Taking Note: Claire Cook

I met Claire Cook on Twitter. Yes, for those of you still wondering what the fuss is all about with Twitter, know that if it is nothing, it is a great way to forge new connections with like minded people.

It began on Father’s Day when after posting my blog, I tweeted it. One of my followers then retweeted. If you are as yet unfamiliar with the world of Twitterdom, you follow people and they follow you and you don’t necessarily know each other but there is usually some similar interest that has you connected.

In this case it was writing. The woman who tweeted me had a cute little typewriter in her photo and was in publishing. I thanked Brenda Copeland and after a brief exchange she introduced me to Claire. From what she could tell we had a few things in common and were both writing about reinvention. She thought we should connect.

It turns out Brenda is Claire’s editor at Hyperion. Claire, a best selling author, has written several books, the most notable to date being Must Love Dogs.

I love meeting authors, especially those who have achieved success as Claire has. It’s good karma for me to be around. So we exchanged a few tweets. It turns out her latest novel, The Wildwater Walking Club is centered around a woman who reinvents herself after corporate life.

Yes, you read that right. Reinvents herself after Corporate America. The Universe once again speaking to me, this time via Twitter!

I walked myself over to Barnes and Noble, picked up a copy and dove into this delightful read. To say it resonated with me would be an understatement. Claire captures in a funny, endearing voice the absurdities of what you encounter when there is no need to set the alarm. At the same time she beautifully unveils those moments of ahas ! that appear in the most unexpected places.

What inspires me about Claire is that she did not publish her first book until she was 45. She walked down the red carpet for the first time at 50 for the Hollywood premiere of the movie version of Must Love Dogs. She once taught school, worked for a large corporation as well as a radio station and knows that there is no problem that cannot be worked out through the discipline of a good walk. So maybe what inspires me most is that with eerily similar backgrounds, she has achieved the success I aspire to.

This is a great read for anyone who is unsure that there is another way than the corporate way, is in transition now, or is just in search of an entertaining, inspiring story of possibility.

(To the men who read my blog, please note this is classified in the women’s fiction category.)