Writer Annabel Monaghan Turns the Page on Her Buzzy New Beach Book and Midlife Joy
Show Snapshot:
Meet Annabel Monaghan author of Nora Goes Off Script– a witty romance for romantics that The Washington Post is calling a “stand-out” for summer. Annabel shares the inspiration behind her Hallmark meets Hollywood tale and a behind-the-scenes of novel-writing.
We dive into why it took hitting 50 for Annabel to foray into adult fiction (she is a YA author), midlife joy, and fangirl over Sexiest Man Alive Paul Rudd. Paul, call us!
In This Episode We Cover:
How time spent binging the Hallmark Channel gave Annabel the germ of an idea that blossomed into Nora Goes Off Script.
Does fiction writing have a formula?
The beauty of real-life versus the artifice of Hollywood glamour – which holds the greater allure?
Why it took getting to midlife to allow Annabel to make the leap from YA novels into Adult Fiction.
Motherhood, family life, and small-town living – how daily life is literary fodder.
Why naps need to be on your bucket-list.
Meet cute, midlife women, celebrity crushes, real-estate porn, and the Sexiest Man Alive.
Booklover bonus! Annabel shares beach books not-to-miss, what’s on her summer TBR pile, and authors who get (and translate) midlife stories well.
Quotable:
In 2019, I was in bed for a bit, and I got hooked on the Hallmark channel... I started to notice how they were all pretty much the same movie. I started staying until the credits because I wanted to know, who was writing these movies? Was it somebody who was really interested in romance? Or was it somebody who was just reverse engineering the same story over and over again? And I became really preoccupied with this job and I wondered what it would be like to be a romance writer who had never really been in love?
I think that as I get older, my approach to everything has changed. I feel like joy has replaced fear...I think by the time you get to middle age, or a certain age, you’ve experienced enough stuff that you know you can get through it, and you’re more interested in how it’s going to go. I just don’t have the fear of failure that I used to.
Transcript
Katie Fogarty [0:21]:
Welcome to A Certain Age, a show for women who are unafraid to age out loud. I was raised in a bouse where all the books in our living room and den were organized by the Dewey Decimal System... not a joke. My mom was a librarian for decades and my dad was a book-buying junkie. I was that dorky kid in middle school who would be reading at lunch or at the seventh-grade sleepover. I love books and love reading, which is why I’m so excited to introduce you to the author of the last book I ripped through in four hours flat.
Meet Annabel Monaghan, author of the buzzy new book, Nora Goes Off Script. Annabel is also the author of two young adult novels, and the laugh-out-loud essay collection, Does This Volvo Make My Butt Look Big? If a book is the gift you can open again and again, then Annabel is helping us unwrap the perfect summer beach read with Nora Goes Off Script. Welcome, Annabel.
Annabel Monaghan [1:16]:
Thank you so much, Katie, I am so excited to be here because I’m your biggest fan. I have been listening to this podcast since the very first one and I’m 100% sure this will be the first one I don’t listen to [Katie laughs] but I’m very excited to be here.
Katie [1:31]:
I love it. It’s so funny, I do not like to listen to myself, so I totally get that. I’m very excited to have you here, I’m excited to dive into the behind-the-scenes of novel-writing, midlife creativity, and the nitty-gritty of being an author. But I really want to just open by asking you about the backstory of Nora Goes Off Script and why you decided to venture into adult fiction?
Annabel [1:55]:
That’s a great question... I think I was ready. I think that when I was younger, young adult fiction felt a little bit safer because I was writing from a distance; writing about a 17-year-old girl, you’re sort of writing about an experience you may have had a long time ago. I don’t think it was until I turned 50 that I was ready to talk about what it means to be a mother, and what it means to be married and sort of, all the experiences that I have been soaking in for so long. So, that’s sort of why I moved into adult fiction.
Katie [2:34]:
Okay, so that makes sense. One of the questions I had for you, was that the book, Nora focuses on a screenwriter, right? She’s a working mom, she’s the breadwinner in the relationship that she’s in which is evolving. Why did you choose to make Nora a working mom? Is it because it’s something that felt familiar to you even though you were making a foray into a fictional setting?
Annabel [2:58]:
Well, yes. She came about because I really wanted to write about a Hallmark channel, in my book it’s the romance channel, screenwriter. She had to have that job, that was sort of the jumping-off point for this book.
