Alix Strauss, THE JOY OF FUNERALS: A Novel in Stories
[0:02]Hi, I'm Zippy Owens and you're listening to moms don't have time to read books.
[0:06]This 30-minute podcast features a new author interviewed by me every single day, 365 days
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[1:03]Alex Drouse is the author of The Joy of Funeral's A Novel in Stories.
[1:08]Alex is a trend, culture, and lifestyle journalist, an award-winning four-time published
[1:12]author, speaker, and frequent contributor to The New York Times.
[1:15]Her books include The Joy of Funeral's Based Upon Availability, Death Becomes Them,
[1:21]unearthing the suicides of The Brilliant, The Famous, and The Notorious.
[1:25]And she is the editor of Have I Got A Guy For You, an anthology of Mother Coordinated
[1:30]Dating or Stories.
[1:32]Her work has been optioned for several TV and film projects.
[1:34]A media, savvy, social, satirist.
[1:38]She has been a featured lifestyle travel and trend writer on National Morning in Talk
[1:41]Shows, including ABC, CBS, CNN, and The Todaysia.
[1:46]During the past 25 years, she has written over 1,500 articles.
[1:50]Her articles, which have appeared in Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire,
[1:54]Condenas Traveler, The Financial Times, Time Magazine, and Departures, Among Others, Cover
[1:58]Range of Topics, From Trends in Beauty, Travel, and Food, To Celebrity Interviews.
[2:03]The Joy of Funeral's was an Ingram Award winner and named Best debut novel by The New York
[2:08]Resident when it first came out.
[2:10]This is a re-issue of it many years later.
[2:13]We'll talk about that in our episode.
[2:15]Alex was the inaugural first chapters pick, Cosmopolitan Magazine's new launch pad
[2:19]of Fiction Exurves.
[2:21]Her essays and fiction have appeared in Primavera, Literary Journal, Hampton Shorts,
[2:24]Literary Journal, The Idaho Review, Quality Women's Fiction, The Blue Moon Cafe,
[2:29]and many more.
[2:30]She is the recipient of several awards and fellowships from programs such as The Wesleyan
[2:34]Writers Conference, The Skidmore College Writers Institute, Sarah Lawrence Summer Program,
[2:39]and The Squab Alley's Screenwriters Summer Program.
[2:41]Alex lectures extensively and has been a keynote speaker, moderator, or panelist at over
[2:46]200 conferences, symposiums, seminars, and summits, including the Southern Festival of
[2:51]Books, The Northwest Book Fest, The New England Writers Conference, Wesleyan Writers Conference,
[2:55]the 92nd Street Y, NYU, Yukon, and Columbia.
[3:00]She was chosen to speak at the National Jewish Book Festival and is on the National
[3:03]Speakers Bureau for Israeli Bonds.
[3:06]Welcome, Alex.
[3:07]Thank you so much for coming on mom's.
[3:08]Don't have time to read books to discuss the joy of funerals, a novel and stories, the
[3:12]20th Anniversary Edition.
[3:14]Yeah.
[3:15]Thank you for having me.
[3:16]This is really very exciting.
[3:17]So I'm glad to connect with you.
[3:19]Now, and your book party for this book was just, oh my gosh, literally one for the
[3:23]books at the Frank Campbell funeral home and all of that.
[3:27]I mean, the clever touches, the cake, I mean, all of it, the cookie, it was so cool.
[3:33]I walked in and they were like, would you like to get your Instagram photo taken here?
[3:37]And I'm like standing in the hallway where I've gone so distraught for past events.
[3:42]And then there I was celebrating.
[3:44]So it was nice to reclaim the space for joy.
[3:47]Thank you.
[3:48]And it was a great photo.
[3:49]That was a great photo you took.
[3:51]I think it's really interesting to pair venue with theme.
[3:56]And I don't think we do enough of that just yet.
[3:58]And so it was a bit of a challenge, but they were very, to have a book party at a funeral
[4:05]home.
