Stephanie Klein interview about Straight Up & Dirty

In my attempt to write about or interview everyone in this New York magazine article, I've now interviewed Stephanie Klein about her memoir Straight Up & Dirty. (Actually, I just wanted to interview her.) I saw the final version of the book at Borders over the weekend, in the self-help section, and I have to say, Regan Books put together a really beautiful looking booking. The photos on the cover are part of the glossy hardcover, with a white jacket with holes in front wrapped over it.

What did I think of it? I liked it more than I thought I would. I didn't love every part, and some I couldn't relate to at all, but some of it I totally could, and that's the reason I wanted to interview her and why I kept turning the pages so quickly. Lately I'm so much more inclined to focus on the things that do intrigue and interest me, the things I do share with even people I disagree with. I'm trying to use my creative energies to focus on my book(s), my life, and bettering myself, rather than tearing other people down. I'm not saying anyone else has to, I just have spent so much of my life, especially the last few years, being angry at people or hating them because they did x or y to me or whatever, and I realize that I just have to let that go. Especially because I'm thinking so much about the future and want to be a good mother someday, hopefully someday soon, it's that much more important. But it's also important because I would find myself so mired in that vicious cycle ("what if I'd done this? why can't they like me instead of her?), instead of working to make myself into someone I can like. Not an easy task by any means, but the only thing I really can control. So that's what I'm up to these days, and it involves a lot of solitude and I have to say, I love it. There's room for the occasional debauchery and I can even enjoy it, but especially these next few months I'm just keeping my eyes on the prize, and while I may not relate to everything Stephanie Klein writes about, I do admire her for getting her words out there. I think there are so many people who say they want to write and never do, and that's okay, I just sometimes feel myself slipping into that mindset, and I want to live up to my own expectations, not anyone else's. On that note, I finally, in dreadfully late, overdue, typical fashion, finished an esasy I am okay with for the fabulous Diane Mapes. Still proofing, writing intros, reading submissions, and doing research along with the usual round of freelancing goodness. And babysitting. And just trying to take everything one day at a time. When I finally got the words down, it really helped me clarify for myself a lot of things, and to realize that it's okay to want to be alone, that I don't need to try to fill any voids with people, especially in the really self-destructive way I tend to do. I think this way I can better appreciate the time I do spend with my friends and take things at my own pace and try to trust myself a little more and just stay focused on what's important to me and forget about what's not.