Hi readers and writers,
A new review appeared in Journal of the History of Biology in December, 2012 of my memoir, Breaking through the Spiral Ceiling. If you are interested, download a pdf of the review by Kyle McLea, click here.
cheers,
Laura
Showing posts with label Breaking Through the Spiral Ceiling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Breaking Through the Spiral Ceiling. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Author Interview and Favorite Questions
Hi readers and writers,
Fascinating Authors just did an interview with me about Breaking Through the Spiral Ceiling that is posted here. (If the link is broken, paste this URL into your browser to see it: http://www.fascinatingauthors.com/interviews/fascinating-author-interviews-laura-l-mays-hoopes/). I really enjoyed some of the questions and that made me wonder, either as readers of interviews or as authors being interviewed, what questions have you found most interesting? I'll share some of mine in the comments in a few days. If you've always wanted some kind of author insight, this is a chance to help me pick out questions for my next round of author interviews!
best,
Laura Hoopes
Friday, July 13, 2012
Book Giveaway on Goodreads
Hi readers and writers,
If you'd love to read my memoir about breaking into science or know a young woman you'd like to inspire to keep trying and know it's possible to balance family and a demanding career, enter the Goodreads giveaway for Breaking Through the Spiral Ceiling here: http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/28876-breaking-through-the-spiral-ceiling.
There are just a few days left, and 10 books will be given away. Right now, it looks like you have about a 1 in 10 chance of winning one. Free free free, not even any postage and handling costs!
cheers,
Laura
Friday, January 13, 2012
New Classes, New Books, Need One Like Mine?
I just got a packet of books from the SDSU bookstore for the classes I'm about to take. And I've been re-reading the three for the two classes I'm teaching at Pomona this semester. New books smell so good, look so good, and feel so good. If anyone out there is teaching something where you could use an inexpensive book to show women can have both family and career in science, take a look at my memoir, Breaking Through the Spiral Ceiling (Amazon.com). It's priced to be a feasible course supplement for people who want to discuss issues for women in science. I am willing to send you a text sample free if you email me about your course or library or whatever venue at lhoopes@pomona.edu. It was just reviewed in BioScience (BIOS) by Emily Schmitt. My main goal is to open doors and windows for young women who aren't sure they can balance both family and a science career. Keep reading, keep enjoying books, 2012 is off to a good start, book-wise!
cheers, Laura
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Video of Talk on Breaking Through the Spiral Ceiling
Hi readers and writers,
Recently I gave a plenary lecture to 600 women from DWP at Women's Leadership Legacy Conference, drawing from my memoir, Breaking Through the Spiral Ceiling, to talk about leadership in education. You can see and hear a half hour video of my talk, made by the fabulous Rob Daly, on YouTube by going to this URL: http://www.youtube.com/user/
Carolyn Howard-Johnson, who has just released a new edition of her book on Frugal Book Marketing, recommends that you take off from the topic of your book and think what else you could talk about using it as a basis. Here, I talked about educational leadership easily, although it's not the main topic on which I wrote. I think this strategy is a real winner, and once I dig out of my MFA semester writing assignments, I am going to look for more opportunities like this.
cheers,
Laura
Recently I gave a plenary lecture to 600 women from DWP at Women's Leadership Legacy Conference, drawing from my memoir, Breaking Through the Spiral Ceiling, to talk about leadership in education. You can see and hear a half hour video of my talk, made by the fabulous Rob Daly, on YouTube by going to this URL: http://www.youtube.com/user/
Carolyn Howard-Johnson, who has just released a new edition of her book on Frugal Book Marketing, recommends that you take off from the topic of your book and think what else you could talk about using it as a basis. Here, I talked about educational leadership easily, although it's not the main topic on which I wrote. I think this strategy is a real winner, and once I dig out of my MFA semester writing assignments, I am going to look for more opportunities like this.
