The Proofs are here!!!

Hooray!!! The book is 272 pages long so far.  I say so far because there may or may not be a few things I forgot -- like the TITLE PAGE!!  OOPS!!  But it will come.  The main goal for me was to get the manuscript in a publishable format.  And that FINALLY happened!

I thought I would share with you a bit of the journey of the book and why it took me so long to get to this point.

First of all, when you go back in your life to parts of it you would rather forget, it stirs up a lot of emotion.  To the point, many times I had to put it away to heal and think about the things I had learned in my life. 

Even with Carol and I sitting down and working together on it, it was hard and I still broke down at times.  BUT I will admit the healing was something I never would have expected.  I had a fear people would laugh, and taunt me more than ever, because that is how much of my life has been.  But what I learned is that I cannot fear people.  I can't be afraid to share my story because there are hundreds out there just like me who are.  We have to help them become stronger!!

The second stumbling block was trying to get all the formatting that was done to transfer in a published status without having to reformat all 272 pages.  There were three programs I tried numerous times and each time they failed.  When I saw a friend's book cover for her books, I thought WHOA!!  I need to spruce mine up a bit!!  I searched for my file with my covers in it, and could not find it.  I did a computer search as well as a manual search and even searched my file folder where my chapter files were. Nothing. I was so frustrated. I started over.

Then I went to see a dear friend and take her a birthday present.  In mentioning this to her she said, "Well Laura, maybe someone is trying to tell you something.  Maybe you need to pray about it."  I went and ran my errands, yet this stayed on my mind.  I got home and tried again and it didn't work.  Then I took my friends words to heart.  I had a small prayer and asked that if I was to share my story I needed help to get it published.  I went back to the third program and tried again.  Now before I stopped because my cover ended up sideways.  ACK!!  This time I started with the manuscript and it went in so beautifully!!  I cried!!  I thought, "Are you kidding me!!"  The formatting, page numbering everything was correct!!  I was Snoopy Dancing!!!

But then I remembered, the real trick was the cover.  I had to recreate my cover because I didn't have the original anymore (I thought) and when I went to upload it that is when I saw it.  The wording was something like, "Don't have a cover?  Use one of our pre-made covers!"  So I did...the first one there was MY COVER and I knew it!!  And that is how I finally got past the obstacles to get the book in PROOF Stages!!1

Just as a side note....that original cover I could not find?  Two days later it appeared in my book folder again where it was supposed to be.  Go Figure!!!

Are You Ready?

I know it's been a while since I updated the blog for Friends...Lessons of Life.  It's about time I did!!  I have to share with all of you the cover!!!  The book is on it's way to be proofed as I type this, and as soon as that is done, and I sign off on it, Friends...Lessons of Life will be available!!!  Here is the cover....What do you think?  I love it!!!

Progress Progress Progress.....

Sorry I am a slacker in the update department, but here is the latest news.  As of Friday Sept 23, 2011 seven people have the book and are reading it.  Mainly I just want to see if it flows and makes sense.  One person who offered to read it, was a childhood friend of my sisters in Iowa.  

Interesting story:  (I love stories in case you have not noticed that yet!)  A childhood friend of my sister found me on Facebook and said "You are Traci's sister!!  You look just like her!!"  I vaguely remembered Lana. Traci and Lana went all through school together.  She wanted to get a hold of Traci and I had no idea how to do that (we have since remedied that situation!). Lana was friends with Cara and I remembered her family living up the street from us.  So then I connected with Cara and her mother.  They barely remembered me, they knew Traci more and heard the stories about me.  So now Cara is one of my readers!!!  Kind of cool huh?

I am hoping to have the book published by November so we can get it out for Christmas.  I was debating if I was going to self publish or try for a bigger publisher and decided to go with the self publishing.  We will see what happens from there.  A friend told me Saturday night, "If you write it they will come."  Ha

Faith right?  Anyway the book is one step closer to being finished.  I think I am going to release it on both Blurb and Amazon.  Blurb, because we can get "hard copy" for those who want it signed.  Ha Ha And Amazon because you can download it to your Kindle.  I am taking this one step at a time and learning as I go.  I know next time I will be a bit wiser!

Hugs all around....Laura

Final Two Chapters

I just finished editing the last two chapters of the book, Waiting on Life and the Conclusion.  I did pretty good not breaking down till these last two chapters.

I am glad I did this.  Waiting on Life is about my friend Mitch.  I miss him. Life has definitely been a journey.  There have been mountains to climb, and wolves to beat off.  But through it all I made it!  I made it!!!  Still alot more mountains to climb, but I can do it.

Thank you for all your support in this project!!!  Look soon for the release date!!!  This week I am going to get it ready to send to publishers!!!  WOW!!  Scary stuff!!!

Forever Friends.....

Last night my friend Ramona and I went through the final editing for a chapter entitled Forever Friends.  It was about my friend Cindy and our friendship.  She has been gone for a few years now, and the last time I got to see her was in 1977, maybe once in 79.  I seem to vaguely remember going to her house when I was home for that summer. 

