Sneak Peek at my new book - Tallulah, Tooth Fairy and CEO

Or that's the tentative title.
Hello, friends!
It's been a minute!
But I'm BaCk like the beginning of this Yonce song...

hot sauce.

So if you've followed the blog for a couple of years you know that I get a lot of inspiration for my books from my sons and my experiences. How this book came about is no different.

I'll save myself time and just copy my Facebook post from a couple of days ago. (Um, I'm on the 'gram too--@tamarapizzoli. Holla.)


Rome today...
An example of how my book ideas come about. Noah got home all excited because one of his front teeth is finally gone. He knows he has one job...get it under his pillow safely before going to bed. He hasn't been home two hours and he's already lost the thing somewhere in his bedroom.
Me: (emotional, nearly 5 months pregnant): NoW what do we do?!?! What are you going to leave the tooth fairy?!?!
Him: *shrugs* I'll just write her a letter and explain what happened. I'm sure she'll understand.
Me: hmmmmm....

----

So we never did find the tooth. And I was so inspired by the idea of leaving a letter for her instead of something pearly and white that I didn't even ask him to look for it. Noah did write the letter, and it went a little something like this-

Tooth fairy,

I hab (sp) a tooth for you but I lost it.

From: Noah

The minute he and his brother Milo were in bed I started writing furiously.

By 11 pm Tallulah the Tooth Fairy was done.

Enjoy the first part of it below. Some things that are important to keep in mind as you read--

-In my imagination, Tallulah is a business mogul with a thing for teeth.

-She's incredibly fab and a cross between two of my life muses--Iris Peynado and Iris Apfel.

(side note: Iris Peynado plays my therapist in my upcoming web series Black Girls in Rome. You can get a glimpse of her here)

-Tallulah the Tooth Fairy is well-connected. She's had lunch with Santa's wife, Charlene.

The story came out quirky and fun and zany and I adore it. So much so that I'm desperately dating illustrators today. I want this thing done like NOW! I have two in mind--Elena Tommasi Ferroni, a dear friend of mine and the main artist for whom I curate. We collaborated on a recent exhibition at Fox Gallery here in Rome--In Nero: Fairytales and Histories Reimagined and Retold. 

Me as Cleopatra by Elena Tommasi Ferroni, 2015

And Maria Chiara Castelli, brilliant artist and daughter of Gaetano Castelli, Art Director of The Moulin Rouge. Art just runs in the veins of that family, I suppose.

Maria Chiara's nephew by Maria Chiara Castelli, 2015

Mmmm-k. So here we go.

Now remember, The Tooth Fairy looks like this...

photo credit: Sheila McKinnon

And dresses like this...

Accessories all adorned with teeth, mind you.

Lord JESUS! I can't wait! Somebody come illustrate this thing!

Tallulah the tooth fairy had been in the tooth business for as long as she or anyone she knew could remember. The thing is, people have always liked to romanticize the idea of what Talullah’s job actually is and what she actually does. But make no mistake…pearly whites was more than just Tallulah’s business. It was her career. And she took dentition seriously. What began as just a genuine curiosity for all things dental had grown and evolved into a full-blown, thriving corporation founded, run, and managed by Tallulah—Teeth Titans, Inc.

So serious was Tallulah about her commitment to ivories that she also founded the National Association for the Appreciation and Care of Primary Teeth—or the NAACP-T. Like any notable mogul, Tallulah found she was most productive when she struck a healthy balance between her passion, purpose, and what pays.

Thus she adhered to a strict schedule that kept her both busy and fulfilled.

On Monday and Wednesday mornings it was coffee or tea with no sugar (it’ll rot your teeth), a quick work out session and a chat with her therapist.

(illustration inspiration—therapist in the chair: “So when did the obsession with teeth begin? … Tallulah on the couch: “I like to think of it as more of a calling…”)

Tuesday and Thursday mornings were dedicated to yoga, pilates and running errands.

Friday a.m. was reserved for visiting museums. She found exhibitions on teeth to be particularly fascinating.

Each afternoon Tallulah dedicated to training other up and coming tooth fairies. What?

You’re not surprised, are you?

Well of course there’s more than one tooth fairy.

There are way too many lost teeth in the world to attend to for one person to manage.

Tallulah was the tooth fairy, not Santa Claus….though she had lunched with Santa’s lovely wife Charlene once.

(illustration inspiration: Tallulah and Charlene having lunch in an incredibly chic igloo…Charlene asking the waiter, an elf, for an Irish coffee.)

The road to being a mogul hadn’t been easy, Tallulah liked to say, but it had been worth it.

(illustration inspiration: Tallulah being interviewed on a late-night talk show)

“I just became swamped with all the work so I had to hire additional help. Sure I’m in it for the teeth; I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t. But the greatest satisfaction is knowing that I’m providing a great service to children around the world…Each and every fairy is trained by me. Yes, I oversee all the hiring…”

The term “fairy” is just my clever marketing ploy to soften and make palpable what we really are: an unstoppable team of strategized earners at the top of our game and armed to the teeth with teeth. Each tooth fairy learns everything they need to know in my 3 week training session. Enrollment is available for qualified candidates at the low price of $795.

(illustration inspiration—Tallulah addressing an auditorium full of fairy hopefuls from a stage much like the TED talks. Huge stage, she’s the only one on it, with one mic and a screen behind her that reads—

Questions you may get but are not obligated to answer:

-How does the tooth fairy get in the house?

-What do we do with the teeth?

-How are we notified when a tooth is lost?)

Tallulah speaking: The answers to these questions and more are in the top secret Teeth Titans, Inc. Employee Manual.

Each evening, after an early dinner and a bit of relaxing, Tallulah began her rounds as head tooth fairy. Sure she could afford to be a lazy lie about, but nothing gave Tallulah quite the same thrill as sliding a shiny tooth out from under a child’s pillow and inserting something gleaming and jingly or crisp and easily folded in exchange.

And so she did.

Night after night...

Last thing...

wouldn't it be a RIOT if Santa's wife looked like this?!

I love my job.