News
Pulitzer Prize-winners, the NY Post, and more!
Hi! Here’s some news for you:
Our recent Zibby’s Bookshop event with Ed Zwick and
with at Zibby’s Bookshop has made today’s celebrity news in the New York Post! You never know what you’ll overhear at Zibby’s Bookshop. (Our store is on 11th and Montana in Santa Monica. Stop by!)My past two podcast episodes have both been with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists!
Listen to today’s episode with
about his latest New York Times bestseller Supercommunicators!
Then listen to yesterday’s episode with the legendary
about his book Chasing Hope!
As you know because you all made it happen, Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books won the Webby Award for interview/talk show podcast! I got to go on stage and deliver the five-word speech that YOU helped me decide on. It was crazy. A star-studded event. The red carpet where photographers actually took my picture instead of pretending to clean their lenses when I walked by. Insane.
I’m headed to Dallas right now for the event tonight (6 pm at Interabang) with Amanda Eyre Ward, LA on Saturday (11 am - 1 pm at Zibby’s Bookshop Sidewalk Sale), Denver on Sunday (4 pm at The Tattered Cover) and Chicago on Monday (6 pm at Madison Street Books with Stacy Igel plus our petite retreat). Join me!
Bonus Essay
Just Say Yes: Dispatches from the Zibby-verse Tour
“If anyone wants me to come to their town or book club, let me know!”
That’s what I posted on Instagram after announcing the “Zibby-verse” book tour for my debut novel Blank. And I meant it. I would be happy to go anywhere in the country if it meant connecting with readers, exploring new bookstores, telling literary lovers about all the things Zibby Media offers, and, well, selling my own books!
“Please come to Minnesota!”
I looked at the comment. Ah, it was from a true fan, a woman named Susie who had literally painted her nails to match my podcast logo when she came on our Zibby Retreat to Solvang, CA.
Minnesota. I’d never been to Minnesota.
“Sure!” I replied.
Why not?
Ever since I launched my podcast Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books in 2018, I’ve been in a “just say yes” mode. Yes, I’ll moderate that event. Yes, I’ll join your Zoom book club at 11 pm. Yes, I’ll recommend books for your tiny TV show. Yes, I’ll perform an essay at your event at Joe’s Pub.
Minneapolis?
Yes, I’ll come.
Fast forward to the morning of Thursday, April 11th, when I donned a skirt and cute red jacket, and took a 6 am flight to Minneapolis-Saint-Paul airport.
“We’ll come pick you up!” Susie had told me. “We” meant her partner-in-crime Andrea.
How sweet! They were picking me up at the airport! Who does that?!
When I arrived, our meeting point in baggage claim was… empty. But no biggie. It was still only 7:30 am there. Could I have arrived any more obnoxiously early?!
After a flurry of apologetic texts, I walked outside and there were Susie and Andrea, running towards me. I felt like I was at my college reunion as we all hugged curbside.
“Thank you for coming!!”
“Of course!” I said, beaming.
“My husband’s over there,” Susie said. “I recruited him to drive us around all day.”
Susie’s husband was, in fact, our designated driver although he hadn’t been to most places we went that day and wasn’t familiar with navigation apps. But no worries. Halfway through the day, I joked,” You do live here, right?”
Our first stop was the Mall of America where I’d been invited for a special tour by none other than the Laundry King of Minneapolis himself, Patric Robinson. I’d had Laundry Patric on my podcast for his book Laundry Love, which forever changed my laundry habits (you don’t need that much detergent!), and had recently posted about his second book, House Love.
Could Susie’s husband find the entrance Patric directed us to? He could not. We circled and circled, criss-crossing the highway multiple times, with Patric waiting outside in the bright sunlight, his white hair bouncing in the morning breeze, saying on speaker, “Well, let’s try again. Do you see me now?”
And there he was, waving to us under the giant Mall of America sparkly entrance, a double-height star sculpture behind him.
“You made it!” He said, hugging me, his co-author and business partner beside him. “Thanks for coming to Minneapolis.”
I would hear that about 100 times that day. It never got old.
“So, the mall isn’t open yet,” Patric said, conspiratorially. “But I called my people and they’re letting us cut right through the amusement park.”
The amusement park?
We entered the mall and my jaw dropped. It wasn’t like a mall. It was like an indoor world. Imagine if New York City were domed. It was like that. Towering ceilings. Roller coasters six stories high. A glass roof that gave the illusion of being outdoors. Lego sculptures. Merry-go-rounds. Trees. It was impressive.
