Book Excerpt Dancing Naked in Dixie

DNID - EXCERPT # 1

I’m a travel writer at Getaways magazine. Paid for the glorious task of gathering up fascinating snippets of culture and piecing them into quirky little stories. Jet-setting to the Riviera, exploring the Great Barrier Reef, basking on Bermuda beaches. It’s as glamorous and exhilarating as I imagined.

Okay, it is a tad lonely, from time to time.

And quite exhausting.

Which is precisely why I have to get organized.

Today.

I sink into my chair and try to concentrate. What to tackle first? Think, think.  

“Julia Sullivan!”                 

Third reminder. Uh-oh.

Marietta rolls her eyes and jerks a thumb toward the inevitable. “Guess you better walk the plank,” she teases. “New guy’s waiting. Haven’t met him yet, but I’ve heard he’s the ‘take no prisoners’ sort. Hope you come back alive.”

I grope for something witty and casual to say, but all of a sudden, my head feels light and hollow.

            I’ve been dying to find out about the new editor.

Every last gory detail.

Until now.

“I’m still in another time zone,” I offer up to Marietta with a weak smile. My insides toss from side to side as I slide out of my chair.

Marietta tosses me a wry look. “Nice try. Get going already, sport.”

I tilt my head toward the hallway and pretend to pout. When I look back, Marietta’s already disappeared. Smart girl.

“Fine, fine.” I tug a piece of rebellious auburn hair into place, smooth my wool suit, and begin to march toward the inevitable.

Our new editor.

My neck prickles.

I’m not going to worry. Not much anyway.

            My pulse thuds.

            Not going to worry about change. Or re-organization. Or pink slips.

            Focus, Julia.

DNID - EXCERPT # 2

“But, I have plans. Every night next week. Tickets to the Met, a fundraiser, a gallery opening, and I have book club on Monday.” I don’t mention the Filene’s trip I’d planned. Or the romantic date I’ve been promising Andrew, my neglected boyfriend of four years.

David waves a hand to dismiss it all. “Marietta can handle the magazine-related responsibilities.” From the top drawer of his desk he produces an airline ticket and a manila folder with my name on it. He sets them on the edge of his desk. Something I can’t decipher plays on his lips.

I keep my voice even. “What about Bali?” I had planned to leave for the South Pacific a week from Friday. “It’s on my calendar. It’s been on there…”    

David shakes his head. “Not anymore.”

The words wound me like a thousand bee stings.

“Alabama,” David repeats.

My face grows hot. He’s plucked me off a plum assignment without a thought to my ability and my schedule. My new boss is sending me to God knows where and he looks perfectly content.

“If that’s my next assignment,” I sputter, “I’d rather…I’d rather dance naked!”

The announcement comes out much louder than I intend and reverberates through the room. Dolores probably has her ear pressed to the door, but the phrase bounces off my boss like a cotton ball.

David smothers a chuckle. “Suit yourself.”

DNID – EXCERPT # 3

The Best Butts in Alabama, the huge billboard above my head brags. A robust pink pig, dressed in blue overalls and a cowboy hat, winks down at me. Next to the hog’s turned up nose, royal blue letters read ‘Phil’s Bar-B-Q.’ 

            Phil certainly knows how to make a first impression. As does Mother Nature.

            The sunshine beats down on my shoulder through the window. Is it always this muggy in December? I swipe at my forehead with the back of my hand and do quick surveillance.

            Where is the historic, elegant city I was promised in the letter? There is a normal-looking church across the street, a run-of-the-mill real estate business to my right, and a tiny hole-in-the-wall place called The Donut King, which seems to be doing ten times more business than the Winn-Dixie grocery store I just passed.

So far, all I see of Eufaula, Alabama is more in-your-face commercial than traveler chic. Of course, I’m not in the best frame of mind to become one with my surroundings.

After a lousy Thursday morning of sulking and a rushed packing job, I sent an RSVP with regrets for the fundraiser, gave away my tickets to the Met, left a voice mail for Andrew, and changed my ticket to an earlier departure.

Hours later, after fighting through JFK security, surviving the cramped flight to Atlanta, I spent the night in Buckhead, Georgia, picked up my enormous rented SUV this morning (it was either that or a red minivan), and began driving the three-and-a-half hours to reach my pinhole-on-a-map destination.

All to save my job.

Guest post by Katie Matlack

Medical Analyst at Software Advice

Katie joined Software Advice in 2011. She writes about health information technology, particularly electronic medical records. She has a background in sustainable development and has lived in four different countries in the past five years, and is happy to be taking root in Austin, Texas. Katie graduated from Yale University with a degree in American Studies   katie@softwareadvice.com

            (512) 377-1310      http://www.softwareadvice.com/medical/electronic-medical-record-software-comparison/

Why Moms Who Blog, Tweet, and Share Matter for Healthcare

by Katie Matlack

Women are the more active gender on online social networks, and are the healthcare decisionmakers in most families, too. Taken together, these two facts help explain why women--moms in particular--often are responsible for using the web to bring powerful stories from the grassroots level to the world, effecting real change in healthcare.

