Have you ever had a week where you really needed a good laugh? My week has involved too much “hurry up and wait” times in doctors’ offices and waiting rooms…not all for me actually. This used to be the time I would pick up a Reader’s Digest in the waiting room…except…there were no magazines at all to choose from! There were too many distractions around me to really enjoy the mystery story I was in the middle of reading.
I recently downloaded a new book by Peggy Rowe called, Vacuuming in the NUDE and Other Ways to Get Attention. This was a series of small stories and observations about people she had met over the years. She has a real gift to write about tough issues she and others had faced, from funeral issues to sensitive health issues, in a tasteful and humorous way. This is her third book and the one that has finally reached a wider audience. I think the title alone is a draw!
As you may know, Peggy is the mother of Mike Rowe (of Dirty Jobs fame) and apparently has been writing all her life. She was often heard saying she wasn’t a real writer because she hadn’t published a book. She had, however written stories and poems for her elementary students and articles in magazines. She was even asked to lend humor to eulogies at funerals.
Her introduction to the publishing world made it seem like she was an overnight success at 80+ years of age; yet she was playing by the rules established by publishing companies. Rules like specific ways to submit manuscripts and submitting to only one publisher at a time. The bureaucracy was truly a stumbling block.
Originally, publishers were not interested in Peggy’s first two books. The subject was interesting but they felt no one knew who Peggy Rowe was in the first place so why would folks be interested in her mother? Finally, Mike took charge and self-published About My Mother. It was so successful she was finally able to get her second book About Your Father published more quickly. With Mike’s endorsement folks began reading her work. He also began including his mother’s work in his Podcasts and Facebook posts. And the rest is history!
I haven’t read these two books yet, but I’m looking forward to a few more hours of hilarious stories by Peggy Rowe!
I suspect the clever title and general breadth of the stories in her third book Vacuuming in the Nude, have appealed to wider audience. It has received great reviews. Now, folks are discovering her first two books that did not get such wide press at the time.
If you need gifts for your adult children for Christmas, I highly recommend Vacuuming in the Nude by Peggy Rowe. It might help them understand us as we face their own aging and health issues. Enjoy a laugh!
Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.