There’s a KICK-ASS feature story in today’s L.A. Times (there’s even a pic of me and a teaser inset on the FREAKIN’ FRONT PAGE OF THE WHOLE PAPER!) You can check it out at www.alacartthebook.com/press.htm if you like.
And there was a great feature in Entertainment Weekly -- I’ll paste that in below for you.
But first, I thought you might enjoy doing a little grocery shopping with me and the Wall Street Journal. LET’S GO!
Here’s that Entertainment Weekly feature!
THANK YOU ALL for your support, great comments, cheering on, excitement, enthusiasm, and e-friendship! YOU ROCK!!
I’M GIVING AWAY $50 bucks! (OH, and my new book is O.U.T.!)
That’s right, you heard me! If you go and get my book, which comes out TODAY (and is on sale at Amazon for a mere $12.21!) and you somehow let me know you’ve gotten it, I’ll enter you in a drawing to win a $50 buck shopping spree at the grocery store of your choice!! WHOO HOOO!
Also, if you’re in Chicago, New York, or LA, I’d LOVE to see you at one of my upcoming, fun-filled reading/performanc events!
CHICAGO Wednesday, March 19, 7:30 pm Women and Children First Bookstore 5233 N. Clark St. Chicago, IL 60640
NEW YORK Friday, March 21, 7 PM Barnes & Noble 97 Warren Street (at Greenwich Street) NYC 10007
LA Thursday, March 27, 7:30 PM Barnes & Noble The Grove at Farmers Market Los Angeles, CA 90036
THANK YOU, ENJOY, AND HAPPY SHOPPING!!
XO Hillary
P.S. Here’s a sneak peek just for you. Me as DARCY:
PRAISE FOR A LA CART: THE SECRET LIVES OF GROCERY SHOPPERS: "The 26 vivid photographic portraits and accompanying narratives display the author’s humor, grace and a brilliantly creative eye. Carlip’s alter egos are larger than life and twice as entertaining... A hilarious, delightful, unique achievement." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Carlip’s amazing transformations, intriguing characters, and mix of irreverence and compassion are hugely entertaining." Booklist
"I wish I had thought of this idea -- I’m so jealous. I don’t know which is better -- seeing the actual shopping lists or seeing Hillary in disguise. This book is a real find. Add it to your shopping list. It’s on mine, right under Glue Wands and Greens for Dusty" — Amy Sedaris, author of the national bestseller I Like You
P.P.S. I LOVE all your comments and wish I could respond to each and every one personally, but I’m hitting the road for the first leg of my tour this morning, and booked every second while I’m gone. So please just know I’m SOooOO grateful, and I adore you and your comments SoooO much!!
I know, it's been a looooong time since I've given shout-out. It's not that I don't love you and miss you, it's just that I've been busy making a lil' something something just for you.... A NEW BOOK!!! (Oh, and my new page here! You like?)
Coming out in less than two weeks!!!
Check out the short, fun-filled clip on my page to find out all about it!
So many fantastic things are happening already -- including a SIX PAGE spread in Los Angeles Magazine (currently on the stands), a **STARRED** review in Publishers Weekly, an upcoming feature story in Entertainment Weeklyand TONS mo'!
And I'm going on a BOOK TOUR, where I'll do events that will be much more fun than your standard "reading" fare, and I'd love you to come if I happen to be in your 'hood! You can check out my calendar for some deets.
I'll paste in a couple o' enticing sneak preview pics.
Here's me:
And here's me as Lloyd (along with the found list he's imagined from):
And me as Pammy:
And now that you're getting to know the new ME's, I'll be changing my icon, too.
So keep an eye out for:
And, as always, thanks so much for your support and enthusiasm. It means the world to me!
XO Hillary
P.S. Have any found shopping lists? Or one of your own? They could make the sequel! Upload 'em at www.alacartthebook.com
Well, I have AWESOME news!Queen of the Oddballs is a LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD FINALIST in TWO, not one but, TWO categories!!
The LAMBDA awards, or "LAMMIES," are the literary awards honoring gay, lesbian, bi and transgendered authors. I've been told they are one of the most prestigious literary awards around. Past winners include such icons as Augusten Burroughs, David Sedaris, Jeanette Winterson, and Armistead Maupin.
