Laurie Sandell

I’ve been Briticized

Last year, I did a photo shoot and article for a British magazine called Red. I never saw hide nor hair of the article until a friend sent it to me last week. I was highly amused to find I’d been quoted in a language that wasn’t entirely my own:

“I asked my mum what Dad did for a living and she’d say, ‘He sets up computer systems for foreign governments.’”

“When my family discovered I planned to publish my revelations about Dad, my sisters and my mother closed ranks.”

“Now that I’ve freed myself from my father’s stories, maybe I can finally get on with my own.”

Do you know what? I prefer my quotes with a British accent. I sound smarter. More credible. I think I’ll keep it.

I’m taping the Dr. Oz show today

I got a call from a producer the other day, asking if I’d like to participate in a Dr. Oz show about…drum roll, please…Ambien addiction! A few years ago, I wrote about my insomnia and subsequent Ambien addiction for Glamour, and it got a huge response from readers–I was even invited to appear on The Today Show. Every once in a while, someone will contact me through my website to share their own harrowing tale of Ambien addiction, and to ask how I got off the stuff. In my case, the answer was rehab plus yoga plus meditation plus quitting drinking. I know that’s not the answer for everyone, but I can’t tell you how difficult it was to quit–and how close I came to killing myself (inadvertently) as a result of that drug. One guy who contacted me told me that a well-regarded rehab center on the West Coast told him he wasn’t taking “enough” Ambien to qualify for help, and he should “embellish his story” if he wanted to get admitted. He said that was an exact quote! Meanwhile, Tiger Woods was admitted to the hospital as an Ambien overdose on the night of his car crash. Heath Ledger had Ambien in his system the night he died. Ambien addiction sent Eminem to rehab. And there are millions of anonymous Americans abusing the drug. So I am really happy that Dr. Oz is dealing with this particular subject. I’ll keep you posted on the exact air date.

My first radio interview: Tomorrow morning

I’ll be getting up at an ungodly hour tomorrow morning, because at 7:10 A.M. I’ll be appearing on The Lanigan & Malone Morning Show on Majic 105.7 in Cleveland, Ohio. I decided to write this post tonight, on the off-chance that one of the ten people reading this blog–seriously, are there even ten people here? Raise your hands–might live in Cleveland and want to tune in. I’ve done radio a few times before, for Glamour, but I was always talking about some celebrity, so this should be a different experience. Please iPhone, for the first time in your little electronic life, don’t fail me. Don’t drop the call unexpectedly in the middle of the interview, as you are wont to do. Please.

In other news, I had brunch with my friend Joanna Bober today (pictured, right). Listen to how this woman’s life has come together in the last year: She met her dream man, Josh Kessler, in the freakin’ Food Emporium–they are getting married in October. (Dude also did my author video and author photo.) She landed an amazing new job as the “life et cetera” director for InStyle. She recently traveled to Paris to buy a beautiful vintage wedding dress in a flea market. Sigh. As anyone who knows her will tell you, she is literally the nicest person on earth so no one deserves it more, but really, Jo–how much more are we expected to take?

Just did a Podcast for The Forward

Recently my old friend Adam Rovner got in touch with me; back in the early nineties, he was my roommate in Israel. He’s living in Denver now, working for a Jewish organization, and asked if I’d done anything yet with the Jewish newspaper The Forward. Leave it to Adam: Within short order, he’d made a few phone calls, and today I sat down with Dan Friedman, the Arts & Culture editor, for a taped interview. It was originally supposed to be a vidcast, which is why I’m all dressed up. There were a few technological glitches (are they following me?) so some of the original interview was lost. But we had a good conversation. I liked talking about the book through a Jewish lens.

The book is mentioned on Page Six today

In the Sightings section. Please…I’m a private citizen, and have a right to privacy. If you’ve been camped outside my hotel, PLEASE disperse; the other guests didn’t come here to deal with this spectacle. As for the paparazzi, I had no idea there were so many of you in Portland: Who are you generally following here? Please keep in mind I’m not a regular driver, and it’s scary to be edged off the road while being chased by photogs. I will be reading tomorrow night at Powell’s, YOU WILL GET YOUR SHOT THERE, I promise.

It’s book tour time–I’m heading West

What a day. Woke up at 5:00 am and appeared on Good Morning America. You can see it here, if you’d like. Then I did an interview with Red Magazine, which is based in the UK. Then my Jezebel interview appeared online. (Did I really tell Doree Shafrir I wasn’t capable of love? Can I take that back? Just kidding, I loved Doree’s interview.) Then my book went to #368 on Amazon! Needless to say, it’s 9:35 pm now, my flight is at 9:00 am tomorrow and I still haven’t packed. Guys, you’ll have to forgive me–for this blog post, I’m not going to search around for a photo to go with it. GOOD NIGHT.

They wrote about the book in The Wall St. Journal!

I was interviewed today and the piece is already online. The process was nerve-wracking! I’m so used to being on the other side of the tape recorder, and I tried to be as transparent as I always want my subjects to be, but it is different when the story is about you. I got off the phone with the reporter and immediately started second-guessing myself: Was I articulate enough? Did I represent the book accurately? Will my mother freak out when she sees this? (The answer is yes.) I am thrilled beyond measure that the book is already getting this kind of attention–it’s not even officially “out” until July 29th–but it’s jarring to be suddenly thrust into the limelight, in a way I couldn’t have understood, even as recently as a week ago. It’s a weird and exciting time.