A List of Books

I was most fortunate to participate as a speaker throughout New England and Palm Beach County when my first book, Minor League Mom, appeared in 2009.  The same process reoccurred during 2014-15, after the publication of Elderly Parents with All Their Marbles.  Among the venues in South Florida and New England have been bookstores, public libraries, writers' groups, clubs and associations, gift shops, a Red Sox minor league stadium, and Brown University and Colby College events.

After I send in the final galley proofs for publication, I have no idea if what I've written will ever speak to anyone at all. When the book finally appears, I may begin to hear from readers online, but that can never replace meeting readers in person. I love to discuss the subject matter of my books with those who are interested. Their voices and faces convey the emotions my book has evoked and they begin to relate situations in their lives that are similar to situations in my books.

In addition, I love meeting other authors to share writing secrets, journeys to publication, and marketing strategies. The following are some of the published authors I know personally or have met along the way.  I have read their listed accomplishments, among others, and recommend them to you.


Berge, Ruth Hartman                    
     Growing Up in Northern Palm Beach 
     County:  Boomer Memories from 
     Dairy Belle to Double Roads
     Nostalgic memories of quaint coastal towns from Riviera Beach,      
     Florida,
     to Jupiter, woven into the history of the people and places the author
     loved as a child

     Betty Tales: The True Story of a Brave Bobblehead Cat (children's)
     Betty is a little cat with a real-life disability, but her attitude says,
     "I can do that!"

Bolton, Barbara McGillicuddy
     Lulu Goes to College   A Novel
     In the fall of 1961 - before the sixties became The Sixties - eighteen-
     year-old Lulu Delaney of Meduxnekeag, Maine, packs up her
     two baby blue plastic suitcases and takes the bus south to Lovejoy,
     the private, coeducational Maine college to which she's won a
     scholarship. This is the story of her freshman year.

Bowen, John                              
     Eleven Months and Nineteen Days
     An illustrator finds himself in the middle of the Vietnam War during
     1968 and records his experiences.

Boyle, Gerry
     Once Burned
     There's something smoldering in the drop-dead pretty town of Sanctuary,
     Maine, and veteran crime reporter Jack McMorrow is back to sniff it out.

Bradlee, Ben Jr.
     The Kid   The Immortal Life of Ted Williams
     During his 22 years with the Boston Red Sox, Williams electrified
     crowds across America with the highest batting average recorded
     to this day - and shocked them, too.  Here is the
     definitive biography of a hero who clashed with the press and spent
     most of his life disguising his Mexican heritage.

Brooks, Geraldine
     People of the Book
     A novel of sweeping historical grandeur and intimate emotional
     intensity, this book depicts the journey of the famed Sarajevo
     Haggadah (15th Century Spanish hand-illustrated Hebrew manuscript).

Cummings, John B., Jr.
     The Last Fling     Hurricane Carol 1954
     These are first-hand stories from more than 60 individuals and family
     members about the devastation to their homes and town (Westport, Mass.)
     as wind and waves crashed ashore without warning.

Eno, Paul
     Footsteps in the Attic:  More First-Hand Accounts of the Paranormal
              in New England
     A first-hand record of some of the twentieth century's most stunning cases,
     written by the expert who investigated and interpreted them according to
     an entirely new approach to the paranormal.

Galvin, Jack, and Mark Pfetzer
     Within Reach:  My Everest Story
     In 1996 sixteen-year-old Mark Pfetzer was the youngest ever to attempt
     to summit Mt. Everest.  He also witnessed the tragedy of eight climbers
     whose story was documented in Into Thin Air.
   
Goodman, Howard and Ellen      
     Disoriented
     The Goodmans turned 60 and their careers tanked in the Great
     Recession.  Then opportunity beckoned in up-and-coming China.
     Disoriented is a travelogue, a cultural critique, and a love story with a
     country few Americans really know.

Goodwin, Doris Kearns
     Team of Rivals:  The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
     Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Doris Kearns Goodwin tells the story
     of one-term congressman and prairie lawyer Lincoln, who rises from
     obscurity to prevail over three gifted rivals of renown.

