New Book Keeps Readers Laughing and Raises Funds For A Good Cause

PRESS RELEASE – September 6, 2011 (Cary, NC) —  Humor author Cris Cohen takes on everything from credit card offers and his wife’s ultrasound to energy bar addiction, exercise videos, and Southern humidity in his new book “Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane,” which is now available online and at select retail locations.

“Other people have great stories about big things that have happened to them,” Cohen, 40, says, “but for me, it’s like the label on a sweetener packet that just really catches my attention.”

The book is a collection of humor columns Cohen wrote for several newspapers when he lived in California as well as new ones he’s written since he moved to Cary, NC, in 2008.

In the section entitled “Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due – Or Not,” for example, he offers:

“Credit card companies regularly offer people cards to use in the hopes that, when it comes to financial issues, you’ll have the brains of a salad bar. After all, if you are good with your money and make all of your credit card payments on time, they only make a small profit. However, if you are bad with your money and miss some payments, they can legally sell your family.” (The full column can be read at www.stayingcrazy.com by clicking on “excerpt.”)

But there’s more to this book, which PEN/Faulkner prize-winning author T.C. Boyle calls “very funny stuff,” than a good belly laugh. Cohen will donate the bulk of the proceeds from sales to The Miracle League of the Triangle, a baseball league for kids with special needs, including his own son, Max. That fact prompted Pulitzer Prize-winning humor columnist Dave Barry to call it “A fine book for a fine cause.”

“Max’s various physical and mental challenges prohibit him from participating in a lot of fun, regular kid stuff,” Cohen said. “The League is one of the few places where all of those barriers and limitations are magically wiped away. It’s a place where Max gets to have some independence, to leave Mom and Dad in the stands and head out to the field. And we have made a lot of great friends, people who understand the challenges of being the parents of a special needs child and can offer advice, support, etc. After receiving all of that, my wife Michele and I wanted to give something back.”

And he adds:  “I have always dreamed of publishing a book, or at least finding a way to make my computer a tax deduction.

Cohen is selling “Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane” at Miracle League baseball games in Cary, through CreateSpace (https://www.createspace.com/3638597) and on Amazon. It is also currently available in Chambers Arts, 200 South Academy Street, Cary, NC, and DownTown Knits at 122 North Salem Street in Apex.  An ebook version will be available soon and will be announced on the book’s website www.stayingcrazy.com.

“If you would like a signed copy, I recommend getting someone really famous to do it. Then it might be worth something some day,” Cohen said. “However, if you cannot find someone famous, I am happy to sign them.” Signed copies may be ordered for $14 from: Tyrannosaurus Max Press, 211 Parkmeadow Drive, Cary, NC 27519.

For more information on “Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane” and author Cris Cohen, go to www.stayingcrazy.com.

For more information on the Miracle League of the Triangle, visit www.miracleleagueofthetriangle.com.

Book Facts:

Title: Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane. Author: Cris Cohen. Publisher: Tyrannosaurus Max Press LLC. Genre: Humor, Nonfiction. Editor: Michelle Cohen. Cover illustrator: Darla Yancho. Interior illustrators: Daryl Stephenson, Michelle Zerzanek, Marilyn Berg Cooper. Pages: 178. Price: $14. Website: www.stayingcrazy.com.

 

The Book Has Arrived

I am happy to say that the book “Staying Crazy To Keep from Going Insane” is now available. You can buy the print version here.

An ebook version will be available in the next few days.

Garden Supply Company Signs On To Sponsor Upcoming Humor Book

July 29, 2011 (Cary, NC) – As humor writer and blogger Cris Cohen of Cary gets closer to the official release of his new book “Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane,” he continues to accept sponsorships to help defray the cost of publishing. That’s important because Cohen intends to donate proceeds from the book’s sales to a local baseball league for kids with special needs, including his own son, Max. So the more help he has with the cost of publishing it through his own small press, Tyrannosaurus Rex Press, the larger his donation can be.

Recently, another Cary business stepped up to provide that support. The Garden Supply Company, owned by Deborah and Keith Ramsey, is the newest sponsor for Cohen’s book, and his mission.

“We strive to help build a better and stronger environment for us all to work and live in,” said Garden Supply Company’s Audrey Pettit, event and social media coordinator. “It is through the creative efforts of talented individuals like Cris Cohen, and the help and support of an entire community, that Cary is such a fantastic home for us all. That’s why Garden Supply Company is proud to sponsor Tyrannosaurus Rex Press.”

The complete list of current sponsors and levels of sponsorship are available at www.stayingcrazy.com/sponsors/.

“Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane” will be a compilation of humor columns Cohen wrote for several newspapers in his native California before he and his family moved to Cary in 2008, as well as columns he’s written since then. The book has already received endorsements from Pulitzer Prize-winning humor columnist Dave Barry, New Yorker magazine cartoonist Drew Dernavich, and Pen/Faulkner Award-winning author T.C. Boyle.

“I am very grateful for the sponsorship from Garden Supply,” said Cohen. “We were already fans of the store. My wife is there often enough that I have considered having her mail forwarded there.”