In 2019 I was in bed for a bit, and I got hooked on the Hallmark channel and I started watching one after another of these made-for-television romance movies in these beautiful small towns with the hardware store and the bakery and I started to notice how they were all pretty much the same movie. Instead of being a cupcake maker in Akron she was a ballet teacher in Arizona, but it was pretty much the same movie over and over again. I started staying until the credits because I wanted to know, who was writing these movies? Was it somebody who was really interested in romance? Or was it somebody who you know, was just reverse-engineering the same story over and over again? And I just became really preoccupied with this job and I wondered what it would be like to be a romance writer who had never really been in love. So, that’s sort of how I got Nora and how she came into her job.
Katie [4:19]:
I love that. So, one of the running jokes in the book is that Nora’s screenwriting has a formula, you just outlined the formula for us. I know that you taught novel writing at Sarah Lawrence. Do you think that fiction has a formula?
Annabel [4:32]:
I absolutely don’t and if it did, I would be so happy, [Katie laughs] like somebody just shoot me up with that formula and I’ll write you a book every six months. But I don’t. I think there’s a way to think about fiction writing: you have a person, and they’re in a situation, and then something happens, and they go on a journey, and then something changes, and there’s a resolution. Like, generally speaking, that happens. It’s the format of Cinderella basically, over and over again. But I don’t think that’s enough to create fiction and I also think that you shouldn’t get so stuck on that formula because it’s just not that easy. It’s so much more of an art than a science.
Katie [5:20]:
That makes sense. So, there’s some basic scaffolding that you build a story around but there isn’t a formula.
So, Nora Goes Off Script is an unlikely love story, but it felt very real, it felt very relatable. I was rooting for the characters to make it and I would love for you to share with our listeners a little bit about what is the conceit here and the formula? And why does this particular relationship in this book work? Because it does! You’re excited for this couple.
Annabel [5:51]:
I think you fall in love with people for a lot of reasons; there’s chemistry, and proximity and opportunity and all those things. But ultimately, you’re looking for something that you want a little bit more of, you want to bring into your life. So, Nora is a person who lives in a very sort of regimented way, for survival. She lives a fairly simple life but she’s just trying to raise her children and make ends meet and do the best she can. Enter Leo Vance, the Sexiest Man Alive who... [both laugh] There’s nothing that I like more than the phrase, "The Sexiest Man Alive.”
Katie [6:38]:
Of course! Annabel, you wrote this novel so you could keep saying that over and over again.
Annabel [6:43]:
Right? And do you think Paul Rudd is going to call me or he’s not going to call me?
Katie [6:46]:
I hope so. [laughs] He’s not only the sexiest man alive, he’s also the most ageless man alive. That guy looks exactly the way he did 20 years ago, it is astonishing. Which, by the way, I know that you’re not a fan of, or maybe it’s the word amazing, we’ll talk about that next. But I will say Paul Rudd deserves the word astonishing and amazing.
Annabel [7:09]:
Yes, he does, he does.
Katie [7:10]:
But keep going, I’m distracting you.
Annabel [7:12]:
Paul, call me.
Anyway. So, Leo is this person who, you know, at Thanksgiving dinner he looks around the table and everyone at his table is on his payroll. He’s a movie star, he’s a celebrity, he has homes that he didn’t pick out anything that he owns. He is not like, invested in the small details of his life. And he comes into Nora’s life, and he gets to go to the grocery store, and he wants to touch everything because this is an experience that he hasn’t had.
So, that’s the basis of their romance and I would argue, or I would actually ask you, Katie, do you think it’s a fantasy that some of us have, that maybe there’s a celebrity that if they really got to know us, they would be totally into us?
Katie [8:03]:
Oh my god, this is such a great question and by the way, I know it’s a great question because I had it on my list. You know, I wanted to specifically ask you about this because, in the book, Leo has the opportunity to continuously hook up with all these Hollywood starlets, but he chooses a single mom from a small town and I wanted to know, you know, is there a message there that you’re trying to send? [laughs] Or does it feel like a fantasy?
Annabel [8:29]:
Well, it’s a fantasy and maybe it’s true. Maybe there’s something really beautiful about what we’re doing. And maybe being on the big screen, and shellacking yourself in makeup, and having to not eat any food so you fit into a certain dress size, maybe that’s one thing. But maybe being a wonderful mother and great at your job, maybe those things are actually really appealing and have value.
Katie [9:00]:
Absolutely, of course. The ability to have a real-life, to be nurturing, to be able to live a private life. Because Leo did not get have that in the book, he lived a very exposed life. If you’re a Hollywood star or one of these Instagram influencers, there’s a lot of surface. So, I agree. There’s beauty in just a life well-lived.