     Wait Till Next Year   A Memoir
     Set in the suburbs of New York in the 50's, this book re-creates the
     corner store, where stories and neighborhood were equally divided
     between Dodger, Giant, and Yankee fans.  Goodwin's mother and father
     are prominent figures, her mother housebound and her father a Dodger
     fan who taught her to read the baseball box scores.  Goodwin describes
     the Dodgers' leaving Brooklyn in '57 and the death of her mother soon
     afterward - both marking the end of an era.

Iannuccilli, Dr. Ed
     Growing Up Italian
     Smell the aromas, feel the childhood anticipation, relive the joys, fear,
     and mysteries growing up in a second-generation Italian family in
     Providence, Rhode Island.

LeDuc, J.M.                                  
     Cursed Blessing, first of a trilogy
     The Ark of Endowment is hunted for its content,
     but could mean certain death for humankind if it gets in the wrong hands.
     Brent must accept his new role as savior.

      Sin
     Recruited by the FBI for her intelligence and attitude, SIN
     is released by the Bureau for the same reasons.  Now they need her
     back, after six girls have washed up along the Florida Keys and
     four agents are dead.

Littlefield, D. M.
     Journey into the Land of the Wingless Giants (children's)
     Eight fairy children, three inches tall, need all their skills in magic
     to survive a dangerous quest where everything is enormous and deadly.

Ling, Sally
     Who  Killed Leno and Louise?  Based Upon the Cold Case Murders of
     Flamboyant Boca Raton Sculptor Leno Lazzari and His Wife Louise
     Sunday morning 1948 - a couple is murdered at point blank range
     and the sculptures stolen from their home.  Read about the victims, the
     witness, the suspects, and the devious police who investigated.

Mallegol, David                            
     The Bronze Horsemen
     Based on an actual Bronze Age group who dominated southern Russia
     for 600 years, Mallegol's novel describes the group's
     domestication of wild horses to ensure the group's survival (the first humans
      to do so).

Miklas, Margie                              
     Memoirs of a Solo Traveler:  My Love Affair with Italy
     My Love Affair with Sicily (a memoir)
     Colors of Naples and the Amalfi Coast (photo book
     released May, 2015).
     
Mykle, Robert                                 
     Killer 'Cane:  The Deadly Hurricane of 1928
     A hurricane blew up from Puerto Rico over the Everglades,
     creating a 20' wall of water that killed 2,000.
     Mykle weaves Florida history with the social tapestry of the area
     at the time of the storm and during its aftermath.

Patchett, Ann
     Bel Canto
     Still my favorite among Patchett's novels!  A band of gun-wielding terrorists
     takes an entire party of So. American politicians, businessmen, and
     an opera star hostage.  Terrorists and hostages forge unexpected
     bonds as the novel builds to a crescendo of danger that cannot be
     stopped.

Quindlen, Anna
     One True Thing:  A Novel
     A mother - a daughter - a shattering choice.
     A novel of life, love, and everyday acts of mercy.
     
Reynolds, Bill, and Christopher Herren
     Basketball Junkie
     This book tells what happens when a town and a family pressure a
     local basketball star to embody their dreams, which turn into a nightmare.
     Chris Herren (my nephew) recounts his descent into hell and back,
     first with alcohol, then drugs, as he reaches the pinnacle of success
     in the NBA.

Ritchie, Michael
     Cuba Libre
     Fidel Castro is near death, if not already dead.  His brother, Raul,
     has begun to cut a deal with the U.S. to renew diplomatic and trade
     relations.  And the whole deal is about to come down in laid-back Key West.
     But the "Miami Mafia" has other plans.

                                               
Schreiber, Maxine                        
     The Story of Daphne the Duck (children's)
     A Muscovy duck discovers a flowerpot on a Florida fifth-floor balcony
     and decides it will be a safe place to lay her eggs.

Tripp, Dawn Clifton
     The Season of Open Water
     This is the story of a woman caught between the brother who completes
     her and the man she loves during rum-running days on the coast of Massa-
     chusetts.

Finally! A Publishing Date!

