How my late 101-year-old mom continues to enhance my life is the topic for today’s Just TypiKel.
Hi. If you’re new here, welcome! If not, welcome back. It’s been a minute; I’ve missed you.
So, let’s deal with the elephant in the room. Have I gone around the twist? What’s with the rather woowoo, “How my late 101-year-old mom continues to enhance my life”? Well, it started when my book, Never, Never, Hardly Ever, was selected as a finalist for the 4th Annual Zibby Awards.
Finalists for the 4th Annual Zibby Awards 2024
Best Coming-of-Age Book
Kelly McKenzie
Never, Never, Hardly Ever
Lorelei Darling
Somewhere Will Find You
Mimi Zieman
Tap Dancing on Everest
Anastasia Zadeik
The Other Side of Nothing
Cherry Lou Sy
Love Can’t Feed You
I’d love to attend, but with the awards ceremony held in New York City, some 3000 miles away from me, the Canadian West Coaster, it wouldn’t be a day trip. Toss in the fact our Canadian dollar is currently worth just under 70 cents to its American cousin, and I decided not to go.
How My Late 101-Year-Old Mom Continues To Enhance My Life
Words from Francine, who passed away in June at 101, flooded my brain. I couldn’t stop them.
“How marvelous, Kel. Oh, how I love New York! When do you leave?”
“Leave? I can’t possibly go, Mom.”
“What utter nonsense. Remember when I was a TV contestant on Live A Borrowed Life in Toronto in the 60’s? Did I fly right home after winning that chunk of money posing as the Dalai Lama? Certainly not. I cancelled my flight and invited your Auntie Rose to meet me in Manhattan. We had a marvelous time, as will you. Book your flights. NOW.”
I booked ’em.
I’d spend the first few nights in Connecticut to acclimatize.
Connecticut is a hotbed for writers. My editor lives there. As does my publisher. I also reached out to my pal, Allia Zobel Nolan, whom I met at our first Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop in 2016. You might remember Allia as the gal behind our anthology Laugh Out Loud. Nominated for two Zibby Awards, she generously offered to host me at her Connecticut home.
And Then The LA Fires Broke Out
Elizabeth “Zibby” Owens is the gal behind the Zibby Awards. An American writer and podcast host, she’s known for her podcast Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books. Based in New York City, Zibby runs a successful independent bookstore in Santa Monica, California. She also owns a home in the Pacific Palisades …
Thankfully both her home and the bookstore were spared in the fires but of course she couldn’t carry on as normal. The Zibby Awards were cancelled.
No need for me to do the trip now, right? Francine thought otherwise.
“Go anyway, Kel. Just go.”
Mom still knows best.
I flew to Montreal, then on to JFK and hunkered down in a hotel near the airport for the night. The next morning I hopped aboard the hotel shuttle, took the subway to Grand Central and jumped on the Long Island Rail Road to Stamford, Connecticut. Operating from 3:30am my time, I felt I deserved an award for arriving at the correct spot, ten minutes early. Allia didn’t disappoint. She and her Irish husband Desmond couldn’t have been more hospitable.
I never quite believed Allia had adopted a dog. A lifelong feline fan, she’s known for her cat books, as well as her books for children, adults, worriers, tween devotionals, and lots more. But a dog? Yep, Miss Kitty is real.
Next up was lunch with our editor, Jacqueline Smith. Having never met Jacky, it was long overdue. She’s one crackerjack editor. I’m thrilled she’s to be honored as a recipient of the 2025 Yankee Quill Award in March.
Hello, three hour lunch.
Another highlight was finally meeting Amanda Miller of My Word Publishing. Never, Never, Hardly Ever would be a very different book without her endless help. She guided me through every step from acquiring the ISBN to setting up KDP. (No worries, I hadn’t a clue what either was a year ago either.) It was an honor and a delight to meet her in person after the hours of Zooming. Turns out Amanda lives eight minutes from Allia.
Thank you, Allia, for your timely offer and making me feel so welcome.
If you’ve read to the end, thank you. I hope you enjoyed learning about how my late 101-year-old mom continues to enhance my life. It really was a blind leap of faith to go ahead with the trip. Even though no one won a Zibby this year, we all feel like winners.
Better yet, the trip didn’t end there … stay tuned.
6 Responses
Glad you went, looks like you had a good time. Had to laugh at your comment about the Canadian dollar. Only this evening we were watching the news and when the finance report was on my son commented “HOW is our Aussie dollar only worth .68 American cents”.
Love the post. We did have fun. But are you using what you learned about birthdays when you go to a restaurant? Remember to drop the hint as the server goes by…. “Well, it IS my birthday.” And voila, you will get dessert on the house. We loved having you and my hubby said, “When is Kelly coming back?” So there’s an open invitation. ERMA rocks and unites kindred souls. How awesome.
It was so much fun to meet you in person, Kelly – finally! The three of us, including Allia on her “birthday,” could have kept gabbing, sharing stories, and laughing into the night. Listen to Allia and come back! And thank you for listening to your mom on this one. (I remain so impressed that you navigated the NYC subway system, Grand Central – which is huge and confusing (and beautiful) – and the rail to get to the exact right spot in Connecticut!)
I have missed your posts Kelly! So happy to hear about this trip (congrats on the nomination!!) and I wholeheartedly agree that Francine was helpful in making this trip a reality.
Love everything about this! Food for the soul!
How marvellous Kelly, what a hoot! Luv how you blame your mother for your great decisions haha I look forward to your next trip to NZ xxxxxx