As Seen in Vanity Fair

I never thought I’d see myself in a swimsuit in Vanity Fair, but here we are.

Most authors are introverts who find the marketing and publicity phase painfully awkward. It feels like egotistical horn-tooting. “Hey, look at me!” But writing a book and then failing to promote it is like having a kid and sending it out into the world with no manners or lunch money.

When I published my first book, What Stands in a Storm, I thought my job was to stay out of the way of the New York City publicist. I worried about annoying my friends by self-promoting on Facebook. I felt squeamish about saying, “Hey, friends! Please consider buying my book.”

This time, I’m getting over my quandaries about asking for help. I asked people who are smarter, more successful, and more experienced than me. And also less shy. “How would YOU go about marketing a book?”

“You should pitch Vanity Fair,” one of them said.

I laughed.

Then I listened.

Thanks to him and another generous friend, who introduced me to her editor at Vanity Fair, we ended up with an 8-page feature in the July/August issue. The online version includes my author photo (above), which appears on the very last page of the book.

This image isn’t styled or glamourous. There’s a bag of trash by the kitchen door. The bed is unmade. My eyes are bugging, my mouth is agape, and I’m eating my hair.

But it is an authentic moment: my first jump off the Stahl House roof, a tradition that Bruce Stahl and Shari Stahl Gronwald insisted I experience if I wanted to understand what it was like to grow up in their famous house. Bruce captured the moment with my iPhone.

The VF story encapsulates the book’s narrative: an inspiring true story of a blue-collar family with a white collar dream. They fought hard to realize their “unbuildable” dream, and when hardships forced them to move out, they worked hard for five long years to earn their way back home. The Stahl family and I hope it inspires you to chase your own outrageous dream.