Gray Is The New Black - THE #LittleBlackBook

​It's here! My second published book, Gray Is The New Black: A Memoir of Self-Acceptance (Otis Books - Seismicity Editions, June 2019). 

Waiting for my book to be published reminded me of being very pregnant. As the months tolled, I was excited and anxious. Pressure built. I ate too much and didn't floss. I scribbled  lists of names and tried to picture what it would look like in my arms. When delivery was delayed again, then again, I couldn't sleep. I stopped going out in public. I couldn't face the questions. When is it coming? Is it here yet? 

Well, allow me to introduce Gray Is The New Black. Wrapped in a stark black cover with the title and my name in teeny-tiny -- or should I say, intriguingly slight -- type. When I was writing it, I pictured a dramatic graphic on the cover. Coils of wavy, gray hair perhaps. My name in massive letters. An ultra-modern ombre effect, shades of gray, trending to black, or vice versa. 

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But that was not to be. My publisher, Otis Books (thank you, thank you, I love you Otis Books!), does it like this.  

• Simple
• Classic
• Distinctive

​In a word, BLACK (except for that one little red fellow on the right).  And as with one's child, no matter what name you give it, no matter what color you dress it in, no matter if your father mutters that your baby resembles a wizened peanut, you LOVE your baby. Of course you do. And I love my book, in all its raven mystery.

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People's reactions, when they first hold it in their hands, are the best. They stroke it's ebony cover, turn it over to check out its backside, and mutter . . . 

"It's so  mysterious."
"It looks like the bible . . . or something."
"I feel like I'm holding porn." (I guess it's a brown-paper-bag reference. I honestly don't know.)
"I can read it in a coffee shop and no one will know what I'm reading!"

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There you have it. Gray Is The New Black is that perfect, mysterious, alluring #LittleBlackBook to carry with you on the subway or to a cafe. Any public place you might conceivably want to lose yourself in a book, meaning anywhere. People will squint and sidle. They may slow their steps hoping to decipher the title. There will be double- and triple-takes. But, unless they ask, chances are they will never guess.  But you will know. Oh yes, you will know.

What's it about? For starters, the title is pretty on point. I'll say more in future updates re: Gray Is The New Black: A Memoir of Self-Acceptance, the #LittleBlackBook.  For now, suffice to say, it's available from Small Press Distribution,  IndieBound and Amazon or ask your local library or favorite book store to carry it.

​Like the perennial little black dress, it's a literary must-have, soon to become a book-shelf staple.