Riehlife Back of the Envelope Book Marketing Plan for “Pen to Print” Panel at SCN National Memoir Conference, Austin, Texas

In 2006 I published my book “Sightlines: A Poet’s Diary”with iUniverse. While my first-line audience was friends and family, I quickly found there were second-third-and-fourth-line audiences rippling out there who were interested in my book, my topic, and by extension, in me and what I thought and had to say. I marketed “Sightlines” by every…

SCN’s National Memoir Conference Henfest 130 strong—like relaxing and writing with a group of girlfriends

“Who’s the designer for your blouse?” asks Martha Fleming from San Antonio, Texas. “Gosh, I don’t know. Go ahead and check the label,” I say, holding up the the inside collar for her inspection. It’s “Connie’s Moon Light.” I bought it at the St. Louis Art Museum boutique right before I left because I thought…

Kenoter Nancy Slonim Aronie knocks our socks off at SCN National Memoir Conference

By chance, I encountered Nancy in the hallway before her talk. My gaze caught by the runching and siver-shine of her skirt. She was also sock-footed, sans shoes. “Oh, I had these shoes especially made,” she mentioned off-handly. “Forgive my gaze, it was the lines and fabric of your skirt that caught my eye. I’m…

Sally Andrade’s Austin Picks & Toma Mi Corazon, El Paso (a “prima”/cousin to the Austin event that Sally helped create to support AVANCE)

Hi, Janet, How cool that you’re in Austin and having a great time! Some other places that you might enjoying visiting to eat out are the East Side Cafe which is not too far from where we used to live in Wilshire Woods (http://www.eastsidecafeaustin.com/) and Curra’s (http://www.currasgrill.com), both favorites of mine. And BE SURE to…

SCN Conference Goody Bag makes me feel like a movie star

At registration each of us received a beautiful translucent lavendar Goodie Bag. Did we have any Faragamo shoes inside? Nope, but there were teas, candies, special soaps, lotion a hand-crafted journal, and “The Tale of Cuckoo Bow Wood” from the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter Mysteries by Susan Wittig Albert, the founder of Story Circles…

Journey to National Memoir Conference, Austin, Texas, Story Circle Network—Stories from the Heart IV

Yesterday as I stepped out of my St. Louis apartment to walk my five blocks to the Metrolink, I opened the door to snow. Journeys in one’s 50s are different than in ones 20s…but yesterday I did my best to meet all the little twirks of modern travel with a measure of joie de vivre….

“Change Therapy” hosts progressive dinner party-style blog carnival…Riehlife helps Isabella Mori pass the appetizers.

If you like blog carnivals, you’ll love visiting Isabella Mori’s “Change Therapy” site where she’s serving the appetizers for a progressive dinnerparty-style Soup to Nuts blog carnival. One of my blog postings on my father’s longevity and youthful outlook secrets is one of the appetizer dishes she is serving up. I think you’ll find this…

Ecology Tip of the Day: Eliminate unwanted catalogs, simplify your life, save natural resources at Catalog Choice.org

While setting up my apartment in the Central West End in St. Louis after my move from Northern California, I ordered some furniture over the web. The company apparently sold my contact information to all the catalog companies in the world, and suddenly, my mailbox was beseiged by unsolicited mail from eager merchants. If you,…