Women Who Rock Wednesday: Rebecca Woolf!

Welcome to Women Who Rock Wednesday! This is my third week of doing this feature where I spotlight the female artists (meaning anything from musician to writer to designer to basically any creative pursuit you can think of) that rock my world in hopes that they will rock yours, too. I've been having a lot of fun hosting WWR Weds and I hope it's been an enjoyable read and hey, the weekly contest ain't half-bad either, huh?

So before we meet this week's WWR, I must announce the winner of last week's WWR, Mandi Perkins' awesome CD Alice in No Man's Land. That lucky person chosen by the random number generator is Lauren from Shooting Stars Magazine! Lauren, send me a message with your address!

This week I'm really excited to introduce you to Rebecca Woolf, author of Rockabye: From Wild to Child. Talk about a WWR, I met Rebecca at Rock 'n' Read! I was so impressed by her reading, her amazing fashion sense, and just how freakin' cool she is that I had to invite her to be on WWR Weds. She's an awesome writer and a generally sweet person and I really wish I lived in L.A. so I could hang out with her once a week if she'd let me. Also, to prove how awesome her book is, I had a bag of books in the "green room" at Rock 'n' Read and hers was the one that someone decided to steal. So without further adieu, let's hear about Rebecca and her must- read book, which you won't have to steal because you can enter to win it today!

Q: I've just started reading your memoir, Rockabye: From Wild to Child, and I've gotta say it's one of the best memoirs I've read in a long time, I was totally engaged from the first chapter, but rather than try to explain the story myself, can you please tell WWRW readers what the book is all about?

Rebecca: Rockabye is a sort of coming of age memoir, about a twenty-three year old no-responsibilities LA girl who finds she is pregnant and upon deciding to keep the baby and marry her boyfriend (of four months) is thrust into a completely different world. It's basically about adapting and rebelling against what it means to be a "mother" these days. It's about transitioning from one life to another without making any sacrifices. And of course, through it all, the struggle to stay sane and happy and married... All of the things that can prove difficult when spontaneously starting a family.

Q: You maintain a blog, Girl's Gone Child, which I'm totally addicted to despite not being a mom myself. Your book was born from your blog (no pun intended, okay, well sorta cause I like puns) can you tell us a little bit about how that happened? Also there seems to be a whole blogging/online community of rock 'n' roll mamas, can you speak to what you enjoy about being a part of that community, how it benefits moms, and list a few of your favorite blogs (mom-oriented or not)?

Rebecca: I put together a proposal for Rockabye based on my blog, Girl's Gone Child which included a first chapter and was lucky enough that my agent was able to make the sale. Lots of great mom/dad blogs out there for sure. I don't read parenting books or subscribe to the vast array of "emperor's new parenting values" so reading the blogs of like-minded parents is where I get my information and advice more or less. I also love reading about all the very different/similar experiences parents have and blogging is candid. Raw. Unpolished. Much like parenting. There are so many awesome parenting blogs. Some of my favorites are Sweet Juniper, Sweet/Salty, Motherhood Uncensored, Mom-101, Amalah, and Bite My Cookie.

Q: Tell us a little bit about your rock 'n' roll lifestyle before becoming a mom and what it is like now. Are you still keeping up with the music you love and how have you maintained your musical identity so to speak? My friend's baby has a Misfits t-shirt and I see a lot more baby stuff geared toward rock 'n' roll moms, have any thoughts on that?

Rebecca: Honestly, I have no idea what's happening in music right now, which sucks to admit but its true. I was very much a huge indie-rock buff back in my day of chasing bands and writing-up music festivals. These days I have my friends to keep me up to speed on what's what. Current bands I'm obsessed with are super girly: Sambassadeur and Santogold makes me want to dance my pants off, especially this song, Lights Out. I'm due to give birth in/around 6 weeks and I'm making a birth mix full of these super lady-rock songs so my babe can enter the world dancing. I had a birth-mix for Archer, too. I think they're pretty awesome. Most hospitals will let you play music during delivery.

Archer has a Slaughter tee-shirt made from an old adult-sized Slaughter shirt that was cut up so it just says "Laughter"... That's pretty cool. I think its awesome that there is more of a selection for parents when it comes to clothes, specifically for boys. Once upon a time it was all dump-trucks and choo-choo-train tee-shirts with teddy bears on them. No thanks.

Q: What are some of your favorite bands? How about Archer, is he into music yet?

Rebecca: I think I already answered this question prematurely but other bands I love are Belle and Sebastian, who I've adored since High School and will follow to the ends of the earth. I love Rilo Kiley, Stars, The Concretes, Rogue Wave, Elvis Perkins, Red House Painters and Mark Kozelek's Sun Kil Moon (his voice makes me cry)... Here's a great example. (I dare you not to listen to this without wanting to sneak away into the night and just.... brood.) I also love The Misfits, David Bowie and The Stones. Always have.

Archer LOVES Coconut Records (Jason Schwartzman). He knows every lyric to every song on "Nighttiming" and will not let me remove the CD from my CD player. It's pretty much all we've listened to in my car for the last six months. He also loves They Might be Giants and Ralph's World.

Q: Besides the baby girl due out this fall, what can we expect next from Rebecca Woolf? Will there be a follow-up to Rockabye or do you have another project you are working on.

Rebecca: I'm working on a new novel that I'm really excited about and a screenplay, which is just wacky fun. I also have a short film being made around Thanksgiving (I wrote the script) and that's something I'm really excited about and a pilot script based on Rockabye that my husband and I are shopping. And the blogs, of course.

Q: Now for the two standard questions I always ask my WWRs. You are an incredibly cool rock 'n' roll girl, one of the chicks I'd see at a concert and wish I had the balls to go up and befriend, but have you always been this cool or do you have any musical skeletons in your closet. Be honest, what was the first album you owned and the first concert you went to see (mine was the incredibly punk rock Janet Jackson)?

Rebecca: The first album I ever owned was Paula Abdul's "Forever Your Girl" followed by Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation" so I HEAR YOU, GIRLFRIEND! I don't even remember my first concert! BUT! The very first concert I ever went to unsupervised with my friends was Buck O' Nine and No Doubt was opening for them. It was before Tragic Kingdom even came out. I think I was 14.

Q: And we know you partied like a rock star pre-Archer and now you are a total rock star of a mom, but what was the moment in your life so far where you felt most like a rock star? Could be something you've accomplished as a writer or a mom. Could be a concert you attended. Could be meeting someone famous and having that "I'm Not Worthy!" Wayne's World moment? Could just be a time you felt you got the real rock star treatment.

Rebecca: Hmmm. Wow. I think, probably the moment my agent called me and told me my book had sold was my rockstariest moment. So many people advised me that if I "had the baby my career would more or less be over" and here I was proving them all wrong. The first book I ever sold was and would always be a book ABOUT my experience as a mother, which means if anything, becoming a parent helped my career. It was such a proud moment for me.

Now that you know how amazingly awesome Rebecca is, I am sure you want to read her book. Rebecca has agreed to give away one signed copy of Rockabye: From Wild to Child to a lucky winner who will be chosen at random next Wednesday from all the comments. So go ahead and leave a comment about anything, maybe talk about what you learned about music from your mom or if you are a mom, what you are teaching your kid about rock 'n' roll. Then be sure to come back next week, see if you won, and check out the interview with up-and-coming fashion designer, Alyse Frank of DeCatoure Clothing!