[4:06]They were very welcoming and inviting.
[4:07]And I think funeral homes are going to be this new community almost.
[4:12]They should be.
[4:13]You know, they could.
[4:14]It's a missed opportunity.
[4:17]OK, first, why reissue?
[4:20]This is not the most common thing to reissue a book.
[4:23]Tell me why.
[4:24]So 20 years ago, I think we were really early to market.
[4:28]And I think as a trend journalist, you know, it can work for you and it can work against
[4:32]you.
[4:33]And you're really early for something.
[4:34]And we were just, I don't think the world was ready for a title called The Joy of Funerals.
[4:39]Now here you are, 20 years later, and books like, I'm glad my mother is dead, is
[4:44]the number one bestseller.
[4:45]So we've been able to digest these kind of in your face titles, and to also understand
[4:53]them better.
[4:54]And I think we're also coming off of a pandemic where we're all very lonely and we're
[4:59]all grappling with how do we connect with one another.
[5:03]And there's loss and there's grief.
[5:05]And 20 years ago, people were not talking about funerals and death and loneliness and grief.
[5:11]And now we are.
[5:12]I think some of the generation Xers are getting older like myself.
[5:16]I think our parents are getting older and you can't not talk about it.
[5:20]And so 20 years felt big too.
[5:22]And it was all these things came together.
[5:25]So I thought, why not?
[5:26]Amazing.
[5:27]So were there any stories and I wanted you to talk about what the stories consist of and
[5:32]all of that, but were there any you deleted this time around or anything you added
[5:36]that was new?
[5:37]No, you know it was so interesting.
[5:39]I hadn't really sat down to read it read it from start to finish in maybe 20 years.
[5:44]It's been an option.
[5:45]I had done some screenplays and other forms of it, but I had never really sat with it.
[5:52]And I wanted to be really I wanted to be honest about the work and not change too much
[5:57]and keeping it into organic form.
[5:59]But I also wanted to be really respectful to where we've come and the changes we have
[6:05]made as you know, as a country, as a as a community.
[6:10]And really nothing needed to be changed or tweaked other than a few small little things
[6:14]here like capitalizing black was really important to me.
[6:17]But it was a very inclusive novel back then and probably even more so now.
[6:25]So that was really interesting.
[6:26]I think as we've, it shows in some sense how far we've come which is not as far as
[6:31]I would love or would like to see.
[6:34]And that we all still hurt and that would still need to connect if not even more so.
[6:39]So the stories describe the stories describe the original impetus for writing the book
[6:45]back when you wrote it originally how you came up with stories versus novel or just
[6:50]the whole thing.
[6:52]Sure.
[6:53]So you know, I really love playing with form and fiction and I love puzzles.
[6:58]And to me a collection of shorts with a novella that linked the previous stories together
[7:03]was really interesting.
[7:05]And I think I was a little early in a market then too because I don't think we were playing
[7:09]with form and function so much and divisiveness.
[7:12]And I think streaming has helped tremendously the way we tell stories, the way we ingest
[7:17]a story, the way we understand flashbacks and moving forward and having different characters
[7:23]tell stories.
[7:24]And it's all become very acceptable.
[7:26]And I think 20 years ago that was still a little bit hard for people to understand.
[7:30]And nobody really, you know, the more we shouted people, don't sell, don't write short
[7:35]stories or read is not your color.
[7:37]The more people won't wear red, but the truth really is people love short stories.
[7:43]And we're in this, you know, ADD nation now where people love short attention span theater.
[7:48]So I love the idea of also meeting people twice because I think you get different versions
[7:55]of people throughout your relationship.
[7:58]So the novel is eight short stories.
[8:02]And in each short story, you meet a woman who has gone through a tremendous loss.
[8:07]Some are funny, some are humorous, some are dark, some are very grief stricken.
[8:12]And then you have the novella which linked the previous stories together.
[8:16]And it's about this funeral attending junkie who really can't connect with anyone in her
[8:21]life.
