Nancy Rommelmann

The Bad Mother - And So it Begins...

I did send out advance copies of my novel, The Bad Mother, which publishes in three days. It was especially important to me to get a read from fellow LA writers. So far, so good. They have my big gratitude for taking the time and also, for allowing me to quote them, below.

"The Bad Mother was utterly harrowing and sweet, alien and recognizable all at the same time. I didn't know which child to empathize with more. This is obviously the work of not only a good writer, but also a very good mother.”

Erika Schickel, author of You’re Not the Boss of Me: Adventures of a Modern Mom

"Journalist Nancy Rommelmann left her Hollywood beat some time ago. In this, her debut novel, she delivers a heartfelt, unforgettable love letter to the street kids who society would just as soon forget."

Mark Ebner, author of Hollywood, Interrupted and Six Degrees of Paris Hilton

“I’ve long admired Nancy Rommelmann’s non-fiction because, with brutal compassion and emotional wallop, she unfailingly reveals that no life is really ordinary. Now, she brings the same promise and punch to her first novel, The Bad Mother. You may find it hard to look at these beautifully desperate characters, but it’s much harder to look away." 

David Rensin, author of All For A Few Perfect Waves and The Mailroom

Michael Totten, Libya, and "The Road to Fatima Gate"

When I moved to Portland from Los Angeles, in 2004, I knew no other writers here. I had, however, been given an introduction, by Matt Welch, to Michael Totten, a blogger writing about the Middle East. Michael and I were not covering the same terrain, but nevertheless, met for a coffee at the then-rather wonderful Gotham Building Tavern, and made what might be considered small shop-talk. It was not until we were walking to our respective cars that we really got going, about how serious each of us was about the work we do; about sharing opportunities, and about what it was like to be a very ambitious journalist in a town that preferred its news within a 20-mile radius (or from wire service). A friendship was born.

Over the years, I have watched, in awe, Michael make his career: beholden to no one, on his own terms, and on his own dime, often with money donated by his loyal, many-thousands fan-base. We have, at least a half-dozen times, spoken of the books we are working on, how we want to publish them, how we don't, and when the hell was all this going to happen?

It is happening in March 2011, for each of us. My novel, The Bad Mother, is being released March 1. Michael's book, The Road to Fatima Gate: The Beirut Spring, the Rise of Hezbollah, and the Iranian War Against Israel, is now available for pre-order. You can read a sample chapter here.

Or, you can read one of the very finest pieces of journalism you will encounter, "In the Land of the Brother Leader," a piece Michael orginally wrote for the LA Weekly, about his time in Libya, a piece with special resonance right now.

Congratulations, Michael x 

Back to the Future

Another must-see photo project: Back to the Future, by Irina Werning. We are glad you became a little obsessed! So good, SO good. The power of art.

 

Loggernaut Reading Series at Ristretto Roasters

Ristretto is thrilled to host Loggernaut Reading Series, featuring three outstanding writers -- Carl Adamshick, Debra Gwartney and Mary Rechner -- responding to the prompt, "wild." Two dollars at the door, coffee and wine inside. Come; it's going to be a great evening.

Wednesday, February 23, at 7:30 PM

Ristretto Roasters Williams

3808 N. Williams Ave., Portland, 503-288-8667

 

 

Carl Adamshick's debut collection, Curses and Wishes, was selected for the 2010 Walt Whitman Award. The recipient of an Oregon Literary Fellowship, his poems have appeared in numerous journals, including American Poetry Review, the Harvard Review, and Narrative. He lives in Portland.

Debra Gwartney is the author of the memoir Live Through This (2009), a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award as well as the PNBA award. [I met Debra and her daughters and had the privilege to write about them.] She is also the co-editor, along with her husband Barry Lopez, of Home Ground: Language for an American Landscape. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Triquarterly Review, Kenyon Review, Prairie Schooner, Salon, The New York Times "Modern Love" column, and elsewhere. She is a faculty member at Pacific University's MFA program. 

Mary Rechner is the author of the story collection Nine Simple Patters for Complicated Women (Propeller Books, 2010). Her stories, criticism, and essays have appeared in Kenyon Review, The Believer, and New England Review. She is originally from Long Island, lives in Portland, and directs the Writers in the Schools program at Literary Arts.

Drowning Beautiful

Go look at this. I promise you, you are going to be wowed.

 

My Mother Tells a Joke

So this is at the old age home. This guy walks up to this woman and says, "I bet you can't guess how old I am."

She says, "I bet I can."

He says, "How?"

She says, "Pull down your pants."

He does, and she feels his balls, and then says, "Eighty-seven."

The guy says, "How did you know?"

She says, "We did this yesterday."

(Rim shot!)

The Elements of Scrum

Ristretto Reading Series is pleased to present the book launch for The Elements of Scrum, a field guide to the practice of this popular software development methodology, co-authored by Chris Sims, one of the country’s leading scrum trainers, and author and business journalist Hillary Johnson, around these parts known as sister of Ristretto owner and roaster Din Johnson, also my husband.

Please join us tonight, Wednesday February 9, at Ristretto Roasters Williams, 3808 N. Williams Ave., in Portland. More info on the website, and at Ristretto Reading Series Facebook page.

Sure, sure, you're thinking, but what the heck is scrum? My favorite two answers yesterday: "something vaguely dirty" and "a Scandinavian rum." For answers, come on by tonight -- we'll be pouring wine -- and get a little primer below.

 

Scrum is an agile methodology that helps software development teams learn to achieve the team equivalent of Abraham Maslow’s concept of “self-actualization”, a higher state of being characterized by flow, performance, synergy and happiness. Scrum is named after the rugby field phenomenon where the whole team locks arms to press forward as one, and it has applications beyond the world of software, in any work environment where small teams of people collaborate to get things done.

Chris Sims is a Certified Scrum Trainer and agile coach who has been helping teams improve their happiness and productivity since the turn of the century. He has made a living in roles such as: scrum master, product owner, engineering manager, C++ developer, musician, and auto mechanic. Chris is the founder of Agile Learning Labs and a frequent presenter at agile conferences.

Hillary Louise Johnson is an author and former business journalist who has written on innovation, technology and pop culture for Inc Magazine and the Los Angeles Times. As an intellectual property consultant she has drafted numerous technology patents. She has been editor-in-chief of several print and online publications and is now Agile Learning Labs’ creative director.

This event, as are all Ristretto Reading events, is free and open to everyone.