The Lucky Girl Prevails: a review of THE BIG TIME by Ingrid Lucia

Like many child performers, Ingrid Lucia didn’t have much of a choice. She was expected at an early age to entertain. She danced with her family band as they performed in Jackson Square in New Orleans, the underground subways of New York City, and traveled with two Mexican circuses. Whenever she wanted to call it quits, her father would tell her “The Big Time” was just around the corner.

I’ve been friends with Ingrid for over twenty years and have heard many wild stories of her unconventional upbringing. The last book I read was her mother’s memoir, Baja Journey, which offered great insight into Ingrid’s earliest days. The Big Time is the rest of her story.

Through letters, essays, poems, and many photographs, Ingrid shows the unique perspective of the world she was born into and how it continues to shape the person she is today. Against her father’s advice, she pursued a career as a vocalist and became a bandleader in New York City in her early twenties. Her career progressed, but something held it back each time ultimate success seemed imminent. She returned to New Orleans with a husband and a child on the way. For decades, she traveled the world for gigs. She wrote songs, recorded CDs, and performed in many venues. Yet alcohol, an occupational hazard in that industry, became a problem and nearly killed her.

Without bitterness or self-pity, she chronicles in honest detail her struggles with the substance, rehab, and eventually a liver transplant. Her humor, openness, bravery, and extreme gratitude shine throughout this memoir.

Like her song, “Lucky Girl,” Ingrid Lucia has been fortunate. I can’t wait to see what’s next for her.

Find Maxine Pearlman’s memoir, Baja Journey, here and Ingrid Lucia’s memoir, The Big Time, here.

Perpetual Poetry: Words Inspiring Words, a review

"Reading Karen Lillis" copyright 2014 Kristin Fouquet Perpetual Poetry: Words Inspiring Words a review of The Paul Simon Project by Karen Lillis I have a confession to make. I am not a poet. I write fiction and I believe writing poetry is a completely different process. I love reading good poetry, but I am in no way a poetry scholar. These are the reasons I usually do not review poetry chapbooks. The Paul Simon Project by Karen Lillis is only my second exception to this rule. Influenced by Simon’s words and music on the album Still Crazy After All These Years , Lillis duplicates the song titles for her poems in this collection. Some follow a similar path as the subject of the song; others venture in their own direction. The album’s title song inspires a poem which mimics the melancholy and sentimentality of the original. Yet, she pumps it up with a contemporary edginess and gender reversal. In “My Little Town,” Simon sings,

You Were Perfectly Fine by Dorothy Parker

"Martini" kristin fouquet This is my favorite hangover story. A raise of the glass to the inimitable Dorothy Parker. You Were Perfectly Fine by Dorothy Parker The pale young man eased himself carefully into the low chair, and rolled his head to the side, so that the cool chintz comforted his cheek and temple. “Oh, dear,” he said.”Oh, dear, oh, dear, oh, dear. Oh.” The clear-eyed girl, sitting light and erect on the couch, smiled brightly at him. “Not feeling so well today?” she said. “Oh, I’m great,” he said.”Corking, I am. Know what time I got up? Four o’clock this afternoon, sharp. I kept trying to make it, and every time I took my head off the pillow, it would roll under the bed. This isn’t my head I’ve got on now. I think this is something that used to belong to Walt Whitman. Oh, dear, oh, dear, oh, dear.” “Do you think maybe a drink would make you feel better?” she said. “The hair of the mastiff that bit me?” he said.”Oh, no,

Photographs in Exist Otherwise, Issue #6

“Masks are made of different kinds of material: cardboard, velvet, flesh, the Word. The carnal mask and the verbal mask are worn in all seasons. “ - Claude Cahun Happy Bastille Day! It was on another French Holiday, Mardi Gras, in 2022, I used my old Kodak Brownie film camera to capture the festivities. I'm delighted to have three of those photographs, "Mardi Gras Birdman," Mardi Gras Flock," and "Mardi Gras Toast" published in Exist Otherwise, Issue #6 with the theme of Masks. Many Thanks to editor, cc bovarysme!

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