I'm nominated in both the HUMOR and Lesbian MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY categories.WHOO HOOO!
The award ceremony is on May 31 in NYC. I'll keep you posted fo' sho'!
WIDGETS:
IT'S OFFICIAL!Queen of the Oddballs is a widget!
What's a widget?Well this is what I first thought when I heard the word…
Come on, witch, midget, right?Whatev!
My publisher HarperCollins ROCKS!Here's the widget they've created…
It lets you not only browse through Queen of the Oddballs, but you can also share the love and spread the word by putting this widget on your MySpace page (and/or website!) and letting everyone know you're proud to be an oddball!
If you're someone who is on the sunny side of weird, an eccentric, a trailblazer, somewhat mistrustful of the tasteful and the restrained; has an irresistible impulse to gild lilies, act forty-five when you're thirteen and thirteen when you're forty-five, travels off the beaten path, has been called an iconoclast or a cock-eyed optimist, and are not afraid to do things unaccording to plan, then YOU, my friend, ARE AN ODDBALL!
Just click on the widget where it says GET THIS FOR YOUR OWN SITE, and you'll be led to the simple code to paste into your MySpace page.
As always, I so appreciate everyone's support and enthusiasm for Queen of the Oddballs.YOU'RE ALL ROCK STARS!!!!
That's right, you heard me.Saturday night, I had dinner with the ORIGINAL Queen of the Oddballs, Phyllis Diller!!
AT HER HOUSE! OK, this may get a bit long and windbaggy, but hang in cuz ahead you'll find:
-Showbiz AND life tips from Phyllis Diller
-PICS galore of her house, her collections and HERSELF! (with me, too!=))
-An easy contest for YOU to win an autographed copy of her memoir, Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse!!
SO READ ON!
Firstly, for the few young peeps who might not know about the legend that is Phyllis Diller, Wikipedia sez she's: "One of the pioneers of female stand-up comedy.The stage character she created was a wild-haired, oddly dressed housewife who was ugly but didn't realize it, and who made jokes about a husband named "Fang" while smoking from a long cigarette holder. She is also known for her distinctive, cackling laugh. Diller is thought to have opened the stand-up field to women such as Joan Rivers, Roseanne Barr, Lily Tomlin, Totie Fields and Sandra Bernhard."
She also starred in countless films, had two TV series of her own, and despite turning freakin' NINETY YEARS OLD this coming July, is still kicking ass -- in fact she just appeared on Leno last week!!
So there were just six of us at this intimate dinner: my girlfriend Maxine, her sister Sally, two other friends of ours (Jack and Michael), and Phyllis.And the five of us realized we all had some odd connection to Phyllis.Maxine and Sally, both TV writers/producers, used to write jokes for Phyllis who sent them five bucks for every one she used!Jack's connection you'll read about ahead, and mine?Well on ONE of my appearances on The Gong Show, she was one of my judges!She gave me a perfect score of 10, and after seeing my comedy juggling song, proclaimed: "The act has balls!"
Can I tell you how totally HI-STERICAL Phyllis still is?So sharp, smart, totally present;she swears like a sailor, and is full of energy.Though she isn't performing as much, you'd never know it from the continual stream of jokes and callbacks.These days her passion is painting, and she stays up from midnight to 4:00 am in her studio creating fabulous artwork!
Here are some pics to give you an idea of her house:
Me with Phyllis's chair in her WIG AND COSTUME ROOM.
She has racks of her outrageous costumes….
… and each one features a pic of when she originally wore that particular costume.
One of her several living rooms has a wall full of awards and pics of her with famous friends…
… and also a fireplace with a dazzling painting of Phyllis hanging above it.
So, our friend Jack who went with us told the story about when he was a teenager living in North Carolina, he wrote Phyllis a fan letter and asked how he could break into the entertainment industry.She actually answered his letter PERSONALLY, and included a Xeroxed document called HOW TO GET INTO SHOW BIZ.One of her steps, and what she continually credits for her enormous success, is a book called The Magic of Believing by Claude Bristol.
