Lynn Morrison, Oxford High School graduate and author of the award-winning blog The Nomad Mom Diary, is proud to announce that she’s being published in a mommy blogger anthology called I Just Want to Be Alone.
Kansas based mom and founder of the popular blog People I Want to Punch in the Throat, known only to readers as Jen, gathered thirty-six other mom bloggers to share stories about the men in their lives. Finding humor in all of those little things men do to drive us crazy, I Just Want to Be Alone, is a hilarious compilation of essays that is guaranteed to make readers laugh, cry, wince, gasp just like they did while reading last year’s tale of motherhood I Just Want to Pee Alone.
“When I started my blog a little over a year ago, the only people reading it were related to me. There are a few more now, but certainly not enough that I would have expected to get such an amazing opportunity as this,” Morrison said. “The stories [in the book] are absolutely laugh-out-loud funny, and conveniently just the right length to enjoy while hiding from the rest of the family in the bathroom.”
After a year at Ole Miss, Morrison decided to pursue her dream of attending school in California. So, she packed her bags and has been a world traveler ever since! Now she lives in Oxford, England (ironically) with her husband and children.
HottyToddy.com’s managing editor Kate Sinervo, who is also an Oxford native, spoke with Lynn about her blog, her life in the other Oxford, and the upcoming book.
Kate: What took you to California to finish your degree? What did you major in and where? Then, what took you to England?
Lynn: I fell in love with the idea of going to a little private college in California when I was in high school. I begged my parents until they eventually capitulated with the agreement that I would spend one year at Ole Miss before going. I think that they were torn between wanting to encourage me to follow my dreams and wanting to keep their little girl as far away from Los Angeles as possible. I’ll never forget the day that I got the acceptance letter, my father’s face just crumbled and he said, “I didn’t think you’d get in.” That fall I moved to Claremont (outside of LA) to study International Relations at Claremont McKenna College. After graduation I bounced between San Francisco and Europe, taking any and all opportunities to go and live abroad.
It is ironic that life has come full circle on me and I now find myself living in Oxford, England. My husband (a tall skinny Italian from Padua) is a professor at Oxford (thus the impetus for the move). He loves to tell people that his wife grew up in Oxford and then watch the perplexion scurry across their faces when I open my mouth. My kids sound British. I do not.
Kate: Why blogging? Tell me a little bit about your blog and which awards you’ve won.
Lynn: I never intended to stay home with the kids, but life and international moves have a way of taking plans and running them through the shredder. Blogging was my lifeline to the rest of the world. It was my way of keeping my mind sharp while constantly brushing dried play-doh off of every surface in my house. Some women excel at full-time parenting. I excelled at running away from it.
My blog is an ode to the underachiever. To the mother that finds perfection to be a crushing weight and decides that striving for imperfection might just be a better alternative. I am a mommy blogger, but I write for the women like me. Thank goodness there are more than a few of them.
As for the awards, I owe Circle of Moms Top 25 European Bloggers and the 2013 and 2014 Bloggies to my awesome supporters. They nominate, vote, and keep me in the upper echelon. This year I’ve taken a break from the popularity contests and set my sights on the writer acknowledgements: a feature on the Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop website and my own corner on the Huffington Post. I have more plans for the year and can’t wait to see what I can pull off.
Kate: Why is it important to be involved in this book (I Just Want to Be Alone)? Were you published in the last book too (I Just Want to Pee Alone)?
Lynn: Success in the blogging world is one percent perspiration and 99 percent lightning strike luck. One moment you are writing for your mom and sister, the next 20,000 people are pressing the ‘Like’ button on a post. As one of a million mommy bloggers, I put 100 percent of my effort into the one percent and pray that someday the 99 percent gods will shine down upon me.
With Pee Alone and Be Alone, Jen from People I Want to Punch in the Throat is trying to shrink the chasm between basement lights and the bright lights of success. She scours the internet and personally manages the project from author recruitment to editing to cover design and final publication. The book contributors are a mix of little bloggers (like me) and huge names that will sell thousands of copies. She throws us all together and turns us from strangers into a wolf pack. For me, getting the opportunity to hang out with the superstars of the blogging world is unbeatable. It has opened so many doors already! It may not be the magic lightning strike, but it is darn close.
I was not included in the first book….I seethed with envy and silently sobbed into my glass of wine when it came out. The book was a dream too big to imagine. I have no idea how Jen found me for this book. I don’t care. It’s out now and no one can take that away from me.
Kate: Does living in Oxford, England compare at all to Oxford, Mississippi? (We’re all curious!)
Lynn: Ha ha, what a great question! In some ways they are alike. Ole Miss has the greeks, Oxford has the colleges. They are steeped in tradition and pride and ivy-draped historical moments. (Or is that kudzu?) In other ways, they couldn’t be more different. Oxford, England is much bigger, with a bustling downtown, a commerce-laden High Street and thousands of Japanese tourists that clog up the sidewalks. Oxford, MS is, aside from game weekends, a quiet haven of sun-dappled lawns. All that said, I couldn’t imagine a better preparation for life in Oxford, England than growing up in Oxford, MS.
I Just Want to Be Alone is available now on Amazon in paperback for $10.99 and on Kindle for $4.99.
Lynn can be contacted at lynn@nomadmomdiary.com.
– Kate Sinervo is the managing editor for HottyToddy.com. She can be contacted by email at kate.sinervo@hottytoddy.com.
OHS grad, Award-Winning Mom Blogger Featured in New Book
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