So let it be done. It's not perfect, but there is no such thing in the book world. What it is, my friends, is finished. For decades, I've wanted to quote Yul Brynner in the Ten Commandments in regards to my book. Now I can. This project began as a novel. Fear prevented me from [...]
Homestretch
Almost there It's been a long and winding road and I see the end, finally. I wish I had an accurate word count for how many I've typed in the process of writing my memoir, The Second . If the average book is 80,000 words, I've easily written eight times that. Yikes. The versions are [...]
Goal!
When I accomplish a goal, I wish I had a button to push. It would play a recording of one of those European soccer announcers celebrating the ball making it in the net. I don't speak Spanish or Italian, but their passion for the game is contagious. I'm going to start my next writing day [...]
Perfection Achieved*
1988 I have another story to tell you. This family photo was my Christmas card thirty-one years ago. One of my dearest friends received it and declared the image and my family perfect. I politely thanked her and marveled at how one click of a camera lens can convey such deception. I'm coming to grips [...]
The Exception
A standout fellow writer I vented a little in yesterday's post, lamenting the lack of usable comps and writers of mental health memoirs who are with it. I neglected to mention someone who's work I admire. The inimitable, the amazing...Jenny Lawson aka The Bloggess. This woman has written multiple best sellers, maintained a killer blog [...]
Diving In
Let's talk. Wow. I've been spending a lot of time researching comparable and competitive titles as I prepare to publish my memoir. The first pool I dipped my toe into was general memoir. There seems to be no shortage of writers wanting to tell their version of the dash between birth and an end date. [...]
New Year? Bring it.
Exuberance New beginnings started yesterday. I'm not totally giving 2019 the bum's rush because it was a decent year for me. In fact, it was downright remarkable. I put my nose to the grindstone and worked almost single-mindedly on a project that has been haunting most of my adult life. My memoir is essentially written, [...]
Coming Up for Air
Feeling free This is how I feel today. I'm taking a few days off from writing to make a couple of pies and enjoy Thanksgiving with my family. I have cooked a turkey almost every year since I was twenty-four. This year, I'm a guest at my sister's house and I'm responsible for dessert. This [...]
…And Exhale
On the bright side Well, I got my editor's notes regarding my draft memoir on Friday. In an attempt to prepare myself for the worst, I imagined all the negative things she could have written. None of those things came to pass. She also did not declare the book the greatest thing she'd ever read. [...]
Deep Breath
Here we go Today is a big day. After six weeks away from my draft, I'm having a teleconference with my editor to hear her feedback. To get in a receptive frame of mind, I watched vintage Brené Brown in her inaugural TEDx talk about vulnerability. I hadn't seen it in a while and her [...]
