Hi all! Litquake is over - the annual literary fest I’ve been co-producing since we founded it 8 years ago - and I’m exhausted! But happy to be able to turn my attentions back to where they belong: writing. Oh, and my consulting job for redroom.com, which is soon to launch! (More soon on that.)

I’m bummed today by news of the impending writers strike in LA - mainly because things were moving along on the sitcom! “Moving along” being a relative term in showbiz - but the good news is that I met a month ago with Emmy winners Betty Thomas and Elaine Pope, the now-under-contract director and writer who hope to turn “NOTP” into a TV series for TBS. I’d enjoyed being in touch with Elaine about characters and whatnot - but those conversations will be scuttled if the union walks! Oy. I support the writers (for obvious reasons) and hope they won’t be out of work long! These are tough times for Hollywood scribes, with every other show being reality-based - i.e. no writers required!

I also wanted to let you know that my friend and colleague Bella DePaulo’s excellent book, “Singled Out: How Singles Are Stereotyped, Stigmatized, and Ignored, and Still Live Happily Ever After,” is now out in paperback. “Singled Out” is a myth-busting, consciousness-raising, totally unapologetic take on singlehood. Bella has been pursuing the singles topic with a passion, and she would love to see the paperback version of Singled Out get off to a great start. So if you buy two or more copies between Sun Nov 4 and Fri Nov 9, she will send you (or anyone in the continental U.S.) another book for free. Details are here: http://www.belladepaulo.com/specialoffer2.htm.

Even if you buy just one copy of Singled Out between Nov 4 and Nov 9, there are special thank-you bonuses available at her website, http://www.belladepaulo.com/specialoffer1.htm. Here’s a link to Amazon,
http://www.amazon.com/Singled-Out-Singles-Stereotyped-Stigmatized/dp/0312340826/ref=ed_oe_p/102-4637341-6604139

But you can buy the books anywhere to qualify for the free book and other thank-you bonuses. (The retail price is $14.95, and Amazon is selling it for just $10.17.)

Last but not least, I’m going to be making two appearances in California soon for Singelringen - the Swedish ring for singles that’s taking Europe by storm. They are starting to market here in the US, and are producing some events around it, and (wisely) inviting authors who write on single life to appear.

I’ll be in Sacramento on Nov. 17 to celebrate the US launch of Singelringen with a few other authors, including my friend Sasha Cagen of “Quirkyalone” fame. details here:
http://www.us.singelringen.com/Default.aspx?documentID=779

I’ll also be in the LA area for a similar event on Dec. 5. Please come out if you’re in those areas!

Anyway, enough shilling! I hope to be back soon here with more news - including the sale of my next book!

xx Jane

Hi all - sorry for this loooong silence! It’s been a roller coaster summer. Three great weeks away in Spain (for my next book) and Provence, then on the first day home, I wrecked my car. (Jetlag anyone?) Just looked away for a split second and when I looked back, the traffic was dead stopped and I crashed into the person in front of me. Thankfully, her SUV was barely dented (I suppose it’s one reason people those monstrosities) but my poor Sebring convertible was toast. Completely crushed in front. I was a little stunned, but mostly fine - I thought. A week later, like clockwork (they say it often takes that long for symptoms to manifest) I came down with a hideous case of whiplash. For for five weeks now I’ve been seeing a chiropractor three times a week, and trying to (ha!) limit my time on the computer. It’s not working well; both my projects - the Litquake festival and a startup I’ve been consulting for - are coming to a head, with launch in just 5-6 weeks! Eeek! So the stress level is on orange alert around Chez Ganahl, I can tell you.

Other tidbits: the sitcom appears (knock wood) to be moving forward slowly. Contracts are out to a fabulous director and writer for the pilot. I go to LA in a couple weeks for more meetings.

The paperback of “Naked on the Page” is set to release on Feb. 1. And the new cover they’re contemplating is based on a photo of… me!! It’s a little odd to see; I feel like my ego is running amok here. But hey - I can always say it was their idea, which is true!

