In these workshops, a group of random musicians assemble, meet for only four rehearsals, and then take the stage. I had the honor of playing with Bob Elliot, Steven Beasley, and Charles D’Amato–all on guitar; plus bluesmaster Mike Berman [...]]]> Last weekend I participated in a workshop event at the famous Bitter End nightclub in NYC.

In these workshops, a group of random musicians assemble, meet for only four rehearsals, and then take the stage. I had the honor of playing with Bob Elliot, Steven Beasley, and Charles D’Amato–all on guitar; plus bluesmaster Mike Berman on bass and Bill Scheft on drums. Bill also happens to be a well-known comedian who writes for the Letterman show. We also had Larry Beck sharing vocals with moi.

Here I am singing Beast of Burden–this was one of our shakiest songs in rehearsal, but we pulled it off mighty fine.

I was so worried about our shakiness that I didn’t even tell anyone we were playing, but now I will at least share the video. See link below.

Lee Harrington with the workshop band NoHowe at the Bitter End 5/4/12

I am back in NYC after three months in the Deep South of New Smyrna Beach, Florida. It’s good to be back home with my musical friends.

Last night I met up with the beautiful and talented Melanie Closs–lead singer and founder of the indie band Mela.  She and I are collaborating on [...]]]> Hi Luvs:

I am back in NYC after three months in the Deep South of New Smyrna Beach, Florida. It’s good to be back home with my musical friends.

Last night I met up with the beautiful and talented Melanie Closs–lead singer and founder of the indie band Mela.  She and I are collaborating on a song project. First up is the song “A World of Scattered Men.” This song is based on Chapter 1 of my upcoming novel (The Expatriate’s Guide to Heartbreak) and some of the lyric lines (and the song title) have their origins in the poems of Ovid.

For those of us who haven’t studied classical poetry (most of us haven’t), Ovid was a Roman poet who translated Greek myths into Latin. Enough said. One of my great uncles on the French side of my family was named Ovid. I like to think we’re ancestors of the Great One.

Anyway, Melanie wrote the melody to this song and gave it a tender and poignant tone. We met at The Studio to learn the melody, tweak the lines, and come up with some harmonies. I have never done this before, and I found the whole experience a marvel. I love the creative process in all its forms.

ANd I love collaboration! Writing can be such a lonely business. Especially novels that take four years and three editors to finish!

Tomorrow night–Monday 3/26, Melanie and I will perform the song, in its rough workshop form. I am honored to be making a guest appearance at Mela’s show at the LIC Bar in Queens. Mela is celebrating the release of their latest EP entitled Red Dust.

Life is such a blessing–especially when one gets to live a dream: music.

Just a quick note to say that this BOOKS, ESSAYS AND STORIES page won’t be officially up and running until, well, until I finish writing all my books, essays and stories.

But for now, here’s what we have in the pipeline:

AVAILABLE TITLES:

Rex and the City: [...]]]> Hi Friends -

Just a quick note to say that this BOOKS, ESSAYS AND STORIES page won’t be officially up and running until, well, until I finish writing all my books, essays and stories.

But for now, here’s what we have in the pipeline:

AVAILABLE TITLES:

Rex and the City: True Tales of a Rescue Dog Who Rescued a Relationship (Villard)

Now available in expanded eBook edition, Rex and the City chronicles the trials, tribulations and triumphs my then-boyfriend and I experienced after adopting an abused shelter dog named Wallace and bringing him home to our 300-square foot apartment in New York City. Based on my popular series in Bark magazine, Rex and the City has been hailed as “hands-down the best human-with-dog memoir you’ll ever read!” Visit www.rexandthecity.net for more information. 10% of all sales proceeds are donated to animal rescue. *First edition was published by Random House/Villard under the title Rex and the City: A Memoir of a Woman, a Man, and a Dysfunctional Dog)

 FORTHCOMING BOOKS:

 THE EXPATRIATE’S GUIDE TO HEARTBREAK (Forthcoming Summer 2012)

Jamie Palmer is a PhD candidate in Classical Studies trying to write her dissertation on the philosophy of love. When her boyfriend of seven years dumps her, she realizes she knows nothing at all about love and sets off on an adventure to learn about life and love and heartbreak in all its various forms.

After moving impulsively to the French Riviera, Jamie meets a broad and eccentric cast of characters—all of whom are ex-pats; all of whom have fled to the Riviera to recover from (or hide from) botched relationships, and all of whom offer Jamie conflicting advice. We meet Clara—a fiery Brit with a bad habit of lying, who thinks revenge is the best policy, and thus pursues her ex-lover’s best friend. We meet Kevin—an American triathlon coach (with a secret) who tries to squelch all his emotions through intense and punishing physical training. Then there’s Spencer—Jamie’s aristocratic and slightly pervy 78-year old British landlord—a soulful person who sees even heartbreak as a spiritual quest. He thinks Jamie needs spiritual healing (with some astral sex on the side). Spencer’s wife, however, is a (secret) Wiccan who believes Jamie can cure all her ails via herbs, vibrational ointments, and a few slightly sinister revenge-spells. And then we have Steve, the irresistible sexy Scottish yachtie, who firmly believes that all the ails of the world could be healed through non-stop Bacchanalian sex.

Together and separately, Jamie and these characters share adventures that result in a few gains, a few losses, one reunion, one death, a wedding, and lots of great sex. Plus a few broken bones along the way. But it’s all worth it, because the end result is a new understanding of True Love.

