someone close to her in a year — that
she comes up with her winning busi-
ness idea.
Upset by a canned and impersonal
eulogy for her friend, Maddy decides
to start a business that specializes in
custom, pre-planned funeral celebra-
tions.
"The story is about her business, her
character, about how one challenges
convention to understand personal
struggles and how they mix with per-
sonal goals in our modern-day cul-
ture," says Isenberg, 45. "It is about
how we learn to live life by con-
fronting our own grief."
Just like Maddy, author-producer-
brand marketer-entrepreneur Isenberg,
who was raised in Bloomfield Hills
and lives in Marina Del Ray, Calif.,
rarely passes up an opportunity.
"I'm ambitious and tenacious like
Madison," admits Isenberg. "We share
the ability to connect and market the
dots that others don't see. We both
have an 'on button' that never goes
off."
Not surprisingly, Isenberg, who
describes herself as an "avant-garde
content creator and branded entertain-
ment marketing strategist," is already
busy thinking about her next book,
production and business idea.
In the meantime, The Funeral
Planner is fodder for her own brand.
Blending her research for the book
(she audited the University of
Michigan master's of business adminis-
tration program), her own personal
experiences with loss and her creativi-
ty, Isenberg brought her novel to life
by launching (for real) the fictional
business she created for her book's
main character, Maddy.
funerals. Catering to the
affluent, Lights Out
Enterprises designs and pro-
duces celebrations for the
recipient while he or she is
alive and well.
"I wanted to diminish our
fears around death,"
Isenberg says. When we can
talk openly about death, and
get over the taboos sur-
rounding it with our loved
ones, we can heal ourselves
and celebrate lives."
In The Funeral Planner,
the protagonist works with a
ike'l iprit,4cliNg
Li5e to cr‘
funeral director to write "A
decd hufiNeff
Guide To Grief and
Wellness." In the real world,
Isenberg collaborated with
Techner to write a similar
guide.
"She has boundless energy
and works very hard, and I
admire her for that,"
Techner says of Isenberg.
She doesn't pass up oppor-
tunities; she also lives to cre-
ate them. Lynn really attacks
this subject of grief, and she
can't learn enough about it."
Isenberg's second novel hit bookstores this month.
Isenberg and Techner's
project, "Grief Wellness: A
"I figured that if I can dream it and
Guide to Dealing with Loss," is a
create it for my book, I bet it could be
compilation of stories and lessons
real," Isenberg says.
learned. A limited number of pre-
copies are available for purchase at
www.lynnisenberg.com .
Real-Life Business
For Isenberg, Techner says, "This
In the novel, Maddy's business gets
was therapy."
into some trouble with the Feds. But
"Closure is a misnomer," she has
in real life, Lights Out Enterprises is
learned. You don't ever get over it;
open for business in L.A., delivering
you simply get used to it."
customized tributes for pre-planned
Lights Out Enterprises is just one of
.
FAMOUS
Friday 2-9 • Saturday 10-6 • Sunday 12-5
ADMISSION IS ONLY $5,00
THIS AD!
Isenberg reads from her novel 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 21, at Borders,
34300 Woodward, Birmingham; 7
p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22, at Borders,
Liberty and State, Ann Arbor; 11
a.m. Sunday, Nov. 6, at the Detroit
Jewish Book Fair at the Jewish
Community Center, West
Bloomfield; and 6 p.m. Monday,
Nov. 7, at Eagles Nest Restaurant on
Clark Lake in Jackson. For more
information, go to the Web sites at
www.lightsoutenterprises.com ;
www.lynnisenberg.com ; and
www.thefuneralplanner.com .
"A Guide to Grief and Wellness"
is available for purchase at
lynnisenberg.com . A portion of the
proceeds will be donated to the
Alicia Techner Fund at Temple Israel
in memory of Techner's daughter,
who died when she was an infant.
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the many adventures in the life of
Isenberg, who already has adapted The
Funeral Planner into a screenplay and
has her agent shopping it around for
production. She is completing another
guide, "Grief Tributes: A Guide to Life
Celebrations."
And though she doesn't give away
any clues about the plot of her next
book, Isenberg has discussed another
entrepreneurial comedy novel with her
publishers, who seem excited.
Isenberg also has some mainstream
Hollywood film credits to her name.
She produces, writes and markets pro-
gramming for cable television net-
works, live events and the Internet.
She also is the founder of the
Hollywood Literary Retreat. fl
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