by Niki Smart
Growing old is a gift ❤️
New York, NY – In a world where aging is often feared, award-nominated author, poet and psychotherapist Jane Seskin takes readers on an emotional road trip where they can celebrate the joys and challenges of aging . In “Older, Wiser, Shorter: The Truth and Humor of Life After 65” (Tallfellow Press, August 21, 2024), Jane Seskin reflects on how resilience and self-discovery helped her combat life’s trials and tribulations, especially as she grew older. Through a collection of 89 poems, Seskin redefines the narrative of aging and offers readers a positive take on what is often perceived as a negative.
“Older, Wiser, Shorter” is an insightful collection of poetry; authentic, funny, quirky and heartfelt that acknowledge the physical vulnerabilities, emotional losses, and surprises people encounter in their senior years. Seskin pays tribute to the sense of power, resilience and new-found joys people discover as they acknowledge and accept their aging. Seskin’s talent for finding the universal connecting tissue of even our most intimate moments will resonate with readers seeking to discover new ways to honor the past, celebrate the present, and welcome the future.
Growing old is a gift. Believe in it. Respect it. Embrace it. From varicose veins to doctors’ appointments to forgetting why you walked into the kitchen, “Older Wiser Shorter” illuminates the ups and downs of growing older, one poem at a time. Not to be feared but welcomed, aging is natural, exciting, and it’s better than the alternative!
Available for preorder: Release date: Aug 21st, 2024
“I sat down to read one poem last night and I ended up reading half the book. I feel as though I know you. You have definitely captured the experience of aging.” —Mary Pipher, author of Women Rowing North and My Life in Light
An Interview with Jane Seskin
- What inspired you to write about aging through poetry?
I’ve been poeming for more than 40 years. It’s a natural way for me to quickly put a feeling or experience on paper to think about, reflect and expand upon in the days that follow.
- What do you hope readers will take away from your collection of poetry?
I hope readers will identify with the stories I tell and know they’re not alone in this process of growing older. That all of us age differently. And to some degree we still have the choice to create a full rich life.
- What is the biggest challenge of navigating life trials, tribulations and vulnerabilities, especially when you begin to age? How can one be resilient to this challenge?
Vulnerability is shareable. When you tell another person of your feelings you make connections and that is the beginning of community. I’ve included Vows in this book that are affirmations to build on. When you affirm yourself, give yourself validation through the Vows, you build self-esteem and that is a pretty powerful feeling!
- What is the most important lesson that your self-discovery journey has taught you?
That I am okay. That life is different at different ages. I’ve learned I can adapt to change. That friendship is extraordinary and necessary.
- What does your poetry writing process look like? Where do you seek out inspiration for your poems?
I am alive and that is my inspiration. Days are both difficult and soaring with joy and I let myself be open to all. As a therapist I am acutely aware of people’s behavior, the landscape around me and what goes unsaid. I also am very curious and eager to hear the stories of others and create my own.
Advance Praise for “Older, Wiser, Shorter”
“Even though I’m not a fan of poetry, I found Jane Seskin’s poems to be a delight. They hit home.” —Jane Brody, former personal health columnist, New York Times
“Your words jump and laugh and rest and reach…it’s an activity reading those poems! I love them.” — Elizabeth Lesser, cofounder Omega Institute and author of the New York Times Bestseller Broken Open, and other books including Cassandra Speaks
“You don’t need to be at a late stage of life to appreciate and learn from Seskin’s energetic collection of poems…We are blessed to have work such as this to help us see our way gracefully.” —Justen Ahren, Martha’s Vineyard Poet Laureate and author of Devotion to Writing
“Jane Seskin writes with keen insight and eyes open to the inadvertent miracles in our everyday life.” —Arthur Sze, author of Glass Constellation
“She’s lost height, years, love, and youthful abandon but in doing so, has gained a deep understanding of what it really means to be alive. Her poetry is honest, heartbreaking, witty and uplifting, a gift she wraps in gratitude.” —Carol Waldman, MS, Gerontology, former Executive Director, Glen Cove Senior Center
“Jane Seskin’s poems take us into her world and shed new light on our own. An important book for older women and those who care for and about them.” —Ann Burack-Weiss, PH.D, LCSW, author of The Lioness in Winter: Writing an Old Woman’s Life
More about the Author
Jane Seskin is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and the author of 13 books (most recently the poetry collection “Older, Wiser, 
Shorter: The Truth and Humor of Life After 65”.) She’s also written nonfiction articles and poetry online and for national magazines and journals (20 poems published in Cosmopolitan Magazine, five poems in Woman’s Day. Eighteen of her posts have been published in the Metropolitan Diary column in the New York Times.) Jane has been a writer-in-residence at the Vermont Studio Center and Noepe Center for Literary Arts. She has also been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Ms. Seskin is a practicing psychotherapist, who counseled survivors in individual and group treatment at the Crime Victims Treatment Center in New York for 20 years.