Here’s some advance praise:

“Structured as a classical heroine’s journey, The Expatriate’s Guide to Heartbreak combines the wisdom of Plato, the magic of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, and the sharp, poignant wit of author Lee Harrington. This book is certain to become a classic.”

SECRETS IN MOTION (Fiction)

Forthcoming Fall 2012

Who says honesty is the best policy? In Secrets In Motion—a literary novel for college-age readers—we meet six college friends (three female; three male)whose friendships are threatened when a series of Little White Lies, Big White Lies, and Flat-Out Shameless Lies are slowly uncovered, resulting in breakups, estrangements, weddings, reunions, and even murder. Ultimately a triumphant novel, this story explores the causes and effects of telling untruths, and celebrates enduring truth of friendship.

IN TENTS: A Spiritual Journey from Divorce to the Noble Eightfold Path (Memoir)

Forthcoming 2013

After 9/11, like many New Yorkers, I decided I had to change my life for the better. Mostly I wanted to find out why I kept myself stuck in an unhappy relationship. Thus, I up and left life as I knew it: I left my husband, I left New York, I left my job and I even left behind my dog. On a whim, I moved to a Buddhist retreat center in Colorado. There, I spent eight months living in a tent, studying Buddhist dharma, painting Tibetan art, and experiencing both the darkest and lightest parts of myself. After many struggles, triumphs and wondrous experienced, I emerged a new person, ready to start a new life.

THE STAR SISTERS (My Boring Working Title) (Young Adult Fiction)

Forthcoming Fall 2013 (Book 1)

This work-in-progress is a young adult fantasy series in which seven teenage girls with seven unique gifts must join together to prevent a hidden league of dark forces from destroying Mother Earth. Combining their myriad skills, these young heroines battle corrupt politicians, greedy corporations, and other-worldly adversaries. The idea for the series came to me in 2009 (seemingly from the cosmos) and the story continues to write itself—which makes the writing process very fun indeed. The Star Sisters series will explore environmentalism, self-empowerment, and the power of sacred sound.

REX AND THE CITY, Volume II (Memoir/Essays)

By the time Rex and the City was first published in 2006, my life had drastically changed. The memoir chronicles a short period of life in 1997, but by 2006 I was no longer living in New York City (the “city” of my title), was no longer married to Ed (my beloved partner in dysfunction), and our incorrigible dog Wallace had unexpectedly died. The original book manuscript contained the whole story (including the marriage, the separation, the death of the dog, and the divorce). But my editors decided to divide the book into two volumes.

ANTHOLOGIES

My fiction and non-fiction have been anthologized in various publications, including:

Howl, A Collection of the Best Contemporary Dog Wit (Crown: 2009), edited by the editors of Bark magazine

Dog is My Co-Pilot: Great Writers on the World’s Oldest Friendships

(Crown: 2003), edited by the editors of Bark magazine

 Tennis Shorts: A Literary Companion to Tennis (Citadel: 2003),edited by Adam Sexton

Virgin Fiction: The Best New Fiction Of Writers Under Thirty (Rob Weisbach Books: 1999), edited by Colin Dickerman

ESSAYS

My essays and articles have appeared in such publications as Huffington Post, Salon, Nerve, Poets and Writers, Bark, Jane, Time Out New York, and O: The Oprah Magazine (forthcoming).

I continue to blog for Salon and Huffington Post, and also currently write a regular column for Bark magazine called “The Chloe Chronicles,” which chronicles the life of my wonderful new dog Chloe, whom I adopted after Wallace (of Rex and the City fame) died.

STORIES

Early in my writing career (basically when I was in graduate school), I wrote short stories exclusively, and they appeared in such publications as Playboy, Jane, Literal Latte, Potpourri, Sundog, and a handful of obscure literary magazines. These days I am focusing on writing books, but plan to return to the short story form when I am sixty-four (decades away).

Recently I started to write a bunch of lyrics for songs that will comprise a companion [...]]]>

I am probably going to have to accept the fact that I am not a compulsive blogger…or a regular blogger, [...]]]> Hello Friends….for those of you who read my infrequent blog, I wanted to alert you to the latest blog on the subject of doggie birthday parties. This will only appeal to a select audience, I know  http://emharrington.blogspot.com/

I am probably going to have to accept the fact that I am not a compulsive blogger…or a regular blogger, or even an irregular one. We novelists have a hard time being succinct, I guess. And Huffington Post always wants me to cut my tomes down to 800 words. Imagine?

You can count on something bi-monthly: dog-related blogs which are basically reprints of my essays in Bark magazine. Better than complete silence I guess.

But the novel will be out soon. I promise!

xxx

Please spread the word—I am happy to give this book [...]]]> In honor of the 16,000 dog who were adopted over “PetSmart Charities’ National Dog Adoption Weekend,” we are offering 16,000 free downloads of the eBook edition of “Rex and the City” on Amazon for a limited time period: Thursday March 1st and Friday March 2nd.

Please spread the word—I am happy to give this book away, because my goal is to help needy and abandoned animals, and that is what is my book is about. I always donate 10% of all eBook sales proceeds to animal rescue.

Thanks, all, and my dog sends your dogs a big smooch of gratitude.

http://www.amazon.com/Rex-City-Rescued-Relationship-ebook/dp/B006O4SRY2/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330101651&sr=1-1