Tag: West Springfield

podcasting with ra cook & ms doc brandon beaber

Multiple sclerosis challenges ranging from misdiagnoses and obtaining work accommodations, to advocating for chronic illness causes and writing from the patient perspective were chief among the many issues I recently discussed with two podcasters.

Southern California’s Dr. Brandon Beaber, a neurologist specializing in multiple sclerosis, chatted with me recently for his podcast about my new book, Uncomfortably Numb 2: An Anthology for Newly-Diagnosed MS Patients, touching on topics like when or whether to tell people you have MS and what lessons I’ve learned since I was diagnosed in 2014. Spoiler alert: There’ve been a lot of them.

Meanwhile, podcaster RA Cook, a fellow author and western Massachusetts native, hosted me as a guest on her podcast, Well Done You. Our wide-ranging conversation addressed topics like writing and teaching journalism at the university level, to being a multiple sclerosis patient and advocating for issues facing those living with chronic illnesses.

I was honored to be a part of both of their podcasts.

Be sure to follow Dr. Beaber’s podcasts here and RA Cook’s podcasts here.

westfield, ma book signing: blue umbrella books

blue umbrella logo

I’ll be heading to western Massachusetts for a book signing on Nov. 11 from 1-3 p.m.

The independent bookstore, Blue Umbrella Books of Westfield, MA, will play host as I sign copies of Mr. Clark’s Big Band.

My ties to the city run deep. I lived in Westfield for my first six years, did my first journalism internship there (at The Westfield News) and covered the area as a young reporter for The Republican.

I’m looking forward to seeing friends from my hometown, the neighboring West Springfield. If you’re in the area, come join us!

Image credit: Blue Umbrella Books.

springfield ‘republican’ reports on book deal

photoThe Springfield (MA) newspaper, The Republican and its web presence, MassLive, wrote about me signing with Wyatt-MacKenzie to publish Mr. Clark’s Big Band in June 2017:

West Springfield native (and former staff member at The Republican) Meredith O’Brien will be out with her next book, Mr. Clark’s Big Band: A Year of Laughter, Tears & Jazz in a Middle School Band Room, next year.

Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing has picked up the title for release in June. This is O’Brien’s third book, following her novel, Mortified, and her humor and parenting columns, Suburban Mom: Notes from the Asylum.