My parents, Ev and Walt

I am pleased to announce that ELDERLY PARENTS WITH ALL THEIR MARBLES: A SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR THE KIDS will roll off the presses on June 20, 2014.  It will be available in paperback and all Ebook formats.  The book will be released on April 9th in Delray Beach, Florida, with limited advance copies or you can contact me and I'll ship one to you:  pamcharley@yahoo.com.

There will be a release party at the Acoaxet Club, Westport, Mass., on July 8th with unlimited quantities available.  I'll be speaking throughout New England this summer and fall and throughout Florida next winter and spring.

I'd love feedback on Amazon from those who read A SURVIVAL GUIDE.  I hope that at the very least a dialogue will begin between us "oldies" and our kids.

Thank you all for your support!
Pam

Stress Management Tips

With the publication of ELDERLY PARENTS WITH ALL THEIR MARBLES: A SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR THE KIDS coming in June, I found this on the internet and thought it had a couple of gems. Sorry I can't give an attribution.

STRESS MANAGEMENT TIPS

 1.  Accept the fact that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.

 2.  Keep your words soft, in case you have to eat them some day.

 3.  If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.

 4.  If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

 5.  Don't put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.

 6.  Nobody cares if you can't dance well.  At least you got up there.

 7.  When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

 8.  Birthdays are good for you.  Consider the alternative.

 9.  Some mistakes are much too fun to make only once.

10.  A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

11. We could learn a lot from crayons.  Some are sharp, some are pretty, and some are dull.
      Some have weird names and all are different colors, but they all come from the same box.

What Doesn't Happen When You Sign a Book Deal

This is my take on a blog by Addie Zierman, who appeared as a guest on Rachelle Gardner's Books and Such column.  Thanks, Addie, for your wisdom!

A writer spends years researching and writing, then rewriting a piece.  After three drafts he gives it to a Beta reader - maybe two or three.  He trusts these people - he knows them well - to make insightful suggestions about continuity, character development, time jumps, and voice.  He might or might not pay them.

The writer makes more changes.

Then he hires a line editor.  This editor is entirely objective, going over each comma and paragraph change, each verb tense and fact, with a magnifying glass.

The writer makes more changes.

He develops a query letter to a literary agent who specializes in his genre and is seeking new clients (maybe two a year).  The query might take months to develop.  It must have necessary elements but fit into one page. There may also be submission requirements for the agent, such as a proposal, which includes a marketing plan, chapter outlines, sample chapters, etc.  There go another few months.

The writer must have an agent in order to get published by one of the "big six" (or is it now five?). In order to get an agent, he must have sold a considerable amount of material.  And in order to sell a considerable amount of material, he usually needs an agent.  Ever heard of the book, Catch 22?

The writer submits his one-page query and waits...and waits.  An answer may take eight weeks to come back, if one comes back at all.  The response might be one line:  "We regret that your project is not suitable for our agency at this time."  For the lionhearted writer, this form of rejection can occur up to 100 times.  If he's lucky enough to get a response that reads, "We are interested in reading the first 50 (or 100) pages; please submit," he does so and waits...and waits. Usually with the same result, if he's a nobody.

But the writer hasn't been sitting around wringing his hands or relaxing with a cool one.  He's been developing a "platform."   The "platform" is crucial for a nonfiction writer, since he needs a following to be considered an "expert" in the field about which he's writing.  A "following" is loosely around 100,000 people subscribing to the writer's Twitter or Facebook account, blog, or website.  This assumes the writer is either a famous person or a national spokesperson.

In the case of fiction, a "following" can be garnered if the writer self-publishes and gathers 100,000 buyers on the internet.  Traditional publishers usually sit up and take notice, a la Shades of Gray.

While developing a "platform," the writer should be working on the second book in his series.  That's right...series!  The same genre, some of the same characters, same tone.  If  the writer is lucky enough to get a traditional publisher through a literary agent (who will take 15% after the writer has made back his advance from the publisher), he must produce a book a year.

One way or another the writer (wouldn't you agree by now he's a lunatic?) is determined to publish - through a traditional book deal, through self-publishing, through a vanity or a hybrid press (kicking in some money for formatting, design, and buy-back of the finished product).

