HUNTSVILLE – During her book tour, author Mary Laura Philpott will make a stop with the Women’s Economic Development Council at their luncheon and leadership training meeting on April 11.

The event will open at 11:15 a.m. in the Jackson Center, 6001 Moquin Drive NW in Huntsville. WEDC meetings normally are invitation only, but this event is open to the public.

Philpott writes essays that examine the overlap of absurdity in everyday life, spokesperson Alice Lessmann said. Publications like “The New York Times,” “The Washington Post,” “The Los Angeles Times,” “Oprah” magazine, “McSweeney’s” and “The Paris Review” have featured her Philpott’s work.

Philpott is founding editor of “Musing,” the online magazine of Parnassus Books, and an Emmy-winning cohost of the show, “A Word on Words,” on Nashville Public Television. She also wrote and illustrated the humor book “Penguins with People Problems,” a look at human embarrassments. She lives in Nashville with her family.

Her book, “I Miss You When I Blink,” is a brave and candid debut with self-effacing wit and wisdom. Philpott writes about meticulously ticking all the boxes on her life’s to-do list (job, spouse, house, babies), only to find herself at loose ends and longing for a new path.

Philpott’s young son once said to her, “I miss you when I blink.” Over the years, the simple sentence became a reminder to slow down, to live in the moment.

“Surrounded by everything she had always wanted, Philpott still felt anxious. She felt stuck in a daily grind of packed calendars, endless carpools and grueling small talk,” Lessmann said.

Philpott’s spot-on observations resonate with people moving in/out of a friendship or romance, leaving school and entering the real world, or balancing professional ambitions with personal passions, Lessmann said.

In a critique of Philpott’s work, a “Southern Living” magazine review stated, “This wonderful memoir-in-essays from Nashville writer Mary Laura Philpott is a frank and funny look at what happens when, in the midst of a tidy life, there occurs impossible-to-ignore tugs toward creativity, meaning and the possibility of something more.”

Admission to the WEDC event is $26.50, which includes a buffet lunch. Registration is required; visit https://bit.ly/2FcGv32. Registration deadline is noon on April 8.

For those not able to attend the luncheon, Snail on the Wall Book Store and The Scout Guide Huntsville will host a free Meet and Greet with Mary Laura on April 11 from 5 to 7 p.m. at AC Hotel, downtown Huntsville. For more information, visit The Scout Guide Huntsville on Facebook or email huntsville@thescoutguide.com.

For more information, visit marylauraphilpott.com or Facebook/Mary Laura Philpott. To order Philpott’s book, email to local book store Snail on the Wall at lady.smith@me.com.