To learn more about the topic I spoke with Deb Levine, a pioneer when it comes to using the web as a tool for social change related to health information access and technology. She founded the award-winning online sexual health Q&A site Go Ask Alice, and recently won an award from the White House for her team’s design of an app used to help prevent dating violence at colleges and universities. Levine, a mother of two, observed that being a mom “informs all of [her] work and writing” and is “an overarching influence” on her.

“Women who are mothers are writing about sensitive issues,” she continued. “[They] are the people who, in bringing health issues to the forefront, are pushing healthcare reform and access while also bringing attention to important issues like maternal mortality.”

Below, I’ll discuss three moms doing important work to improve healthcare and the tools available in health for the wellness of themselves and their families--and ultimately, of all of us.

1) Deb Levine - Trustworthy health information access for young adults

Levine built what’s known by many as the first major health Q&A site, Go Ask Alice; it was also named by Stanford University as the most accurate reproductive health info site on the Internet. The site’s success--it receives over 1.5 million hits per month--illustrates what Levine’s work showed us: that “topics considered to be shameful and embarrassing like sex are best discussed behind a screen–computer screen then, mobile phone and PDA today.” Today Levine directs a nonprofit, Internet Sexuality Information Services, and is organizing next month’s conference, Sex::Tech, on new media, youth, and sexual health.

2) Jodi Jacobson - Advocacy for public health and reproductive and sexual health & justice

Visit RH Reality Check (RH stands for reproductive health) to get an idea of Jacobson’s impact. She’s the Editor-in-Chief there and writes regularly about news events that stand to impact reproductive health rights. For example, Jacobson was partially responsible for publicizing and drumming up outcry against the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s policy change in February that, were it not reversed, would have denied preventative health services to thousands of women. In addition to providing information directly to the masses on this site, Jacobsen frequently weighs in as an expert cited in mainstream publications including the Lancet and The Economist. She also founded and led the Center for Health and Gender Equity, an internationally-influential organization that produces cutting-edge research on international policies and programs.

3) Mary Brune - Connecting moms to information about toxic environmental risks

Brune’s work highlights important information that impacts infant health as well as environmental health conditions that touch us all. Her site, MOMS--which stands for “Making
Our Milk Safe”--was founded to bring mothers together to collaborate for a healthier and safer environment for their children. It publicizes risks and protection measures on toxics, and has been featured in a PBS special on toxic toys.

Book excerpt by Victoria Marshall

Book Blurb: http://victoriamarshal.com/

Angie Palmer likes her life just the way it is–private. She has no desire to entangle herself in complex friendships, and her relationship with her two beauty queen sisters is safely distant.
Unfortunately, life doesn’t always go as planned.
When disaster strikes her Grandmother, Angie takes her into her home. A life with Grandma comes a world full of changes, and new friends, including Val, a drag queen with hopes of being the next US-Gay Beauty Pageant winner. Angie is determined to keep Val at a distance. Val has an instinct for knowing what is in Angie heart.
Just as Angie gets comfortable with Grandma living with her, a budding friendship with Val, and a new romantic interest, everything takes an unexpected turn.
Val becomes the victim of a violent crime and ends up in a coma. Angie begins a struggle against Val’s family who wants to remove their son from life support.
Suddenly her private life becomes very public, and her world becomes a media circus. Angie is caught in a clash between religious beliefs and gay rights.
Through many twists and turns, Angie discovers a new appreciation for family, friends, and love.
In the end, Angie learns that a life filled with people to care about is never too crowded.

Excerpt

“My sisters haven’t even called to see how grandma’s doing. They haven’t offered to help her look for an apartment or take her shopping for new clothes. Nothing.”

“Did they spend a lot of time with her before the fire?” Val asked.

“No.”

“Did you?”

Angie felt Val’s point as sharp as the point of a fine tipped pen. “No.”

“So they’re going about their lives like they always have?”

Angie didn’t respond.

“If Anne’s apartment hadn’t burned you wouldn’t have been calling her to see how she was doing, would you?”

“No, but this is different.”

“Is it?”

“Yes, if grandma were staying with Jess or Shay I would call to see how she was doing.”

Val folded his fingers together. “Then you should feel good about that.”

Angie felt sick to her stomach. She dropped her spoon on the table and wiped her fingers on a paper napkin.

“Well, I did until you put it that way.”

Angie sank down in her seat and shredded the edge of the napkin.

“You’re the middle child right?” Val asked.

Angie nodded.

“Then you should be used to this by now. Let me guess, you’ve always been the responsible one. Everyone always came to you with their problems because you’re close in age to your older sister and your younger sister.”

Val had hit the nail on the head. Angie had been the confidant for both Jess and Shay growing up. Not that she enjoyed the role; they forced it on her.

“So why are your panties in such a bunch?” Val gave her an exaggerated pout. “Feeling sorry for yourself?”

“Yes, damn it!” Angie slapped her palms onto the tabletop. “I have the right to feel sorry for myself every once in awhile.”

“Agreed,” Val said. “You go ahead and have your pity-party.”

Angie felt suddenly deflated. She’d expected an argument, or a pep-talk of some kind.

“What?”

“Everyone gets twenty-four-hours to feel sorry for themselves.” Val glanced at the clock. “I’d say you have eighteen left, so wallow all you want. After that honey, go buy yourself a new dress, or a new pair of shoes, or whatever you need to do to pick yourself back up. Then get on with your life.”