A lot of you may know about the awesome movie that's getting a lot of attention called The Secret (go see it at www.thesecret.tv) (in fact, I heard it's featured on Oprah TODAY!)Well, it's really all the same principals as The Magic of Believing, which was written in the '40s!
Anywooo…. Phyllis also sent the teenaged Jack a copy of the book and years later, he not only became a successful television writer and producer, but cast Phyllis as a regular on one of his shows and ended up becoming good friends with her.HOW'S THAT for the Magic of Believing??
One of my favorite moments of the evening was when Phyllis asked my girlfriend's sister what she was up to, and Sally told her some potential good news then knocked on wood.Phyllis screeched, "NEVER KNOCK ON WOOD!That just brings in doubt.Be confident it will work out and it will!"
How much do I love Phyllis Diller?!
One other thing she credits her success to is her mentor, Bob Hope.She co-starred with him in 23 TV specials and in three films.In another living room she has a fabulous portrait of him:
She told us stories about things like her going to appear on the final Ed Sullivan show and in rehearsal, Ed ended up cutting all these punch lines to her jokes so she walked – didn't appear; she also told us some filthy jokes!
We were there from 7:00 until midnight as Phyllis knocked back martinis, and cackled that infamous laugh all night long.
So here we are, the two QUEEN OF THE ODDBALLS!!
Check out her bling!A diamond-crusted initial P!!
Wouldn't you love to get a fax from "P" with her fax cover sheet?
All you have to do is leave a comment here with the following:
- If you've read Queen of the Oddballs, leave a short description of something you remember from the book that made you believe in yourself.
- If you've not read it yet, promise that you will =), then leave a short description of a time you believed you could make something happen in your life, and you did.
I will then have one of the peeps who had dinner at Phyllis's with me pick a winner next MONDAY, FEB. 19 (to be announced in my next blog), and they will explain what their choice was based on.
OH by the way -- if you've not yet read Queen of the Oddballs here's a handy link to go get it!!
KEEP BELIEVING, won't ya??
XO Hillary
P.S.I've already received emails from people who have had amazing brushes with Phyllis.If you have a Phyllis story, or have been inspired by her, send me a message and tell your story.I will print them all out and take them to her.I know she'd love hearing from you!
Also, I've had the total pleasure of spending the last six months touring the country, and meeting many of you face to face.At all of my events during my book tour, I held contests to see who was the biggest oddball.Here are some of the winners (per audience vote, of course!)
From Caroline in Los Angeles:
From James in Pittsburgh:
From Katie in New York:
And from Julia in West Hollywood:
I'm sure most of you can top those, RIGHT??
Another extraordinary, KICK-ASS thing that came out of MySpace is that I met three other GENUIS authors and we formed the Memoirists Collective.
We held some amazing contests for writers, and gave out prizes like getting one winner's work read by a top agent, and another had their memoir proposal read by not one, but THREE editors from HarperCollins, Hyperion and Holt!
We also did a reading together in Cleveland, and have more upcoming events together!
All of this is to say MY SPACE FREAKIN' RULES and SO DO YOU!!
I have so appreciated all your letters, comments, and shout-outs –- nothing thrills me more than to know Queen of the Oddballshas inspired some of you to be more of who you are, and to start accepting how totally unique and special you are. You're all celebrities to me!!
May the year to come be full of all you desire… AND THEN SOME!!!!!!!!!!!!
So here's how it went down.The other day I was doing my thang when I get a call at about noon.
"Hillary?" It's an unfamiliar voice on the other end of the phone.
"Yes?"
"It's Mary*, one of the producers from the Ellen Degeneres Show." (*Name has been changed to protect her top-secret identity!)
"I know this is a long-shot, but are you available to come on the show again today?"
TODAY?!What am I gonna say, no?!"Uh, sure.I think I could do that."
"We want you to come on and teach Sandra Bullock how to eat fire."
OK… so here's how it all started.Back when my book, Queen of the Oddballs, was coming out in May, I decided I was determined to get on Ellen.If you read my book, or if you've not yet but are SO about to =), you'll see that that's pretty much been the story of my life.I get some oddball idea in my head, and then do everything I can to make it happen.I knew they didn't really ever have authors on, so I tracked down a producer, and pitched the idea that I teach Ellen how to eat fire.