Patric spewed facts.
“More people are in the Mall of America on a typical day than in the rest of Minneapolis combined,” he said.
Patric had opened his store in the mall over a decade prior and was the unofficial mayor. When he became famous, people would stop him in the halls, taking photos with him and getting his autograph.
It felt like we’d walked a mile just to get to his shop. Since the mall was still closed, our steps echoed throughout.
“Don’t you get lost?” I asked.
“Well, no,” he said, “but you would.”
We checked out his shop, picked up copies of his books, and then had to retrace our steps to exit the mall afterward. I walked more than I did in average day. My iPhone was very pleased by my progress.
After many hugs goodbye, Patric waved to us as we drove away.
“How nice was he?!” I said.
“So nice.”
So nice.
Everyone was so nice.
Next up? Breakfast at a small restaurant that Susie told me was in one of the cuter neighborhoods, Linden Hills. Made up of about four blocks, it felt like a suburban small town. I mean, it was a suburban small town.
At breakfast, Susie pulled out a gift bag that looked like a New York license plate.
“We got you a little something,” she said. Tissue paper peeked out of the top as she passed the bag to me over the eggs and croissants.
“That’s so nice,” I said. “I should’ve gotten you something.”
(I should’ve gotten her something.)
Eagerly, I dove into the bag and pulled out a navy cashmere sweater with “Zibby-verse” embroidered on the front like a La Lingua Franca item. I literally teared up.
“You guys!” I cried.
“We had a friend do it. She’s really good at embroidery,” Andrea said.
“This is too nice. So thoughtful. Amazing!”
I clutched it to my heart. (I’ve worn it incessantly since then.)
At breakfast, I learned that Susie’s husband had recently decided to leave his longtime corporate job to pursue his one true passion: aviation. He was finally going to be a commercial pilot, something he’d dreamed about but didn’t think he could afford. His story was inspiring.
After breakfast, it was time to hit the bookstores.
Wild Rumpus was filled with children’s books, hidden nooks, and endless merch. Dark, cozy, and well-worn, Wild Rumpus felt like it could’ve been a local market or a place to buy firewood. I stocked up on graphic novels for my kids.
Then it was onto the small, new, bright-white Comma bookshop, with sleek wood floors, white walls, and a slim collection of contemporary books including some of the Zibby Books titles. The owner’s dad came in just to check on things while we were there.
Our third stop was Birchbark owned by the author Louise Erdich which felt more like a museum gift shop with used books, Native American artifacts, a heavily curated selection of titles, and little cards offering free coffee at a nearby cafe.
And why not? We took a few cards and decided to pop into the offering Lynx coffee bar, a hole in the wall in a parking lot 10 minutes away with free books offered to anyone who wanted them. I definitely needed coffee at that point after my three hours of sleep.
Susie’s husband drove us to our final stop and said goodbye.
At last it was time for the big event at Modernwell, founded by Julie Burton. A woman-owned and operated coworking, class, and writing workspace mecca with a wall of windows looking onto a main road with trees and plants making it feel extra inviting, Modernwell was buzzing with women. Forty of us soon crammed into what must have originally been the garage where Nina Badzin from the Dear Nina podcast interviewed me. Every woman was nicer than the next.
Hugs. Smiles. Gifts!
“Thank you for coming to Minneapolis!”
The conversation was engaging, fun, and full of laughs.
Susie had printed out miniature versions of all the covers of the books we publish at Zibby Books and my own two books, Blank and Bookends, cut them out, then Scotch-taped them over Hershey’s miniatures so that it looked like all the books were there. Pamela from Valley Bookseller had copies of Blank for sale right there.
As Susie and Andrea drove me back to the airport showing me the local lakes around the city and other notable spots, even where some of the biggest riots had taken place, I shook my head. Who knew? This wonderful town with so many kind people. So many books. So much literary love.
At the airport, I popped into one last bookstore, Open Book Bookstore, and ended up with so many books from all those stops that I had to buy a new suitcase. Seriously.
Now, whenever I use it, I think of my day in Minneapolis and smile. Just say yes.
I can’t wait to go back.
Hopefully, Susie’s husband will be the one to fly me there.
I loved your Minneapolis recap! It was such a joy to moderate the conversation at ModernWell and just get to know you in person a bit more. I hope we can collaborate again. Everyone here loved you! (Of course!)
You are simply awesome!