(I’m sorry that I forgot to bring Jen Knox’s excellent memoir with me when I did the video. But she is giving away two copies, hosted on this blog.)

Don’t forget to check out the full giveaway listing at www.JTimothyKing.com (with more books coming, continuing into February).

True story: A teenage runaway. Alcoholism. Life as a strip-dancer. A child of divorce. And the ultimate search for reconciliation, inspired by the same family that she had left behind.

When I emailed Jen Knox and told her that I was giving away a copy of her memoir Musical Chairs, she replied: “I’ll donate a signed copy. If you’d like, two; just send me the winner’s info & I’ll mail it out.” (And of course, I hope to do the same deal with Love through the Eyes of an Idiot on on her blog.)

So we’re giving away two copies of Musical Chairs. I’ll get to how to enter the giveaway in a moment. First, a couple comments about the book.

Says Randall Radic in his review:

I’m sitting with Jen Knox, author of the indie memoir Musical Chairs, here in my virtual living room today. Hi, Jen.

Hi, Tim.

As you know, I loved Musical Chairs. What does the title allude to?

“Musical Chairs” came from the name of a game, where music plays and kids run around a circle of chairs that is one short of the number of players. When the music stops, someone is left standing, so the goal of the game is to sit in a chair immediately, to be alert and react quickly, to find a place to sit wherever you are. Then the music calls you to your feet again.

In the book, I wanted to retrace my time as a runaway and attempt to recapture my mindset during that time. In a sense, these years reminded me of that game; I felt as though I was always finding a new chair, a new environment or home, and something would inevitably pull me up to run again.

Writing my memoir, digging up the old memories was very emotional for me, but at the same time, I began to understand the people of my past in ways that I hadn’t understood them at the time. Did you have any similar experiences you’d be willing to share?

Musical Chairs
Jen Knox
Indie Memoir/YA
[rating: 5/5]
Available in...
• Mobi/Kindle
... from...
• Amazon
• MobiPocket
Also in paperback

Some time ago, Jen Knox and I swapped memoirs. She sent me a copy of Musical Chairs, which explores her family’s history of mental health diagnoses, her years of strip-dancing, alcoholism, and estrangement, and her struggle for reconciliation. (That’s from the cover.)

I also sent her a copy of Love through the Eyes of an Idiot. In full disclosure, just as I had started reading her book, Jen sent me an email about mine:

I finally posted my review of your delightful book. Oh how it made me remember how lucky I am to have found Chris after all the relationships (if you can call them that) that came before him. He thanks you. I thank you, for writing a great read.

Truthfully, I’m gratified that Jen enjoyed my book. And I did really want to like hers as well— I always want to like a book from a fellow author, and it upsets me when I don’t. But I will tell you exactly what problems I had with Musical Chairs:

Some weeks (or months) ago Jen Knox and I swapped memoirs. She sent me a copy of her book Musical Chairs, which explores her family’s history of mental health diagnoses, her years of strip-dancing, alcoholism, and estrangement, and her struggle for reconciliation. (That’s from the cover.)

I also sent her a copy of Love through the Eyes of an Idiot, the story of how I flitted from romantic obsession to romantic obsession, until I made a fundamental change in my life; then I met my Beloved.

This past weekend, just as I had started reading her book, Jen sent me an email about mine:

I finally posted my review of your delightful book. Oh how it made me remember how lucky I am to have found Chris after all the relationships (if you can call them that) that came before him. He thanks you. I thank you, for writing a great read.

Thanks, Jen! That really lifted my spirits. Really. Do a good deed today: email your favorite author and tell her how much you enjoyed a book she wrote.