Finally! Now that my book is out in the world...! It has been a longer journey than I anticipated: attributed partly to making sure I shared my ideas in a way that would be the most effective for readers to learn how to write a book of this nature, and partly to life events: Sold a house and moved to an apartment, then planned another move out of state to New Jersey, went through ups and downs with life: the girls, disappointments, scares, and celebrations--one being the arrival of twin grandsons!
Now that Who Will Butter My Toast? is published, I want to dedicate this blog to talk about the experience of writing this book.
Some days when ideas flowed smoothly, I would be so proud and confident of this undertaking, having never written a book of this nature. And other days, I struggled with not being specific enough, or being too specific or bogging down the reader, or making sure directives were easy to follow. I remember reading a line with the editor and asking, “Huh?” as I dazedly read an onslaught of confusing words and thinking if I were the caregiver, I’d be gone before the next possible shift!
Yet I learned that sticking to it does make it happen. And writing isn't about just being inspired and having the seed, but about “watering” it a little every day, if possible. I tried to stay focused on my own writing advice that I share in the book about not being overwhelmed and proceeding in little pieces— step by step— to eventually have a book completed.
As Rayna’s mother, beyond the experiences of the writing process, the emotional journey continued with the reality of her life and all our lives. I would reread a sentence and well up. This was not fiction as in most of my other writing, especially screenplays, or even the non-fiction of the memoirs I have helped clients write.
Taking it a step further, in addition to emotions about Rayna, as I addressed how the handbook will be helpful to my older daughter, Tovah, who will step into my role in the future (and I know she will get support from her husband, Carl, and other family members and friends) I became acutely aware of how grateful I am for close family. At the same time, I became cognizant of those not fortunate to have as wide a circle of support as Rayna, and I felt a sense of sadness as I pictured those with minimum or no support.
But, I plugged away; wrote, rewrote, and spent numerous sessions with the phenomenal people helping me with editing. As I said in the book, I chiseled away at the big boulder, pebble by pebble and eventually had my book. And I must say, I am overwhelmed by the attention it has received since the launch, and pleased with the positive feedback from readers.
Of course, along with the excitement are the OMG thoughts. Even though the book is about creating a handbook, I have so many other ideas to share! So that is what I will organize and start sharing in the next blog, and many more blogs to come. Thanks for reading and for coming along on the Who Will Butter My Toast? journey!