Finally the miracle of birth!  The writer holds the newborn in his hands.  Euphoria overcomes him.  A book of his own!  It's wonderful - for about two minutes.

It means marketing, social media promotion, more editing, deadlines, accounting, and self-doubt.  He hides the negative reviews and goes on.  After all, he's a legitimate writer now, right?

What publication won't do is make him a celebrity if he sells the number he'd hoped, or a failure if he doesn't.  It won't change his insides, if he was broken before he bared his soul.

The writer is the same person who sat down at a blank computer screen and began the long journey to find the right words to convey his vision.  He may now be able to distill and inspire, but the world will take notice only for a second - or not.

What the world will do is continue to revolve around the moments away from the computer, the moments with the people who motivate and refresh him and inspire him to return to the blank screen.

Toward Publication Again

OK, so a writer toils away for hours, days, months, years, in her office while the sun shines and people are inviting her to do fun things like play golf or go to a lecture or even shop!

Why?? Because it's something she loves to do more than anything else (except maybe a game of tennis), and she believes she's good at it. Herein is the crux of the matter: how does she KNOW she's good at this craft?

In other words, "Am I crazy??" How do I know that what I've written is actually good? Especially because I keep learning from writers' groups, editors, blogs, and newsletters every day?!?

Friends and family don't count, though my husband will always get the first look at any rough draft before anyone else. I trust his general reaction; we were in college together forty-five years ago and I know that our training in critical analysis served as the basis for his success, as well as for other writers, such as Doris Kearns Goodwin (also a graduate of Colby College).

After a thumbs-up from my husband, I proceed to ask him pointed questions about the flow of the story, the development of character, point-of-view changes, the time sequence, etc. He can usually provide some pretty obvious answers.

Then it's time for an objective opinion. In my first venture into publishing, I took the first one hundred pages of my manuscript to a sportswriter for The Providence Journal, since my memoir was the saga of our two sons in the Red Sox minor league system.  He perused the pages in front of him, suggested it should be a more intimate mother's story, and declared, "You've got to publish this!" He then gave me the names of two reference books to purchase, which would help me develop a proposal for literary agents.

So I sat at my computer for another six months and revised and revised some more. Then I decided to get another objective opinion. Purely by networking, I found a "reader" for a literary agent right in my backyard, who happened to be excited enough about my first draft to become my first editor. In addition, he was a published author.  He told me I had a unique story and a readable one and concurred with my first mentor: "You must publish this!"

When the revisions were completed, I spent six months on a query letter along with a seventy-page proposal for the literary agent my "reader" worked for. In fact, he personally delivered my package to the agent. I waited and waited and waited  - another six months went by, to be exact.  I received a two-line rejection letter. Eighteen months later, I had received seventy of these!

But somehow I kept believing I had written something worthy of publication. After all, I had two professional writers who had told me so! That stayed with me through all the rejections, through all the networking that proved useless, and through the months searching for an independent publisher. Yet I had never published anything before. I didn't have a "platform."

But I had a flow and my readers really cared about our sons in their quest toward the major leagues.

Here's a thought I kept in my head from literary agent Nathan Bransford: "Not every talented writer is a published author, but (nearly) every published author is talented."

Well, my book, MINOR LEAGUE MOM: A MOTHER'S JOURNEY THROUGH THE RED SOX FARM TEAMS, was published in April, '09, by independent publisher Barking Cat Books (a division of New River Press). No, I didn't ever find a literary agent, and yes, I did hours and hours of speeches and book signings over the next year.  I was chosen as one of ten authors to participate in a "Local Authors Day" at the Delray Beach, Florida, Public Library.  I appeared on Fox TV in Providence, R.I., on NPR, and on radio talk shows across the country.  The book was reviewed in print in Boston, Providence, and Florida.

