Trivia and the Surreal
Strange moments, weird coincidences, unexplainable occurrences. Every life has them. I'd like to share some of mine with you. Let's start with an essay for Smithsonian Magazine. It paid well and I'd not yet published much of anything, but they listed me as Grandell, instead of Crandell.
Tattoos, RV Tour, Dermatologists, and OITNB...
ISBN tattoo
RV book tour: fun and humiliating
In 2004, when my first book was published, I had the ISBN tattooed on my right shoulder. A photo of it appeared in Publishers Weekly. It's the only tattoo I have. I've found only librarians can appreciate this passion. I'm often asked to expose my tattoo to prove it.
RV book tour: fun and humiliating
RV book tour: fun and humiliating
From Atlanta to Aurora, Illinois, the RV book tour taught me about Walmart parking lots, how to empty a portable toilet, water pressure, pigs pooping on live TV, and the kindness of total strangers. Ten days on the road was invigorating, even if the events were similar to trying to sell Amway. You can watch the trip in cinéma vérité style here:
Flawless Skin Book Tour
Nine cities, and nine dermatologists who appeared with me. I read from the novel, and attendees got free skin care tips. No pics, no video, just nice memories. The novel was adapted for film by Jack Thorne. The movie was never made but the adaptation is beautiful.
Paul Schaffer
There was a publicity event in NYC. I was one of the authors. Paul Schaffer was there. I grew up watching Letterman. I tried to speak to Paul but froze up. Later, Paul was playing a piano intensely and a massive photo of Kerouac fell on a publicist's head. An ambulance was called. Paul and his wife cared for the publicist, her head in their laps, and all I could think was: I wish it had been me.
Orange is the New Black
I got a call in the summer of 2017 from an acquaintance in Alabama. She said, "I just saw your book on OITNB." It was true. It didn't get made into a movie, but it was a thrill to see it in a scene in the Netflix series I loved. I got more emails about people seeing the cover in the episode than I did when the book was published. Honestly
I got a call in the summer of 2017 from an acquaintance in Alabama. She said, "I just saw your book on OITNB." It was true. It didn't get made into a movie, but it was a thrill to see it in a scene in the Netflix series I loved. I got more emails about people seeing the cover in the episode than I did when the book was published. Honestly, though, I've watched the scene lots of times, and it makes me smile.
Jimmy Carter
My 1st memoir was set in 1976 and my love for then candidate Carter was a big focus. My 2nd memoir won the Georgia Author of the Year and I had to beat out President Carter. What if we write some stories that are already connected to the present, past and future? That reminds me:
“A certain man once lost a diamond cuff-link in the wide blu
My 1st memoir was set in 1976 and my love for then candidate Carter was a big focus. My 2nd memoir won the Georgia Author of the Year and I had to beat out President Carter. What if we write some stories that are already connected to the present, past and future? That reminds me:
“A certain man once lost a diamond cuff-link in the wide blue sea, and twenty years later, on the exact day, a Friday apparently, he was eating a large fish - but there was no diamond inside. That’s what I like about coincidence.” ― Vladimir Nabokov,