None the less, I am missing her so much today.  I think of her life and the hardships she had but through it all there was always a smile in her voice, and hope in her letters.  How many of us can say that?  Or say that about other friends?  I never heard her ever get down about anything.  Even when life got hard.

I look back now and wish I could have taken so much of her hurt away.  But I didn't know how.  Her boys grew up without her, but had their loving father. Our lives were so different. 

I truly hope with Friends.....Lessons of Life I can help people understand, "It doesn't matter where you have come from only where you are going.".  I also think one of my most favorite lines in the book is in this chapter. 

The situation reminded me of my favorite Roadrunner cartoon where they Coyote finally catches the Roadrunner and holds up a sign saying, "Now that I have them what do I do with them?"

You will have to read the book to understand that line in the book!!!  

 

Is it prideful to say I am loving my book?!  So far there are  sixty six pages in my book with six chapters completely finished.  WOO HOO!!!  We are going to work on another two chapters today....maybe three.  I am shooting for the end of Sept to be completely finished and ready to publish.  Think I can do it?

Thanks for all your support!!!!  I could never have done it without you!!!

Remembering 10 Years Ago.....

On the morning of 9/11/2001 I was getting ready for work listening to the news.  I remember hearing the report of a plane crashing into one of the Twin Towers.  My first thought was, "What is wrong with that pilot?"  Even though I had never been to the Twin Towers in person I had seen pictures.  The Twin Towers were huge!!  How could anyone fly into them?  My second instant thought was, "It had to be on purpose".

I didn't want to think, that my country and my home was under attack.  I stayed glued to the news as it all unfolded and I watched the second plane crash into the second tower.  I hurried off to my office that was 5 minutes away. I didn't want to be alone. They already had the radio going, and the reports came of the other missing planes.  I was shocked, stunned and numb.

I look back to this time, and see now the healing that has taken place with me.  For one, ten days after 9/11 I got on a plane to Dallas, Texas to meet up with old classmates.  I also began the healing process with my family as I met a cousin I had not seen since I was six.  I gained more respect for those who serve us everyday.  I have learned of little ways to give back to those who protect me everyday. I don't have alot of money to donate but I can do small things and spread the word to be charitable. I have also learned to be more forgiving of those that hurt me and those things that I love so much.  I have learned I will not fear again.

I will never forget 9/11, those we lost and those who became heroes.  I also will never forget the lessons I learned to be grateful for the things I do have and know in my life.  Not everyone is as lucky as I am.  Yesterday, I finished two more chapters for the final edits for Friends....Lessons of Life. My mind went to the memories of 9/11 and how grateful I am to live in this country.  God Bless America!!

Ten Years in the Making

It seems hard to believe it was almost 10 years ago that I started Friends.....Lessons of Life.  Never in a million years did I ever think that would be possible.  From about 1996 on, I began to see small changes in my life.  More and more as people learned bits and parts of my story, they encouraged me to share it.  I never thought I could.  In 2002, the Salt Lake Winter Olympic Games had just wound up and I went back to the reality of the workplace.  When I learned my office would be shutting down, I went looking for another job.  I have never found one that replaced the pay or love I had for that job.


In April of 2002, I was watching the TV show Friends, when the title came to me.  It was almost if I could see exactly how the book was to be written.  I had tried once before to put my thoughts down on paper, but it didn't seem right.  That night watching Friends, I took out a piece of paper and began to write down people who came to mind and the lessons they had taught me.  When it was all over, I had 25 names with lessons.

I had been praying to find a job, but the book weighed heavily on my mind.  Seeing how the book was to be written, I remember praying again for a job.  But the answer was loud and clear, finish the book and you will find a job.  For two weeks I wrote the basis of the book.  Writing down thoughts and remembering things that happened.  Triggers went off in me that took me back to the pain I had suffered through many episodes.  It would be nothing to the pain I would truly need to go through in order to heel from my life. After those two weeks and writing the last chapter of the book, I got a call for a job. 
Not a great job, but a job.

This journey has not been easy.  There have been times I have had to put the book away and not think about it.  Still today as I go through and do a final edit one last time, there are places that are still hard for me to. Like with my cousin and learning about my Dad, leaving home at 18 on a Greyhound bus for Salt Lake City with only $200.   I find I am opening myself up in ways I never thought about.  I could finish this book and then decide not to publish it.  I don't think that will happen.  Many who have read a chapter have told me, "You need to share your story!!  You can help so many others."

That is my goal; to help others.  I know we all deal with life differently.  Sometimes we think we are the only ones going through that particular trial. We look at our friends who seem so happy and not a care in the world.  How do they do it when I seem to have the world on my shoulders?  I hope this book will help you learn how to do just that. Others think you do not have a care in the world.  It doesn't mean you won't, but it means you are learning to deal with trials and challenges.  When you learn to deal them, life is a whole other ballgame.