cheers,
Laura
Saturday, October 22, 2011
My Message from Postdoc Kate Sleeth
Hi friends of reading and writing,
My memoir was written to fill a vacuum of information about the lives of women who have successfully balanced family life and careers in science, and I've been gratified that quite a few schools and other organizations where young women congregate have invited me to speak about it, making that message more accessible. So I was very pleased when recently a young postdoctoral fellow, Kate Sleeth, blogged about a talk I had given and about my book on the Stanford Medical School blog site, here:
When I wrote the memoir, I knew I couldn't keep harping on the same message or it would become boring immediately. I was very pleased that Kate saw in the book and my talk those things I hoped women would get, even though I had backed off from hammering people over the head with them. I feel that my life has been an interesting balancing act between being a serious scientist and professor on one hand and being a wife and mother on the other hand, so simply trying to recreate what it has been like for me is sure to bring the balance issue to the forefront.
I don't mean to address only young women in science; I hope that trying out the life of a female scientist is different enough from most people's experience that the memoir is worth reading for that alone, in the same way people read about a woman fishing boat captain or a woman secretary of state to find out how it is to live that life. But my special "now hear this" audience has always been young women who might reject a career in science because so many people now say it cannot be combined with family life. Yes, it can. I know quite a few women who have put that combination together, and my memoir is a kind of existence theorem (yes, it's possible, see, I exist!) for one's ability to do it and be glad of the effort it requires.
cheers,
Laura
My memoir was written to fill a vacuum of information about the lives of women who have successfully balanced family life and careers in science, and I've been gratified that quite a few schools and other organizations where young women congregate have invited me to speak about it, making that message more accessible. So I was very pleased when recently a young postdoctoral fellow, Kate Sleeth, blogged about a talk I had given and about my book on the Stanford Medical School blog site, here:
When I wrote the memoir, I knew I couldn't keep harping on the same message or it would become boring immediately. I was very pleased that Kate saw in the book and my talk those things I hoped women would get, even though I had backed off from hammering people over the head with them. I feel that my life has been an interesting balancing act between being a serious scientist and professor on one hand and being a wife and mother on the other hand, so simply trying to recreate what it has been like for me is sure to bring the balance issue to the forefront.
I don't mean to address only young women in science; I hope that trying out the life of a female scientist is different enough from most people's experience that the memoir is worth reading for that alone, in the same way people read about a woman fishing boat captain or a woman secretary of state to find out how it is to live that life. But my special "now hear this" audience has always been young women who might reject a career in science because so many people now say it cannot be combined with family life. Yes, it can. I know quite a few women who have put that combination together, and my memoir is a kind of existence theorem (yes, it's possible, see, I exist!) for one's ability to do it and be glad of the effort it requires.
cheers,
Laura
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Book Release Feels Like Graduation, Wedding, BIG DAY
Hi friends,
I am surprised at how excited I feel about Monday, May 2, release day for Breaking Through the Spiral Ceiling. Since graduation at my college is right around the corner, and we just saw the royal wedding on TV, I feel it compares to those occasions for me, way back when. It's funny how little I recall of my graduation day. I cannot recall the speaker. I know we wore black gowns and it was very hot. I recall sitting down with my family and my senior thesis mentor, Ann Lacy, to chat after it was over. Did I shake hands with President Otto Kraushaar? Probably. But I have no memory of that. For my first wedding, I recall having cold feet right before the ceremony and having my dad calm me down. I recall that the priest brought Marge Champion, a movie star, as his guest to the wedding. I remember after the classical music on the tape, it switched to rock n roll via Roll Over Beethoven. But that's all I remember. What we said, what the priest said, that is all gone. For my second wedding, I remember being worried that my nose would still need a cast, but it didn't. I remember more about the ceremony because Mike and I wrote a lot of it. I remember singing the Wedding Song and Morning Has Broken with Mike. I remember a taped talk by Sister Julian Betts, Mike's education teacher from Bowie State. I remember Katie hitting everyone in the nose with a very long-stemmed rose. I remember Erin sleeping along the wall, and Jean pregnant with Susan. I remember Lyle, spiffy in a suit. And at the reception, I remember people watching the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament while we opened presents, and that Lyle got more presents than we did! More for that one. Maybe because it was more recent, although still many years ago. But the Book Release has in common with all these the feeling of anticipation, the feeling of being on the edge of something that will change my life. Here's hoping it changes for the better, for the better for women considering a career in science but unsure if it's compatible with a family. Yes it is!