Last but not least, I have a new entry on Huffington Post today - a piece I wrote on spec for the New York Times’ Modern Love feature, but they never “bit.” So here it is! I hope my ex-husband forgives me…

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-ganahl/the-ex-file-or-loves-lab_b_61675.html

More soon, I promise! Maybe I’ll figure out how to upload some photos and share a few from Europe!

xx Jane

My first entry on the fabulous Arianna’s website! Which, BTW, has grown so huge it now has various sections - just like a newspaper. It’s a humorous (sort of) screed on the online dating world - and how come men my age don’t want to date women my age.
Check it out: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-ganahl/seeking-love-online_b_48796.html
It felt good to be column-izing again…
xxj

I still haven’t signed a contract, but we’ve agreed to sell the option to my book to TBS for a sitcom! (This has been a long-time coming, but apparently things in TV land take forever and I’m tired of not talking about it!) TBS, for those who don’t watch TV, is a Ted Turner-owned basic cable network - the one whose slogan is “TBS: very funny.” They have all the great sitcom reruns - from Seinfeld to Friends to Sex and the City. And soon, hopefully, Naked on the Page!

I’ve met the woman in charge of taking the project forward, Nina Howie, and she is a DREAM. Brilliant and strong and kind. A single woman in her early 40s. We got along immediately and seem to share the same vision. If it goes foward (and I think it has an excellent chance of doing so), I’d be working on it as a consultant - since, after all, it’d be based on my life!

I’ve even had that surreal conversation about who I’d like to play me - something I recommend you all do for FUN, regardless of whether you need to or not. There are loads of great actresses out there in my same age neighborhood: Alison Janney, Edie Falco, Rita Wilson, Holly Hunter… The list goes on! Surely one of them could be convinced that playing a newspaper columnist with love-life issues might just be the ticket to the Emmys they’ve been wanting?

If you’ve read my book, you know how important my friend and former boss Phil Bronstein is to me - and the story. Because he recently had a new baby (he has NO love-life issues himself anymore) he’s feeling a bit fragged these days. So when I asked him which actor he thought should play him in the show, he suggested… Harry Dean Stanton? A fine actor, to be sure, but NOT in Phil’s league, looks-wise. A suggestion from TBS was Tom Berenger, who is certainly a better match…

I don’t know about you, but I think one reason I watch so little TV (aside from the fact that much of it is reality-show crap) is that I never see my life reflected in these shows. Unmarried women living big and interesting lives - the success of SATC proved that there’s an audience for the subject matter. But single women over the age of 45? Call me crazy but I think there’s even MORE of a need out there because there’s more of an audience! And there are no such shows!

Until now, I mean… Stay tuned, and think good thoughts!

xx

I got a really odd review in the LA Times yesterday. It wasn’t very good - but the reviewer (a man, which is an interesting choice) seemed more put out with how I chose to write my book than the book itself. I.e. with the blurred line between truth and fiction, which I fully explain in the acknowledgments. I didn’t disagree entirely with what he said - that my book had a powerful enough message without fictionalizing. But then again, the year in question was just a few back! Those men that I dated are still very much around - some still in my life in one way or another! One must be… judicious when describing events. But in case the critic reads this (which I doubt), he can be assured that every bad date happened pretty much exactly as I described it. Does that help?
Here’s the url in case you missed it.
http://www.calendarlive.com/books/reviews/cl-et-book31mar31,0,6736377.story?coll=cl-books-util
By the way, I’ve been lucky in that I’ve gotten uniformly great reviews so far, so I won’t quibble inordinately with this one. But when I read reviews like this, where the critic bites down hard on one element of a book and shakes the stuffing out of it, I always put myself in the position of the reader/potential book buyer. (Okay, okay - but is it entertaining? Well-written? Worth my $25?)
At the end of the day - hey! It was in the LA Times! So I can’t complain.
Happy April 1!
Jane

This is a brave new world, people! New to me, anyway. (Then again, I don’t even own an IPod! I’ve yet to discover the charm, tho that could change when I go to Europe this summer.) Anyway, I’ve done two in recent weeks, and both are now posted on the Internet. One, which is mainly about my journey as a woman (erp) can be found here:

www.psychjourneypodcasts.com
and here:
www.biographypodcasts.com

The other was done by Ed Champion for his Bat Segundo Show - a program unlike anything else I’ve encountered on the web. He manages to get some kick-ass authors (i.e. Martin Amis) and personalities (i.e. Ron Jeremy) and… yours truly. And manages to make us all squirm with his oh-so-probing questions. We met at Cafe Trieste in North Beach and I needed decaf by the time I was out of there. Nice job, Ed!

