Midlife Humor Writer Vikki Claflin: 2BB 059

Our guest in this episode is Vikki Claflin, a midlife humor writer, and founder of the blog Laugh Lines.

Coming to you from high atop the parking structure above Hollywood’s Comedy Club row.

According to Vikki, midlife is hilarious and we need to laugh about it. You can either laugh or cry when you look in the mirror, so choose LAUGH.

She’s 59, writing full-time and is the author of “Who Left the Cork Out of My Lunch”

She also gives advice and marital advice to men on her blog.

Men say, “Nothing good ever comes after “We need to talk.”

Upcoming for men will be a post on how not to screw up Valentine’s Day.

She’s been blogging for 4 years but has always been a writer. Before quitting her day job, she worked in the Beauty Industry as a trainer for Estee Lauder and in retail for thirty years. All fodder for midlife humor. She is also a motivational speaker.

We talk about whether or not to let our hair go gray. Vikki’s is white.

She says her natural color is rodent gray and that sometimes we need to give Mother Nature a little help. That leads us into a discussion about dying our armpit hairs pink or purple and chin hair. It’s that kind of show. Listen in by clicking on the player at the top of this post or Subscribe to our show in Itunes.

An editor walked into a retail store where she worked and told her she had read her blog. She suggested that she write a book. At first, Vikki didn’t know what she would write about but the editor said, you already have. It’s in your blog.

Her first book was “Shake Rattle and Roll with it – Living and Laughing with Parkinson’s.” Vikki was diagnosed with Parkinson’s when she turned 50. It’s a humorous book about having the disease. She has been speaking at Parkinson events about the book and has had a wonderful response.

Goals for the future are to do more speaking engagements. She loves being in front of a crowd and speaking in front of women’s groups. “Women want to be entertained.”

Her most popular topic is “How to love your midlife body without losing weight.” She has an EBook on her blog on that topic available to download.

The official launch date of her new book, “Who Left the Cork Out of My Lunch” will be Valentine’s Day but it is available for pre-order on Amazon now. She will be doing a book bundle giveaway on her blog. 60 talented midlife humor and related niche authors have donated books for the giveaway. Each bundle will also include one of Vikki’s books. During the month of February, the book bundles will include 5 books.

Her writing process comes spontaneously from things that have happened to her. For example, her son Skyped her from Iraq. Vikki was in such a hurry to take the call, she forgot she was naked. Her son said it was the most traumatic thing that happened to him the entire time he was in Iraq.

Advice to someone who wants to write a book.

* WRITE ONE. Don’t make excuses.

* Also, for the love of God, don’t compare yourself.

* Start a blog. Don’t worry about who sees it because you won’t have any readers for the first 6 months.

As you write on a blog,