The official launch date of the book will be announced soon. For more information on Cohen and “Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane,” visit the website at www.stayingcrazy.com.

Cris Cohen is also the author of the humor blog “Nothing In Particular” and humor columnist for CaryCitizen.com.

The Hungry Intellectuals Club Selects Cris Cohen Book for 2011 Dinner Theme

The Raleigh book and supper club plans its 2011 Meals From The Market

Cover art by Darla Yancho

fundraising event.

July 11, 2011 (Durham, NC) — The Hungry Intellectuals, a book and supper club in Raleigh, NC, will hold another “Meals From The Market” dinner this year to help raise funds for Durham Central Park. And the members have voted Cris Cohen’s upcoming humor book, Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane, as the theme for their 2011 event.

Meals From The Market dinners are annual fundraisers that individuals and groups host in their homes. Ticket sales to the dinners support Durham Central Park’s preservation and cultural activities. Last year’s Hungry Intellectuals fundraising dinner helped buy new red benches for the park.

To make the annual event more fun for book club members, The Hungry Intellectuals select a book around which they create a theme for the dinner.

“The Hungry Intellectuals Book and Supper Club is very excited to use Cris’ book for our Meals From The Market 2011 dinner theme,” said club organizer Heather Curtis. “We are all too familiar with the idea of ‘staying crazy to keep from going insane!’ “

Cris Cohen of Cary, NC, is the humor columnist for the CaryCitizen.com and a prolific humor blogger. He is publishing his new book this year as a means to raise funds for a local baseball league for kids with special needs, including his own son. The book will be a compilation of humor columns he wrote for several newspapers when he lived in California before moving to Cary in 2008 and new ones he’s written since then. Proceeds from sales will be donated to the baseball league.

Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane has already been endorsed by Pulitzer Prize-winning humor author Dave Barry, New Yorker magazine cartoonist Drew Dernavich, and PEN/Faulker Prize-winning author T.C. Boyle.

Cohen was invited to speak to The Hungry Intellectuals, a group of “young professionals who enjoy reading, eating, drinking and debating,” this spring. They chose his book for their dinner theme afterward.

“I am very flattered that they chose my book for this year’s event,” said Cohen. “It is possible that this decision was the result of a computer error or that most members voted while intoxicated. Although, to be fair, I think that is how most bills make it through Congress.”

The Hungry Intellectuals’ 2011 Meals from the Market dinner is scheduled for Sunday, September 18.  The group hasn’t determined the exact location yet.

Durham Central Park is a downtown destination that offers a venue for cultural activities. It is also part of a 24-hour, walkable neighborhood for arts, recreation, and locally owned businesses. The Park includes The Great Lawn, The Pavilion (home of the Durham Farmers Market) and The Skate Park. For more information, visit www.durhamcentralpark.org.

For more information on The Hungry Intellectuals, visit http://www.meetup.com/The-Hungry-Intellectuals/.

For more information on Cris Cohen and Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane, visit www.stayingcrazy.com.

Cary Humor Author Feautured on “Working Writers” Blog

Wisconsin editor interviews Cris Cohen on his upcoming book, writing life.

May 19, 2011 (Cary, NC) – Cris Cohen, a humor writer and blogger in Cary, NC,

Cris Cohen

recently caught the attention of Cherie Burbach in Wisconsin, the founder and editor of Working Writers, a blog for and about writers and the latest publishing news.

This week, Burbach published an interview with Cohen that discusses, Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane, the book he’s publishing this fall through his own small press, Tyrannasaurs Max Press, as well as the purpose behind the book, and other aspects of Cohen’s writing life.

“Ever thought of writing humor? How about donating proceeds of your book to a great cause?” Burbach asks her readers in the introduction. “Cris Cohen is doing both of those things now!”

As the interview explains, Cohen is publishing Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane as a way to raise funds for a local baseball league for kids with special needs, including his son, Max. A collection of humor columns he wrote for several newspapers while he lived in California, and new ones he’s written since he and his family moved to Cary in 2008, the book’s sales will be donated to the baseball league.

“With all that we have gained from the league, I wanted to give something back,” Cohen told Burbach. “Thus, the bulk of the proceeds from the book will be donated to the league.”

When asked what book he’s currently reading, Cohen said: “TC Boyle’s book The Women: A Novel…Mr. Boyle has an eloquence that is rivaled only by the way my relatives’ talk about a really good buffet.”

When asked what he does when he’s not writing, Cohen quipped, “I spend a lot of time engaging in self-doubt and general anxiety. I don’t mean to brag, but if it were an Olympic event, I think I would medal in it.”

To read the entire interview, go to WorkingWritersandBloggers.com.

For more information on Cohen’s upcoming book, visit www.stayingcrazy.com.

Thank you to the Raleigh Women’s Coffee And Book Club

I would like to thank the Raleigh Women’s Coffee & Book Club for having me as their guest last night. It was a fun time and I am looking forward to meeting the rest of the book club on Thursday. I also want to thank Loco Lu’s for hosting the event and for the delicious slice of cake they gave me. I appreciate your support of both books and steady weight gain.