In her free time, she enjoys the theater, walking by the Hudson River, visiting with friends, reading poetry and mysteries (Louise Penny, David Baldacci, Donna Leon) and listening to jazz (Keith Jarrett, Houston Person, Chris Botti). Give her a piece of bread and butter and she’s a happy camper! Jane wrote therapeutic sound-bites on Twitter under the title: “Emotional Band-Aid. Small Steps for Change.” Find out more about Jane at her website.
by Niki Smart
Ciera Rogers is known for being an “Outsider”—and she is okay with that. As the founder and CEO of a multi-million-dollar brand that caters to curvy women, she has carved her own path as a founder and fashion entrepreneur, becoming a beacon of body positivity and a symbol of a non-linear career path. Her story is not just about success, but about creating a space for herself and others who often find themselves on the ‘outside’ of our society’s norms
Based in Los Angeles, Ciera is the fashion designer. 
behind the women’s fashion wear line “Babes”. As a social media influencer, she uses her reach of 2+ million to spread her message of body positivity, self-acceptance, and empowerment to women worldwide. She and her work have been featured in Fox, Mashable, The New York Post, The New York
Journal, among many other publications. Now Ciera has penned a memoir about her remarkable journey about her literal rags to riches story. At one point, Ciera could only afford clothes from thrift stores and Goodwill—still, she learned to style the clothes that she could get her hands on, into amazing looking outfits. Creative and determined, Ciera is now sponsored by Goodwill, and Kim Kardashian and Beyonce wear her designs.
“THE OUTSIDER ADVANTAGE: Because You Don’t Need to Fit in to Win” is an empowering memoir about turning what makes you different into the foundation of your success. It is bound to inspire the outsiders like Ciera— the dreamers, doers, and go-getters that society continuously overlooks and underestimates. Ciera cheers you on to achieve glass-shattering success.
Book Launch Discussion & Book Signing with Ciera Rogers
Join Ciera Rogers on June 17, 2024 @ 7:00 PM for her book launch at Malik Books: (Westfield Culver City Mall) 6000 Sepulveda Blvd Ste 2470, Culver City, Ca 90230
Take A
dvantage of the Outsider Advantage 🙂
Step 1. Pre-Order The Outsider Advantage
Step 2. Share your receipt to imababe@shopbabes.com
Step 3. Get perks!
And lastly, you can watch Ciera being interviewed on The Memoir Channel
by Niki Smart
“When Happily Ever After Fails” – a debut rom-com by Courtney Deane
San Diego, California – For anyone who has ever felt “dead-ended” in life, work, and love, Courtney Deane has penned a delightfully funny debut rom-com that proves all tragedies can be rewritten, and happiness can bloom where you least expect it: “When Happily Ever After Fails” (SparkPress, April 9, 2023).
