Sapphire hosts author and humor columnist Blane Bachelor

Blane Bachelor at Sapphire

I helped a friend from Atlanta out with a Knoxville book promotion this week.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Humor columnist Blane Bachelor is used to having people ask whether Bachelor is her real last name.  Indeed it is – and it’s also the inspiration behind her first book, On Being a Bachelor: Thoughts on Dating, Mating and Relating (Virgil Press, Inc.), officially released this month.

Blane, who also writes for People.com, Women’s Health, Sherman’s Travel, and several other publications, signed copies of her book on Thurs., Sept. 2, 2010 at Sapphire (428 South Gay Street in Knoxville) starting at 4:30 p.m. During the event, Sapphire offered a number of specials and promotions (thanks Aaron !!). Popular blues singer Seth Walker performed at Sapphire at 9 p.m. after Bachelor’s book signing.

For two years, Bachelor’s column, “On Being a Bachelor,” was among the top-read stories in The Sunday Paper, an alternative weekly newspaper in Atlanta. Readers – whether they were male or female, married or single – loved Bachelor’s brutal honesty about matters of the heart (and other, um, organs) that they could relate to. And because she made them laugh.

Jamie Lynn (WATE), Michele (WVLT), Jennifer (B97.5) and Blane

A real-life “Carrie Bradshaw,” Bachelor is accustomed to comparisons between her own career path and that of the famed relationship writer and star of “Sex and the City.”  Although Bachelor understands the parallels, she is quick to point out that Bradshaw’s lifestyle is a bit far-fetched.

“First of all – a freelance writer with a closet full of Prada and Manolos?” Bachelor says. “Yeah, right. But there are some parallels between us. Though my style is a bit snarkier, Carrie was never afraid to put it all out there to connect with readers on matters of the heart. I like to think I’ve done the same thing.”

Bachelor’s top columns appear in On Being a Bachelor. The book is “a must-read for anyone who has been on a date – or just lived to tell about it,” says Colleen Oakley, a former Marie Claire senior editor.

Watch for coverage of Blane’s book signing in the Knoxville News Sentinel, Knoxville Magazine, CityView Magazine, on WBIR and on WVLT.  Blane’s book is also this months “Book of the Month” on B97.5 in Knoxville (thanks Jennifer !!).

Check Blane’s personal website out here and her book website out here.  While you’re checking it out, order a copy of her book – you won’t be disappointed.