 Rita Montes-Martin, and this is in the studio at Davis Media Access, and today's guest is Jennifer Ann Gordon, who is a local author in Davis, and we're going to talk about her book called A Woman's Mind Half Naked, and Jennifer, I've just read your book and I loved it and it's such an inspirational book. It's one that you can just open any place and read something and get some new ideas and new inspiration. And please tell us first how you came about writing this book. Was that an easy job or was it? Tell us about writing. Well, thank you, Rita. Writing is always a labor of love, and although I'm a professional writer and a published author, it's always a labor of love. It is never easy and it's always a journey inward, a joyous journey, sometimes excruciating as well. This book came about out of a deep desire to love humanity and to share what I've learned with other people. So, oh, pardon me. How long did it take you to write it? It took me one year. That deceptively sample book took one year and then some editing, et cetera, afterwards. And do you talk about so many things in here? Are these little bits of your life experience? Yes, they're all memoirs, vignettes of epiphanies. I've had things that amused me greatly or befuddled me, things that inspired me or healed me or relieved me of feeling shame or sorrow. And I noticed that you mentioned a couple of people in your book. Were these people in your life inspiring you or were they friends and family or how did they come to be in your life? Well, it really takes an entire village to raise a book, honestly. So I have an editor, Rafael Guzmanamo, who lives in Dublin, Ireland. And he's a wonderful man who found my work by happy accident and decided that he was going to full-on support me getting the revised edition of A Woman's Mind Half Naked Out. I have my dear friend whom I call my darling Good Chap, James Good Chap, and he did the cover for the book. And then there are people woven throughout the book that have made an impact on me in one way or another. And was some of your inspiration in coming to Davis because you told me that you hadn't been here very long. Well, I came to Davis honestly almost three years ago now because I didn't know where else to go. I had just had a challenging experience and blown the whistle at a company and was invited to stay with a friend for a couple months. So I came up here not knowing Davis at all and found a warm, wonderful community filled with friends old and new and a lot of opportunity here. Well, that's wonderful. And I agree with you because I'm not an old timer in Davis either, even though I've been here 25 years, I still find that welcoming attitude that you're talking about. And that's one of the reasons I wanted to share you with the public, with the people that I know in Davis because it's a very inspirational book. And it's something that I could relate to experiences in my life and things that you talked about. So tell us a little bit more about your experience here in Davis. Well, the Davis community, for want of a better word, is playful at times. And my book is playful and they've really welcomed it and supported it. I'm a suroptimist and so I have all my suroptimist sisters evangelizing the book and Terrence and Janice Lots of Newspeak carry the book. So it's been a village that has helped me launch. And you have a website? I do. And what is that? My website is jenniferangordon.com. And can people, do you mind if people get in touch with you and make any comments about your book? No, I welcome it and the book's also available on Amazon and I share that because another great way to make comments about a book is to review it on Amazon. And some of the stories that I liked, the little vignettes that you're talking about, there were several that I go back and read it again where the one you have about the ways to entertain a woman. Tell us about that because that's something that is very topical. Well, I, one day it just, I started laughing because I thought about the word amuse. And the chapter that you're referring to is how to amuse a woman. And so I wrote this list of how to amuse a woman, especially me, which includes putting the toilet seat down, among other things, more pertinent. And I sent that list to my friend James Goodchap, the gentleman who did the cover for me. And I received an email back from James entitled, how to amuse a man. And it was two sentences. The first, it was point number one, show up naked, point number two, bring food. And I had 37 points to my list. You know, it's very complex. That's very good. I think women will find that very true. That's what they need to have something to eat and have a woman to entertain them. But I love some of these titles that you have, like macaroni and cheese. I mean, that makes you want to immediately read that chapter and see what it's all about. Because right now everybody loves macaroni and cheese. And what, what's your favorite experience and story that you have in here? There's a chapter, and they're microchapters. They're one paragraph long or two pages for, they're written for the busy person, you know, who can open it at random and just get something refreshing quickly. But my favorite chapter would probably be live sexy about the lavender farm. And my experience on a friend's lavender farm and lying in between the rows of lavender. I think my favorite was about the sunglasses. And I want you to talk about that, but I will tell you my impression of that, about the sunglasses, is that it's so easy to look at an issue, a problem, whatever the situation is. We look at it from our own viewpoint. And maybe if we looked at it from a different viewpoint, we'd have a different reaction. But you tell us about the sunglasses. I love that. Well, it's one of the stories my children do not let me forget. We all went to the movies, and we were sitting there. And I was very irritated because the lighting was, there wasn't enough lighting. And I thought there must be a bulb out in the projector or something going on. And I paid good money for these tickets. And I'm going to get my money back because this movie is so dark. So after the movie ended, I realized that I had been wearing my sunglasses inside the theater the whole time. And that made me think about to question whether I'm looking at life through a filter that needs removing, so I could see its bright colors. Right. And I think you were talking about one of your, I'll say sponsors for lack of a better word, but the gentleman that lives over in Ireland. My editor lives in Dublin, Ireland. He is a Spaniard in Ireland working for an American company. He's a translator. And he found me through something I had written online, asked to read everything I had written, wanted to know everything about my process and how I came up with these ideas. And then he asked the simple question, has no one qualified ever offered to support you? I thought about it. And I wrote, no. He replied, I'm offering. And then in there, he became my champion, my editor, and my friend. And what are you, have any more books that you're working on right now? I am. I've got two books of poetry coming out, one in English, one in Spanish. Again, my editor in Ireland is the one translating my work into Spanish. And I have a book coming out called The Ask. And then I would say that again. The Ask. That's kind of a way in business. The Ask is asking for someone's business. And so I've got that coming out. And then I coach writing. So I have several clients who are writing their autobiographies. And those will be coming out. Well, that's good to know that you do help other people who think everyone has a story. And everyone says, well, I want to write a book, but they don't know where to start. But they can talk to you and you will kind of get them a start. Well, I give them a start at the weekly meetings on through the completion of the manuscript. Do you have any classes that you teach? Not at present. Are you planning on any? I don't know yet. I'm still contemplating that. Well, I think that this is so inspirational. And I've been to your talks where you've been speaking to different groups. And you're very inspirational, as you tell about your own experience and things. I think the most important one, in fact, is that when we blame ourselves, we think if there's a problem that it's our fault. And we have to look at a different viewpoint as to how we cope with that. And to me, that's what your book inspires us to. It's a look at a different viewpoint. Well, Jennifer, I'm so pleased that you found time to leave your writing for a few minutes and join me in the studio so I can share you with all the people of Davis. And thank you very much. Thank you, Rita. That's a glorious opportunity. Well, we love having you. And I know everyone who reads your book will love it and will get something out of it. And I hope everybody contacts you and shares with you what you've brought to them. I would love to hear from my readers. It's always a treat. And thank you very much for being here. So goodbye.