Long story short, they went for it, and asked me to come appear on the show.
They put me right into the make-up and hair room, they work their magic, and then I'm called backstage.
A stage manager takes all my fire-eating props -- torches, fuel, etc -- and puts them on the set.I'm waiting for my cue to enter, just as soon as Sandra Bullock arrives.She's on the soundstage next door, taping The Tonight Show, then running over to join me just in time for our segment.
Sandra Bullock, I'll call her Sandy since we're just moments away from doing a bit together on national TV, dashes in.She's looking fabulous and sassy, with a new short-ish hairdo that's totally lacquered in place, bobbing on her shoulders as she bounces onto the stage.
I gather my composure, about to follow her onto the stage, when the FIRE MARSHALL (yeah, they have those on all the shows) STOPS ME.
"Sorry. You can't go on. We have to cut your segment."
"What?!Why?"
"Look at Sandra Bullock's hair.They used way too much hairspray on her at the Tonight Show."
"So…?"
"Hairspray's flammable, Ma'am."
(OK, so he didn't call me "Ma'am," but it so felt like one of those "Ma'am" type moments.)
I'm about to protest, to convince him everything is safe. But then I have a vision of what could happen.
AMAZING PUBLICITY for me and my book, Queen of the Oddballs, perhaps, but potential lawsuits, the scarring of the beautiful actress, Sandy, –- maybe even the whole set would have burst into flames and Ellen and the studio audience would have all perished just because of me.
So back in the dressing room my friend Michelle, who came along for the whole debacle, takes a pic of me with Sandy on the monitor, taping what is supposed to be OUR segment! (Note to self: forget camera phones, time to bring a REAL camera with me everywhere!)
And lastly, here's me leaving the studio after yet another oddball experience.
The good news? They said they'd have me back for sure. So I'll definitely keep ya'all posted!
As my book tour for my memoir, Queen of the Oddballs, is winding down, I'm sOOooOO looking forward to having more time to keep my blog updated, as well as respond to all the spectacular shout-outs, email, messages, comments, etc. that have piled up beyond control!
In the meantime, for your pleasure, I'm going to share a list of:
** TOP EIGHT HIGHLIGHTS from my book tour! ** (in no special order)
1. In Los Angeles, I went to do an in-studio, one-hour interview for a gay radio show on Sirius.I just assumed the core audience would be PERFECT for my book, which is a queer memoir, chock full o' pop culture.Once I arrived, I was informed that the listeners to that particular show were mostly… ready… TRANNY TRUCKERS!Who even knew there were enough to constitute a whole group, let alone a radio audience??Our trucker hats off to ya!
2. At a book festival in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, I hung out with two Pulitzer Prize winners, the U.S. Poet Laureate, best-selling authors, and made friends with Nancy Pearl, the ROCK STAR librarian who has an action figure modeled after her (and it outsells the Jesus and Moses action figures!!)
3.On a television morning show in Phoenix Arizona, at the last minute I was asked to co-host!They neglected to inform me that I would also appear IN A GARDENING SEGMENT!It was actually total oddball fun.And did you know that Cream of Wheat will make ants in your garden explode?Yeah, me neither.Don't try it at home.
(I wasn't able to get an actual pic off the DVD but here's a recreation of me with Dave The Garden Guy!)
4.I was on the morning news in Chicago at WGN-TV, performing my Gong Show winning comedy juggling song.(Check out the original video on my page, if you haven't!)I needed a prop table to set my juggling balls (hidden in gold lamé purse)down on as I performed. The stage manager brought me a table, and proudly exclaimed: "This was the original Bozo's table." Yeah. You heard me.
5.While I was trekking through the country on tour, so were the Warner Bros. recording artists, The DittyBops. Except they were doing their whole tour ON BICYCLES!Apparently along the way, they read Queen of the Oddballs and loved it.They said so on their blog, where they "highly recommended" it. Here's a pic of them on a tour stop – check out what's on the table!