About the novel: Abigail Gardner’s life is circling the drain. Her parents are dead, her “like a brother” BFF is in love with her, and her career as an art teacher has been squashed by an unfortunate viral incident involving sophomores and Spanx. But just as that whirlpool feels poised to suck her under, she’s granted a second chance: she lands a teaching job at Excelsior Primm, one of Philadelphia’s 
oldest and most prestigious preparatory academies. Only 
problem is, instead of teaching art she’ll be stuck teaching her least favorite subject — literature — and her least favorite theme: tragedy.
Tired of being stuck in her own tragic tale, Abigail starts rewriting every sad ending she can get her hands on, in and out of the classroom. To her surprise, her life soon begins to resemble the fairy tales she adores—great job, hot guy, a career gaining recognition. But when an unexpected plot twist threatens to derail her happy ending, Abigail starts to realize why these outcomes are so hard to come by.
COURTNEY DEANE has been a writer and pursuer of happily-ever-afters since she can remember. As a full-time freelance writer, her days are spent working for print, digital, and broadcast entities, as well as for a variety of PR and marketing clients.
She continues her craft by dedicating some space each day to work on her fiction books. After both of her parents died, Deane worked to turn those tragedies into something beautiful—an effort that inspired her debut novel, When Happily Ever After Fails.
She holds bachelor’s degrees in English and sociology from UC Irvine and a master’s in journalism from USC. Deane lives in San Diego, California, with her husband, daughter, and rescue dog—her very own happily-ever-after. Visit her website to sign up for a newsletter, or find out about book store appearances and more http://www.courtneydeane.com/.
“An entertaining read that will keep you turning pages. The reader is taken on a ride with Abigail as she grows into herself and finds her voice. Deane makes it easy to root for Abigail along with the other quirky characters who have distinct and interesting personalities. When Happily Ever After Fails is a fun debut.”
— Leslie A. Rasmussen, award-winning author of “After Happily Ever After” and “The Stories We Cannot Tell”
“Courtney Deane offers up a radiant debut in When Happily Ever After Fails. Whip-smart and relatable, Abigail’s search for her own happy ending will have you on the edge of your pool chair. An absolute must read this Spring!”
– Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke, authors of “Forever Hold Your Peace”
Interview with Courtney Deane
First, can you briefly introduce us to the characters we meet in “When Happily Ever After Fails?”
Of course! We’ve got Abigail, the lovable, fallible protagonist who is dead set on righting (and writing) wrongs and ensuring everyone gets a positive outcome. You’ve got to love her for it. She tries!
Then there’s Quinn, the not-as-lovable, but-we-love-him-because-he-loves-her BFF who is Abigail’s No. 1 fan. Yes, he’s head over heels for her and just waiting for the day when she realizes it, too.
And no one could forget about Mathilda. She’s our “tell it like it is” North Star, who doesn’t mince words. She’s got advice for everyone but herself! Abigail’s second BFF is funny and factual with the right amount of spunk.
Lastly, we have Nate. Abigail can’t figure out if this fellow teacher is initially a friend or foe, but his presence and advice is solid enough for her to keep him around and find out.
Why did you choose your title? What happens “when happily ever after fails?”
Honestly, I took the inspiration from a Don Henley song I’ve always loved, “The End of the Innocence.” This song always reminded me of my family’s situation, particularly the line “let me take a long last look before we say goodbye.” Part of the song’s chorus is “But happily ever after fails.” I don’t love the “but,” because HEA doesn’t always fail permanently; it just changes. It morphs – as do our expectations of life – as we collect different experiences and encounter various situations. So, our notion of happily ever after will likely fail and falter at some point (thus, the “when”), but we can recover, pick ourselves back up and continue working toward a modified version of whatever “happily ever after” is for us.
Fun sidenote: There’s a few Easter egg references to this inspo in the book!
You started writing this book after your mom passed away. How did the writing process impact your grief process, and vice versa? And how did both evolve as time went on?
I would love to slap an Abigail-style happy ending on this and say writing the book allowed me to work through the grief process and – wow – I’m GREAT now! It wouldn’t be true. I think it was a nice thought and an admirable effort to try to get some resolution on these two pivotal deaths through writing.