Canadian Caricature Artist Wins Cary Author’s Illustration Contest

The winning illustration will be published in Cris Cohen’s upcoming book.

May 15, 2011 (Cary, NC) – Cris Cohen of Cary, NC, the author of the upcoming

Daryl Stephenson's illustration for the column "Charmed" in "Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane."

humor book “Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane,” has announced the winner of an illustration contest he recently conducted on the book’s website at www.stayingcrazy.com.

The winner is Daryl Stephenson, an up-and-coming caricature artist in Maple Ridge, British Columbia (30 miles east of Vancouver), who discovered the contest online. He told Cohen that he “recently gave up my job as a supervisor in a warehouse — with my wife’s permission — to become an artist. I’ve always wanted to be a full-time cartoonist.”

Cohen’s book is due out this fall with proceeds from sales going to a local baseball league for kids with special needs, including Cohen’s own son, nine-year-old Max. It will be a collection of humor columns he wrote for several newspapers when he lived in California, plus new ones he’s written since he and his family moved to Cary in 2008.

Cohen, who also writes the humor blog “Nothing In Particular” and a humor column for CaryCitizen.com, invited artists and wanna-be artists to illustrate a particular column that will be in the book entitled “Charming.” In the column, Cohen makes fun of an experience he had at a not-so-charming hotel, which was, nonetheless, advertised as “charming.” The winning illustration will be published in the book alongside the column.

“I also look after special needs kids,” Stephenson noted after learning he’d won. “Have been doing so for the past eight years. It’s tough but rewarding work. I was happy to see where your proceeds are going.”

Cohen quipped: “We hope that Daryl wears this distinction as a badge of honor or, at least, a badge of mild pleasure.”

For more information on Cris Cohen and “Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane, visit www.stayingcrazy.com.

For more information on the winning illustrator, visit www.darylstephenson.com.

San Francisco Sponsors Support Cary Writer’s New Book

Cris Cohen’s upcoming humor book will raise money for kids with special need.

Cris Cohen

March 25, 2011 (Cary, NC) – Humor writer and California native Cris Cohen has lived in Cary, NC, since 2008. But fans of his popular columns that ran in California newspapers for several years haven’t forgotten how much they enjoyed his work. They’re also eager to support his new fundraising effort for kids with special needs.

As a result, Cohen announced this week that TechProse, a technical writing, training and instructional design consulting service, and newspaper copywriter Marilyn Berg Cooper, both of the San Francisco Bay Area, have signed on as official sponsors for Cohen’s upcoming book, “Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane.” Proceeds will go to a local baseball league for children with special needs, including his own son, nine-year-old Max.

“I had the pleasure of working with Cris on several projects and always really appreciated his sense of humor,” says Kathy Krumpe, Resource Manager at TechProse. “I’m so pleased that he is writing something that will give us a reason to laugh and at the same time help an organization like the special needs baseball league.”

Entitled “Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane,” the book will be a collection of Cohen’s humor columns, some from his California career, others penned in Cary.

“I’ve been looking forward to this take-it-with-you collection of Cris Cohen’s offbeat musings,” said Marilyn Berg Cooper.

Sponsors Sign On To Support Upcoming Humor Book

Two entrepreneurs from California sponsor Cris Cohen’s new book.

March 10, 2011 (Cary, NC) – When humor writer/blogger Cris Cohen of Cary, NC, decided to publish a book entitled Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane, he announced that he would donate the proceeds from its sales to the Miracle League of the Triangle, a baseball league for kids with special needs. He also announced that he was looking for sponsors to help defray the costs of self-publishing.

This week, two entrepreneurs from Cohen’s home state – California – stepped up to the plate. Laura Little of Live A Little More Enterprises in San Luis Obispo, CA, and Gina Gotsill, a writer, editor and voice-over talent with Vocal Variety in the San Francisco Bay area have agreed to be sponsors of Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane.

Since moving to North Carolina in 2008, Cohen has been writing his Nothing In Particular blog.  Before the move, he lived in California for most of his life and wrote a humor column that was published regularly in several newspapers. His upcoming book will be a collection of columns from his California career, as well as some new pieces.

Gina Gotsill was a regular reader of Cohen’s humor column when it ran in California. “Cris has been keeping us in stiches for years,” she said. “I’m excited about having a book to refer to when we need some comic relief. And it feels great to support Miracle League of the Triangle. It’s such a positive, fun organization and the kids get so much out of it.”

After reading several chapters of the book-in-progress, Laura Little commented, “In his upcoming book, Cris promises to entertain and delight his readers with his offbeat sense of humor prompted by the predicaments of daily life. He crafts a love affair between pomp and circumstance with his witticisms. If you’re overdue for a good belly laugh, don’t miss this book!”

Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane will be published in September in time for the opening of the Miracle League’s fall season. For more information, visit http://stayingcrazy.com.

For more information on Cris Cohen, visit http://criscohen.typepad.com.