You know, I do want to ask you about living this small-town life. I know that I’m in a smaller suburb, I know that you live in a smaller town in Connecticut. The rhythms of the small-town life felt very familiar and organic, but you made the Hollywood glamor and the behind the scenes feel so real. We’re going to be heading into a quick commercial break but when we come back, I want to ask you how you captured Hollywood so beautifully.
[Ad break]
Katie [10:47]:
Okay, Annabel, we’re back from the break. You write about the rhythms of small-town lives in a way that really just brings them to life, but you also capture Hollywood. Did you do research, or did you binge-watch old Oscars? How did you get there?
Annabel [11:03]:
I love this question because it takes me back to my origin story. So, I grew up in Los Angeles and my mother and my grandparents all grew up in Los Angeles, we’ve been there for a long time. And I don’t think I’ve ever missed the Academy Awards. In fact, when I was a kid, we’d sit with TV tables in front of the TV, and we’d have hors d’oeuvres for dinner, and we would get dressed up to watch the Academy Awards. It’s like other people celebrate Christmas the way we celebrated the Academy Awards. So, I did not need to binge watch that at all. And the getting ready for the Academy Awards and what the red carpet would be like, that was pretty much my whole upbringing so that was really fun to write.
Katie [11:48]:
Yeah, you really sort of had that come to life. I think you captured the notion of writing very well. Obviously, your main protagonist, Nora, is a screenwriter, your work is also screenwriting. Nora has a very special place where she writes all of her television scripts. She does it in something called The Tea House and it is sort of a central character in the book. Do you write some place special? Do you have your own tea house where you do your work?
Annabel [12:19]:
Katie, I do not have my own tea house.
Katie [12:21]:
[laughs] You know who is going to give you a tea house? Paul Rudd. Paul Rudd would get you your own tea house.
Annabel [12:27]:
Paul, where is my tea house? So, The Tea House... Maybe it’s a fantasy for some people that the Sexiest Man Alive is going to come and live in their house and fall in love with them. My fantasy is that I have some place to go to write. I wrote this story during the initial 2020 quarantine; all my three children were home, either working from home or being at school from home, and my husband was home, and they had taken over my office and every room in my house, and I wrote this book in a small chair that I found in the corner of an unused room.
So, it’s very funny to me that I was writing this fantasy love story and I had it so focused on this structure where Nora could go to write by herself. It’s almost like I snuck my own fantasy into this story. She does all of her writing in The Tea House, and the film, the screenplay that she writes about her divorce is called The Tea House. That was actually the original title for the book, which is how much this tea house meant to me while I was writing this book.
Katie [13:40]:
It’s sort of got that Nancy Meyers-esque, real estate porn vibe. I love that you were curled up in a small chair in a corner of your own house, trying to carve out space because I think that’s a big part of why the Nancy Meyers movies are so attractive. It’s this gigantic, it’s this fantasy of the big white kitchen and the beautiful house set on the edge of a cliff.
How is this so different from writing... The other book of yours that I’ve read is a collection of essays called Does This Volvo Make My Butt Look Big? Which is just the most hilarious title and it’s a wonderful collection of essays that really focus on the nuances of being in a small town, being an active parent, you write a lot about parenting, you write about growing in a marriage, you write, just observations on life. How did writing a collection of essays differ? Did you enjoy having a bigger canvas to work with, with a novel.
Annabel [14:42]:
Well, I don’t think I could pick one that I enjoy more. I cannot help but write an essay, I write them all the time. I have a regular column that I write every two weeks and I feel like there’s always something coming up that I want to write about and that is, it’s a way of my processing something that’s happening or my way of just experiencing again, something that I find that’s amusing. I find that living in a family is such a fascinating experience, if you just take a step back; you take all these characters and shove them in a house and see how it all works out. I love writing about that. I also love that there’s so little pressure when you’re trying to write 700 words about something. So, that feels like you’ve got the satisfaction of getting it done fairly quickly and I really enjoy that.
I also, write in a bigger way, I feel like I’m going to reach more people, but I also like being able to just make stuff up. [Katie laughs] So, when you’re writing a novel, it’s fun. Nora, I gave her my schedule, she has the same schedule during the day that I have, but other than that we’re totally different people and it was really fun for me to just inhabit her skin and go through this whole relationship and heartbreak and all the things that she goes through, that feels like just playing make-believe, I loved it.