While I didn’t necessarily get the “resolution” I was looking for, writing this novel DID help me express some of my thoughts and feelings on the grief process, my parents’ loss and how many well-meaning individuals can actually make the situation worse. I very much hope that comes through in the book.
This might not be the answer anyone’s looking for, but what truly helped me move on from these deaths and this situation was having a family of my own. I don’t say that in an advice-driven, “go out and find you a man and have a baby” way, but chasing my dream and my happily ever after of starting my own family did make a huge impact. Suddenly, phrases like “mom” and “dad” weren’t dirty words anymore. And they were words that were back in my vocabulary. You have no idea how foreign those phrases seemed for a very long time!
Now, having a child certainly brings up my parents in different ways, especially where grandparents are concerned, so this issue isn’t entirely put to bed, but THAT is what has truly brought me closure.
What did you enjoy most about writing “When Happily Ever After Fails”? What did you find the most challenging?
I loved most everything about it! This was so much fun. I loved developing the characters and losing myself in their world. As I wrote, I would find that I wasn’t sitting on my mom’s former bed with my laptop, but was IN Abigail’s apartment as her and Quinn blasted the Beatles, etc.
This being my first foray into fiction, I found the opening to be the most challenging. I wrote and rewrote and consulted, then rewrote again and again. I’m very happy with the final result, but, man, did we go through a lot of changes! I learned a ton about the book-writing process, and have made sure this next book has the opening it deserves from the get go!
Rom-coms have always been wildly popular. What are you bringing to this genre as a writer?
I’d like to think I’m bringing a fresh spin – though I’m sure every author would like to think that! I appreciate that tropes and formulas exist for a reason, but I’m not a fan of predictability or sticking to “what works.” Yes, this is a rom-com and some of the expected elements are there, but I believe this book has a modern, unique take on these traditions. Because, as we know, happily ever after IS possible…but it may look different than you pictured! 😉
Do you see yourself in any of the characters?
It would be weird if I didn’t say Abigail, right? LOL. There are certainly elements of myself in Abigail, though we are two VERY different people. Like Abigail, my father died of ALS and my mother kind of didn’t recover after his death and failed to take care of herself, which was ultimately her demise. Many (okay, all) of Abigail’s thoughts and perspectives on the subjects of death and parents are from my own experience, but the way she processes them is different from my own.
In thinking about this, though, I guess I kind of did what Abigail did in that I went out and wrote a book hoping that would give this situation a “happily ever after.” That’s not all that different from Abigail changing a play’s ending in the hopes of dodging tragedy for herself and her class. Interesting…
What is your favorite romance movie of all time, and why?
I’m kind of an irreverent person (if we’re not laughing, what’s the point?), so I lean toward the love stories that have some heart AND humor. On that note, you can’t beat “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” “Always Be My Maybe,” and “Chasing Amy.”
Stories that tug at you and make you feel the longing really resonate with me as well. With that in mind, I love “The Notebook” and the “Before” trilogy (Before Sunrise/Sunset/Midnight).
Finally, you have to hand it to “Love Actually” for capturing so many different types of loves – and bonus points that not every plot has a happy ending!
What do you hope readers take away from “When Happily Ever After Fails?”
Two things.
One, I hope it gives them a glimpse into what grief and survival can look like for someone who has seemingly “lost it all” (or, at least, a BIG part of who they were and how we identify – our families).
Two, I really wrote this book for anyone who’s ever felt alone in a crowded room. Your grief, feelings, and circumstances don’t have to reflect mine to understand what it’s like to feel marooned on an island where no one else is around and help doesn’t seem like it can be found. Please, please know that THESE are the people I wrote this book for.
Follow Courtney Deane on social media:
Facebook: Courtney Deane | Instagram: @AuthorCourtneyDeane
TikTok: @CourtneyDeane | YouTube: @CourtneyDeane