[8:22]And so she goes to funerals for these intensified very intimate experiences so that she can
[8:29]be part of something bigger than herself.
[8:32]And now you meet all the women you've already read about, but you also get a second version
[8:37]of who they really are.
[8:39]So everything you know is sort of changed a little bit.
[8:42]So I really love that because I think that's how we are in real life.
[8:46]And I'm always fascinated by why do people come in and out of our lives for certain
[8:51]reasons.
[8:52]Why do they come in?
[8:53]Where do they go?
[8:54]Why do they stay?
[8:55]Why do they leave?
[8:56]It's so funny.
[8:57]We have two books coming out from Zippy Books that this is like the intersection of both
[9:02]of those because we have the obituary writer.
[9:04]But it's from the male point of view written by a man.
[9:06]But there is a character who's one of the main characters who is like your character,
[9:10]like a woman who loves to go to funerals.
[9:12]And then we have another one called The Goodbye Process which is a series of darker things
[9:16]but not in the same way as yours.
[9:17]I don't know.
[9:18]It's like you're like a mashup.
[9:19]Anyway, I have to introduce you to those two authors because you can probably provide
[9:22]some guidance.
[9:23]I think we should follow the one on the Zippy tour.
[9:24]I mean, I know that.
[9:25]You should.
[9:26]We should do an event with the three of you in New York or something.
[9:30]And we can write our own eulogies.
[9:34]Exactly.
[9:36]I also love, I mean, I shouldn't say I love going to funerals, but I've been known to
[9:40]go to funerals of people.
[9:42]I don't know that well or I knew at one time there was a girl.
[9:46]I went to preschool with and I just remember idolizing her mom.
[9:49]She was just this like glamorous, warm, wonderful woman.
[9:54]I haven't seen the classmate probably since I was five, but I read about it in the
[10:00]your times, your home here, where you write.
[10:02]But, and I was like, I just have to go.
[10:04]And I dragged my husband.
[10:05]He's like, what, what are we doing here?
[10:06]And I was like, I can't explain it,
[10:08]but I just have to be here.
[10:10]It's the weirdest thing.
[10:10]Are you like that yourself?
[10:12]So I have never been to a funeral.
[10:14]I will say, unlike Nina, the main character,
[10:17]I have never been to a funeral where I didn't know the person.
[10:20]I do think there is this sense of connection.
[10:24]There's almost a sense of childhood
[10:26]and capitalizing or re-introduced to these people
[10:31]that it's nostalgia, but there is this sense of familiarity
[10:37]and home almost, and yet entire worlds have happened
[10:41]for people, but there's this instant connection.
[10:44]And that can't be recreated by other people
[10:47]who weren't there from the start.
[10:48]So I absolutely understand why you do that,
[10:53]not so much like it, but that you're drawn to it.
[10:56]I think it's very normal.
[10:58]I think that's actually really healthy in one sense
[11:00]to really wanna connect with these early roots that you had.
[11:05]They meant something.
[11:06]You can't just throw that away.
[11:08]I mean, you're connected to these people.
[11:10]Yeah, that's very true.
[11:12]Yeah, I feel like, I don't know.
[11:14]And also showing up for someone during that time.
[11:17]People remember, you know, it's one of those things.
[11:19]like, maybe you're not there 24-7, but I don't know.
[11:23]You have to just show up when people really need you.
[11:25]And I feel like funerals are one of those times.
[11:28]Yeah, it's also something that everyone's included in.
[11:31]So it's unlike, you know, a bar batman's foot
[11:34]or a wedding or even an anniversary party or reunion.
[11:38]In this reunion of sorts, there's, of course,
[11:41]the one person who threads you all together is not,
[11:44]is there, but not really there anymore.
[11:46]But there is this reunion-like quality of seeing people
[11:51]that you knew and haven't seen for years.
[11:54]And I think there's, again, I think there's this comfort there.
