CHATTERBOX HAS BEEN BUSY
Chatterbox: Stories from a Noisy Life is on the road, and Barbara is reading, singing, signing and spending time with old and new friends! You can grab the book online or at your favorite bookstore.
I’ve Been Very Busy!
I love to be busy, and the launch of Chatterbox: Stories from a Noisy Life has made me just that. The book has taken off like a rocket, thanks to a lot of hard work by a lot of people—Rochelle Udell, Geoff Worton, Paula Howard, Dee Meyer, Jacob Starr, Carol Berardi, Seema Khichi McGrath, Kathleen Butler Smith, Amy Hall, Cyrus Webb, Susan Serico, and Nicola Orichuia. And I wasn’t sitting on my hands either. Who knew I had the guts to pick up the phone and call or email a museum or bookstore or library or podcaster and say, “Have I got a book for you” and the wonderful people I named above would sign me up for and help me to deliver an event. Here are soundbites from all my latest events, presented in date order. Thank you to everyone who has hosted one of my events or interviews and who has sat in a seat or logged on and listened when I’ve been chatterboxing away. I really do get by with a little help from my friends.
Blast Off In Beantown.
I yakked about the launch of Chatterbox: Stories from a Noisy Life at I AM BOOKS, Boston on March 15 in last month’s newsletter. But a chatterbox can’t tell a great story just once, so here’s a quick shout out to I AM Books, Catherine Marenghi and IAWA-Boston. If you’re still wondering where the title Chatterbox came from, here’s a link to the answer. BTW, the photo is from the bookstore’s website. Yeah, no one was wearing shorts on a freezing March day.
Instagram Live with Morphmom.
March 19, after a few technical glitches on my end, I was live on Instagram with Morphmom’s Seema Khichi McGrath and Kathleen Butler Smith. Nervous wreck that I am, I forgot to give Instagram access to my video and microphone. Kathleen and Seema were amazing. They kept the chat going, got me online and then these two fabulous interviewers spent thirty minutes with me. It was great fun. You can watch and listen at https://www.instagram.com/p/DHYoYuru-C5/. FYI, Morphmom is dedicated to educating, inspiring, empowering, and connecting women. Read all about it at https://www.morphmom.com. Thank you, Kathleen and Seema.
Amazon Live with Cyrus Webb.
I first met Cyrus Webb when I published Too Tall Alice. Fast forward a number of years, and he is now one of the top five book reviewers on Amazon. That’s because he reads every book before an author interview and digs for the story behind the story. For me, that meant answering some tough questions. Coming soon, my interview in Cyrus’ Conversations Magazine and another interview on Conversations Live Radio. Until then, you can listen to the March 25 Amazon Live on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o21kBi5PVq4 and catch Cyrus’ review of Chatterbox: Stories from a Noisy Life.
Bookstore With a Great Vibe!
Neither torrential rain nor flooding nor a car crashing into and setting fire to a house which closed down Route 9 could stop me and Geoff and some very loyal friends (photo number 1) from getting to my March 29 reading at Hudson Valley Books for Humanity. Maybe people risked all to hear Rochelle Udell interview me and a few stories from Chatterbox. Or maybe they remembered I was bringing homemade biscotti, chocolate chip/walnut/cranberry cookies and a few bottles of wine. Hmmm. Anyway, Amy Hall (squeezed in the corner of photo number 2, with Rochelle and me) runs one fabulous bookstore. Honestly, it’s more than a bookstore. It’s the heart of the Ossining community, and it stands for ideals near and dear to me. Check out the store’s about page and keep cruising the website. Every time Geoff and I walk through Amy’s front door, we think about moving to Ossining to be closer to her bookstore. Friends tell me some people have done just that.
Going Back To My Roots—At Least Half of Them.
The Garibaldi Meucci Museum
Carol Berardi and Barbara Worton.
The Garibaldi Meucci Museum was once the home of inventor Antonio Meucci. Since 1907, this National Historic Landmark has been on Tompkins Avenue, Staten Island. (I never knew this, even though I lived on Staten Island in the 1970s.) Chatterbox is, in part, about being half Italian American, so a friend suggested it might be a good place to approach about doing an event. I logged on the museum website and saw Maria Teresa Cometto, a fellow member of the Italian American Writers Association, had done an event there for her book Emma and The Angel of Central Park. I called the museum. Spoke to a very welcoming William Castello, went to a talk on Ancient Pompeii, met Carol Berardi—that’s the two of us in the picture above. Carol is the museum’s Event Coordinator and National Overseer, OSIA. We talked and scheduled an event for April 5. Music is a big part of my life, and songs pop up everywhere in Chatterbox: Stories from a Noisy Life. So on April 5, Geoff, vocals, Dee, guitar, and I were all center-stage for the event. Four songs became part of the storytelling program. We brought lyrics for everyone, and more biscotti and cookies, and had a blast. Stories started conversations. Songs got everyone—yes, everyone—singing, laughing and even crying a little—and on one rainy Saturday afternoon, the world was beautiful and happy. People came together—a recurring wish for me lately. And Carol, I am proud to say, has invited me to a fund raising event in October. More news on that to come soon.
