NEWS, EVENTS & FUN STUFF

Love Those Book Groups
Sleeping with Schubert was an Editor’s Pick in The New York Times Paperback Row, my favorite hometown newspaper. It is included in Ballantine Books (a Random House imprint) Reader’s Circle and includes suggested questions and an author interview in the back. I get lots of e-mails from book-groups members saying they’ve had great discussions. Music to my ears.

A visit with your group – in person or by phone? I’m a regular on the Arizona book-club circuit, and I do 30-minute speaker-phone calls with groups around the country. If your club would like a visit, e-mail me and we’ll compare schedules.

Movie News
Paramount Pictures and producers Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Richard Pine hold the screen rights to Sleeping with Schubert. Screenwriter Pamela Gray (Music of the Heart) has done a great job with the screenplay. Fingers crossed!

Need a Speaker?
In addition to guesting at book and author events, I get many invitations to speak on the motivational side. I tell people about my unplanned artist-to-author journey and encourage them to tap into their broader possibilities. I give talks such as:

The Power of Innocent Optimism – How I wrote a novel, sold it & got a movie deal, because I didn’t know I couldn’t
Unleash the Creative Monster Within
Do You Have a Book Inside You?

The response has been tremendous at universities, schools, symphonies, libraries, businesses, and other groups. If your organization is interested, let’s talk. I can customize any presentation, and I promise it will be engaging, motivational, and fun.

A Sample from the Calendar

2008

February 6
AAUW Book Review Luncheon
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona

March 5
University of Arizona Faculty Women’s Club
Tucson, Arizona
Featured speaker

2007

August 23 through November 4
Tohono Chul Gallery
Maggie Sunshine’s Guitar featured in the Day of the Dead show –
Evening festivities October 26
Tucson

August 21
Villa Julie College
Baltimore, Maryland
Featured speaker and workshop leader

June 22
KXAM 1310 AM radio/online interview
Graceful Guidance show, 8 to 9 p.m.

May 5
University Medical Center
Arizona Arthritis Center Conference
Featured speaker

April 4 through 7
Villa Julie College – National Career Conference
Baltimore, Maryland
Featured speaker

March 3
Tucson Symphony
Art of Music Fundraiser
Contributing artist – Mosaic instrument, “Maggie Sunshine’s Guitar”

February 4
Tucson Museum of Art book group
Discussion leader

January 8
Tucson Museum of Art Docents
Guest Speaker

Some Previous Events

Tucson Symphony Orchestra MasterWorks
Sleeping with Schubert concert series
Green Valley, Arizona
Oro Valley, Arizona
Catalina Foothills, Tucson, Arizona

American Association of University Women luncheon
San Diego, California
Green Valley, Arizona
Casa de Sol
Tucson, Arizona
Keynote speaker

TEMPO – women’s professional group
Tucson, Arizona
Featured speaker

Brandeis Book & Author Luncheons
La Jolla, California
San Diego, California
Rancho Bernardo, California
Tucson, Arizona
Featured speaker

Scottsdale Public Library
Authors & Appetizers fundraiser
Scottsdale, Arizona
Featured speaker

Tucson Public Library
Circle of Friends
Featured speaker

Oro Valley Public Library book fair
Oro Valley, Tucson
Featured Speaker

Lehigh University Orchestra, Schubert concert
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Music, writing, talk – wonderful and inspiring!

Tucson Friends of the Library Annual Luncheon
Manning House
Featured speaker

Queen Mary 2
New York to England
NY – UK – Mediterranean – UK – NY
Featured speaker

Arts Alliance of the White Mountains
Pinetop, Arizona
Featured speaker

Steinway Hall
Featured event
Performance by Jeffrey Siegel and students from Juilliard, Mannes, and Manhattan School of Music who played their own seven-minute finales to Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony
New York

Steinway Gallery
Sleeping with Schubert event
David Syme, pianist
Tucson, Arizona

University of Arizona Centennial Hall fundraiser
Auction item – dinner with the author
Tucson, Arizona

And furthermore …

Sleeping with Schubert audiobook
Look for the abridged audiobook of Sleeping with Schubert, read by Michelle Santopietro, an actress best known for her recurring role in The Sopranos. An unabridged version is read by Staci Snell, and it’s wonderful.

Sony Classical CD
Sony Classical asked me for a list of my favorite Schubert pieces and made a beautiful companion CD for the book. I've heard from people who say it’s the first classical music they’ve ever owned! The Sleeping with Schubert CD (with the hardcover picture on the front) is available at Barnes & Noble, Borders and other stores.