Two Tickets to Paradise

The year is 1970. The horror soap opera Dark Shadows is all the rage, the Vietnam War is raging and nine-year-old Katie, an imaginative and independent latch-key kid, comes home from school to discover her mother's suicide. Taken in by her older sister who has recently become a Jehovah's Witness, Katie is shown an illustration from a bible picture book featuring wild animals peacefully lounging by a pool of water, surrounded by happy people picking fruit. An enticing offer is made: "Katie, this is Paradise. Do you want to see Mom again, happy and living forever? All you have to do is follow all of Jehovah's commandments and you can be with Mom again." Mom happy and living forever? Two tickets to Paradise, please!   So begins Katie's zealous quest to attain perfection and entrance into a utopian world which promises peace, love, and happiness. She discovers a much darker world. Two Tickets to Paradise, from Cult to Comedy tells the hilarious and heartbreaking story of an earnest, bible-toting kid intent on saving the world, and follows her metamorphosis into a boisterous comedian intent on saving herself through the healing powers of humor.

The year is 1970. The horror soap opera Dark Shadows is all the rage, the Vietnam War is raging and nine-year-old Katie, an imaginative and independent latch-key kid, comes home from school to discover her mother's suicide. Taken in by her older sister who has recently become a Jehovah's Witness, Katie is shown an illustration from a bible picture book featuring wild animals peacefully lounging by a pool of water, surrounded by happy people picking fruit. An enticing offer is made: "Katie, this is Paradise. Do you want to see Mom again, happy and living forever? All you have to do is follow all of Jehovah's commandments and you can be with Mom again." Mom happy and living forever? Two tickets to Paradise, please!   So begins Katie's zealous quest to attain perfection and entrance into a utopian world which promises peace, love, and happiness. She discovers a much darker world. Two Tickets to Paradise, from Cult to Comedy tells the hilarious and heartbreaking story of an earnest, bible-toting kid intent on saving the world, and follows her metamorphosis into a boisterous comedian intent on saving herself through the healing powers of humor.

KATIE LOVE is a writer-comedian, writing coach, and producer living in Los Angeles. She is the author of the novel, Cubicide, and L.A. Artists, a collection of interviews featuring some of L.A.'s award-winning artists. Katie is currently hard at work on her new novel and slinging jokes in preparation for her solo show, The Everything Room. She can be reached through her website at WriteLaughLove.com.