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Move over Tina Fey…

…There’s another writer in town who can make them laugh and cry and wish they had what she has. And she’s one of my authors.

I was delighted to witness Jen Singer, author of five books and creator of MommaSaid.net, deliver a brilliant, funny and illuminating keynote address this weekend at the 40th annual conference of the ASJA (American Society of Journalists and Authors) in New York City. On Twitter and Facebook, attendees have since called her speech “humorous” and “inspiring.”

I first met Jen when her first book, 14 Hours Til Bedtime, was featured in the New Jersey section of the New York Times. I don’t often see my hometown and the word “author” printed in the same sentence, so it caught my attention. I tracked her down, and was delighted to discover that she was interested in working together (and wanted to hire my daughter for babysitting) . We’ve since sold four books together, You’re a Good Mom (and Your Kids Aren’t So Bad Either) (Sourcebooks) and the Stop Second-Guessing Yourself series of parenting books (HCI).  MommaSaid.net, now boasts more than 120,000 page views a month.  Jen also created Please Take My Children to Work Day, a holiday for at-home parents that has been officially declared in a dozen states.

Jen finished writing You’re a Good Mom while in chemotherapy for stage three non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Now in remission for 3 ½ years, Jen just launched ParentingWithCancer.com. I look forward to her next book project (soon please). Meanwhile, I will forever remember watching her with pride as she owned the room of her peers at ASJA, doling out so much wit, wisdom and insight into social media and inspiration, that even the savviest writer, author and publisher could learn a lot and have great laughs along the way.