Tallahassee is said to be in the path of Dennis, but this is not something I can fully comprehend. Last night was my own perfect storm of anxiety, adrenalin, exultation and alcohol. To celebrate the release of my book on July 5th, I (with more than a little help from my friends) threw a party in a huge historic mansion downtown to benefit two organizations that help women: Refuge House (an 8 county domestic violence shelter) and Healthy Start (a project devoted to preventing infant mortality among at-risk moms and their babies). About one hundred and fifty people paid $20 to drink, eat and get a copy of Diana Lively is Falling Down. It was my first signing and reading: I had no idea how to be a writer, but as they used to say in the women's movement, "Fake it 'till you make it."
At one point I looked out at the audience, having lost my ego in an out-of-body blur, and saw my dear friend Jane Mcpherson, whose presence in Tallahassee has meant so much to me, who works with mothers who've lost their babies, and had been a driving force behind my doing this party, and I thought how lucky I am, so rich in friends, rich in family, and now, rich in left-over croissants and cheese dip, to say nothing of uncorked bottles of wine and unpaid bills-of-lading.
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