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official bio: (Long)
L.L. Kirchner is an award-winning screenwriter and author of the forthcoming memoir, Blissful Thinking: A Memoir of Overcoming the Wellness Revolution (Motina Books, 9/23). Her first memoir, American Lady Creature: (My) Change in the Middle East, was named one of Bustle’s “11 Books to Battle the Blues.” In 2021, her short films, My Dinner with Steve and Inside Hope, took top honors in several film festivals. Her short play, In A World Where…, premiered in New York City in 2017.
Kirchner’s writing can be found in The Rumpus, The Washington Post, Brevity, Shondaland, DAME Magazine, and Insider among numerous others; she’s been writing since before the internet. Once simultaneously the religion editor for an LGBTQ+ paper, dating columnist for an alt newsweekly, and bridal editor for a society rag, Kirchner holds a journalism degree from Ohio State University and is currently writing a historical fiction series and working on a television pilot.
Her first career was in marketing and communications with organizations such as The Andy Warhol Museum, Ketchum PR, and the Tribeca Film Festival. She’s currently a wellbeing guest host for the Home Shopping Network, and runs the popular monthly storytelling show in St. Petersburg, Florida, “True Stories.”
Get news, first reads and freebies at her monthly newsletter, Notable, which you can find on her website, llkirchner.com. Or find her on socials everywhere @llkirchner_.
official bio: (SHORT)
L.L. Kirchner is an award-winning screenwriter and author with a second memoir coming out in September, Blissful Thinking: A Memoir of Overcoming the Wellness Revolution, Motina Books. She's currently a guest host for the Home Shopping Network, produces and hosts a monthly storytelling show, and has taught writing and storytelling for more than a decade.
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BOOK COVER:
Blissful thinking
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BOOK DESCRIPTION
Blissful Thinking is the sweeping story of L.L. Kirchner’s search for nirvana that took her from university halls in the Persian Gulf to the streets of Manhattan to a sex cult in India.
Between her family’s gym and the years she’d spent in substance abuse recovery, Kirchner felt grounded in physical and spiritual wellness. Then her husband demanded a divorce. Over the telephone.
To avoid a return to her addictions the author tries yoga, meditation, chanting — all the things meant to cultivate bliss and regain trust in the universe. Each brings some relief, but her search for the answer outside herself ignores the fact that her painful family dynamics remain unresolved. Until she discovers the gift her mother had always given her—hope.
In a memoir that’s both rapturous and page-turning, Kirchner captures the terrors and joys of searching for radical honesty — and a second date.
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING
“L.L. Kirchner’s Blissful Thinking is told with rich sensory detail. There is much to love and learn from her attempts at spiritual growth, but her healthy skepticism and strong inner voice is what finally brings her home.”
— Debi Lewis, author, Kitchen Medicine
“Raw, honest, and engaging, L.L. Kirchner’s book of resilience and bravery should be on everyone’s reading list.”
— Aileen Weintraub, author, Knocked Down
“L.L. Kirchner’s fluid voice and superb control of the narrative are delightful companions on a journey through America, Qatar, India, the mind, and—most importantly—the heart.”
— Eva Hagberg, author, How to be Loved
“It’s not often one finds humor, addiction, grief, & genuine openness tangled into one memoir, but Blissful Thinking does all that. Traversing both the globe and her inner landscape, Kirchner shows readers what it means to search, try, and even hope during life’s most challenging moments.”
— Dr. Rev. Angela Yarber, author, Queering the American Dream
other books BY L.L. KIRCHNER
Ask L.L. Kirchner: Interview Questions
Questions and Topics for Discussion
1. The author writes that she “loved cigarettes and hated patchouli.” Were you more surprised to realize that the author never intended to go on a spiritual journey, or that she undertook one at all?
2. Have you ever found a “spiritual solution” to a real-world problem?
3. The author writes that for most of her life she “equated multiple partners with cheating,“ yet she ended up exploring polyamory and staying in a sex cult. What’s the most extreme length you’ve gone to for healing? Or conversely, what’s one of your most radically changed opinions?
4. Do you think it’s harder to maintain close friendships as we grow older, like what happened with Willy?
5. Have you ever tried meditation? Were you surprised to learn that meditation is not always a pathway to bliss?
6. The author is careful not to equate mental illness with the capacity to meditate. Why do you think she would do that?
7. Of all the places described in the book, where have you been? Which places would you like to visit?
8. The family dysfunction is clear, but it’s not at the forefront of the author’s story. Yet her mother’s death leads to her ultimate epiphany. Why do you think the author chose not to write more about her family?
9. What do you think of the expanded definition of cults the author cites? Why do you think the author didn’t end up joining any of the cults or ashram communities she visited? Do you think it’s possible to benefit from cults?
10. What’s the biggest insight you gained from the spiritual explorations in the book?
Press release
NEW BOOK-- BLISSFUL THINKING: A Memoir of Overcoming the Wellness Revolution by L.L. Kirchner
Motina Books: Dallas, TX, September 26, 2023, eBook ISBN: 979-8-88784-014-7 | Price: $8.99; Paperback ISBN: 979-8-88784-015-4 | Price: $16.99; Hardcover ISBN: 979-8-88784-016-1 | Price: $26.99. Watch the video trailer here.
EMBARGOED TIL SEPTEMBER 2023 — If there’d been such a thing at her high school, Pittsburgh’s L.L. Kirchner would’ve been voted ‘least likely to be seen in a yoga class.’ Her parents may have owned a gym, but she was busy working her way to rehab. This was still true years later, when her husband asked for a divorce—over the phone, from another country. And she knew she had to try something different.
Fearing a return to her addictions—relapse was how she’d coped with her first love’s startling death—she went hunting for an answer to the question, “What is so wrong with me that my husband had to run away?”
She tried yoga, meditation, chanting — all the things meant to cultivate bliss. But nothing resolved her dilemma. Because it was never the right question. It wasn’t until she saw the shame that was at the heart of her search was she able to ask: “What happens when you stop looking for what’s wrong with you and start looking for what’s right?”
In the words of comic and podcast host Ophira Eisenberg, Blissful Thinking “is a refreshingly honest take on the idea of what wellness even means.”
“Pretty near everyone will recognize a bit of themselves in this sharp, often funny, and ultimately triumphant story of learning to sit with one’s imperfect self,” says Lynn Melnick, author of I’ve Had to Think Up a Way to Survive.
In a memoir that’s both rapturous and page-turning, Kirchner captures the terrors and joys of searching for radical honesty — and a second date.
Essays and reported features based on the book have appeared in The Washington Post, The Rumpus, Business Insider and Shondaland among others. [LINKS TK]
She is planning a 5-city, United States book tour, starting in the fall of 2023, covering Pittsburgh, Chicago, Columbus, St. Petersburg, and south Florida. She’s available by Zoom everywhere.
Contact: Diane at Diane@MotinaBooks.com
OR: BlissfulThinking@LLKirchner.com
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PHOTOS.
PAST INTERVIEWS.
LL Kirchner talks with editor Amy Roost about her essay, “Would My Heart Survive Donald Trump,” a contribution to the book Fury.
LL Kirchner discusses the mind-body connection with Carol Alt on “A Healthy You.”
LL Kirchner discusses the power of storytelling as she relaunches her monthly True Stories show in St. Pete, Florida.
LL Kirchner discusses her book, American Lady Creature on WFLA’s “Daytime.”