BIO:  Barbara Florio Graham

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Bobbi will be telling the story of how Simon Teakettle published his own book to the September agm of Ottawa Lifelong Learning. She wrote about this in a piece called Catastrophe, which appears in Mewsings/Musings and was also featured on Animal Planet TV.  The OLL agm is open only to members, but groups who would like Bobbi to tell them this story (which is not only hilarious, but informative re self-publishing) can contact her to make arrangements.

Bobbi is a founding member of Idea To Author-ity, where professional speakers, authors and experts can gather, share ideas, resources,news, and connect with each other. There are currently 96 members, from 8 countries including authors, speakers, film makers, book shepherds, publishers, social media specialists, editors and trainers.  Bobbi has contributed a chapter on international marketing to the first book in the Idea to Author-ity series. 

Readings/signings of  Mewsings/Musings are being scheduled for the coming months. On Sunday, Sept. 26, she'll be at Britton's, on Bank Street at Fifth Avenue, in Ottawa, from 1-3pm.

 Mewsings/Musings  is among a select group of books recommended by Marci Kladnik in her column, which appears in two California newspapers. This also appears on the Catalyst for Cats website, at:
 http://www.catalystforcats.net/reading.htm

The Thomas More Institute for Adult Education in Montreal has once again ordered copies of the 20th anniversary edition of Five Fast Steps to Better Writing for fall classes. In past years, they've ordered 10 copies, but this year they've asked for 20.  Thomas More Institute, founded in Montreal 65 years ago, provides courses in liberal arts, which may be taken for university credit or for pleasure. Once again Alexander Farrell will be teaching a workshop called Basic Essay Writing.

We managed to sneak in a reference to Simon Teakettle, his fan club, and the Facebook group, Freelancers Working Together, in an article on the Upbeat page in the Ottawa Citizen, Saturday, July 10, 2010. Here's the piece they published:

Bobbi replied to a series of questions on creativity for a popular blogger, and her answers appear here: 
http://nelliejacobs.wordpress.com/2010/06/05/creativity-questions-answers-part-7-barbara-florio%C2%A0graham/

Bobbi was also interviewed live, by telephone, on June 10th, for Gail Martin's popular online blog and podcast. Gail's website is www.dreamspinnercommunications.com, and the podcast is online at www.SharedDreamsPodcast.com, as well as uploaded to iTunes and several podcast directory sites. Most of her listeners are small business owners, entrepreneurs and authors. 

We've just become an affiliate of SOURCES, a searchable, deep-indexed database of expert sources, media spokespersons, and news and information sources.  I've been asked to contribute articles on media relations, public relations, publicity, marketing, public speaking and crisis communications to a the site, under the "hotlink" section. Articles I contributed in the past are already archived there, and new ones are now being added regularly.

Bobbi wrote a letter to the editor of the Ottawa Citizen (the large daily in Ottawa's capital) in response to an article on "vanity" publishing. They printed it, in full, on Sat. March 20. Here it is:

Bobbi's letter to Chatelaine (Canada's premier women's magazine) was the Letter of the Month in the April issue. She wrote about iconic journalist and activist, June Callwood, whose death was chronicled in the magazine by her daughter.  Letters don't appear on the website, but the article about June is. It was in the December issue. 

Bobbi was also quoted in an article in the national edition of Forever Young. This piece was written by Randy Ray, who interviewed Bobbi about accessibility of Canadian cities. The article is HERE.

Bobbi's new column in the West Quebec Post focuses on senior issues, and has already generated some positive feedback from readers. The Post isn't online, but many of Bobbi's columns are available at Log Cabin Chronicles, where she's a regular contributor.

Bobbi has been quoted in an article on creativity in the February Reader's Digest. On page 162 of the Canadian edition, in the RD Work section, there's an article by Helen Lammers-Helps called Tapping Into Your Creativity, which mentions Bobbi's online creativity course and includes a side-bar with her suggestions for boosting your creativity.  The link is: http://www.readersdigest.ca/money/cms/xcms/tapping-into-your-creativity_3592_a.html (or http://tinyurl.com/yb2vsco).

Bobbi has just created Freelancers Working Together, an interactive forum on Facebook which will allow freelance writers to share news, information, gripes and suggestions, to help each other in this difficult working environment. Members who join this group will receive a $5 discount on a special  Introductory Membership in the Cassell Network of Writers, which includes a subscription to Freelance Writer's Report where Bobbi is a regular contributor.

