmar from 36 years ago, or if you want it autographed, you'll still need to get the beautiful print version (lulu.com). But if you're just dying to read my memoir, it has been Kindlized. Come to think of it, if you want the print version I have a few spare copies at the house left over from the ones Civic had for sale.

Back in the saddle

After a 3-month hiatus in Florida, I'm getting back to work. This afternoon I'll do a phone interview with the star of the tour of "All Shook Up" which is coming to Van Singel Fine Arts Center later this month. But I have canceled plans for a book signing tomorrow at Civic Theatre. Through miscommunications there hasn't been enough promotion to make it worth my time. The book is moving into a new stage I believe. Watch for it on Kindle very soon.

Spreading the laughter

Sold four more books yesterday at the Noah's Ark Craft sale. Writing is my craft. I like that the people buying don't know me at all and most have never been to Grand Rapids. But they buy because they like the idea of Laughing for a Living. And I hope they laugh a little along the way.

Time Flies

Oh my goodness. Can't believe it's been more than a month since my last post. But we've had lots of company since then. Now we have less than three weeks left in Florida. We bid farewell to our last guests this morning and we have beautiful weather outside to enjoy. Can't imagine I'll be at the computer too often. Saturday I'm participating in a craft fair with "Laughing for a Living."
Guess writing is my craft.

Last of the eggnog

I just emptied the last half gallon of eggnog so the holiday season is officially over. Blogging regularly is one of my goals for 2011, so I'd better return to the habit. Hopefully, I'll do a better job than I have on my goal of losing 30 pounds, which has been a goal for the past 10 years without any success. I got my nails done today and they look really nice. And I walked a mile from our condo to the nail studio, then walked back along the beach. Seems like two good habits to add to 2011.