Now my second book is ready.  It's called A SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR CHILDREN WITH ELDERLY PARENTS (WHO STILL HAVE THEIR MARBLES).  It's a handbook based on the bizarre and often laughable antics of my parents in their eighties and nineties.  But the "rules" also apply for negotiating through hospitals, rehab centers, and nursing homes.  There's even an Appendix where terms like "Medicare" and "Medigap" are defined, with websites and phone numbers.  A SURVIVAL GUIDE been professionally edited twice and is ready to go. 

But my first publisher went out of business!!  So ready to go where?

Ready to go through all of the above process, all over again.

Why would I want to put myself through that again, you ask? 

Because I have to write.  My inner life depends on it.  And publication means validation.

Take my advice:  pick up a pen and jot down what's happening to you.  Jot down your family history.  Jot down funny conversations.  Jot down what you see out your window.  Maybe you don't want to see your words in print, but someday your inner life might depend on it, too.

Two Minutes Ago

     David Morrell (First Blood, The Brotherhood of the Rose) said in an interview, "Writers need to be tough.  This (writing) is not for the weak of will.  And we have to realize that yeah, it's never good enough."

     I know, pressure is often self-induced.  I live a "It's a Wonderful Life" reality.  Florida to Massachusetts, we split the year.  I have a husband of forty-seven years I adore, who adores me.  We are fortunate to enjoy good health and we stay active. We don't need to worry about our shelter, our food, or our kids.

     So what's my problem?  I write.  It's self-induced pressure, till you sign a publishing contract.  Till then, you have to finish the manuscript.  Then you have to rewrite it.  Then you have to rewrite it again.  Then you send it to a professional editor.  Then you rewrite again - portions (I hope) or all.  My second manuscript is at an editor now.

     I am really excited about this book called, A Survival Guide for Grown Children with Elderly Parents (Who Have All Their Marbles).  It consists of lighthearted rules for grown children to survive the care-giving days, based on humorous anecdotes about my parents, Ev and Walt, who lived into their nineties.

     It's also a practical guide.  The rules in the last half of the book are based on my experiences dealing with hospitals, rehab units, and skilled nursing facilities in Florida.  There's even an addendum for easy reference called, "Useful Notes, Definitions, Websites, and Phone Numbers." 

     The first email I got from my editor said the title was "clunky."  I probably agree with her - after all, I hired her to make suggestions like this.  So right from the get-go, we have to brainstorm.

     The same email showed suggested changes for the first three pages.  The changes were marked in dotted lines and arrows that go up, down, right, and left.  I don't know what triangles or circles mean either, since my first editor and I made changes to Minor League Mom the old-fashioned way.  We sat down with hard copies in our hands.  Before I make changes on the new manuscript, I must watch a tutorial video.

     Then there are the query letters to agents that will follow or proposals to publishers.  And the ongoing weekly blog or emails and newsletters and mail from others who write or mail to writers who may end up writing blurbs for my book.   Not to mention the marketing...which has already begun!

     Of course, I could self-publish and skip the last two paragraphs.  However, even self-published authors have to spend a year marketing, once their books appear.

     After the release of Minor League Mom, a friend asked me why I would want to go through the process again. Answer:  a writer wants to write!  Especially if there is potentially an enormous market for the manuscript.  I love this quote from Caitlin Moran, whose How to Be a Woman is part memoir, part rant, part manifesto:  "...if you're complaining about something for more than three minutes, two minutes ago you should have done something about it."

    

Manuscript Update



It's been three years since a division of New River Press published MINOR LEAGUE MOM:  A PARENT'S JOURNEY THROUGH THE RED SOX FARM TEAMS.  People have started asking me when the next book will appear.

As Red Smith once said, "Writing is easy.  All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein." 
Here's an update on A SURVIVAL GUIDE FOR GROWN CHILDREN WITH ELDERLY PARENTS (WHO HAVE ALL THEIR MARBLES).

Although the SURVIVAL GUIDE manuscript is finished and the rewrite done, there are approximately four unpaid "editors" I've asked to read it, before I send it to a paid editor!  After each of these readings, the manuscript must be "tweaked," hopefully without major sections needing a rewrite.

Then there is detective work involved.  My parents (on whom the manuscript is based) are no longer alive and cannot refute the humorous antics I divulge.  However, there are others in the book who are alive, six years later!  I must track them down for their permissions to publish, to the extent possible.