I am surprised at how excited I feel about Monday, May 2, release day for Breaking Through the Spiral Ceiling. Since graduation at my college is right around the corner, and we just saw the royal wedding on TV, I feel it compares to those occasions for me, way back when. It's funny how little I recall of my graduation day. I cannot recall the speaker. I know we wore black gowns and it was very hot. I recall sitting down with my family and my senior thesis mentor, Ann Lacy, to chat after it was over. Did I shake hands with President Otto Kraushaar? Probably. But I have no memory of that. For my first wedding, I recall having cold feet right before the ceremony and having my dad calm me down. I recall that the priest brought Marge Champion, a movie star, as his guest to the wedding. I remember after the classical music on the tape, it switched to rock n roll via Roll Over Beethoven. But that's all I remember. What we said, what the priest said, that is all gone. For my second wedding, I remember being worried that my nose would still need a cast, but it didn't. I remember more about the ceremony because Mike and I wrote a lot of it. I remember singing the Wedding Song and Morning Has Broken with Mike. I remember a taped talk by Sister Julian Betts, Mike's education teacher from Bowie State. I remember Katie hitting everyone in the nose with a very long-stemmed rose. I remember Erin sleeping along the wall, and Jean pregnant with Susan. I remember Lyle, spiffy in a suit. And at the reception, I remember people watching the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament while we opened presents, and that Lyle got more presents than we did! More for that one. Maybe because it was more recent, although still many years ago. But the Book Release has in common with all these the feeling of anticipation, the feeling of being on the edge of something that will change my life. Here's hoping it changes for the better, for the better for women considering a career in science but unsure if it's compatible with a family. Yes it is!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Thrills of Being an Author
I've been proud to say, under the guidance of Libby Grandy the magnificent, that I AM A WRITER, for about four years now. But having a book published moves me a yard farther down the field to being an AUTHOR, which is a whole different dimension. I don't count writing a text book, although that too was a thrill at the time. But now, this isn't my take on science I put out there for anyone with $14 to read, it's MY LIFE in science, and my attempts to keep my family life and my life of science discoveries in a rewarding, balanced state. And, I tried to write it using the methods of fiction. Not making up facts, but using colorful language, dialog, writing in scenes as much as possible, keeping an eye on suspense and conflict, the techniques of a novelist. So, when someone who is not in science reads the book and writes a review showing that she really gets it, it feels like a real pat on the back. I felt that way with every good review on Amazon, and now with Susannah Burke's review on her book review blog, Sooze Says Stuff too. If you'd like to read it, it's here: http://sooozsaysstuff.blogspot.com/2011/04/book-review-breaking-through-spiral.html or if you prefer a tiny URL, here:http://tinyurl.com/44hs54c I'm so thrilled that she hung in there in spite of the science bursts and saw that it was more about how women can overcome societal obstacles. Kudos to Suzannah!
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Book Review for Spiral Ceiling
Libby Grandy's very insightful and gracious review for Spiral Ceiling has just been posted on The New Book Review (http://www.thenewbookreview.blogspot.com) and I'm excited. Getting closer to the May 2 release date, and a lot of the pieces are falling into place. I have uploaded the contents of the book on Amazon so they will be able to let people look inside the book if they want a preview, but it's not visible yet. And I need to figure out how to get Amazon to list it in a more detailed category than biographies and memoirs (of which there are about 200,000 currently available to compete with) if I can. I think bios of scientists or of educators would be a lot more likely to be searched for anyway. No one can read a list of 200 thousand entries looking for something. They're bound to narrow it down, and then my entry will be lost.
