Lois Leveen

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September 13, 2012

Lewis and Clark Expedition

Many visitors to the Pacific Northwest enjoy a visit to Portland's fine independent bookstores . . .
Lewis and Clark and Mary Bowser

. . . but Lewis and Clark were probably not among them.

Nevertheless, I was delighted to be part of the Visiting Writers Series at Lewis and Clark College. Although I've been reading excerpts from The Secrets of Mary Bowser and discussing the history behind the novel at bookstores, museums, and libraries for several months, this was my first college campus talk about the book. It was a blast to get to talk to the aspiring writers among the Lewis and Clark students, and share some of the behind-the-scenes insights on being a novelist.

There's lots of great video footage that I'll try to post in the next few days. I wanted to start with this question, because it's the first time I was asked it at any reading.



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September 4, 2012

NPR’s HearSay With Cathy Lewis

I love NPR. But for some reason, every time a Virginia radio station does an interview, I sound like I've got a cold in by dose, if you know what I'm saying.

Still, it was great to be a guest on HearSay on WHRV in Richmond. Cathy Lewis was a huge fan of the book and a complete pleasure to speak with. Listen up here.
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August 30, 2012

The Unconventional Librarian

One of the pleasures of authorship is getting to know so many fantastic librarians across the country.

One of the pleasures of life in our era is that you can get to know someone in so many new and wonderful ways.

This morning I woke up to a message telling me that Pam Brown Margolis, alias The Unconventional Librarian (a Philadelphia reader, librarian, and reviewer), just compared The Secrets of Mary Bowser to Alex Haley's Roots. Although I was too young to read Roots when it was first published, the television series had a profound effect on me, as it did on millions of people. So Pam's review pretty much rocked my universe.


One more reason to feel ever indebted to librarians. As if I needed another!
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August 26, 2012

Everyone’s a Critic

A few weeks ago, a friend sent me an email regarding her 11-year-old son William, who was reading The Secrets of Mary Bowser during a family car trip. His comments during the ride included:

Mom, what does mellifluous mean?
Have you guys ever had or heard of pepperpot? It's a kind of soup.
Mom, what's a humidor?
This is a really good book.


Although it is usually considered inappropriate for a book reviewer to review a book by a friend, William made an exception and reviewed my novel. This video reflects his honest, unbiased comments. WARNING: Contains spoilers. And a cute little sister.
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August 23, 2012

LA Woman

Lois on Graduation Day

I'll never forget the day I received my Ph.D. from UCLA.

I never would have imagined that buried in my 400+ page dissertation was a footnote I'd turn into a novel.

Why do we ever worry about the future, when it's full of wonderful things we can never imagine? Way better to spend the energy being grateful for folks who helped us in the past. So here's a shout out to the Center for the Study of Women at UCLA, which provided a grant that supported my dissertation research, which grew up to be my novel. Read more on their website.
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