Kicking off the "Women Who Rock" Cyber Party with: HILLARY CARLIP!

It's party time!!!! I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE officially comes out tomorrow (though it has already been spotted on amazon and in some bookstores....), and since it is my tribute to all the female rockers that have inspired me, I am spending the whole week celebrating WOMEN WHO ROCK! I've got some great guest lined up-- women who rock the literary, music and film worlds! These are all women who have projects that I adore and I wanted to give you a chance to learn all about them. So they are gonna answer some questions and give away fabulous prizes!

You can win the prizes simply by leaving a comment. I'll choose a winner using a random number generator when posting the next day's blog, which should be between noon and 1 pm CST every day. So be sure to check out the blog every day to see if you've won and to hear about more amazing WOMEN WHO ROCK.

I will also update you every day about where I'm guestblogging or being interviewed or taking questions or giving out signed copies of I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE! So before I introduce our guest of the day, let me get that info out of the way:

I'm doing a week-long interview ending 7/10 with the Chicago Literary Examiner. This is particularly cool because if you leave a question for me in the comments, chances are great that Rob (who runs CLE) will choose your question to ask me the next day!

I'm also visiting my critique partner, Vanessa Barneveld's blog where she did an in-depth interview with me about everything from publishing myth-busting to choosing stars to play my characters in a movie. I'm also taking reader questions over there and will give out a signed copy of IWBYJR to a commenter chosen at random tomorrow (7/8). In addition, Vanessa will send the winner chocolate! A free book and free Aussie chocolate? Trust me it doesn't get much better than that!

Now, without further adieu, I would like to introduce our WOMEN WHO ROCK guest of the day: Hillary Carlip!!!!!

Now this isn't just Hillary's latest, uproariously funny book that you are seeing pictured here. All three of the people on the cover are Hillary... Yeah, I'll let her explain...

Hillary, I am so grateful to have you kick off my week-long cyber book release party because not only do you fit the "Women Who Rock" theme to a tee, you have also been my mentor since I was sixteen years old and I discovered your book GIRL POWER, which was totally my bible as a teenage feminist. You also gave me my first real publication credit when you featured my 'zine Hospital Gown in your book ZINE SCENE and you gave me another amazing shot when you published my essay on your amazing essay site www.freshyarn.com. Your memoir QUEEN OF THE ODDBALLS is one of the most fun and visually interesting books of its kind. And then your most recent book A LA CART: THE SECRET LIVES OF GROCERY SHOPPERS is one of the most hilarious and unique books out there. I can't even describe it. Can you please tell everyone about it?

Hillary: Aw, shucks… thanks so much for the shout-out!

I’ve been collecting found shopping lists for years and years. I’m totally fascinated with these snapshot scraps of human nature. It’s amazing how much you can tell about someone from their shopping list -- the items to buy, the handwriting, the type of paper, and even the misspellings (“Aunt Spray”!).

I always imagined the lives of these people who left behind their lists and in A la Cart, I took it a step further by becoming them. I was photographed as 26 shoppers who vary in age, gender, ethnicity—even facial hairstyles. Then I wrote stories about each one, delving into their lives.

Seeing as your book ideas are about as creative as they come, I'm dying to know, what's next for Hillary Carlip?

Hillary: Honestly, I’m not sure. The thing I’ve done all my life, which is chronicled in my memoir, Queen of the Oddballs: And Other True Stories from a Life Unaccording to Plan, and is really reflected in the subtitle, is everything unaccording to plan. I’ve always let myself be guided, and I remain open to what’s next no matter how much of a left turn it seems to be. I’m still in the throes of promoting A la Cart, which just came out a few months ago, so once I come up for air, I’m excited to see what I’ll be led to next!

Now as anyone who's read QUEEN OF THE ODDBALLS knows you've juggled, eaten fire, you've baked bread for Carly Simon, you've stalked Carole King, you formed an all-girl, ex-con band, Angel and the Reruns, and you've been on Oprah, so Hillary, dare I ask, what was your biggest, best, favorite rock 'n' roll moment (definition of rock 'n' roll moment can mean anything from a favorite concert to a time when you felt like a rock star)?

Hillary: I gotta say I’ve had a lot of them but what comes to mind was when I had my band Angel and the Reruns. A song of mine, “Buffy Come Back,” had started getting a lot of airplay on KROQ, the best indie-type station in LA at the time for discovering (and making!) alternative artists. But one day I was driving in my car, and had another more mainstream radio station playing, and all of a sudden my song came on. It was so surreal to be driving on the legendary Sunset Strip, and hear myself on the radio! I was so excited and no one was there to share it with except my dog. So I started screaming and she started howling and, well, that was quite a crazy rock star moment for me.

I’m SOOOooOO excited for your book and so happy to be here celebrating its release!! In honor of it, I’m giving away a signed copy of my new book, A la Cart: The Secret Lives of Grocery Shoppers, AND a signed compilation CD from Angel and the Reruns!

Wow, thanks, Hillary!!!

Did you hear that guys? A chance to win an amazing, hilarious book and a great CD of catchy, fun songs, both signed? Start commenting so you have a chance to win. Comment about anything from how cool Hillary obviously is to shopping lists you may have found or share your oddball moments. You have until Noon CST tomorrow (7/8) to enter to win.

In case you want to learn more about Hillary, you can visit her on myspace at: http://www.myspace.com/queenoftheoddballs or at http://www.hillarycarlip.com/. You can even check out Angel and the Reruns on myspace to get pumped about potentially winning the CD: http://www.myspace.com/angelandthereruns.