If any of you are gearing up for a book release, I highly recommend that you check into the ideas of Carolyn Howard-Johnson (I've added her site to my favorite sites along the left side). She has a free newsletter that's great. However her Frugal Book Promotion book on Kindle is not very expensive, and it's a mother-lode of good ideas for someone who wants to make a book more visible. And they are free or at least frugal! That's the best part for me, as I near retirement.
If any of you are gearing up for a book release, I highly recommend that you check into the ideas of Carolyn Howard-Johnson (I've added her site to my favorite sites along the left side). She has a free newsletter that's great. However her Frugal Book Promotion book on Kindle is not very expensive, and it's a mother-lode of good ideas for someone who wants to make a book more visible. And they are free or at least frugal! That's the best part for me, as I near retirement.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Tia Obreht's Novel, The Tiger's Wife, Breaks Out
The New York Times on Tuesday, March 15 ran an article on a new, beautifully writen novel that is creating a big stir. In The Tiger's Wife, young Tia Obreht, originally from Bulgaria, wrote about war in an un-specified Balkan country, interweaving it with folk tales about a tiger and a mysterious character called the Deathless Man. I was very taken by this quote from her, "The other evening I gave a reading, and someone came up to me afterwards and said, ' The Deathless Man is my favorite character!' My immediate reaction was, how do you know about the Deathless Man? When you're writing, you're working on this private world that becomes more and more real to you, but it's still your own. And then to discover that other people can access it--in a way that really shocks me."
What resonates with me is how this relates to writing memoir. In Breaking Through the Spiral Ceiling, I've told the events of my entering the world of science, come what may, and making a life for myself balancing family and career, still allowing me to uncover the secrets of aging. But those intimate events and details are shocking to me on the lips of those who read my book and want to ask, "Did Lyle ever write again after that awful challenge of his essay in fifth grade?" or "Do you often think about your student Jo who committed suicide?" I feel like my own mind has just been x-rayed. But of course, I said to myself that I was ready for this when I decided to write the memoir. When the questions come, I still feel shocked, just like Tia Obreht.
What resonates with me is how this relates to writing memoir. In Breaking Through the Spiral Ceiling, I've told the events of my entering the world of science, come what may, and making a life for myself balancing family and career, still allowing me to uncover the secrets of aging. But those intimate events and details are shocking to me on the lips of those who read my book and want to ask, "Did Lyle ever write again after that awful challenge of his essay in fifth grade?" or "Do you often think about your student Jo who committed suicide?" I feel like my own mind has just been x-rayed. But of course, I said to myself that I was ready for this when I decided to write the memoir. When the questions come, I still feel shocked, just like Tia Obreht.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Talking About My Life
When you write a memoir, you're deciding privacy is not so important to you. Instead, you have a message you want to share with others, and you're willing to take the risk of revealing your secret life to achieve that goal. Open secrets, things you never really wanted to tell anyone. Suddenly, you find that people you don't know ask you why you did things you're ashamed of. You have no answers, really, but you try to talk about what you think might have changed in you, so that now you would never do such things. You can't be sure that's true.
Writing is a dangerous craft, and there is no way to do it without letting cats out of bags, taking the cover off the bed, letting the hidden be revealed. Well, there is another way. It's called boring. If you want to compel your readers to live it with you, so they'll arrive in the place you are and understand your message, you must let go of your desire to remain safe.
So, when I went recently to Emory University's Oxford College to talk about my memoir, Breaking Through the Spiral Ceiling, I hoped it would be easy and safe. Of course, it was not, at least not altogether. But I liked the way the students, especially women and students of color, felt it showed them a path worth considering. I became a woman in science with a family, married and with kids, but still finding out the hidden ways the molecules of the universe work, why aging happens at the scale of molecules. I talked with them about my student who committed suicide, my daughter who once asked, "Are you going to step on me, Mommy?" And my son, whose seventh grade teacher completely gave up on him, although his English aptitude scores were above 90%, because, as she said, "I know these black kids struggle with English."
