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2014 Bombeck Workshop faculty: Lisa Scottoline

 

When bestselling author Lisa Scottoline launched a column in The Philadelphia Inquirer in 2007 as a sideline to her bestselling mysteries and suspense novels, she said she wanted to try to fill in the gap left by Erma Bombeck. Today, the popular “Chick Wit” column, written with her daughter Francesca Serritella, offers a witty and fun take on life from a woman’s perspective, which Kirkus has described as “Erma Bombeck for mothers and daughters, with a zesty Italian twist.” These stories, along with many other never-before-published stories, have been collected in four books including their most recent, Meet Me at Emotional Baggage Claim, and the earlier, Best Friends, Occasional Enemies; Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog, which has been optioned for TV; and My Nest Isn’t Empty, It Just Has More Closet Space. In her other life, Ms. Scottoline is the New York Times‘ bestselling author and Edgar award-winning prolific author of 21 novels, including the popular Rosato & Associates series and her latest, Accused. She has more than 30 million copies of her books in print and is published in more than 35 countries.

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“Do you know what depression is? It's sitting in your doctor's examination room. In a paper dress. On a cold table. And it's the high spot of your week.” (from "Dumpy Paper Dress--March 31, 1977," which appears in Forever Erma)

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Humor writer of the month

Karin Esterhammer

Travel writer Karin Esterhammer has published a captivatingly funny travel memoir about a Los Angeles family who moves to Vietnam to ride out the Great Recession, So Happiness to Meet You: Foolishly, Blissfully Stranded in Vietnam.

Her work has been published in the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun and other outlets. Her diary-style article in the Los Angeles Times about the move to Vietnam earned more letters to the editor than almost any other travel story.

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If you'd like to be considered as our featured writer (or you read someone who should be), send an e-mail with a brief bio and a link to your Web site.

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Who's publishing what?

Pilgrimage

From her childhood on an Iowa farm, Lori Erickson grew up to travel the world as a writer specializing in holy sites — journeys that led her on an ever-deepening spiritual quest. In Holy Rover: Journeys in Search of Mystery, Miracles, and God, she weaves her personal narrative with descriptions of a dozen pilgrimages. Travel writer, Episcopal deacon and author of the Holy Rover blog at Patheos, Erickson is an engaging guide for pilgrims eager to take a spiritual journey.

Outside the comfort zone

Travel writer Karin Esterhammer has published a captivatingly funny travel memoir about a Los Angeles family who moves to Vietnam to ride out the Great Recession, So Happiness to Meet You: Foolishly, Blissfully Stranded in Vietnam. Her work has been published in the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun and other outlets. Her diary-style article in the Los Angeles Times about the move to Vietnam earned more letters to the editor than almost any other travel story.

Considering

There is no template for how to grow old. More than 50 million Americans are doing it anyway, and finding along the way an abundance of opportunity for disaster. At those times, laughter is the saving grace. Dr. Ann Thomas compiles 49 columns from her long-running humor column in the newly published Unmistakably Old, And doing pretty well, considering… 

Still crazy

Award-winning comedy writer, producer and retired stand-up comedian, T. Faye Griffin (In Living Color, Steve Harvey’s Big Time, BET’s ComicView, Black Girls Rock), celebrates her “funnyversary” with this rollicking compilation of original jokes, quips, anecdotes, wit and a smidgeon of wisdom from the pages of her favorite social media platform. Still Crazy: A Decade of Social Media Meanderings by a Recovering Stand-Up Comedian soared to the top of Amazon’s “Hot New Releases in Humor and Entertainment Short Reads” after Labor Day.

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