Helen Ellis has done it again.
InBring Your Baggage and Don’t Pack Light, the author discusses everything from menopause to seeing a psychic.
What is the first thing ever that you remember writing?
All the dirty words I knew on the first page of my 1979 fourth grade Ziggy diary.
What is the last book that made you cry?
From Scratchby Tembi Locke.
It breaks your heart, but builds you up.
Because even in sorrow, she shows us that there is appreciation and joy.
Which book is at the top of your current To-Read list?
Our next book, I’ll Take Manhattan, is by our favorite author, Judith Krantz.
We founded our club in 2013 and our first pick wasScruples.
We’ve read 76 classic trashy books since then.
Where do you write?
Some days, like today, I work in Stack 7: Biography.
Whenever I get stuck writing about my own life, I dip into somebody else’s.
When I leave, I pass by a row of Judith Krantz’s books.
Which book made you a forever reader?
Are You There, God?
It’s Me Margaretby Judy Blume.
And whatever happens, you’ll be okay.
What is a snack you couldn’t write without?
If you could change one thing about any of your books what would it be?
I’d move my acknowledgement pages to the fronts.
I’d like to saythank youstraight out of the gate.
What is your favorite part ofBring Your Baggage and Don’t Pack Light?
My favorite part is bragging about my friends.Look how my friend Vicki beat cancer!
Look how my friend Paige got out of a bad marriage!
Look how my friend Michelle had a baby on her own at 50!
Look how The Bridge Ladies are taking over New York!
What was the hardest plot point or character to write?
The hardest essay for me to write was “Are You There Menopause?
It’s Me, Helen.”
Write a movie-poster tag line for the book:
Some women eat, pray, love.
I bet, raise, shove.
