Thursday, June 19, 2008

Jen Lancaster



Last night was so much fun! I saw one of my very favorite authors, Jen Lancaster, at the Tattered Cover.

Jen is exactly how you would want her to be: funny, warm, down to earth, and snarky without being bitchy. She told hilarious stories, and read from one of the funniest chapters in her new book, “Such a Pretty Fat”. She even did the eye roll when asked about her mother – and you can tell she loves the woman but that her mom stands on her very last nerve. Often.

One of the funniest things about Jen is that she talks exactly like she writes, footnotes and all. It was interesting to watch her, as she is so comfortable with the audience. The audience loved her - - but of course we did. We feel like she is a friend of ours. We’ve been with her through some of her hardest times, laughed with her (and, lets be honest, AT her) during the ridiculous, and we understand “The Fletcher Factor.” (Her fans were begging for more Fletch stories… my favorite being in her second book – the best of her three books IMO – where he chases the coyote and Jen muses about Fletch having lost his mind.)

When I went up to get my books signed, I told her my name and she remembered me from a few emails we have exchanged. A line from one of her emails to me ended up in her new book, and I was amazed that she remembered it was I on the other end of the email. I have to admit, I was a bit star struck – which surprised me. I had a hard time thinking of anything intelligent to say to her once it was my turn, and mostly just smiled and nodded my head I think. (The only other time that happened to me? When I met the Duchess of York at a Weight Watchers meeting. So! Damn! Exciting!) I’m sure I came off as some sort of creepy stalker fan, but I swear I’m not. I would have stuck around to see if she ended early and had time for extra chat time with her fans, but was sure that if she didn’t think I was stalking her before, that would turn the corner for her - and by the size of the crowd I didn’t think there would be any time left over.


I do hope that next time she visits Denver she can stay a bit longer. It would be fun to have her meet with fans away from the confines of the bookstore – so that we could all order the “Drink of 2008” with her and she could prove to us that it doesn’t actually have lawn clippings in it! I know that when she comes back to promote her “Pretty in Plaid” book (#4, which she is currently writing) I’ll be in the front row again.


Oh, and Jen? I would have never suspected the tattoo!

8 comments:

ganelle said...

What are the names of her books? You had mentioned pre-ordering something earlier - is this the same lady? I'm always up for a book recommendation!

Vanessa said...

YAY! I'm so glad she made it to your town. The night here with her was fabulous and I had that same star struck moment when she told me I had cute hair. She is nothing short of fabulous!

Aimee said...

Sounds like you had a great time, I need to get her books, they sound very funny!!!

tz said...

so remind me i want to read her when i'm done with nursing school!

I think you should put the picture in a pretty frame and write a love poem to her and send it...that's not creepy or stalkerish, it's just showing you care

hahaha, alrighty, i'm cracking myself up right now...

tz said...

and when i say love poem...i mean girl-crush love poem...sorry, didn't mean to imply anything...

fyi..have you thought of writing, i bet you could write something great, funny and very very readable.!

Deborah said...

Sounds like a fun evening. I've got the book on my Amazon wish list. Maybe next paycheck...

Sitting In Silence said...

Wow ...sounds like you had a great time....

I love doing things like this....I read a book a few years ago and e-mailed the author....to my surprize she e-mailed me back...

We still keep in contact....

xoxoxox

Jennifer McKenzie said...

I am SOOOOOOOO jealous!!!!!!!!!!! She is so awesome!!!
I loved "Bitter Is The New Black" and "Bright Lights, Big Ass". I haven't gotten her new one yet, but I have a birthday coming up.
That's an awesome picture!!!
Congratulations.