[11:58]And I think there's something about paying respects.
[12:01]It's just remembering someone, you know,
[12:03]and celebrating a life.
[12:05]So you can't help but notice in the joy of funerals
[12:09]and maybe this is a pun on the joy of sex or whatever.
[12:12]But there is a lot of, you know,
[12:15]physicality and, you know, hooking up, you know,
[12:18]in the book, which can often come out
[12:21]in times of extreme loss.
[12:23]I remember in, like in Rob Delaney's book,
[12:25]I don't know if you read it, a heart that works,
[12:27]a heart that's something, oh my gosh, my brain.
[12:30]But anyway, he tells how when they had just lost their son
[12:33]or when he was in the hospital, like that he and his wife
[12:36]went and like had sex right away.
[12:38]And he said he had met with some,
[12:40]a lot of feedback on that particular thing,
[12:43]like how could you do that?
[12:44]And he's like, there's something linked with life
[12:46]and I don't know.
[12:47]So tell me about your inclusion of that element
[12:52]to the story.
[12:53]I'm also happy to say I have never had sex
[12:55]in a cemetery.
[12:56]So, I'm really fascinated by the outrageous and dirty
[13:04]and vulnerable and raw things that people do.
[13:09]And I think what's so wonderful about fiction
[13:12]versus nonfiction because I write about both.
[13:16]Is that you really, as long as I'm a big believer
[13:18]and as long as you can justify it,
[13:20]as long as you can justify the action,
[13:22]as long as you can create a reason,
[13:24]really believable reason why this character
[13:27]would exhibit such strange behavior.
[13:31]I'm all for including it.
[13:32]And I'm fascinated by human behavior.
[13:35]So I think that when the main one of these characters
[13:41]has sex in the cemetery, she's really just looking
[13:45]to reconnect with her deceased husband
[13:47]to the point of almost putting one man on top of his grave.
[13:51]I think there's so much emotion
[13:54]and I how else sometimes,
[13:56]either screaming or how do you display hurt and love
[14:00]and hate and it's all rolled up in one.
[14:05]It's very emotions or really, they're complex.
[14:09]We're not, we're not, we're very complex people.
[14:13]Hopefully I'm fascinated by complex people.
[14:17]I think you probably are too, right?
[14:18]I'm fascinated by people, full stuff.
[14:21]Yeah, complex people.
[14:23]Yeah, just trying to get to the root of why,
[14:25]like trying to understand why do they behave this way?
[14:29]Well, tell me about your childhood, you know.
[14:31]Speaking of which, Alex, tell me about your childhood.
[14:35]Okay, that's an interesting thing.
[14:36]So I'm an only child.
[14:38]I'm the only only child as far back as you can trace
[14:41]in both my parents have a sibling and they could have had
[14:45]more than one child and I'm not even sure I'm theirs to be.
[14:48]I mean, honestly, I think it was like an order of child
[14:51]and I just arrived and we weren't included
[14:55]in these big events and if we were,
[14:58]my parents really went and they did not create,
[15:02]this was one of their biggest flaws and my parents have many
[15:05]but they really did not set up a foundation for me
[15:10]and I think you're connected to so little
[15:13]when you're born, you know?
[15:15]There's, your family is your first introduction
[15:18]and so I wrote a piece for the times
[15:22]about why I loved funerals and it really did stem
[15:26]from this idea of a funeral was a reunion.
[15:30]For me, when I went, I had not met so many different,
[15:33]there were all these people I was related to
[15:35]and I was like, oh my God, this is great.
[15:38]And here's my, you know, my aunt Sue
[15:40]and here's my cousin Peter and this is my cousin Greg
[15:44]and this is my uncle Leonard and I had never met them
[15:49]and there is something about understanding
[15:52]where you belong and being part of something bigger
[15:54]than yourself and so they didn't seem as sad to me.
[15:58]Of course, you know, we were fortunate
[16:00]somebody had had a good life and a long life.
