Media Backgrounder

Boomer Women Reveal All in On the Meaning of Adam Lambert
New Paperback Ignites Women’s “Inner Adam”. Available at Online Bookstore and Amazon.com

On the Meaning of Adam Lambert is a true cyber-confessional book now available on Amazon.com that chronicles the journey of two boomer women, Juneau Underwood and Kath Hollinsworth, as they discover new meanings and new relationships from their shared fascination with Adam Lambert and how he made them feel.

The authors, a Harvard-trained science writer and a Canadian public policy analyst, writing under pseudonyms Juneau and Xena Princess Warrior, respectively, are both lettered women with happy marriages and fulfilling lives. They were the most prolific of “glambertina” bloggers who found each other after Allegra Huston posted a blog question on the wowOwow web site “What Is It About Adam Lambert?”

The resulting flurry of analytical, entertaining and downright funny blog posts created a serendipity that transformed their lives and resulted in the publication of their most intimate and riveting blog posts. As Juneau said, “Life has a way of stuffing you into boxes. I was happy and fulfilled with the roles I was playing, but this Adam experience made me break out and tap into a creativity and passion I’d kept under wraps for years. We hope our book inspires readers to find their ‘inner-Adams’ and re-ignite their lives.”

By the end of the book, the authors emerged renewed, invigorated, self-aware, more loving and happy. Not only did they examine and enhance themselves and their relationships, they formed deep bonds with dozens of fellow “Glambertinas” who found their own lives upended and rewarded. Readers will be fascinated and moved by these stories. For Juneau and Kath their “spark” was Adam Lambert, but the phenomenon is universal to anyone who embraces a passion that transforms. Not your typical fan book, this is a must-read for anyone curious to eavesdrop on what women say behind closed doors.

Columnist Liz Smith raves about On the Meaning of Adam Lambert in her Fox News Program. LA Story style maven Stevie Wilson writes: “I have to say that realizing just how whip-smart, sassy, and even at times provocative in their ideas and conjectures– I thought I might be intimidated — but they are very real women, with families, real lives, careers and humor about others and most willing to poke fun at themselves. Impressed doesn’t begin to tell you what I think of them.” (Go to the LA Story post for the link to the podcast of her interview with Juneau and Katherine. )

“Juneau and Xena are remarkable women. The spark that was ignited between the two lit up the pages of the site, and inspired us all to jump right in and go for the ride of our lives, along with them. I am so proud of both for grabbing this experience and taking it to a higher level.” – By “E”, fellow blogger.

About the Authors
Juneau Underwood is a web entrepreneur, writer and editor specializing in science. She graduated from Harvard University, where she studied physics.

Kath Hollinsworth (Xena, Princess Warrior) enjoyed success in business before the siren call that led to stints in politics and government. She has just launched a blog, Kath Hollinsworth Unwrapped, of her opinion writing and essays. She graduated from York University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts.

On the Meaning of Adam Lambert is available at adamlambertbook.com and on amazon.com.

What Readers Are Saying

“Ate it up. It’s brilliant, hilarious, maybe profound.” — Wesley Strick

“It’s like eavesdropping outside the dorm room door.” – Vic Cauchi

“Is it entertaining? Yes, immensely…The expression on the page… is brilliant,….. The whole chronicle seems to unravel with such speed and such urgency, an urgency that propels the narrative and carries the reader. It’s unputdownable.” – Frederick Schultz

“The writing is brilliant… an amazingly clear, intelligent and incisive way of expressing things, and the honesty is captivating. There’s something very personal and inviting about it. Reading their reactions to [Adam Lambert] is fascinating and a revelation, not to mention extremely entertaining. I guarantee you’ll enjoy yourself as you join these women in their journey to get back in touch with their “inner-teenager”.” – Aaron Heick

“It’s amazing how the authors have been able to tap into this wellspring of passion, with such abandon. The way Xena and Juneau so obviously feed each other’s imagination, intensifying the story line. How else can we explain the way the erotic stories evolved so exquisitely?” – D.B.

