BEA Update

So you have all asked for it and here it is; well as much as I can let you know about at the moment.

BookExpo America was awesome. I met some very brilliant literary professionals, some of the best agents in the business, and some very encouraging publishers. Writing a book is like raising children. Just when you thought it was safe to let go, their walking legs become sea legs and knock them down. Writing a book means constantly reviewing, and constantly changing the manuscript. I love this book, and I know that this is one of the most important projects of my life time and yet, like many of you, I sit here scrutinizing the manuscript until I convince myself it should not go out.

BEA was a turning point for me. Like many of you, I went to BEA hoping to learn about all the new books on the market, little did I know that new opportunities would reveal themselves along the way. On the last day of BookExpo, I met a gentlemen who informed me that he did not understand the disease. He informed me that his wife was diagnosed a few years ago with Endometriosis. He went on to tell me that they are not able to have relations in the personal manner, she is not able to sleep in the same room as him at night because the pain wakes her up, and just the night before she called him from overseas staying she wanted to kill herself.

I wanted to cry for her. I wanted to take her in my arms and tell her she is not alone, but all I could do was try to tell this six-foot-four-inch tall man that she is falling apart and she feels like she is inside out. I spoke with him for an hour before I even thought about the new book or the title. I told him of my struggle and he told me of his. As we left, I simply gave him a copy of the new book on CD. I also gave him a list of physicians in the UK which can help his wife.

I left BEA knowing that this disease is not going to defeat me. I left BEA knowing that there is a reason for all that has happened, but most importantly I left BEA verily able to walk knowing that the reason I started writing in the first place, was still my reason to write today. Words have meaning; they have the power to change lives because they are a part of us.

Today, a simple email in broken English game across my desktop reading, "I held my wife she fell asleep, me arms with her," and I smiled.



Note: If you have not been able to reach me since the Expo, please do not take it personally, I am am answering as many emails as time efficiently as possibly while still trying to get the long anticipated newsletter out again. Sorry for missing last month news letter, but I promise it will be worth the wait.