If you haven’t yet read my travel memoir, They Only Eat Their Husbands (Ghost Road Press, Nov 2010), please check out these compelling reasons from memoirist, blogger, and world traveler Susan Blumberg-Kason, who chose it as her: Book of the Week.

I felt honored and humbled to read her unsolicited review. And I was the most tickled by one basic phrase that seems to follow the book wherever it goes: “Lee’s utter and complete honesty.” I chuckle as I wonder if there are a few people for whom this idea is more like: “Lee’s utter and complete lack of shame.” Whatever the draw, my editor has told me that books from small presses get discovered over time. I’m grateful to see he’s right, and to share this find with you… in case you haven’t found it yet.

I recently answered a question on the Soul Pancake blog that hit at the heart of a subject I ponder often. The question was, “What question do you hate the most?”

“What are you?” I’ve answered this question a lot throughout my life.

In part, my answer was: “What are you?” I both love and hate this question. It often depends on the tone and the context. I have an ethnically-mixed background, and I’ve answered this question a lot throughout my life…

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“Awards are fun…” my friend Jen once wrote me in an email. Now I remember that phrase every time I enter a writing contest. It packs an attitude that seems to say, “Go out and play.” I have some fun to report: my non-fiction personal essay has won first place in the Denver Woman’s Press Club In-House Writing Contest. It’s a bit embarrassing to post the essay here, because it is, indeed, quite personal. But writing is communication, and what is communication if it’s not shared? So here’s my story:

SMELLY MAKE THIS BED
by Cara Lopez Lee

I tuck the sheet under my chin and try not to move, hoping to trap it, that smell like spoiled sausage and goat cheese. It’s only a gesture, because already I know it’s too late.

“Sorry,” I say.

“Nice,” he laughs.

“So, this is how love dies,” I say, “one fart at a time.”

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It was only two hours to Cheyenne, Wyoming - a drive I’ve made before. The first time was just over twenty years ago when I interviewed for a reporting job at a local TV station. I suppose it’s for the best that I never got that job, or I wouldn’t have become a reporter in Alaska. And if I hadn’t gone to Alaska, I wouldn’t have written a memoir about my life in Alaska (and my trek around the world). I passed through Cheyenne again seven years ago, on my way to Thompson Falls, Montana. I spent a month there, cleaning out my deceased grandmother-in-law’s house, and working on my memoir.

Cheyenne was the first stop on my four-week book tour for They Only Eat Their Husbands: A Memoir of Alaskan Love, World Travel and the Power of Running Away.

So, here I was again on a straight stretch of I-25, Rocky Mountains to the left, Great Plains to the right, cringing as my car threatened to rattle itself to pieces at “Speed Limit 75,” actual speed slightly more. Why? To reach the first stop on my four-week book tour for They Only Eat Their Husbands: A Memoir of Alaskan Love, World Travel and the Power of Running Away.

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I had my skis tuned over the weekend, and when I picked them up on Sunday, the young woman who took my money stared at my skis with disdain and said, “Wow, those skis are old. How long have you had them?”

“About seven years.”

“Wow,” she repeated, and not in a tone that suggested admiration. I felt embarrassed, and defensive. Maybe she can afford to buy new skis every year or two, but I can’t. Did I mention I’m a freelance writer? So at our house, we use things until they don’t work. These old skis still work - pretty well, I might add.

These old skis still work - pretty well, I might add.

I thought of an article I read in The Onion in December: “New Device Desirable, Old Device Undesirable.” It lampooned the idea that everyone wanted the “New Device” for Christmas because the “Old Device” was, well, old. One fake quote said of the New Device: “Its attractiveness and considerable value are, by extension, my attractiveness and considerable value.” I wondered if the young woman at the ski shop felt that way about her skis or snowboard. Maybe she thought I was out of touch, and didn’t consider that I might simply be out of cash.

Which begs the question: if I’m low on funds, why ski at all?

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Award-winning mystery writer Stacy Juba recently asked me, and several other authors, an interesting question: “What were you doing 25 years ago?” If you’d like to know my embarrassing answer, read my guest post at Stacy’s blog, where she writes about Mysteries, Murder & More… If you leave a comment at her blog, you’ll have a chance to win my book They Only Eat Their Husbands: A Memoir of Alaskan Love, World Travel, and the Power of Running Away. Stacy is the author of the mystery novels Twenty-Five Years Ago Today and Sink or Swim. Her young adult paranormal thriller Dark Before Dawn will be released by Mainly Murder Press in January 2012.

On Monday, December 6, you can listen in on my radio tour as I share travel tips and talk about “They Only Eat Their Husbands: A Memoir of Alaskan Love, World Travel and the Power of Running Away.” I’ll be on the radio during morning drive-time from coast-to-coast. A couple of shows are national. Hit this link for a rundown of where and when you can tune in:

http://www.caralopezlee.com/events.php

When Indian activist Rita Banerji asked me to post an excerpt from my memoir on her blog, Gender Equal, I didn’t just feel humbled - I almost felt ashamed. Gender Equal seeks to raise awareness of global gender inequities. The blog is an initiative of the 50 Million Missing campaign, which is fighting female genocide in India. What could my book, about a Western woman professional empowering herself through a solo trek around the world, add to her mission? Then it occurred to me, it might offer hope: I enjoy a kind of freedom many women long for. It also occurred to me that I didn’t start out a fully-realized independent woman. At the start of my book, I was a victim of domestic violence. If you haven’t yet, I hope you’ll take this opportunity to read the opening excerpt from They Only Eat Their Husbands: A Memoir of Alaskan Love, World Travel, and the Power of Running Away. Then please read about India’s 50 Million Missing. If we want to empower other women, knowledge is a start.

FALSE SUMMIT

When I lived in Alaska, I interviewed the youngest girl to summit America’s highest peak, Denali. I interviewed then-12-year-old Merrick Johnston before her 1995 climb. She said she used to be afraid of crevasses, but after plenty of training she liked to stick her head in them just for fun. My news director interviewed her after the climb. He asked, “How did it feel when you reached the top?” Her answer: “I had to pee. Then I threw up.”

When I lived in Alaska, I interviewed the youngest girl to summit America’s highest peak, Denali. (Photo © Brian Longmore/Dreamstime.com)

Today is the official release date for my book, They Only Eat Their Husbands: A Memoir of Alaskan Love, World Travel, and the Power of Running Away, and while I’ve spent recent weeks in a flurry of excitement, now I feel kind of like Merrick did on the summit of Denali. I’ve been drinking chai today and I need to pee, and if I think about the book too much I might throw up.

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