“What a story…what a journey…what amazing women. I have been captivated, enthralled and engrossed in the ongoing stream of emotion, humour and flirtation revealed in their writing. It is incredible to witness the serendipitous collision of such intelligence and passion, stirred by a beautiful, talented entertainer and fuelled by the constant chatter of sights and sounds that technology has provided. Oh…and p.s. it’s sexy as hell.” – L.D.

“I can’t put [the book] down and you guys put in writing all of the things that I’ve experienced since succumbing to total Adam-mania. Your book is amazing, and I predict that it will become a best-seller… It touches something in all of us…”

“I just wanted to drop in to congratulate you on your brilliant book. Since it arrived yesterday I’ve been hopelessly engrossed in it, recognising myself on every page, as I’ve spent countless hours pondering what it is that Adam has done to me, too…Your writings are funny, moving, poetic, inspiring and honest in equal measure and by them you honour us all…If you haven’t done so already, you need to get your hands on a copy of this book, my darlings.”

“I’m about halfway thru Xena & Juneau’s book & it IS HOTTTT! These ladies have wonderful imaginations & powerful descriptive talents…I’d be further along in my reading, but I keep having to go back & savor the “moment” again & again…”

“I have your book. It is amazing. I only wish I could articulate my feelings like you do. Am waiting for book number 2! I would tell everyone who is an Adam fan to get this book…”

“Today as I was reading your book I came across the entry where Juneau was outed by her family. I have to say that as I read I cried…Your note struck me Juneau. That was not the half of it though. Your very next entry Juneau put me over the edge… with your line…’I try to live with integrity, and I am constitutionally incapable of lying, but it’s all too easy to conceal parts of yourself, the parts that hurt.’
I so can relate to that…”

“I got a great new book called On the Meaning of Adam Lambert and I encourage all of you Forever Young fans to get it and read it. The writing is great and the authors, Juneau and Xena really have done a great job exploring why Adam makes us feel the way we do…I feel such a connection to these successful, family women who were among the first to fall under Adam’s spell! I am following in their footsteps and hanging on their every word. This is a wonderful book about more than just Adam, it is a celebration of the beautiful and enduring spirit of women!”

“As I’ve been reading this book I have discovered that my thinking isn’t singular. There is something wonderful about Adam Lambert that has created a sensation in women’s hearts all over the world. This fabulous book is saying all the things I feel inside.”

Author Biographies

Katherine Hollinsworth (aka Xena Princess Warrior)
email: xenaprincesswarrior@cogeco.ca

On April 14th, “Kath” Hollinsworth heard a beautiful voice singing with a simple acoustic accompaniment, one of her favourite songs, Tracks of My Tears.  She walked into the room, saw Adam Lambert and was hooked, watching every subsequent episode of American Idol.  A fierce attraction graduated to all-out obsession once she set the Google Alert for “Adam Lambert” and eliminated all those related to politics, science and current affairs.

A skilled researcher and analyst, Kath searched for some connection, some explanation for this particular obsessive episode.  June 3rd, Angelica Huston’s article “What is it about Adam Lambert?” appeared on the WowOWow website, and while Kath discovered kindred spirits there, she found few answers.  Everything in life entered a holding pattern as she read, studied and thought about Adam Lambert, listened to his voice playing on a loop on a newly purchased iPod Shuffle, and surreptitiously cruised the Internet at night.

Juneau’s articulate and clear voice on the WowOwow web site resonated with Kath, prompting her to take an old identity as Xena Princess Warrior as her cyber identity.  She posted her first essay, “Our Magnificent Obsession” and has not stopped, averaging about a thousand words per day for the first two months, after which she stopped counting.  Adam is a demanding Muse, unrelenting in his presence and inspiration and so intoxicating – in a good way   In fact, with Adam spurring her emotional and creative juices, her close friends and family have “welcomed Kath back” as she’s emerged from a ten-year depression.

Confronted by her family after weeks of her neglect, she blurted out “I’m writing a book!”  What was initially an explanation to keep her family at bay became a reality when she and Juneau found each other off-line and decided to produce a compilation of their web posts in a book “On the Meaning of Adam Lambert.”

The other writers at the wowOwow site where she and Juneau shared passion and pain, laughter and tears, grew to become an international support network where they all shared confessions, held hands, gave hugs and inspired one another, good reasons to never leave that heavenly place to face bad weather and grocery lists.  They still live there, with no plans to move out.