There is also research involved.  I don't mean the journals or interviews on which I based the entirely personal "Rules" I learned for the GUIDE.  I mean the fifteen or so books I've read on the same topic, to ensure I am not duplicating material for a publisher.

After all three of my writing groups have weighed in each month on the excerpts I read them, I must keep up-to-date on internet blogs about writing, as well as the Writer's Digest and Florida Writer's Association newsletters.

But writing is the EASY part, to state it once again.
Next I must find an agent or a publisher.

My first publisher, New River Press, has gone out of business.  I must begin the solicitation process over again, since I choose to go the traditional publishing route for validation vs the self-publishing route.  I will query agents and send proposals (with very stringent guidelines for nonfiction) to publishers.

At least this time I have some contacts and know the ropes.  If I am lucky enough to get into print some day, the HARDEST JOB begins....marketing!

There is no money in the publishing industry today for marketing, even with the best-known giants, unless you're a John Grisham.  An author must devise a marketing plan on his own.  From past experience with my first book, I know it is a plan that an author will be asked to follow for all leads and contacts, down to "cold-calling" for book signings.  I spent a year on the road marketing MINOR LEAGUE MOM from Maine to Florida.  I paid for travel and provided many book giveaways and refreshments at book signings.  I hired a N.Y.C. publicist who acquired interviews for me on NPR, sports radio across the country, and Fox TV.

So why bother?  A writer must write, a dancer must dance.  It's something I enjoy doing every day.  Thankfully, electronic self-publishers are available in case the rejection letters stack up!  At least I know two recipients for A SURVIVAL GUIDE - our two grown sons.

The Hard Work of Creativity

Writers understand the joy that comes from investing onesself in the creative process. In fact, that could be said of anyone who totally immerses himself in his work. Artists, inventors, performers, architects, teachers - the list is endless - know that hard work becomes FUN when they completely lose themselves in the process. These creative moments lift us out of the everyday into a zone where focus is fixed on a particular spot - a sentence on the computer screen or a ridge on a sculpture or a brushstroke on a canvas or a pencil line on a paper or the faces in a classroom. It is something we are driven to do.

But the work doesn't come without effort, discomfort, and sometimes pain (physical cramping, carpal tunnel, etc). Technically perfect work may not display greatness. The discomfort of doing and redoing, working and reworking, is what distinguishes quality from mediocrity. It is the fourth draft of a written work that is again revised into the fifth draft that may give the effort its finishing touches.

Dedication is not an easy thing to describe. It demands discipline and mental toughness. Sacrifices must be made to see a project through those finishing touches. I write because I love to express myself, and I think I have something worthwhile to pass on. It is a slow process, and must not be rushed.

I am not competing with a clock or with any other writers. I have plenty of time in my retirement years. Fortunately, I do not have to rely on the income (thank goodness!) to write. I am merely competing with myself. I want to leave something lasting during my lifetime.

I have no doubt I can go the extra mile and maintain a positive attitude while I produce better and better writing in my second book. The work is only one-third done and is far from perfect. Yet I know when the manuscript is finished, it is not finished. I will make extra, uncomfortable efforts at revision. It may mean the difference between being published again or remaining unpublished.

Ripples of Connection

There's a quote from a memoir I read entitled TALES FROM THE BED by Jenifer Estess, as told to Valerie Estess. It goes like this: "It isn't what you know, but how you perform. Skills are the essential piece of the puzzle. They help you deliver the goods."

During the last year, I have been consumed with my book that was published in April, '09, entitled, MINOR LEAGUE MOM: A MOTHER'S JOURNEY THROUGH THE RED SOX FARM TEAMS. I thought I had "delivered the goods" by writing a unique story and a readable one, then finding a publisher interested in getting it on the market. Turns out that was only step one! Marketing the book became a full-time job - book signings, radio and tv appearances, etc., etc. All of which was new to me, fun, and certainly interesting. The marketing took on a life of its own (and overtook mine in the process) and proved to be another challenge in which I had to (and still am) "delivering the goods."

