Abiola’s Kiss and Tell LIVE Revue at Madame X on June 15, 2010 pt 2.

June Honoree: KOLA BOOF; and Celebrating the book release of The Robot Hearts Anthology

With June Readers: (no specific order) KALI “KITTIE” TROY of VH1’s Let’s Talk About Pep, Robot Hearts writers SHAWNA KENNEY, CARA BRUCE, DAVID HENRY STERRY, CAROLINE BRYANT, KIANOOSH HASHEMZADEH, TRUDI TAYLOR, CARRIE COHEN, comedian JESSICA DELFINO, Urban Erotika pioneer MO BEASLEY, writer DEBORAH COLLAGE GRISON and virgin reader TAMELA J. GORDAN.

Abiola’s Kiss and Tell LIVE Revue at Madame X on June 15, 2010 pt 1.

June Honoree: KOLA BOOF; and Celebrating the book release of The Robot Hearts Anthology

With June Readers: (no specific order) KALI “KITTIE” TROY of VH1’s Let’s Talk About Pep, Robot Hearts writers SHAWNA KENNEY, CARA BRUCE, DAVID HENRY STERRY, CAROLINE BRYANT, KIANOOSH HASHEMZADEH, TRUDI TAYLOR, CARRIE COHEN, comedian JESSICA DELFINO, Urban Erotika pioneer MO BEASLEY, writer DEBORAH COLLAGE GRISON and virgin reader TAMELA J. GORDAN.

Kiss & Tell Live NYC Reading & Performance Series on June 15 at Madame X

Kiss & Tell Live NY Reading Series
NEXT SHOW
Tuesday June 15th
7-10 PM, FREE, MADAME X

HONORING KOLA BOOF
FEATURING THE ROBOT HEARTS ANTHOLOGY

June Honoree: Kola Boof; and Celebrating the book release of The Robot Hearts Anthology

With June Readers: (no specific order) KALI “KITTIE” TROY of VH1’s Let’s Talk About Pep, Robot Hearts writers SHAWNA KENNEY, CARA BRUCE, DAVID HENRY SThttp://www.tumblr.com/tumblelog/readingseries/new/textERRY, CAROLINE BRYANT, KIANOOSH HASHEMZADEH, TRUDI TAYLOR, CARRIE COHEN, comedian JESSICA DELFINO, Urban Erotika pioneer MO BEASLEY, writer DEBORAH COLLAGE GRISON and virgin reader TAMELA J. GORDAN.

More Info: http://abiolaabrams.com/reading_series.html

1) Tell me about your anthology.
Robot Hearts is a collection of personal essays written by people navigating the relationship maze of online dating and new media.

2) What inspired Robot Hearts?
Both of us met our husbands before the whole internet dating thing, but were fascinated with stories of people connecting in this new way. Even our own friendship was rekindled through Facebook. We thought it’d be fun to gather these kind of stories together in one place. We have a line of nonfiction anthologies planned—this is just the first.



3) How did you select the writers?

We put out a general ‘call for submissions’ on blogs, Facebook, Twitter and our website. Some of the folks who contributed were friends, but most were complete strangers. David Sterry is an award-winning memoirist and well-published friend whom we’ve worked with before. Carrie Cohen’s essay, “The Man I Might Have Married,” is a tragic, touching tale of the strange and sometimes false intimacy meeting online entails.

We were intrigued by the experimental form of Kianoosh Hashemzadeh’s essay. “They Left a Paper Trail.” Trudi Tayor, who is traveling from North Carolina for the reading, cracked us up with her submission, “The Pickle Story.” Cara Bruce wrote about the truly frightening ways that psycho exes can use technology to terrorize. And the title of Caroline Bryant’s piece, “Match.con: One English Woman’s Experience with Online Dating” just says it all.

4) Do you Kiss and Tell?
Hmmm….well, we’ve both written explicit material of our own, before, but in this case, we hug and allow other people to tell on themselves.

5) What are your thoughts about the intersection of love and technology?
Shawna: I’m suspicious. Technology is an extension of the user, yet it has the uncanny ability to mask our most human qualities. Meeting people online is both more immediate and more removed—our online selves are artifice. I’m a romantic, so I’d like to believe anything’s possible, but interacting online can never replace that intangible thing—that chemistry—that people feel once they see, hear, smell and experience one another in-person.

Cara: I agree with Shawna about the chemistry. I’m also not sure it can be replaced. Yet, I do wonder if meeting someone online and taking the time to get to know him or her, really get to know him or her, before doing anything physical might not be such a bad idea. But, then again, sex is such an important part of any relationship that maybe all relationships should start with sex and move on to talking. I also would imagine that meeting someone online would involve a whole other level of trust or, should I say, distrust. Overall, I think that as long as we don’t remove ourselves from real, face-to-face human connections we should be okay.

6) Are there any things that we humans should avoid with our newly Robotic Hearts?
Loneliness. Hermitude. Agoraphobia. Damn, it sounds like the life of a writer.

7) Where can we find the book and learn more?
We’ll have books at the reading, iand t can be ordered online now at
http://www.amazon.com/Robot-Hearts-Twisted-Seeking-Digital/dp/0982644507/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275944083&sr=1-1
and we have guidelines for future anthologies up at our website:
http://www.pinchbackpress.com/


8) What can we expect on June 15th?

Expect to laugh and maybe even cry a little. You will emote, whether you want to or not.

1) What can we expect to see/hear/experience from you on June 15th?

Kola: I will talk about the twist and turns of my career, why it means so much for
me to be heard as an African-born author and will joke about why people think
I’m crazy. But I will use my work to demonstrate why I’m a very serious author.

2) Do you ever KISS and TELL?

Kola: Oh sure. I will probably do that during my talk/reading.

3) How do you define sexy?

Kola: Confidence, laughter and being very open.

4) How can we have more open conversation around love, sex and dating?

Kola: Venues like this make it very easy. I’m bringing a FOINE ASS man with me, too.

5) What’s NEXT for you and where can people find your work?

Kola: My new work isn’t out yet…I’m doing publicity and appearances to make people
more familiar with me and to change perceptions of me. My older work can be
found online at Amazon or you can have your local bookstore order it.
Hue-Man books, I believe, still have copies of my books.

Harlem-based Tamela J. Gordon is originally from Long Island. A writer since the age of nine, Tamela came to the city to pursue her goal of becoming a novelist. Fresh off the heels of her modest success with her memoir-styled blog entitled, Baby, Beat Those Blues, she and her bestie have joined forces and have become the go-to’s for everything NYC with their upcoming website, shessonewyork.com. As they work towards their late-summer debut, read more about them and the work their doing on their blog, She’s So New York! http://besonewyork.blogspot.com


1) Tamela, what can we expect to see/hear/experience from you on June 15th?
Tamela: Expect to hear the painfully true story of when a woman’s vag is trying to tell her something.

2) Do you ever KISS and TELL?
Tamela: All too often!

3) How do you define sexy?
Tamela: Sexy to me is good looks, style, confidence, with a dash of insatiable naughtiness.

4) How can we have more open conversation around love, sex and dating?
Tamela: By putting it all out there… you first!

5) What’s NEXT for you and where can people find your work?
Tamela: What’s next for me (besides all the blogs) will be launching this birth of a women’s website with my partner, Portia Walker, and shessonewyork.com will be ready to roll by late-summer this year, so expect to hear alot about us until then!