I Read The Happy Hooker, 900 Pages, in One Day

I was a voracious reader from the time I was old enough to hold a book in my hand. So it's no surprise that I was reading well above my grade in elementary school. I could easily pick up a book that was 300 to 400 pages and finish it in a day or a week. But this next story I'm about to tell you is not just above my grade, it was well above my age and would have turned plenty of heads. Of course, now I look back on it and laugh. It gives me a funny story to tell.

When I was 14, I was asked to babysit for a 12-year-old boy for one of our neighbors on a Saturday afternoon while his mom worked. Of course, being 12, he really didn't need babysitting. He just needed an adult in the house in case anything should happen. So he played by himself and I needed something to occupy my time. I found a paperback novel on the mom's bedside nightstand and I picked it up and started reading it. It was The Happy Hooker, and it was 900 pages.

Well, I read that book for eight hours and I only had about 90 pages left when the mom came home. I asked her if I could take it home and finish it and, of course, she said no. 

Four decades later, I can't even remember what the book said, except for one scene where she had sex with a horse. She got underneath the horse and got on all fours. Literally that's the only thing I remember. 

But what sticks with me like it was yesterday is that now I find my request to the mom embarassing. Back then, I just wanted to finish the dang book. I had gotten so far and didn't want to leave the book unfinished. 

One of life's little funny stories!

Check out my novels on Amazon: https://www.lynnellenrusso.com/in-fashion-s-web.

#fiction, #books, #bookwriter, #bookreader, #library, #paperbackbook, #womensfiction

The Book The Handmaid's Tale Is Not for Everyone

Well, that could be said of every book. But this one, in particular, as I started reading it, made me very uncomfortable. The reason: It's about oppressed women. I describe it as a combination of Nazism meets the Taliban meets Communism meets Animal Farm. Scary.

I could never live like that. I'm a strong, independent woman and I don't like having barriers put in front of me. Don't tell me I can't. Don't tell me women don't. Don't make me subservient. That just makes me want to do it more. I want to be in control of my own life. 

One day when I was 10 I couldn't find any kids to play with. There were some boys playing football with one of the dads and I was bored so I asked if I could play. The dad said, "Girls don't play football." I never got over it, lol. I still have a chip on my shoulder about that incident, five decades later. 

So imagine when I started reading The Handmaid's Tale and discovered all the things women couldn't do. I was thinking, oh no. I can't read this. This would just make me angry. And it did. But it also hooked me, because I needed to learn what happened next, and next, and next. 

Then in the end, the author, Margaret Atwood, left such a cliffhanger that she gave me no choice but to go out and buy the sequel, The Testaments. Because I had to read what happens next. Imagine a book so good that it makes you read about something you don't like. This was that book. But clearly it has hooked a lot of people because it's a New York Times best seller and a Los Angeles Times Book Prize winner (back in 1986; yep, it's that old). And, as you probably know, it was made into a Hulu series. So clearly it hits home for a lot of readers and watchers. 

Would I recommend it to women? Yes. You may not like what it's about, but it's a hell of a good read.

Check out my women's fiction novels @ lynnellenrusso.com.

That Heart Shaped Sound Hole on My Book Cover Is Real, Not Photoshopped

 

At first, I thought it was something Mary Beth, my book's graphic designer, did herself. But then my boyfriend Matt, who's a guitarist and musician, told me there actually is a company that makes electric acoustic guitars with heart-shaped "sound holes". So I looked them up. 

The company is called Zemaitis. According to Google AI, the company was founded by Tony Zemaitis, a Brit, in the 1950s. Apparently, he couldn't find a guitar he felt comfortable with so he built his own. Since he was a cabinetmaker, woodworking was something he was experienced with. He became famous for building 12-string guitars and even built one called "Ivan the Terrible" for Eric Clapton in 1969.

But Wikipedia says Tony Zemaitis was most known for building "metal top" guitars, and that the second guitar he ever built was acquired by Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones. Zemaitis eventually built four of these metal top guitars for Wood in the 1970s, according to Wikipedia.

Today, Zemaitis is owned by Japanese Kanda Shokai Corporation, which manufacturers the guitars in Tokyo. The Kanda Shokai website, which is available in English, lists no prices for the Zemaitis electric acoustic guitars with heart-shaped sound holes, listing them only as having an "open price", which I assume means expensive but negotiable. But one sale on eBay had a few vintage guitars going for $940 each, including a case and import fees. 

If I was a guitar afficionado, I think I would have to have one of these in my collection!

Announcing My Second Novel: Always Ever You

 

I'm so excited to announced that my second #novel, #AlwaysEverYou, is now available on #Amazon! 

Always Ever You is a story of resilience and strength.

Sally is a successful singer, songwriter and music producer in Nashville. But her life wasn’t always great. After waking up one morning to find that she had hit rock bottom and lost nearly everything she had, Sally claws her way back to a life of health, happiness, wholeness, and the career success she had once given up on. Through the heartache, the sweat and the tears, Sally finds determination, a will to move forward and an abundance of talent she never knew she had.

This book is immersed deeply in the music industry and specifically in Nashville and in country music. 

The subject matter is also very near and dear to my heart because I like to say I bleed, live and breathe country music. I've been to Nashville and want to go back...often. 

This book also has a few interesting crossover treatments, including songwriting and a children's story. 

Find my novels at Amazon here. And if you read them and enjoy them I would appreciate it if you would please leave me an Amazon and a #Goodreads review. Thank you! https://tinyurl.com/y48sb9fc