The impact of publishing a book cannot be imagined beforehand. In a previous blog, I described reconnecting with a former minor league player who was on the Red Sox with our two sons in the '90's. I had written about this player, who is now a Little League coach in Florida. He's coaching a kid whose mom had read my book and contacted us. We surprised the coach with a visit.

This past week more ripples surfaced. I heard from two of my former high school English students, both from Old Town, Maine. They had heard about the book and tracked me down on the internet. Their sentiments and compliments about turning them on to the written word in the classroom (and making them memorize Shakespeare!)touched me greatly after all these years. As I told them, a teacher can remember his/her failures in the classroom with great clarity, so it is hugely satisfying to learn of the successes, as well. I guess at some point during my teaching years I had "delivered the goods."

I sincerely hope the ripples continue, not only about the first book of mine, but about the next memoir that I am now starting. Let's hope I can "deliver the goods!"

Sustaining an Injury

On April 22nd at 6:30 p.m. I will participate in a panel discussion in Cambridge, Mass., with our son Todd and Tom Brady's (the Patriot quarterback's) dad and, hopefully, his mom. Our son Todd, along with his older brother, were the subjects of my book published last April entitled, MINOR LEAGUE MOM: A MOTHER'S JOURNEY THROUGH THE RED SOX FARM TEAMS (on Amazon). The subject of the panel discussion will be, "Parenting Elite Athletes."

I'm sure that somewhere in the discussion the topic of injuries will arise, particularly injuries in the pros, where jobs are at stake. Although I am not in that category, I would like to relate my recent experience with a back injury.

I am a grandmother who works fairly hard to stay in shape. I have played on a tennis team at a rather high level for twenty years. We compete all around South Palm Beach County, Florida, from September till the middle of May. I have worked out at a fitness center twice a week for the same number of years, and I play golf twice a week. Sevven days a week I am running off to compete or exercise, including four-mile walks with my husband. I live to play sports, which are a huge component of my life, along with my family, and writing/marketing my book. Many of our current friendships today were made on the courts.

When my mother was in her eighties, she suffered from osteoporosis, then dislocated and herniated discs. Her will power enabled her to exercise faithfully for three months in a pool. This was a godsend, which kept her free of surgery till she was ninety. At that time, she cracked a vertebra, and the angioplasty (gluing procedure) which had worked for my father, unfortunately, had unforeseen consequences for my mother. After a piece of vertebra fractured off into the spinal column during angioplasty, she sustained two emergency surgeries and could not regain her strength. Ninety-two days after entering the hospital for the first operation, she passed away.

I have just experienced my first back problem, and it is purely a result of my mother's genes. Fortunately, I don't have osteoporosis, but I have a herniated and dislocated disc which has put me out of action for five weeks already.

When people say they experience back pain from stenosis or sciatica, I now know what they are suffering. The back is so fragile, and yet we put so much pressure on it with gigantic purses, books, cartons, groceries, even children and grandchildren that are too heavy for us. We do not lift with our legs, but instead with our backs. Women's heels put the back at an unnatural angle. I have learned that any treatment for the back is a matter of TIME and exercise, and the mending cannot be rushed.

I refused cortisone shots (a stopgap measure, in my view, and dangerous if too many) and stopped all activity. I entered five weeks of physical therapy; I wore a brace; I used a heating pad and always wore (and still do) sneakers for support. In order to sleep with the pain going down my leg, I bought a hard, contoured foam pillow to put between my legs to keep my spine straight. I swam laps five-six days/week. And I succumbed to taking an anti-inflammatory pill for one week, before I discontinued it because of warnings about stroke, cardio-vascular disease, and bleeding ulcerations.

Did I have withdrawal symptoms while I couldn't play team tennis? NO! I was too busy swimming laps in the pool; reading books I had piled up for months; and starting to organize the writing of my second manuscript. I actually loved the time off from the treadmill! Of course, I'm counting down the days till I step back on the court, but it will be a friendly social tennis game, not a competitive match. The matches might return eventually. One thing I've learned: you can't rush the mending of your body. Oh yes, I learned another thing: to get off the treadmill and do some things that are on your "bucket list."