Over the years, Kath has worked as a strategist, issues researcher and policy analyst with various business groups, not-for-profit associations and institutions, health care facilities and organizations.  She has experience at all three levels of government in a range of policy areas including gaming, health care, finance, taxation, trade and economics.  Appointed by the Provincial Government of Ontario, Kath was a public member of the Governing Council of Pharmacists for a three year term.

Kath completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at York. She also studied business. Kath is a Canadian born of Macedonian descent who grew up in the Toronto area, has been married for thirty-three years to Ian and has a nineteen year old daughter, who considers Adam her better-looking, over-achieving, older brother.

Juneau Underwood
email: juneau600@gmail.com

Writing under a nom de plume, Juneau is the co-author of On the Meaning of Adam Lambert (published by BadBoys Garage, 2009). In mid-2009, Juneau was blindsided by the singer Adam Lambert, whose superior singing and intriguing bad boy-good boy persona on American Idol attracted her attention. Unable to comprehend why Lambert had lost the title, she began watching endless loops of video footage from the show and YouTube, and trawling the blogosphere in search of validation. The over-exposure to all things Lambert warped her brain and soon, she was hopelessly addicted. Salvation came in the form of  the WowOwow web site, where Juneau realized she was not alone in her  affliction. She unburdened herself in a posting in which she speculated on why Adam Lambert was having such a profound effect on women of the baby boom generation. This triggered a series of reader responses and nucleated a web community that is still going strong, many months and nearly 23,000 postings later. The postings by Juneau  and Xena, another prominent blogger on the site, were edited into the collection that forms the book, On the Meaning of Adam Lambert. The authors have established their own blog, Juneau and Xena’s Salon.

Taking on the persona of Juneau has bee liberating. She says the experience has not only opened up new paths in her professional career, but also has transformed her relationships with her family and friends. “Life has a way of stuffing you into roles. I was happy and fulfilled with the roles I was playing, but this Adam experience made me realize there are aspects of myself that had lain dormant, that I wanted to revive. Honestly, people are envious. They say they wished they had an Adam in their lives. We hope that our book inspires readers to find the “Adam” that re-ignites their lives.”

In the non-Adam universe, Juneau is a web entrepreneur, writer and editor specializing in science and culture. She co-founded and served as Executive Editor of the pre-eminent web-based scientific web site and online community in the field of neurodegenerative disease research.  She is co-principal investigator of a semantic web technology project with collaborators at Harvard Medical School. Juneau also co-founded and served as Chief Intelligence Officer of a trail-blazing company focusing on personalized cancer diagnostics and treatment strategies.

Juneau served on the editorial board of Scientific American magazine, and was a consulting editor to the journal Science. She has written for the New York Times Magazine, Allure, American Health, New York Times Book Review, Discover Magazine, Technology Review, Longevity and Newsweek. She was Science Consultant on the nationally televised  series on women in science, “Discovering Women,” produced by WGBH in Boston, and Program Developer and Science Editor for “The Secret Life of the Brain,” a five-part film on neuroscience, co-produced by David Grubin Productions and WNET in New York City (2002), and for “The Forgetting,” a nationally broadcast PBS film on Alzheimer’s Disease (2004). Her work has been featured on NBC’s Today Show, NPR and Oprah.  Juneau is the author of an acclaimed guidebook, Gateway to Japan (Kodansha International, 1990, 1993, 1998), and was a consultant for the feature film, Black Rain, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Michael Douglas.

Juneau serves on the advisory council of the M.I.T.-Harvard Medical School program in Health, Science and Technology, and on the scientific advisory boards of the Telemakus Alzheimer Biomarker Project, Schizophrenia Research Forum and Center for Innovative Therapies in Santa Barbara; and is a founding board member of the Foundation for Alzheimer’s and Cultural Memory.

Juneau graduated from Harvard University in 1980, where she concentrated in physics.

Media Contact
Cassie Holm, cell: (201) 417-1309  office: (203) 855-0477 email: cassie@xoterik.com
Kelley Connors, MPH, President, KC Healthcare Communications
cell: (203) 856-3732   email: kelley@kc-health.com