You can find that lengthy sparring match here:

http://www.edrants.com/segundo

And happily, you don’t need an Ipod to listen - an MP3 function works fine too.

xx Jane (settling down after the insanity of book tour)

got a swell review today in the nation’s biggest newspaper. it was all perfect - except that it says i’m tall when in fact i’m short! just 5′4″ - but other than that, i could not agree more!

http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/reviews/2007-02-28-naked-on-the-page_x.htm

‘Naked on the Page’ is woman’s open book

Posted 2/28/2007 8:29 PM ET

By Deirdre Donahue, USA TODAY

Jane Ganahl is indeed Naked on the Page.

In her amusing book, the San Francisco journalist recollects the 15 months leading up to her 50th birthday.

Imagine Bridget Jones if she were a 48-year-old, twice-divorced American with an adult daughter, three cats and a new gig as a columnist writing about the single life for the San Francisco Chronicle.

The best part of Naked is Ganahl’s sometimes embarrassing candor. It makes her vulnerable.

A tall, thin redhead who has enjoyed an active love life and hopes to continue to do so despite her AARP-eligible status, Ganahl captures the experience of turning from man magnet in her 30s to invisible crone in her 40s. She is attractive, smart, witty. Yet men no longer notice her.

Ganahl has many consolations: dear friends, family, a lovely child. But she refuses to become a secular nun like so many single middle-aged women. She won’t renounce her sexuality and romantic dreams in favor of knitting and Netflix.

Ganahl also is furious that men at the midcentury point only grow in appeal. Gray hair lends them a George Clooney suavity.

Naked details Ganahl’s brave but often painful search for love.

There’s a charming e-mail correspondent who turns out to be a major creep. She has an awful reunion with a college beau who is astonished that she no longer looks like an 18-year-old. Not that he does.

Ganahl also pines for Lenny, a famous rock icon with whom she has an open relationship — i.e., when he come to town on tour, they sleep together. Even if he is worthless.

Although she’s very open about some topics — her colorful past and the number of men she has slept with — “I’d say around fifty or fifty-five, but I’ve sort of lost track …” she tells her girlfriends — Ganahl is coy about certain facts, such as Lenny’s identity.

Risking ridicule, Ganahl refuses to let men and an age-obsessed culture define her sexuality. And the reader cheers, You go, girl!

well, “naked on the page” is now in bookstores! and following my volume go i! it’s been two weeks and i’ve done seven appearances and as many interviews. it’s going well (i think!) but this is all new to me, so what do i really know?

LA was disappointing, tho the folks at vroman’s book store in pasadena were terrific. new york rawked - two great events there at the bubble lounge in tribeca and the georgette klinger salon middtown. it was FREEZING but i got to take in some great theater (”the drowsy chaperone” and “spring awakening”) and see friends, so a good trip all in all.

favorite moment might have been having lunch with my friend mark in a used bookstore in the east village, eating soup in a bowl balanced on my lap while we listened to the band a flock of seagulls on the stereo. a perfect new york moment.

came home and did events back-to-back for six days. on the seventh i rested. thursday night was a highlight: doing a reading at kepler’s in menlo park, with some folks there from my youth - including my DAD. (yes, i altered the naughty bits out of my reading.) back out tomorrow with readings in corte madera and santa rosa. working on readings for this spring in portland and seattle.

it’s a weird thing when a book comes out. even if you’re getting parties thrown for you, you still don’t feel like you’re getting quite enough validation for giving birth to this… monstrous baby. i feel like i should be sending out birth announcements!

I submitted this to NPR’s “All Things Considered” at the behest of my Viking publicist, Lindsay (a goddess among young women), and they passed on this one but asked for another! So rather than having it go un-read, here it is!