[16:03]It wasn't like, you know, the pandemic or September 11th
[16:08]or having young friends that died cancer.
[16:11]These were not as sad occasions per se
[16:16]and we really did feel when I was young
[16:17]that you were celebrating someone's life
[16:20]that I think that was that first introduction.
[16:22]So I learned to really enjoy them, so to speak.
[16:26]And then, you know, as you get older, it changes
[16:30]but it becomes just as important as you were saying
[16:32]about showing up and being there
[16:35]and saying that, you know, it's one more moment
[16:38]that you can account for.
[16:40]It's one more moment that you were there for.
[16:43]It's one more moment to feel connected to something
[16:46]which is really what the main character wants.
[16:48]You know, I love the fact that she hasn't killed anybody.
[16:53]She's not one in but the law.
[16:54]She's really, she's a good person.
[16:58]She just really hurts.
[17:00]And I think that's a little bit different
[17:02]than some of the characters that we see on television
[17:05]and other authors are working on.
[17:08]She hasn't really done something wrong as much
[17:12]as she's almost, she's just trying to find her place
[17:16]and she's a really hard time doing that.
[17:19]Interesting.
[17:20]Wait, so Alex, tell me how you became a reporter
[17:23]for the New York Times?
[17:25]Like, how did your whole writing career evolve?
[17:28]Where did it start and how did it end up here?
[17:31]It's a story.
[17:31]I hope, I hope we have time.
[17:35]So I was an actor.
[17:36]I know what a shocker, because I'm so shy.
[17:38]I was doing commercials when I was 12
[17:41]and I was, you know, I was okay at that.
[17:45]And I thought, well, you know, in my early 20s
[17:48]when Naked Angels was really present here in New York
[17:52]which was very similar to films and Sundance.
[17:55]What Sundance, what's for films is what Naked Angels
[17:58]was for theater where you really felt
[18:00]if you wrote the play, you could put it on.
[18:02]And I thought, well, this is smart.
[18:04]If I write the play, I could be in it.
[18:06]And there were a lot of plays, you know,
[18:09]God bless Wendy was her scene, you know.
[18:11]But she was so extraordinary,
[18:13]but uncommon women had been done over and over again.
[18:16]And I thought, well, I'm really interested
[18:19]in women in their 20s who all went to college together
[18:23]and this new area, this next step in life, almost.
[18:27]You know, how do we move from college students to,
[18:31]in almost before there was a girl's.
[18:33]I mean, this was in the 90s.
[18:35]And it was a psychic.
[18:37]And I'm not one of those, you know, woo, woo people.
[18:39]But my first year of college, a psychic came to our dorm
[18:42]and she looked me in the eye.
[18:44]We had all asked a question, you know,
[18:46]will we be successful in our careers or something?
[18:48]And she said, what career is that?
[18:50]And I thought, well, if you're that talented,
[18:51]shouldn't you know what my career is?
[18:53]And I said acting and she before even finished
[18:57]a word, she's like, no, but in 93, you'll write a play.
[19:01]And I thought, well, you are insane.
[19:04]And I'm not, I know more, I'm going to write a play
[19:06]than I'm going to collect shells off a beach
[19:08]and sell them, which would have been also a nice side gig.
[19:11]And I, here we were years later,
[19:13]and I actually did write a play in 93
[19:15]and it wasn't until the play was finished.
[19:17]And I thought, well, that is the craziest information ever.
[19:20]And then I went back to try to find her
[19:22]and nobody had even heard of her
[19:23]and it was like a feed team.
[19:25]And that's how it all started.
[19:27]And then it started with articles
[19:30]and working on a novel.
[19:32]And I think in that sense, it was a real progressive
[19:36]career switch.
[19:37]And I really never look back in terms for the acting.
[19:40]Do you miss acting?
[19:42]No, not as much as I thought,
[19:44]and my guess is too, you might feel similar
[19:47]that you get to have this amazing show.
[19:49]And you're on tour, whether you have,
[19:52]and you've got your book coming out.