Mewsings/Musings was the featured selection on the The Indie Spotlight on Thursday, Feb. 18.  Books selected for this highlight are then available in the archives (in the "Featured" section). http://www.theindiespotlight.com/

Simon Teakettle (with a description of how the name came about, and an explanation of the nickname Terzo) is in a new book, The Cat-Lovers Book of Days, by Peg Silloway. Each of the book's 366 days is all about cats including famous people they've lived with, their place in history, myth, and magic.  It has its own Facebook page, at http://tinyurl.com/nplppu (where you can scroll through the photos and see Terzo decked with ribbons for the holidays). You can also  read a full description of the book at http://sillowaypress.com/pages/bookstore.html

Mother Tongue Books in Ottawa is the latest bookstore to carry Mewsings/Musings and Five Fast Steps to Better Writing.

Simon Teakettle and Bobbi have been profiled in the October issue of 55 Plus, a regional magazine. The feature is called  The Cat Who Owns the Company. See: http://www.fifty-five-plus.com/ go to the Archives, and click on the Ottawa/Kingston edition of the October issue.

This article has been mentioned in the blog/newsletter of The Publicity Hound, as an example of using a specific angle to garner publicity.

Bobbi is also profiled in the October issue of SPAWNnews, the online newsletter of the Small Publishers and Writers Network.

Marta Felber, who took Tapping Your Innate Creativity from Bobbi several years ago, has just won a special award at the Cat Writers' Association annual contest. Marta's A Cat’s Eye View of Life and Love by Sterling  won The WORLD’S BEST LITTER-ARY AWARD.

Bobbi contributed to an article on creativity which was published in the July/August issue of Country Guide Magazine, written by Helen Lammers-Helps. Another version of this piece, quoting Bobbi, will appear in a coming issue of Reader's Digest Living.

She also contributed information on training cats for an article in the April issue of Harrowsmith Country Life Magazine, written by Kate Aley.

2009:

Five Fast Steps to Better Writing is being used this fall at Thomas Moore Institute in Montreal.

Five Fast Steps to Better Writing and Mewsings/Musings are also being featured this fall at two Ottawa bookstores: Collected Works Bookstore and Coffee Bar, 1242 Wellington Avenue West, and Books on Beechwood, 35 Beechwood Avenue.

We just found out that Bobbi's article, The Necessity of Art, was discussed on a web forum in Australia. There are now 45 countries where the company (or Simon or Bobbi) appears on websites. The latest additions are Malaysia and Sao Torme/Principe. You can see the citations (which span 11 time zones) HERE. 

The Animal Magnet - Pet Radio, is hosted by Deb Wolfe every Tuesday from 1:30 to 2pm EST in all 50 U.S. states – and internationally to 158 countries (from NYC). Bobbi was the featured guest on Tuesday, June 2, 2009. This independent, non-commercial station has more than one million visitors a month. Find the Progressive Radio Network at www.prncomm.net. Deborah's interviews are also archived on her site (a few weeks after the broadcast) at: www.campgooddog.com

Bobbi was a panelist at the Ottawa Independent Writers' meeting on May 21st discussing publishing options. Her article on this subject will be in a coming issue of Freelance Writer's Report, as well as in True North Perspective, Log Cabin Chronicles, SCRIBE, and OIW's Capital Letter.

Barnard College has produced a book honoring Millicent C. McIntosh, the ground-breaking first President of the College (she served as Dean from 1947-52, then President from 1952-62), who was a leading advocate of women combining a demanding career with having a family. The wife of a doctor and mother of five boys, she was an example to all who knew her during her tenure. Mrs. McIntosh died in 2001 at the age of 102, and students were asked to share their experiences in this special book. Barbara Florio (class of 1956) is among just 17 students whose memories were selected for this compilation.

The June, 2009, issue of Cat Fancy contained an article by Andrea Dorn, Can Cats Predict Earthquakes.  She describes how Simon Teakettle II (Tiki) reacted the day before the tsunami that devastated the far east in December, 2004.  

Terzo's Virtual MEWSical Society is garnering attention. It's been featured on Facebook, Yahoo, and the NEXUS website, as well as on salon.com and bonniehunt.com.  Many blogs have mentioned it as well, including http://perpetuallyspeaking.blogspot.com/ and http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/catlady/archives/161943.asp.