I love it when my existence is validated by nothing less than the United States Census Bureau and the New York Times. In case you missed it, single women like me are now in the majority – comprising 51 percent of the population, compared to just 49 percent of women who live with their husbands.

Ozzie and Harriet must be spinning in their graves.

I, on the other hand, was elated to read the report. Hurrah- ammunition! The next time Aunt Prudence looks at me with pitying eyes because I am unmarried, I can turn it back on her.

“Don’t worry,” I shall whisper. “If you’re lucky, someday soon you and Uncle Joe will split! And you’ll know the joy of being in the bosom of the American majority.”

Of course, the news riled up the country’s conservative factions, who were quick to pronounce spinsters the IM-moral majority: selfish feminazis who, by rejecting marriage, are bent on destroying the moral fabric of our society. But I consider these numbers a clear sign that our society is finally realizing what I’ve known for years: that single life, while challenging, can be sweet indeed.

It’s an opinion honed by years of writing a column called Single Minded for the San Francisco Chronicle, which was all about la vida sola. I started the column on a trial basis; my editors were not at all sure I’d find a readership. But the response was overwhelming. In the course of writing the column, I heard thousands of stories from single readers about their lives.

One of my most avid fans was a woman in Marin County, a venture capitalist who at 45 had all but given up on the idea of marriage. And with her dream, went her self-esteem. “Thank God you’re in the paper!” she wrote. “I need advice. I’m so lonely. I need a husband.”

I gently suggested to her that if she just looked at her life and did a little tinkering – a new activity here, some volunteer work there – she might realize her life is richer than she imagined. Yet she remained unconvinced. After all, this is a marriage-obsessed culture, in which we’re bombarded by dozens of shows – from “The Bachelorette” to “Bridezillas” – devoted to the notion that marriage fixes everything.

Perhaps with this news, we can retire not just that old cliché, but several others as well. Most notably, the one about the sad spinster, eating ice cream with her cats and hoping for a salesman to knock on her door. Time to replace that image with one of a mature single woman taking up salsa dancing, mentoring younger women at work, running marathons.

I knew that this message had finally gotten across to my reader in Marin when she emailed me after a year or two to say thank you. “I started mountain biking, and going to Sierra Club Singles meetings,” she wrote. “And I met someone already. But the great thing is, even if it doesn’t lead to marriage, I’m not so afraid to be single. I don’t feel so alone.”

Not only is she not alone, she – and I - are in the majority now. Did we really need those Census numbers to validate our existence? Not really. But they’re still nice to have, when Aunt Prudence comes calling.

Hi folks - if you find yourself here it’s probably because you have picked up my spanking-new book, “Naked on the Page: the Misadventures of My Unmarried Midlife,” or are a fan of my former column in the San Francisco Chronicle. Either way, welcome to my very first official website and blog!

For years I’ve wondered who on earth has time and inclination to blog - creating writings that no one can be sure will even be SEEN, writings that no one gets PAID for. The answer, at least at this moment in time, is… ME. A journalist for 25 years who jumped off that speeding train five months ago, I no longer have the daily outlet of the San Francisco Chronicle to feed my jones for pontification. So here I am, with a website (janeganahl.com) that will promote me and my books - and blogging so that my website actually has something to SAY. (Amazing how many writers have websites that say nothing at all. How can they help themselves?)

I’m going to try to start this off by writing about the release of the book, and the response to it. And my feelings about it, of course. It’s already been a bit of a wild ride! A fabulous review in Publishers Weeky (see my website), great blurbs from other female authors, a decent one in Elle. I also have pitched a commentary to NPR and an essay to the NY Times Modern Love feature. And now, there is interest in the TV rights to my story!

My life: a sitcom. It’s come to this.

Fingers crossed that the book does well enough to pay Viking back for their advance and then some. I think my hopes hang on the fact that my audience (single women - especially those over 40) are avid readers who love to share their books. Who knows? My expectations are completely realistic, having known so many authors who have high hopes, only to see them dashed by poor sales. We shall see…

Meanwhile, I hope to record my thoughts here! Drop in from time to time…

Jane