Long Week. Quick update.

Three exciting things including Dani Shapiro at Zibby's Bookshop

Some updates for this week.

1. Last night I had the privilege of hosting my favorite author

   Dani Shapiro
   , Signal Fires, and the one-and-only actor and memoirist Jennifer Grey (from “Dirty Dancing,” Out of the Corner) at Zibby’s Bookshop in Santa Monica. You can watch the whole thing here.

   

   Watch the livestream. From left: Jennifer Grey, Dani Shapiro, Zibby Owens.

   Reading Dani’s memoir Slow Motion changed my life. It turned me on to memoirs as a genre, one that would end up sustaining me over the years by immersing me in other people’s stories and that would inspire me to write my own. Through my friend Meredith Rollins, I invited Dani to join me at the New York Public Library’s annual Library Lunch that I was co-hosting in 2018. When I got up to speak, I said to the posh crowd how thrilled I was that Dani was there. When I got back to the table she said, “Now I’m awake!”

   

   Dani Shapiro, Kyle Owens, Zibby Owens, Caitlin Macy

   

   Zibby Owens at the New York Public Library

   Shortly thereafter she came over to my apartment and recorded a podcast episode with me on Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books. What a thrill!! As she was leaving, she suggested I start a salon series in my home and offered to be my first guest. Um, yes.

   

   At the first author salon: Zibby Owens, Dani Shapiro

   That launched many events both in my home, in bookstores, and now everywhere. Honestly, without that particular push at that time, I’m not sure I ever would’ve considered doing an in person series which eventually became my bookstore!

   Also, Kyle and I reminisced that even before all of that, I dragged him (haha) to three Dani Shapiro events. The first one was at Corner Bookshop for Hourglass. The shop was so packed that we were behind the cash register looking at the back of Dani’s head. The next time we were in the courtyard at Diesel. Then at a private event at the Bel Air Hotel. We went back to Corner Bookstore for Inheritance after which I interviewed her about at BookHampton, followed by lunch with Jennifer Grey.

   

   At BookHampton: Zibby Owens, Dani Shapiro

   Then I interviewed her for The Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center for Signal Fires.

   And then, last night, there she was. In my store. After I introduced her — and my childhood girl crush Jennifer Grey — Kyle gave me a look. We shook our heads at each other. Unbelievable.

   

2. This was a really big week for Zibby Books. Our novel The Last Love Note by Australian author Emma Grey (11/28/23) was selected as: a Book of the Month Club pick, an Indie Next Pick, a Publishers Lunch Buzz Book, and a top 10 book for November and December in the Washington Post. And we have more fun things in store with this book! We promote all our books equally. Relentlessly. It’s incredibly rewarding to have our efforts rewarded. Pre-order yours today or join Book of the Month to get your copy early.

   

3. Just wanted to let you all know that I’ll be doing a bunch of events if you want to come see me speak or moderate.

   1. Monday, November 13th at 6:00 pm ET. JCC. “Restart, Rethink, Relive.” I’ll be in conversation with Alisha Fernandez Miranda, My What If Year at the JCC on the Upper West Side.

   2. Saturday, November 18th at 1:00 pm ET. Miami Book Fair!! I’ll be moderating a discussion with four Zibby Books authors, “Using Loss, Love, and Trauma to Craft Compelling Reads.”

   3. January 8th at 1:30 pm ET. NYU Advanced Publishing Institute speaker. Join the seminar I’m co-teaching.

   4. After that I’ll be speaking or moderating at: Podfest Expo in Orlando, FL; Mom 2.0 in Nashville, TN; the Erma Bombeck Writing Conference in Dayton, OH; the Tucson Literary Festival in Tucson, AZ; the Alt-Summit conference in Palm Springs, CA; and more!

Okay, that’s it.

Have a great week, everyone. I know I forgot something!!