Of Baldness and Books

I've been deep into my writing these days. And when I do that, I tend to stay in my head--pretty much all I'm thinking about is the writing and pretty much all I'm doing is writing (or worrying about writing, or thinking about writing, or talking about writing--either with Chris or with my agent). I even forget to write the blog, despite the fact that I'm constantly referring back to it for....you guessed it, the memoir writing!! (You are a clever, clever bunch.)

By way of brief update on the memoir...well, it's still progressing. Let me just say that writing is a lot of work. Wow. A lot. Probably the hardest thing I've ever done (and I've been through law school, the California bar exam, two divorces and um, oh, yeah, cancer!). Not unenjoyable hard, just....well, difficult. I keep thinking I'm getting it and things are going great and then, well, not so much. My agent has been fantastic walking me through what needs to change, what's good, what's a pile of crap not as good. The funny thing is what I'm working on isn't event the book! It's the book proposal. But the proposal includes a chapter outline and the chapter outline includes excerpts from each chapter. In a way, that's more difficult (or maybe I'm just hoping this is the more difficult part!!) because I only get a paragraph or a page to really demonstrate what that particular chapter is all about...and to make the reader laugh or cry or at least think. Or want to turn the page. 

I'm excited though. Each revision makes the proposal (and the book) better and better, so I'm going to push on. In the meantime, I share with you a book I just learned about when I got an email from the author. She's way ahead of me...her book is already published. Since I don't have kids (and Seamus was all "yeah, whatever, mom...cancer, been there done that") I didn't need this particular resource, but for anyone dealing with small children while undergoing cancer treatment....this looks to be a great help. And, it's a beautiful book.

Here's the email I got:
Hey Teresa -

My name is Sue.

I found out about your blog because I too was recognized by Navigating Cancer as a featured blogger.

And I just spent the last two hours going down the list and reading about all the different blogs.

10 years ago I was hit with a cancer diagnosis as a 33-year-old mother. 

One of the first thoughts I had (and I would wager ANY mother has) after hearing my diagnosis was:

"How in the world will I tell my son?"

Because I'm a writer, I turned to books.

What I saw portrayed the mother as a scary-looking emotional mess.

Or was decidedly sad.

Or far too technical for a young child.

So I decided to write the book I always wanted but never had.

Nowhere Hair explains a loved one's cancer to little kids in a way that is honest yet still whimsical.

"Sue Glader's words put it all in the proper perspective.  A wonderful tool for families."

- Kelly Corrigan, New York Times bestselling author of The Middle Place and Lift.

The mother is strong, fashionable, and yup, bald.

It does the heavy lifting.  (Without being heavy.)

And helps women tell the truth to their children.

So everyone can heal.

If you're feeling visual, here is the book trailer.

You can learn more about the book here, at my website: www.NowhereHair.com

(Where you can also easily purchase copies as well as on Amazon.)

I wanted to reach out to you because I'm trying to spread the word about how I am working to turn my mess into my message.

Whatever you can do to help me put Nowhere Hair into the hands of children and their parents,

I would so very much appreciate.

  

 

The author (of the email and the book!) is Sue Glader. And I have to say, I'm impressed she got a blurb from Kelly Corrigan. And you know...now that I think about it, I could have used this book when my niece was asking about my scarf-wearing! Remember this blog post: Talking Cancer to a Kid.?

Happy Reading! I'm going back to my writing....