It's A B-B-Book

I am heading toward publishing a book.  It involves going back and fleshing out some of the earlier posts, reordering, etc., but a reader won't see much change from blog to book.  The most significant change came when I tried to get legal publishing rights to images.  To make a very long story short, it didn't happen.  I thought the low resolution images that Google found were in the public domain.  They're not.  No one knew who owned the rights to some of the older images. If I was able to track down the original author, it was most often too expensive.  So, if it's not mine, it's not included.  Bummer!  Some of those images were funny.

Heidi is my primary editor because 1) she's a good editor/writer 2) she not only understands me, but isn't hesitant to hurt my feelings if it means improving the story and 3) she has an eye for the big picture.   Earl's my secondary editor as the detail guy who prefers not to hurt my feelings.  "Gee Tam," he quips, jokingly.  "Do you think we'll be rich?"  I respond, "Uh, don't quit the day job, dear.  I bet we don't even recover the cost of Skeeter." 

I've decided to go with supported self-publishing through IUniverse.  I've been assigned publishing consultants who give guidance and advice, cover design and layout, professional editing, press releases, marketing, formatting for E-reading, and a subscription to the Author Learning Resource Center (newsletters, podcasts, Webinars, etc.)  It's stuff I don't have the skills to do.

The manuscript is in, I'm working on the photos—we'll see what happens and I'll keep my blog readers informed.  My worst nightmare is that some unsuspecting person might ask me to sign a book.  That's one humiliation bullet I can't bite.
 
My First Chapter
“That post was funny.  You should write a book...” friends would say.  It was very flattering.  My usual response was that I would put whatever fit into the context of my motorized scooter and had humor potential into the Scooter Saga blog.  Didn't take me long to change my mind on that.  At the time and even now, a blog is a good format—amendable, readable and short. One of the best things about writing, email, etc. is that I can think about what I want to say, correct it, think some more and, when I'm ready—publish or send.  For someone who doesn't think well on her feet (pun intended), that's a fortunate thing.  Made a mistake on the blog?  Correct it and UPDATE.  Hear from a confused reader?  Clarify and UPDATE.  Get a new thought?  Add it and UPDATE.  I enjoyed doing it and my family and friends enjoyed reading it.

My “target” of family and friends is limited.  My thought was maybe publishing a book would make sense at some point. Somethings just aren't funny and I had no clue how to address them at the time.  If I were to write a book, it would probably be called “It’s Always Something”  because it is (Gilda Radner, in her book about dying of ovarian cancer, beat me to the title). Whether it's Ataxia, cancer, heart disease, mental illness, pain, aging, job change, it's all the same—loss of what you once were.

But converting my blog to a book was just too tempting. Besides, my grand daughter thinks it is “cool” and this may be the closest I get to “cool”. Inadequate quantity of content was my primary concern.  My great American novel seemed more like a monograph than a book.  But, life is short, c’est la vie...blah, blah, blah...so I decided to give it a shot.

I have a genetic Spinocerebellar Ataxia (one of many) and the good news is it is neither terminal nor painful.  As far as progressive neurological disorders go, there are far worse.  I just never planned on developing any neurological disorder, so this threw me for a loop and coping has been, uh—variable.  Ataxia is uncommon and most people don't know much about it.  Unlike MS or Parkinson's, it afflicts few and there are even fewer fund raisers, t–shirts or marathons to raise money for it.  There is less research funding than heart disease or cancer. That creates another dimension of new problems for coping, but I'll pass on that for now.

Spinocerebellar Ataxia may not be generalizable to other forms of chronic illness.  But since this isn’t a self-help book, I can maintain a focus on me, my coping and a personal, albeit narrow, perspective.  There are many websites and resources for information about ataxia and the large grouping of Movement Disorders.  This isn’t intended to be one of them.

While some things aren’t funny, many things are.  Humor has helped me deal with disabilities, battle depression, and get back in the game.  My game is a little different now and adaptation, coping, and learning continues to be variable.  Some days you're the windshield, some days you're the bug.