They kept asking, "Didn't your family get in the way of your career?" Of course it did. But I kept both going because both were supremely important to me. It was a struggle, no denying that. And there were days when I had no idea if it would all fall apart. But it didn't and I have the nerve to hope it would not for them either, if they decide they would love to be biologists with families.
Writing is a dangerous craft, and there is no way to do it without letting cats out of bags, taking the cover off the bed, letting the hidden be revealed. Well, there is another way. It's called boring. If you want to compel your readers to live it with you, so they'll arrive in the place you are and understand your message, you must let go of your desire to remain safe.
So, when I went recently to Emory University's Oxford College to talk about my memoir, Breaking Through the Spiral Ceiling, I hoped it would be easy and safe. Of course, it was not, at least not altogether. But I liked the way the students, especially women and students of color, felt it showed them a path worth considering. I became a woman in science with a family, married and with kids, but still finding out the hidden ways the molecules of the universe work, why aging happens at the scale of molecules. I talked with them about my student who committed suicide, my daughter who once asked, "Are you going to step on me, Mommy?" And my son, whose seventh grade teacher completely gave up on him, although his English aptitude scores were above 90%, because, as she said, "I know these black kids struggle with English."
They kept asking, "Didn't your family get in the way of your career?" Of course it did. But I kept both going because both were supremely important to me. It was a struggle, no denying that. And there were days when I had no idea if it would all fall apart. But it didn't and I have the nerve to hope it would not for them either, if they decide they would love to be biologists with families.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Memoir Breaking through the Spiral Ceiling is posted by Nature!
Dear friends and readers,
My Nature editor, Ilona Miko, has just posted an announcement about my forthcoming memoir and a lecture I'm giving on it at Emory University on the women in science forum. You can check it out here:
http://www.nature.com/scitable/forums/women-in-science/laura-hoopes-upcoming-memoir-17804575
Having a book nearing release is very stimulating and I'm really looking forward to May 2, when Amazon and the other outlets will have the book available for ordering. I love the cover, which my daughter Heather helped me with. At Emory, I'm giving a big public lecture as well as meeting with students, and I hope we'll discuss career/family balance, one of my major themes. Now that I'm evolving into a writer, I have a lot of nostalgia for biology too, so I'd love to talk about that with the students.
My Nature editor, Ilona Miko, has just posted an announcement about my forthcoming memoir and a lecture I'm giving on it at Emory University on the women in science forum. You can check it out here:
http://www.nature.com/scitable/forums/women-in-science/laura-hoopes-upcoming-memoir-17804575
Having a book nearing release is very stimulating and I'm really looking forward to May 2, when Amazon and the other outlets will have the book available for ordering. I love the cover, which my daughter Heather helped me with. At Emory, I'm giving a big public lecture as well as meeting with students, and I hope we'll discuss career/family balance, one of my major themes. Now that I'm evolving into a writer, I have a lot of nostalgia for biology too, so I'd love to talk about that with the students.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Spiral Ceiling on its Way
Hi friends,This is the cover of my almost-ready book, a memoir about how I overcame bias and barriers to become an American DNA Scientist studying aging, all the while being married with children to love and care for. The book will be released this spring, and I'll announce it and tell you how you can find out more and order a copy if you wish. I've published a text book on genetics before, in fact I describe in Spiral Ceiling how I filled the time after my first husband died suddenly of a heart attack with writing the text book in the evenings after my son was in bed. But the release of this memoir is much more exciting to me, and I hope a lot of you will want to take a look at it and ask me questions about what happened in my life. Stay tuned for more details as they become available.
cheers,
Laura
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