Katie [16:14]:
It’s so fun. So, what is your schedule? You said you gave Nora your schedule. Give us a break down. How do you get words down on paper, is it a daily practice? Do you give yourself word count deadlines? Walk us through it.
Annabel [16:28]:
I don’t do word count because that, to me, just... I’ll choke, it’s too concrete. I wake up, deal with my children, get them out of the house, I only have one home now, I walk my dog, I exercise. Then I’m done with that by 10:00. I like to work from 10:00 to 2:00. That’s ideal. I honestly don’t think you can write eight hours a day, I can’t. And then at 2:00 I sometimes take a nap, yes, I do. [Katie laughs] And then my son, people come back and then the household picks up again. There’s usually a time in the afternoon where everybody goes to their own corners again and I can write or work on the more administrative things that you have to do, social media and you know, filling out questionnaires and planning tours, and all that kind of stuff.
Katie [17:23]:
So, that’s your writing process, which I love hearing. And I love that you admit that you take naps, I’m going to admit that I would love to be taking naps but at this point I feel like I have two jobs and I haven’t worked that out, but it’s on my bucket list.
Annabel [17:38]:
I’m telling you, Katie, a nap is a game-changer. And I don’t mean two hours, I mean like, 20 minutes.
Katie [17:44]:
Yeah, like a disco nap! You’re ready, you’re up. You’re not going to the disco but you’re heading back to your computer to get going with your writing. So actually, do you type? Or are you long hand? I know you believe in naps, do you believe in pen and paper? Or do you believe in laptops?
Annabel [17:58]:
No, I make lists and to-do lists and all that kind of stuff by hand and then I can't read them. I type everything. I’m left-handed, I need to type.
Katie [18:08]:
We have that in common. No one can read my handwriting, it’s like that of a serial killer. Which is strange, after many, many years of Catholic school, you’d think that would have been something that I left with, but I didn’t.
So, getting published, you’ve published young adult books, you’ve published this collection of essays, you obviously have a column. But this is with Penguin Random House. Was it hard to get a big publisher to sit up and take notice? Walk us through that process.
Annabel [18:37]:
It was glorious.
Katie [18:38]:
[laughs] Glorious is good, I bet.
Annabel [18:41]:
It was like a big surprise party. When I finished this book, I got a new agent and my agent set it out on submission, and that was on a Friday. And then on a Monday, there was a bunch of interest and eventually the most brilliant editor in the world ended up buying my book and I’ve just, honestly, they paid me money for it, but I would have worked with her for free. She’s just such a smart, interesting person and it’s just been great. So, it happened very easily.
Katie [19:20]:
That’s so fabulous. I love that story. And because I do follow you on social media, I see you’re very plugged into the author community. Is that important to you? Because I know when you were in your corner writing alone, even though you’re perhaps in a very crowded house during a pandemic with all your kids, writing is a solitary endeavor. Is it important to you to surround yourself with writer friends? How does that work?
Annabel [19:44]:
You know, I used to think... People used to say, "You should get to know my cousin, she’s a writer.” And I was like, "This is not a networking job. [Katie laughs] You just have to sit there and write a story by yourself.” And I was so wrong about that. The more author friends I have, the more I feel like my work improves. I get to read their work as it’s in progress and I’m learning from them. When something great happens to me, they share it on social media. You can't underestimate the impact and the value of those friendships. And there are also, your friends who are not writers, you can't call them and share your disappointment over some very specific thing that would only happen to a writer.
Katie [20:30]:
Right, that makes sense.
Annabel [20:32]:
Yeah, it’s a wonderful support network and I didn’t know that was a thing, but it definitely is.
Katie [20:38]:
I found that with podcasting as well and even the midlife space right now. I’ve connected with and had a lot of podcast hosts on my show, I love connecting with them, they’re great on the mic, great at telling stories. I’ve had so many midlife brands and women who are helping others thrive in midlife on this show and it’s really turned into a network. I agree, I’ve learned a lot, I’ve gotten their support and they’ve helped me grow and thrive. So, I would say to any listener who is looking to move into a new space, I think you surround yourself with people who are in that space, it is going to help you thrive.