[19:54]So the tours are almost like your own show.
[19:57]I can feel like I'm in the...
[20:00]You know, the whole book tour, I like to call it because you just, you know, where can I go?
[20:06]Where can I speak? You know, this is how you have a new store opening. I'll read there.
[20:11]You know, a sandwich sale. So you really, I think it's all about, I think it is showing up in a
[20:19]different kind of way in performing. And then so I don't actually don't miss it at all. I feel
[20:23]like I'm still doing it just differently. That's so interesting. I never really thought of,
[20:28]I mean, I thought of it as like having to be a marketer, right? But not exactly as a performer,
[20:33]but I see completely what you're saying. We're, you know, I mean, the way you have created this
[20:41]literary empire, so to speak, and all these nooks is extraordinary. And so in some sense,
[20:48]yes, because I think you and I really understand PR and marketing, but you are absolutely a performer.
[20:55]If you, I mean, like watching you all in all these different areas and shape shifting and
[21:01]being able to step into those positions, 100%, even when you're tired, even when you, you know,
[21:08]the kids are not feeling lower, whatever it is, or, you know, you broke a foot. Somebody broke a
[21:14]foot. You still have to show up. That's performing. That's interesting. Yeah. Well, that's true. I
[21:19]definitely, you have to put like the, okay, you know, shove the tears aside,
[21:26]go ahead and watch. Show must go on. I guess you're right. That's funny. I'd not thought about
[21:31]life that way, but thank you for that. And I think you people like us to take it to extremes,
[21:36]like I finished an article once I was in the hospital having surgery. And I finished, I mean,
[21:42]like the article was due. You can't just, it's the news. You can't just phone that in, you know,
[21:48]so during, right before, and then after, you know, post surgery, I was, you know, doing interviews.
[21:54]Like that. I'm just waiting to make sure the MSD to happen, I'm back to do.
[21:58]So what is your, what is like your personal life like when you're not writing an on deadline and
[22:03]whatever? Like give us a day in the life, said to speak as you asked me.
[22:09]When you're freelance, or at least on my clock, every day is different. And I, I really think I
[22:14]was that coffee culture nation before there was one. I, I remember my father saying to me at one
[22:20]point, everyone has a nine to five job. And I remember looking at him and saying, you actually
[22:26]are so wrong. No idea what's coming. And I've never had a nine to five job. I work 24 seven,
[22:33]but I've never had a nine to five job personal life. That's a, that's a hard one because I,
[22:39]I think there's so many ways that work leads into a personal life. But I think,
[22:44]and I think the pandemic really shifted personal lives. And I was here for the pandemic and,
[22:50]and wrote a tremendous amount. And, and that, that has changed the rhythm, my rhythm at least.
[22:56]I'm still a night owl. And I, I sometimes do my best work at night, but the idea of going out to
[23:02]an event or a party at 10 p.m. is no longer attractive. And I don't know if I got older or,
[23:10]but it never, you know, I'm a city kid. I grew up on the upper east side. I was having dinner
[23:14]parties at, at 20. So I was not that person who needed to be at Nells or the limelight or
[23:22]Studio 54 or anything. I, I like the quiet, I'm more quiet, intimate exchange. So, and I think
[23:29]relationships are so important. I just, it's hard to hold on to them these days, especially with
[23:35]so much noise. That's true. So true. Do you like to read short stories? Do you like to read
[23:41]across genres? Like what are you, some of your, who are some of your favorite authors or what are
[23:46]you, what are some of your most recent, most enjoyable books or anything in the reading sphere?
