Please welcome my
Wednesday guest, Ann Kaier. Best American Essays notable author, Anne has published in Alaska
Quarterly Review, The Gettysburg Review, The Kenyon Review,
and Beauty is a Verb: The New Poetry of Disability, an ALA Notable Book
for 2012. Malade, a memoir about sexuality, disability, and the shrine
at Lourdes, is forthcoming from: www.shebooks.net.
Anne lives in Center City, Philadelphia and teaches at Arcadia University and
Rosemont College. She has a Ph.D. from Harvard University.
Anne's blog tour will continue through July 9. Look for her tomorrow at July 2 http://www.MochasMysteriesMeows.com
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A lot of my
writing is fairly serious. I try to unravel knotted relationships and describe tough
family tussles. But now and then, I write for the pure fun of it, letting the
words run with a subject until the topic sprints away. Often the subject is an
animal, more particularly, a cat. And it’s always good to have a willing human
friend in these word displays. Someone equally inclined to spin a little froth.
When my memoir, Home with Henry, was about to be
published, I began to think about publicity. I didn’t know much about how to
publicize a book and my nervousness spilled over into a series of emails with
my friend, J.C. Todd, whose most recent book of poems had appeared to
glowing reviews. J.C.’s cat Lucia
is a handsome calico with attitude. In my house, Coco reigns, flaunting her
quite spectacular beauty. A gorgeous black velvet stripe runs down her face and
she carefully tends her luscious calico coat, which, it has to be said, covers
a very nicely rounded body. Coco is anxious, fat and somewhat bossy—and she
makes excellent copy. So when I began to worry about publicity, my friend and I
had some correspondence about an imaginary PR campaign in which Coco would be
the lead publicist. I offer some tidbits from these emails. In the first, Lucia
writes to me with instructions about Coco’s requirements:
03/04/14
Meow, Anne
Coco will be needing a few things before she
launches her campaign. A comb-out at a chat salon in Paris. First class flight
and limo service to the salon. In New York, a suite at a boutique hotel on
Madison Avenue on the day of the media blitz.
She felt it would be more politic to pass
this message along to you via me.
Whiskery yours, Lucia
03/05/14
Dear Lucia,
Did Coco put you up to this? Since you and
she are clearly in cahoots, let me say that she has been telling me she’ll need
a personal assistant for the duration of the PR campaign. Qualities required: Beauty (the sine qua
non), pizazz and chutzpah—not to mention contacts in Paris, NYC and at top
flight hotels on the water in Tahiti where you both will have to tone up before
the action starts.
Know anyone interested?
Do tell, Anne
03/06/14
Meow Anne,
I suppose it might be me. I’ve engaged a
colorist at Le Chat Salon. Or perhaps you would prefer to reserve the position
of Coco’s assistant for yourself?
Whiskery yours, Lucia
You get the point.
This writing was done late at night, purely for the fun of it. Of course the
whole thing masked the fact that I worried about the publicity for Home with Henry—in which Madison Avenue
media blitzes and Parisian hair salons would play no part. My fears dissipated,
however, in the spray of words between me and the very confident Lucia Gata
Todd.