I want to also ask you about something specific. I picked up my copy of Does This Volvo Make My Butt Look Big? again and I thumbed through it, and I was reminded of all the chapters that I loved. You have one, I think you closed the book with it, it’s about growing in a marriage, and you share a story about how when you were registering, you picked up some champagne flutes and you were ready for married life and every night felt like a Saturday and then you say, "Adulthood can feel like a string of Mondays.” I love this line because I think that anyone who is listening to this has felt like adulthood is more like a string of Mondays than it is like Saturday champagne nights. We have mortgages, health crises, and childcare...we’re in full Monday mode.
Do you feel that your observations on life have changed as you’ve gotten to be in midlife? How has it impacted your writing? You touched on it in the beginning but are you writing different essays now than you had been writing when you were younger?
Annabel [22:20]:
I love that you bring up that essay because I love that essay, it makes me feel so warm toward my husband. The more nonsense we go through, the more I’m like, "Wow, he’s here for the long haul, he’s not going anywhere.” I think that as I get older, my approach to everything has changed. I feel like joy has replaced fear. I sort of feel like it’s the opposite of... You know in middle school, every time you walk into a room, you’re worried about what people are going to think, and then you sort of choke? I just don’t... Like, I’ll have a call with my editor and she’s going to tell me if she likes my next book or not and I don’t feel nervous or fearful, I feel excited about finding out what she thinks. I think by the time you get to middle age, or a certain age, [Katie laughs] you’ve experienced enough stuff that you know you can get through it, and you’re sort of more interested in how it’s going to go. I just don’t have the fear of failure that I used to. So, I think that going forward I’m just going to write whatever I feel like.
Katie [23:32]:
I love that spirit. In fact, we’re connected through the author Karen Dukess who was one of my first guests and one of my favorite guests. She said something on the show that has stuck with me and never left which is that she sat down to write her novel after the fear of not doing it well, which is what had stopped her from doing it for so long, was replaced by the fear of not doing it at all. She just said, "I want to write this book, I don’t care how it goes and what people think.” And she did and she got it published and it was just such a wonderful way of looking at life. We’re not letting fear stop us any longer, we need to get into action and get going.
Annabel [24:14]:
We don’t even know what we’re afraid of. And thank god, because it’s such a great book that she wrote, The Last Book Party. What if she hadn’t written that book?
Katie [24:21]:
I know. It’s so fun and so wonderful, it’s a great book for readers as well. What are the stories of midlife that you see other writers covering well? And what’s not getting enough airtime?
Annabel [24:37]:
Hmm... That’s a great question. The author Amy Poeppel does midlife in a way that I really appreciate. She wrote a book called Limelight, where the main character’s superpower is being a mother, she saves the day with her mothering, which I love. And then her next book, Musical Chairs, she has all these millennials. At midlife, you’re dealing with a lot of millennial children and the way they are, with respect to the way a woman in her fifties is, is hilarious to watch.
I don’t know that romance is getting enough airtime and in fact, I’ve been surprised to hear all the comments about my book saying, they’re so happy to see an older woman in a relationship, a love story with an older woman. And I’m thinking, she’s 39. [Katie laughs] She’s not so old. She seems like a kid to me.
Katie [25:38]:
Oh my gosh that’s so funny.
Annabel [25:41]:
I don’t read a lot of that stuff, but they say there really aren’t books for women that are over 25 that are romantically involved.
Katie [25:51]:
So, you’re changing that. Is your next book a romance?
Annabel [25:56]:
It’s in a nursing home, she’s 75... No, I’m just kidding.
Katie [26:00]:
Okay. [Annabel laughs] I was like, I’m intrigued tell me more!
Annabel [26:04]:
Yes, it’s called The Geriatric Romance. No, my next book actually, the protagonist is only 30. But I think that after that, my protagonist is in her fifties.
Katie [26:18]:
And who is doing romance writing well? It sounds like there’s maybe a shortage of romance books with midlife protagonists. But who is always something worth picking up?
Annabel [26:30]:
Emily Henry is always worth picking up. I don’t have to tell anybody this because it’s everywhere but her new book, Book Lovers is fantastic. My favorite book that I’ve read in a long time is People We Meet on Vacation, which she wrote, I think it came out last year. But she does romance, they’re all love stories, but they’re all smart and they’re all fun with great dialogue. I think she’s the master.
Katie [26:59]:
Okay, I love that, I love that. Annabel, we are wrapping up. I want to head into a quick speed round though before I lose you. Are you up for it?
Annabel [27:10]:
I’m up for it, took a deep breath...
Katie [27:12]:
[laughs] You’ve got this. okay, writing Nora Goes Off Script was _____.
Annabel [27:18]:
The most fun I’ve ever had.
