January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
April 2006
April 4, 2006
Only one interview this week. The slowdown in the interview process has given me a much-needed chance to catch my breath and start writing up some of the profiles for the book. I've got drafts of a dozen or so profiles completed, and just sent a sample profile, including all of the sidebar elements, to my editor for her feedback. Because the design of the profiles and all of the elements is going to be a key part of making this book successful, we wanted to get a sample to the design department early on in the process so we could start figuring out how everything will be laid out. This also helped me to plan how all of the information I'm gathering is going to work together to create a profile that is readable, interesting, and most of all, has the kind of information that teen girls will find helpful.
Tonight I had a bit of a sidetrack to the book writing. I taught a class for MediaBistro.com on how to break into the world of nonfiction publishing. The class went very well…the students were all working on very diverse and interesting projects, and I really enjoyed the process of teaching them. I hope to do more of these classes down the road.
April 6, 2006
I live thousands of miles away from my parents, so anytime my rents want to see me, they hop on a plane and head out west. My mom loves to fly. She gets giddy with excitement about nearly everything…from the feeling of takeoff to the views of the snow-capped mountains out the window. When my mom arrives, she always gives me a recap of the flight in great detail, and without fail describes the captain of the plane. If it was a woman, it's definitely a very big deal. "The voice on the intercom came on from the captain, and it was a woman!" she'll say, as if it's still rare for a woman to be a captain at a major commercial airline. Well, actually it is.
Today I interviewed Christine Tucker, a captain with American Airlines, and I shared this story with her at the start of our talk. Christine laughed and said that she always feels bad for her male co-pilots because nobody every pays any attention to them. LOL!
April 7, 2006
I've been trying to find the perfect business executive to profile for the book. Today I spoke with representatives from Avon, which is not only a Fortune 500 company with a woman at the helm, but it has been named one of the most women-friendly companies to work for. So I was totally psyched when I found out that Claudia Poccia, the president of Avon's new teen line, mark, wanted to be a part of the book. We set up an interview for next week.
April 12, 2006
Today I interviewed a veterinarian for the book, Anke Langenbach. As an animal lover, there has always been a part of me that has dreamed of being a veterinarian. In fact, that wannabe vet is still probably hidden away somewhere inside my brain. Anyway… I got hooked up with Anke because she married one of my childhood neighbors, Steve. I had actually been at their wedding reception nearly fifteen years ago, but there were so many people there that I hadn't really had a chance to speak with her. But I did know that she was a very successful surgical veterinarian with her own practice, and she seemed like the perfect person to include. And she was! I could tell from our talk just how passionate Anke is about taking care of animals. I told her about my childhood dreams of being a vet someday, and she said that she hears that from a lot of people. I wonder what it is about the career that has so many people interested, yet they ultimately decide not to pursue it? Anke thinks that the educational requirements scare people away…
April 13, 2006
Two more great interviews today: Claudia Poccia and Cindy Guagenti.
Claudia is the president of Avon's teen brand, mark. Someone from her PR department sat in on the interview as well, and they were both very interesting and offered an indepth perspective of what it's like to be the president of a major company. All of the women I'm interviewing for this book are passionate, but Claudia has to be one of the most passionate thus far. I always feel incredibly positive after interviews like this…it's really inspiring to talk with people who are doing their life work—there's a natural joy that comes through.
My interview with Cindy Guagenti this afternoon was really interesting as well. Cindy is a publicist with big PR agency BWR, and I've seen her name in print countless times because she represents clients like Brad Pitt and Adam Sandler. Every time Brad and Angela issue a statement about their adoptions or house plans or whatever, it comes through Cindy.
It was interesting to learn about her job…I realized that I didn't know much about her work. It's definitely not as glamorous as it sounds. I know that tends to be the case with just about every career I'm featuring in the book, but with this career, it seems even more so, perhaps because there is so much hype about Hollywood publicists and their world perpetuated by shows like HBO's Entourage.
Anyway…the draft is coming along nicely, although I'm starting to feel a little…hmmm, what's the right phrase. Not "freaked out," but I'm definitely feeling the pressure of the amount of writing that has to be done over the next several weeks in order to hit my May 1 deadline. Writing it wouldn't be so tough if I weren't still doing so many interviews which then have to be transcribed, as well as still trying to nail down more women to profile. Deep breath….
April 17, 2006
I'm totally psyched because I just scheduled my interview with Melissa Block, co-host of NPR's All Things Considered, for Wednesday. I've been trying to get this on the books for some time now, so I'm very glad that it's going to happen!