That’s me and Garibaldi, well at least a statue of him.
Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi (4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. He contributed to Italian unification (Risorgimento) and the creation of the Kingdom of Italy. He is considered to be one of Italy's "fathers of the fatherland."
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Garibaldi
The second namesake of the museum, Antonio Santi Giuseppe Meucci (13 April 1808 – 18 October 1889) was an Italian inventor, engineer and an associate of Garibaldi. Meucci is best known for developing, in the Staten Island home that is now the museum, a voice communication apparatus that several sources credit as the first telephone. Between approximately 1850-1854, Meucci and his wife gave Garibaldi refuge in their home.
That’s me, words, and Geoff, vocals, and Dee, guitar, at the Garibaldi Meucci Museum on April 5.
A Celebration of Storytelling in Words and Music.
I have to give a huge thank you, to Susan Serico, Director of the North Haledon Free Public Library. April 8, Geoff, Dee and I were lucky to share stories and songs from Chatterbox: Stories from a Noisy Life with the library’s “Books ’n’ Bites” book club. What an incredible group of women—many retired teachers—with wonderful stories to share. One of the reasons I wrote Chatterbox and love to do events is to get people talking about what we have in common. There were a lot of conversations about plastic slipcovers, pasta sauce, and after I read “London Calling” and everyone sang “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” there were a lot of Beatles story. Susan had a HUGE Beatles story to tell. First a coincidence: She and I were both in the theater for the second Ed Sullivan Show, and we were both at the 1965 and 1966 Shea Stadium concerts. And here’s where it gets really amazing: Susan, was shoved into John Lennon while she was waiting outside the Ed Sullivan Theater Stage Door, AND he spoke to her. I think I would have fainted if that had been me. Of course, there were cookies and biscotti again. I think I’ve baked more over the last few weeks than I do every year at Christmas. Somehow, Susan and I didn’t manage to get a picture together. Maybe, I’ll drop in the library to grab one with her later this week. Until then, that’s me, who else, reading in front of the stacks—right by Louise Penny’s books, and she’s one of my favorite mystery writers.
An Annual Tradition.
Chocolate Easter bunny ears. Yum, yum. My favorite. My niece, Melissa, when she was about five years old and had witnessed me chomp off the ears of bunnies every Easter, sent me a card with a “Big Ears” Bunny on the front, one ear gnawed off, and the caption “This senseless violence must stop.” It hasn’t. Sorry. (And there’s that purple sweater again.)
Get Chatterbox In An Instant!
Get Chatterbox In An Instant! It’s now available in e-book format—Kindle (Amazon) or online download (Bookshop.org)—at a special introductory price.
Follow me on Instagram @barbaraischatterbox and email me at barbara@barbaraworton.com to let me know, and I’ll get back to you with a PDF of my Sunday Sauce recipe.
Ain’t No Stopping Me Now:
The tour continues, and here are spots where you can be part of the Chatterbox: Stories from a Noisy Life community. Please listen in and come in for events I’ve booked for the rest of April and May. It would be great to see you.
April 17: Conversations Live Radio with Cyrus Webb, interview recording, link to follow.
April 24: Dublin Public Library, Dublin, NH, 5:00-7:00 p.m., reading and book signing with Linda Dini Jenkins, author of Becoming Italian: Chapter & Verse from an Italian American Girl.
April 25: The Toadstool Bookstore, Keene, NH, 6:00 p.m. I'll be reading and signing books with Linda Dini Jenkins, author of Becoming Italian: Chapter & Verse from an Italian American Girl.
April 26: The Bookery, Manchester, NH, 2:00-4:00 p.m. Independent Bookstore Day, signing books with Linda Dini Jenkins, author of Becoming Italian: Chapter & Verse from an Italian American Girl .
May 8–9: J. Jill, Garden State Plaza, Paramus, NJ, 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. shop for new looks and my books.
May 17: Hudson Valley Books for Humanity, Read Along, Too Tall Alice, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
May 19: Toastique, Ridgewood, NJ, Books & Brunch 10:00-11:00 a.m., reading and book signing.
Want To Bring Chatterbox To A Bookstore, Library, Italian Restaurant, Coffee Shop, School, Book Club, Etc., Near You? Please get in touch. Email me at barbara@barbaraworton.com. And let’s talk date, time, and place. Thanks!
Chatterbox: Stories from a Noisy Life Is Just A Click Away:
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Bookshop.org, Powell’s.
Or ask for Chatterbox at your local independent bookstore!
Stay In Touch!
Follow Barbara on Instagram @barbaraischatterbox and LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-worton-0472a54/.
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