Katie [27:21]:
Oh my gosh, I love that. Dream actress to play Nora _____.
Annabel [27:27]:
The woman who is... Leslie Mann.
Katie [27:30]:
Okay, she would be wonderful, wonderful.
Annabel [27:33]:
I love Leslie Mann. I can never think of her name for some reason, but I love her.
Katie [27:37]:
You just did! You pulled it out of your hat, I love it. So, Paul Rudd is not going to be the answer to this because he’s already gotten enough airtime, but who would play Leo?
Annabel [27:47]:
Matthew McConaughey.
Katie [27:49]:
Oh okay, that works. That totally works.
Annabel [27:51]:
Matthew, are you listening?
Katie [27:54]:
We’ve gotta get this in front of him and Paul for sure.
Annabel [27:56]:
It’s on you, Katie.
Katie [27:58]:
[laughs] I’m going to do my best. I’m trying to get Jennifer Grey on the podcast, so I don’t know that I’m pulling the right strings. Paul Rudd might be untouchable. Reading on a Kindle, yes, or no?
Annabel [28:11]:
Yes.
Katie [28:11]:
Okay. Library or bookstore?
Annabel [28:15]:
Ohh... I get my books at a bookstore, I work at the library.
Katie [28:21]:
Okay, that makes sense. An indie bookstore we should put on our list _____.
Annabel [28:27]:
There's Athena Books in Old Greenwich, Connecticut. Just opened, and it is a gorgeous space.
Katie [28:34]:
Very nice. Barnes & Noble or Amazon?
Annabel [28:38]:
Barnes & Noble.
Katie [28:39]:
Summer beach read on top of your To Be Read pile?
Annabel [28:44]:
A Shoe Story by Jane L. Rosen.
Katie [28:48]:
Nice. I could read this book again and again _____.
Annabel [28:52]:
Pride and Prejudice.
Katie [28:54]:
Surprise! I love books but this genre doesn’t do it for me _____.
Annabel [28:58]:
Fantasy.
Katie [29:00]:
I love it. Okay, I love fantasy, so I had to stop myself for a minute there.
Annabel [29:03]:
Do you?
Katie [29:04]:
Yeah, I do! I love Game of Thrones; I love all of The Lord of the Rings. I do love that.
Annabel [29:12]:
I space out when I read them. I don’t know why.
Katie [29:14]:
Doesn’t have to be for everyone. Finally, the last question. Your one-word answer to complete this sentence: as I age, I feel _____.
Annabel [29:23]:
Free.
Katie [29:24]:
Free. Very nice. Thank you, Annabel. This has been so much fun, I loved connecting with you. I absolutely loved this book, I read it on an airplane to Scotland. I blazed through it, I got to the end of it, and it was sad, I feel like I was saying goodbye to some good friends. I’m encouraging everyone to pick it up. I’m calling it a summer beach read because I know it’s gotten a lot of press. I think Southern Magazine said it’s the beach book of the summer and there’s been a lot of great buzz around it, but you could read this book anytime. So, if you’re listening to this podcast in January, I still encourage you to find this book.
Before we do go say goodbye, how can our listeners find you, your work, and Nora Goes Off Script?
Annabel [30:05]:
Well you can find all the information in the world on my website which is annabelmonaghan.com and you can find my book at any bookstore or Amazon, but I prefer you go to an indie bookstore because we need to support them. And thank you.
Katie [30:23]:
Yeah, absolutely, I agree. Indie bookstores all the way. A Certain Age pod has a bookshop on indie bookseller, bookshop.org. I always link to bookshop.org in the show notes so you can head to acertainagepod.com for the show notes and the links to that indie book seller. Thank you, Annabel.
Annabel [30:42]:
Thank you so much, Katie, this was awesome.
Katie [30:44]:
This wraps A Certain Age, a show for women who are aging without apology. Join me next Monday when I talk about the challenges of balancing aging parents, a career, and a life, with Liz O’Donnell, author of Working Daughter: A Guide to Caring for Your Aging Parents While Making a Living.
Before we say goodbye, I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to write a review of the show on Apple podcasts, I see and appreciate you! If you have not done so yet, make today the day, it’s so easy to do. just find A Certain Age on your podcast app, scroll down to the bottom, and tap on the stars to rate or leave a written review. Both matter because ratings and reviews help other women find the show and help it grow.
Special thanks to Michael Mancini who composed and produced our theme music. See you next time and until then: age boldly, beauties.