Location: United States
Member Since:
Nov. 19, 2011
Jodie Rhodes
Biography
AUTHOR BIO
I grew up in a home where there was no love. Neither my brother nor I were ever hugged or kissed. My parents were horrified that I did so well in school, fearing I'd be marked a geek, a social outcast. Their marriage was a disaster and both became alcoholics. My mother's favorite statement when she was angry at me was "You're rotten to the core, just like your father." It was so ridiculously theatrical that it made me laugh. In many ways I felt sorry for her but I didn't love her. It was my father who broke my heart, for he had all my love and didn't want it.
In a way, I have to thank them, because if they'd been great parents, I would probably never have become a writer. But they gave me a wealth of material. On the negative side, I unwittingly seduced a number of married men who left their wives for me, all of whom, no surprise, were old enough to be my father. For most of my life I was a loner but a pretty successful one. Two of my novels have been published and the second one WINNERS AND LOSERS made the LA Times bestseller list its first week in print. I held major positions at advertising agencies in 4 different cities and was promoted to VP Media Director at N.W. Ayer. I also worked in the film industry for several years and have a book for that coming out. The person I've described to you above has disappeared. Becoming a literary agent not only changed my life but changed who I was as a person. I have been so blessed with such wonderful writers who have reached my heart. They are not clients to me, they are very special friends personally dear to me. I traveled a long twisted path to reach where I am today and I hope if you read my memoir CONFESSIONS that you will forgive my transgressions. All monies from its sales will be donated to The Jodie Rhodes Writers Awards and with help from Amazon I will be able to get the mss of writers that have been rejected unfairly into print.
BOOK BIO
WHAT NY EDITORS WROTE AFTER READING CONFESSIONS: A MEMOIR
Dear Jodie, What an amazing life story, filled with smarts, moxie, fierce independence, success, hard-won wisdom.
Dear Jodie, You’ve found just the right voice in which to reveal the mix of wondrous, difficult, and inspirational moments that have informed your life,
J: wow, I had no idea you wrote so well. It’s quite good.
Dear Jodie, As a writer, you have a very appealing voice—vivacious and funny, and I think a lot of women will connect to the feminist undercurrent of your story. I might add most writers are not usually this candid.
Hi Jodie - Thank you for sharing this with me. It's hilarious and I'm impressed by your story, and your willingness to lay it all out on the page.
Dear Jodie, You are a very funny and lively writer.
Dear Jodie, I love your strong and candid voice.
Dear Jodie, This is a fascinating story and you tell it well.
Dear Jodie, You have a wonderful style and I found the book quite engaging and entertaining.
Dear Jodie, This is full of your trademark humor and energy and kudos to you for the honesty and chutzpah.
FROM PROFESSIONAL LITERARY REVIEWERS
MMDNewsWire: "Released in early September 2011, "Confessions: A Memoir" is already being lauded by online reviewers as "A startling (in its truthfulness) and compulsively readable story... [It is] told in a streamlined, literary and wonderfully crafted voice. The writing throughout is beautiful, almost hypnotic, and adroitly-paced. You would be hard pressed not to want to go on and on..." Available on Amazon and Kindle.
Clarion Review:
Confessions: A Memoir is an illuminating look at the life of a top literary agent and the dramatized story of her childhood, her personal and professional relationships, as well as her prior career in advertising. Fascinating, funny, and sometimes shocking, this candid page-turner reveals a woman who endured extreme highs and lows. Those inclined to be envious of Rhodes' accomplishments and lifestyle should realize that she has suffered more than average to achieve more than average. Her memorable path to the literary agency she established is filled with elation and tragedy—pronounced contrasts that grab a reader's attention. Mesmerizing and informative, Confessions is a valuable contribution to the industry and will likely attract writers, agents, and editors.
KIRKUS Review
Well known literary agent Jodie Rhodes’ eye-opening memoir combines the personal and professional. She grew up in an era when women succeeded in marriage, not business. But her parents’ toxic relationship, a family legacy of divorce, plus her burning desire to write, all sent Rhodes the other way. Precocious, tenacious and pretty, she charged into the world of 1960s advertising at the age of 20 and fairly conquered it. Rhodes was catnip for men and left a trail of broken hearts and defeated suitors. She moved on and up like a cyclone, becoming a media buyer and creative director in San Francisco and later promoted to VP Media Director of N.W Ayer in Los Angeles but smarts and drive couldn’t save her from personal tragedies. A business primer with detailed strategies of winning marketing gambits, and a romance memoir with all the confessions readers savor, with narrative high points.
HARTFORD COURANT OP-ED WRITER LILA BELDOCK COHEN REVIEW
I was sorry when CONFESSIONS ended.
I wasn't sure whether I was in the middle of a fireworks display or riding an invisible roller coaster
when I began reading CONFESSIONS, so stunning is it in its intimacy, its honesty, its frankness.
Jodie Rhodes' book, written with brutal detail, wild sparks of humor and stunning insight, holds
the reader in a tightly-woven literary web as she spins the story of a life uncommonly full of
incident, of joy, of tragedy. It is to laugh even as it is to cry. Yet, all through the book, her failures seem
only cocoons for one success after the other.