[23:52]When I, this is a great question. When I am working on fiction, I can read really great memoir,
[23:59]because I think really great memoir should read rhythm, like fiction, and should, of course, be
[24:04]honest and true. But there is a, this beautiful rhythm of memoir and other, and I'll read other
[24:11]fiction. When I'm working on nonfiction, it's a, it's a nonfiction experience as well. I think
[24:16]my real introduction to fiction and, and realizing, oh, you could actually read a book for enjoyment
[24:23]where the Breddy Stenellis and the J. McInner. Carrie Fisher and Danny Shapiro and those were,
[24:31]those were some of my, you know, grounding stones, almost. Barbara Streisand's ginormous memoir, 900
[24:39]and some on pages, of course you wrote 900 and some on pages, is on my, it's on my nightstand,
[24:45]actually, one of yours is on the end of the hour, into the hour. Oh, good. Yes. I thought it was
[24:51]a fascinating concept. I mean, like that's a really interesting concept where you have a trauma
[24:58]specialist who ends up having all this trauma and having to go into all the places that, to them,
[25:05]yeah, he's been sending other, other people, other patients was so fascinating to me. There was a
[25:13]very similar book, a number of years ago about a therapist whose life unravels and she goes into
[25:19]this horrific depression and she ends up in a facility for a short amount of time, but it was a
[25:26]really, and I thought very similar. I wish I could say it was reading something that was a great
[25:32]fiction. I did read, Breddy Stenellis just came out with something called the shards.
[25:38]So I, there's something wonderful about audiobooks. I just, I love, it's almost like being
[25:44]somebody talking to you who doesn't breathe heavy in your ear and, you know, there's no
[25:50]snoring from another person, which is great. So I don't have to kick anybody out of bed, but, and
[25:55]this shuts off in 30 minutes. It's a perfect man, you know. That's hilarious. Totally hilarious.
[26:03]Okay, advice for aspiring authors. You are your own best investment, and I think if you're going to
[26:09]work this hard for something, you might as well do it for yourself. I think that there is something
[26:15]you can do every day to further advance your career. Some of it is just making a phone call,
[26:21]some of it is reaching out to a new agent or, or an editor, or even a friend that you admire
[26:28]their work and asking for a suggestion or a connection or, you know, the good news is there's
[26:33]always something you can do for your career and the bad news is there's always something you can
[26:37]do for your career. So it can be very overwhelming. And I, I think if you really make a list of all
[26:45]of your accomplishments this year, if everybody can do that, who feels they haven't accomplished
[26:50]I think seeing that visually is really important because I think we're so busy creating something
[26:59]that I don't think we really are taking in what we already have created or what we've accomplished.
[27:04]And everybody has a side hustle. The guy who painted my apartment recently, he's got a podcast
[27:11]editor is on book tour with her own book. My, my agent has a bourbon company, you know, it's,
[27:17]it's so interesting that we're all working so hard that you're, we're missing, we're missing
[27:24]how much we really do accomplish. And I think it's important to visually see it. I love that.
[27:30]My gosh, the bourbon company, brandy bowls is, she's a phenomenal agent and she's got a great
[27:38]lost Molly, a great bourbon company that that she started with two other ladies, which is
[27:43]a really good, really good bourbon. Wow. Alex, thank you. The joy of funerals.
[27:49]I'll be in touch. We'll do an event. I'm very excited about that. Maybe I can send you the stories or
[27:53]something for anyway. Thank you. This was so much fun. This was great. Thank you so much for having me
[27:58]on the show. I really, I just, I love the wall behind you. I love all your stuff. I love what you've
[28:04]created. So thank you. I love that you live up the block. It's very, I know right. We should have done
[28:10]this in person. I'm getting it for coffee. Yeah, exactly. All right. Bye, Alex. Take care. Thank you.
[28:20]Thanks for listening to this episode of moms don't have time to read books. Don't forget to
[28:24]follow me on Instagram at zebi Owens and at moms don't have time to read books. Also sign up for
[28:29]my newsletter at zebiowens.com and sign up for my virtual book club and meet lots of authors on zoom
[28:34]every other week. Thanks so much to Steve and Ryan. Heck, texture sound for the sound editing.
[28:39]And thank you to Morning Moon Productions for providing this fantastic intro and
[28:43]now trim music.