I also grabbed lunch with photographer Amanda Koster today, since when we met for the book, it seemed like we had a lot of common interests. It was very nice to connect with a new friend in Seattle who feels passionate about the same sorts of issues as I do.
April 19, 2006
Today was my interview with Melissa Block, and it couldn't have gone better. Because I'm a news junkie, I really ate up everything Michelle said, as if she wasn't just sharing her insight for the readers of In Their Shoes, but for me, too. She is really an impressive woman…she's covered such incredible events and is knowledgeable in so many areas. I also felt like I knew her, since I listen to her just about every afternoon on NPR. Anyway…I'm really happy that it worked out for her to be a part of the book.
This afternoon, I connected with Leanne Lusk, a Coast Guard Lt. based in San Francisco. Leanne was really wonderful…so open and down-to-earth about her job. And because I feel like there are a lot of preconceived notions about what it's like to be a woman in the military, Leanne did a great job of shedding an insider's perspective on that issue. I was also really surprised when, at the end of the interview, I found myself feeling a tinge of regret that I hadn't pursued a career like Leanne…it seems like she's had such amazing opportunities through her job and the benefits were pretty great, too.
April 25, 2006
Seriously busy day!!! I had three meetings today. First I talked with Karen Lederer, a professor at the University of Massachusetts who teaches, among other classes, a course called Career and Life Choices for Women. Cara, an editorial assistant at S&S who is helping Michelle work on the book, took this class with Karen while in undergrad, and recommended that I interview her for the book. So we had a great phone meeting this morning and talked about the realities of the work environment for women—what women can expect, how teen girls can become better prepared to handle potential conflicts and disappointments arising from gender issues in advance and so on. It was really interesting to get her perspective, and I think it will be very useful for the mini-article I'm going to write featuring statistics about men and women in the workforce.
Later in the morning, I interviewed Susannah Grant, a screenwriter that my friend Lisa put me in touch with. I know a number of screenwriters …some who have never sold a script in their life, and some who have sold one or two but primarily make their living freelancing or doing script rewrites. Susannah is considered a very successful screenwriter, in that she has written a number of very commercial movies, including Ever After, 28 Days, Erin Brockovich, In Her Shoes and Charlotte's Web, and is now directing her first feature, Catch & Release starring Jennifer Garner. The interview was great, and my plan is to try and have it presented in screenplay format for the book if S&S is game.
Finally, I interviewed Miriam Kramer this afternoon. Miriam is a yoga instructor who, believe it or not, lives only a few blocks from my old hood in West Hollywood. Even though I thought I really understood what this job was all about since I've been going to yoga for years now, I once again was surprised at how much different the day-to-day career is from what I imagined. Anyway…Miriam was just what I expected…very earthy, spiritual, warm. It should make for a great profile!
April 26, 2006
Today I spent the morning with nanny Sara Lynch. I met Sara through my friends Tia and Doug, since she takes care of their little girl (and Asher's sometimes playmate), Campbell. Tia and Doug love Sara and think she is an excellent nanny, and I knew she'd make a good profile for the book.
I could tell that Sara loves her job, and she shared some useful insights for girls who might want to make this a fulltime career. I'm going to try and schedule a photo shoot later on with Sara and Campbell for the book…it might be nice to have a photo of them both.
April 27, 2006
I'm exhausted. I have much to write about, but I'll save most of it for my diary entry that will eventually be in the book. I'm in a hotel outside of Portland at the moment, nibbling on a big hunk of cheesecake and sipping a glass of white wine while I type up my notes from my day and try to finish up some last-minute sidebars from my book manuscript, which, believe it or not, is actually almost complete!!
I had a GREAT day with firefighter Danielle Aust, who was kind enough to let me spend the entire afternoon and early evening with her and her crew while I tagged along and tried to soak in as much as I could about the atmosphere and Danielle's career reality. Although we didn't get called out on any fire or rescue emergencies today, we did have a great talk and she and her colleagues took me out for a ride-along after dinner so I could experience the whole "fire engine" thing. It was great. But now must get back to work…
April 28, 2006
Oh happy day!!!!! My editor Michelle has given me a two-week extension on my deadline for the book!!!! I would have been ready to turn it in next week, but to have the extra time will give me a chance to go through and clean up the manuscript and make sure it's in as great a shape as I would like. Yippee!!
On another note, I brainstormed during my drive home from Portland with my little digital recorder and planned out the rest of the my mini-essays for the book. By the way… did I mention that I came up with a name for the little essays? I thought it would be appropriate to call them "lunchbreaks," since they'll be interspersed throughout the book like little "bites" of information.
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© 2003-2007 Deborah Reber