I grew up in a home where there was no love. Neither my brother nor I were ever hugged or kissed. My parents were horrified that I did so well in school, fearing I'd be marked a geek, a social outcast. Their marriage was a disaster and both became alcoholics. My mother's favorite statement when she was angry at me was "You're rotten to the core, just like your father." It was so ridiculously theatrical that it made me laugh. In many ways I felt sorry for her but I didn't love her. It was my father who broke my heart, for he had all my love and didn't want it.
In a way, I have to thank them, because if they'd been great parents, I would probably never have become a writer. But they gave me a wealth of material. On the negative side, I unwittingly seduced a number of married men who left their wives for me, all of whom, no surprise, were old enough to be my father. For most of my life I was a loner but a pretty successful one. Two of my novels have been published and the second one WINNERS AND LOSERS made the LA Times bestseller list its first week in print. I held major positions at advertising agencies in 4 different cities and was promoted to VP Media Director at N.W. Ayer. I also worked in the film industry for several years and have a book for that coming out. The person I've described to you above has disappeared. Becoming a literary agent not only changed my life but changed who I was as a person. I have been so blessed with such wonderful writers who have reached my heart. They are not clients to me, they are very special friends personally dear to me. I traveled a long twisted path to reach where I am today and I hope if you read my memoir CONFESSIONS that you will forgive my transgressions. All monies from its sales will be donated to The Jodie Rhodes Writers Awards and with help from Amazon I will be able to get the mss of writers that have been rejected unfairly into print.
BOOK BIO
WHAT NY EDITORS WROTE AFTER READING CONFESSIONS: A MEMOIR
Dear Jodie, What an amazing life story, filled with smarts, moxie, fierce independence, success, hard-won wisdom.
Dear Jodie, You’ve found just the right voice in which to reveal the mix of wondrous, difficult, and inspirational moments that have informed your life,
J: wow, I had no idea you wrote so well. It’s quite good.
Dear Jodie, As a writer, you have a very appealing voice—vivacious and funny, and I think a lot of women will connect to the feminist undercurrent of your story. I might add most writers are not usually this candid.
Hi Jodie - Thank you for sharing this with me. It's hilarious and I'm impressed by your story, and your willingness to lay it all out on the page.
Dear Jodie, You are a very funny and lively writer.
Dear Jodie, I love your strong and candid voice.
Dear Jodie, This is a fascinating story and you tell it well.
Dear Jodie, You have a wonderful style and I found the book quite engaging and entertaining.
Dear Jodie, This is full of your trademark humor and energy and kudos to you for the honesty and chutzpah.
FROM PROFESSIONAL LITERARY REVIEWERS
MMDNewsWire: "Released in early September 2011, "Confessions: A Memoir" is already being lauded by online reviewers as "A startling (in its truthfulness) and compulsively readable story... [It is] told in a streamlined, literary and wonderfully crafted voice. The writing throughout is beautiful, almost hypnotic, and adroitly-paced. You would be hard pressed not to want to go on and on..." Available on Amazon and Kindle.
Clarion Review:
Confessions: A Memoir is an illuminating look at the life of a top literary agent and the dramatized story of her childhood, her personal and professional relationships, as well as her prior career in advertising. Fascinating, funny, and sometimes shocking, this candid page-turner reveals a woman who endured extreme highs and lows. Those inclined to be envious of Rhodes' accomplishments and lifestyle should realize that she has suffered more than average to achieve more than average. Her memorable path to the literary agency she established is filled with elation and tragedy—pronounced contrasts that grab a reader's attention. Mesmerizing and informative, Confessions is a valuable contribution to the industry and will likely attract writers, agents, and editors.
KIRKUS Review
Well known literary agent Jodie Rhodes’ eye-opening memoir combines the personal and professional. She grew up in an era when women succeeded in marriage, not business. But her parents’ toxic relationship, a family legacy of divorce, plus her burning desire to write, all sent Rhodes the other way. Precocious, tenacious and pretty, she charged into the world of 1960s advertising at the age of 20 and fairly conquered it. Rhodes was catnip for men and left a trail of broken hearts and defeated suitors. She moved on and up like a cyclone, becoming a media buyer and creative director in San Francisco and later promoted to VP Media Director of N.W Ayer in Los Angeles but smarts and drive couldn’t save her from personal tragedies. A business primer with detailed strategies of winning marketing gambits, and a romance memoir with all the confessions readers savor, with narrative high points.
HARTFORD COURANT OP-ED WRITER LILA BELDOCK COHEN REVIEW
I was sorry when CONFESSIONS ended.
I wasn't sure whether I was in the middle of a fireworks display or riding an invisible roller coaster
when I began reading CONFESSIONS, so stunning is it in its intimacy, its honesty, its frankness.
Jodie Rhodes' book, written with brutal detail, wild sparks of humor and stunning insight, holds
the reader in a tightly-woven literary web as she spins the story of a life uncommonly full of
incident, of joy, of tragedy. It is to laugh even as it is to cry. Yet, all through the book, her failures seem
only cocoons for one success after the other.
Books
CONFESSIONS: A MEMOIR
by Jodie Rhodes
Price:
$15.00 USD.
Words: 69,910.
Language:
English.
Published: November 19, 2011
.
Categories:
Nonfiction » Biography » Personal memoir
(MMD Newswire) October 24, 2011 --
Released in early September 2011, "Confessions" is already being lauded by online reviewers as "A startling (in its truthfulness) and compulsively readable story... [It is] told in a streamlined, literary and wonderfully crafted voice. The writing throughout is beautiful, almost hypnotic, and adroitly-paced.