The Commercial Appeal
Just wanted to share a great writeup the book received.
The lesson learned here? When life hands you lemons? Get a book out of it.
The Commercial Appeal 01/31/2010, Page V06
AUTHOR!AUTHOR!
By Peggy Burch
burch@commercialappeal.com
Memphis native Melissa Anderson Sweazy can explain why she wrote a book that focuses on weird things about weddings. It all began when her heart was broken.
Sweazy had a long-distance relationship with her college sweetheart during a nine-year period when she lived in Los Angeles.
“I’m embarrassed to admit that gave me plenty of time to daydream about our eventual wedding,” she writes by email. “We did get engaged, the dress was purchased, and the date set, when the groom to-be suddenly bailed and literally left the country.”
Devastated, she worked through her grief by poring over 19th-century etiquette books and sociology records at the Los Angeles Public Library. She learned about courtship rituals, ghost brides, wife-carrying competitions, sacrifices for love.... Grief works in mysterious ways.
“Because of my broken heart, the darker, stranger aspects of weddings were that much more appealing,” she says, “and I knew nothing would make me happier than filling up a book full of weird wedding tales.”
So she wrote “Veiled Remarks: A Curious Compendium for the Nuptially Inclined” (Dang Creative, $21.95). “It’s the kind of book I wish I could have read while going through my breakup,” she says.
Book agents suggested she include her own tale of woe in the book, but she was too honorable to demonize her ex. Still, she adopted the idea of an illustrated story about a jilted bride, with each chapter of that sufferer’s tale serving as a category: “Finding a Mate,” say, or “Love is a Battlefield.”
Illustrations were done by local graphic design company Harvest Creative.
Sweazy will be reading and signing her book, in addition to serving wedding cake, at Davis-Kidd Booksellers on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
And yes, reader, the author says she found “the right Mr. Right.”
The lesson learned here? When life hands you lemons? Get a book out of it.
The Commercial Appeal 01/31/2010, Page V06
AUTHOR!AUTHOR!
By Peggy Burch
burch@commercialappeal.com
Memphis native Melissa Anderson Sweazy can explain why she wrote a book that focuses on weird things about weddings. It all began when her heart was broken.
Sweazy had a long-distance relationship with her college sweetheart during a nine-year period when she lived in Los Angeles.
“I’m embarrassed to admit that gave me plenty of time to daydream about our eventual wedding,” she writes by email. “We did get engaged, the dress was purchased, and the date set, when the groom to-be suddenly bailed and literally left the country.”
Devastated, she worked through her grief by poring over 19th-century etiquette books and sociology records at the Los Angeles Public Library. She learned about courtship rituals, ghost brides, wife-carrying competitions, sacrifices for love.... Grief works in mysterious ways.
“Because of my broken heart, the darker, stranger aspects of weddings were that much more appealing,” she says, “and I knew nothing would make me happier than filling up a book full of weird wedding tales.”
So she wrote “Veiled Remarks: A Curious Compendium for the Nuptially Inclined” (Dang Creative, $21.95). “It’s the kind of book I wish I could have read while going through my breakup,” she says.
Book agents suggested she include her own tale of woe in the book, but she was too honorable to demonize her ex. Still, she adopted the idea of an illustrated story about a jilted bride, with each chapter of that sufferer’s tale serving as a category: “Finding a Mate,” say, or “Love is a Battlefield.”
Illustrations were done by local graphic design company Harvest Creative.
Sweazy will be reading and signing her book, in addition to serving wedding cake, at Davis-Kidd Booksellers on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
And yes, reader, the author says she found “the right Mr. Right.”
posted by Melissa | 9:13 AM
|
0 comments
links to this post