The 103-year-old Orpheus Musical Society printed the following in their newsletter, The Lyre:

Bobbi spoke to the Ottawa Branch of the Canadian Authors Association on April 14, 2009, at the Ottawa Public Library.  Her topic was Creating Humor.

Terzo's blog is now linked to Darlene Arden's Facebook group. 

Bobbi responded to an article in Salon about how popular kittens are on the Internet, while dogs seem to dominate movies, with a letter about the misconception that cats can't be trained. She mentioned her article on training cats (which won a Sticky Paws award in the international Cat Writers' Association annual contest, and included the URL for this website. The link is:  Letters: The Internet is made of kittens - Salon   http://letters.salon.com/mwt/feature/2009/02/10/cat_internet/view/index3.html

Terzo responded to the Bonnie Hunt Show about why Bonnie should consider a cat as a companion for her dog, Charlie. That appeared on Bonnie's website at:
http://bonniehunt.ning.com/xn/detail/2248152:Comment:171044

Bobbi spoke to the Laughing Matters Toastmasters humor group in Ottawa on February 5, 2009. One of the members had attended Bobbi's sold-out humor writing workshop last spring (presented by the City of Ottawa in its Writers in the Community series) and suggested her as a speaker. Her talk was so well-received they've asked her to return on June 4.

Here's a photo of Bobbi at the podium:

 

The Ottawa Citizen published Bobbi's op-ed piece, The Necessity of Art, on Monday, December 29, 2008. Read it on the Citizen site at: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/necessity+life/1121448/story.htmlhttp://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/necessity+life/1121448/story.html  or Read it HERE

A Freelancer's Christmas Eve won First Prize in the annual Christmas poetry contest held by Ottawa Independent Writers.

Bobbi is now on the list of Canadian humorists at Wikipedia. 

A teen-ager in Norway is blogging about Simon Teakettle! She linked her blog to Terzo's after visiting our website as a result of reading Bobbi's Christmas Story in the Norweigian textbook for high school students studying English in that country. Voices in Time was published last spring, and like other similar books which have published Bobbi's story over the years in other countries, the list of contributors is impressive, including Virginia Woolf, Ray Bradbury, and Oscar Wilde, all of whom are in the same chapter as Bobbi's story.  

There was a great review of the 20th anniversary edition of Five Fast Steps to Better Writing in Absolute Write newsletter.

We had a table at the Small Press Book Fair on October 18, which kicked off the International Writers' Festival at the National Library & Archives in Ottawa. Click HERE to see our display. The author sitting beside me is June Coxon, whose adorable cat book, Just Call Me Ernie, is the charming story of a cat who adopted a seniors' centre in Ottawa. 

The November, 2008, issue of Cat Fancy contains an article called Through the Years, by Stacy Mantle. It features women ranging in age from 24 to 84, one per decade. Each description includes a photo of the woman with her cat, and Bobbi & Terzo are on page 16. 

Using Fido To Clinch The Sale appeared in U.S. Business Week last summer and continues to appear on NBC websites. The columnist quoted publicity expert Joan Stewart, who used Simon Teakettle as an example of "the cat who owns the company." To date this has appeared on NBC websites in Seattle, Dallas, Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, New York City, San Francisco, and Hartford, Connecticut.

Living Cheap and Loving It, by Carrol Wolverton, anticipated the current financial crisis with a book full of suggestions, including some contributed by Barbara Florio Graham. The book is available from Lulu.com.

Simon Teakettle was included in an article on pets at Christmas on the CNBC/Today Show website. See http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/22140438/.

Bobbi was interviewed by Jane Crosier on her weekly radio show, Literary Landscape, which airs  from 6:30 - 7pm every Thursday on CKCU-FM in Ottawa (Canada). Jane devoted the full half hour program on April 10, 2008, talking to Bobbi about the workshop, "How to Promote Your Book or Your Business," and also about Simon Teakettle, the company and the cat.

Bobbi was one of two experts on Steve Dale's Pet Central radio program on Sunday, October 7th. Broadcast live from WGN, Dale's program is allied to his award-winning Tribune Media column.

Simon Teakettle was included in an article on pets at Christmas on the CNBC/Today Show website. See http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/22140438/.

The 2002 Animal Planet featuring Simon Teakettle II has been a favorite with CTV stations. They have aired it repeatedly, using it as a filler during holiday seasons. Several people have told us they saw it during Christmas week this year.