Life's Evershifting Focus

As Judith Barrington wrote in Writing the Memoir, "life doesn't have a shapely plot in the way that fiction often does. It goes on day by day with an ever-shifting focus as various themes unfold over time."

The plan I had laid out for myself this winter was to begin to shape my next book, a memoir about my parents. I had all the material in journals (an old writing and teaching habit), as well as the memories of my parents' funny habits and the caregiving decisions that became necessary during their last several months.

When I sat down to organize the notes, I realized I was not ready. I had more caregivers' memoirs to read and research to do; I had a data base to collect from the sales of my previous book (Minor League Mom: A Mother's Journey through the Red Sox Farm Teams). My new writing project still waits for a narrative.

Then, suddenly, I was in pain. The bulging discs in my back had erupted and one had moved one-half inch. I had trouble walking, let alone competing in tennis and golf matches or going through my routines at the fitness center. So began the rounds of doctor's appointment, x-rays, physical therapy, and swimming laps....

Interrupted by a trip to New Jersey to celebrate a granddaughter's belated second birthday and on to Massachusetts to celebrate another's belated fifth birthday.
Life didn't have a shapely plot. I had trouble picking the three little girls up, and went to bed with heating pad, Advil, and Stop-Pain for my aches. But oh, it was so worth the effort!

I have another memory bank to draw from now - one of little girls putting on a "Disney on Ice" show complete with three changes of costume; a two-year-old getting up from her crib in the morning yelling, "Grandmaw, where are u?"; a beach party in the middle of the kitchen floor with sunblock, cardgames, towels, and snacks; a pre-school breakfast for parents, etc., etc.

The pain had to wait, and so did my writing project. Day by day there was an ever-shifting focus, one that I didn't want to miss.

HOMEWORK: Reading, 'Rithmetic, Then 'Riting

Like any other project, I cannot just dive right into it. It's the same with studying Italian or building a shed or learning to drive. There's homework that comes first to build up my skills and to learn how to structure the project.

My new project is writing another book. It will be about my parents, who lived into their nineties with healthy minds and bodies. The focus will be the funny, idiosyncratic things they did that made us laugh and remember them, before the caregiving started. That last part will have to be in there too, since the point of the book will be that I had a memory bank to draw from when the tables reversed themselves and things got rough.

I thought I was ready to begin writing. I have all the notes and journals I kept for those last years of their lives, right up until they passed away almost exactly one year apart. But I wasn't ready. I hadn't done all my homework.

I had not READ some of the books published about caring for elderly parents. Naturally, I don't intend to read them all, but at least some, that deal with the same subject about making difficult decisions with two remaining parents, then one. So I ordered a couple of them to see how they were structured and whether I had anything new to say. So far, my story and my viewpoint will be unique, as it should be. I am different, and so were my parents, from any of the other characters whose stories I have read. A publisher wants a new twist, even if it is an old story.

I had also not done the 'RITHMETIC necessary before starting this project. I had records from my previous publisher about the sales and expenses of my first book(MINOR LEAGUE MOM: A MOTHER'S JOURNEY THROUGH THE RED SOX FARM TEAMS, published by Barking Cat Books, a division of New River Press). I knew I had to sell virtually the entire first printing of that book before we broke even. We are well on the way.

But the preparation for writing involved creating a data base ('RITHMETIC) for the next book. I have now spent a month and a half putting lists together: names, addresses, emails of people who bought the book; names, addresses, emails of group members I have had the opportunity to speak before; contacts for bookstores, libraries, clubs, colleges, where I have appeared and where I hope to appear; invitation lists for book signings, etc., etc. There are over 1,000 listings so far.

Finally, when these homework steps are complete, I will begin 'RITING. 'RITING the first draft from the journals I kept will be fun. I anticipate that the storytelling will flow easily. After all, I knew the subjects intimately, since it will be a memoir. Revisions and redrafts will follow.

When the manuscript is complete, that's when the hard work really begins. Finding a publisher interested in the story is like finding a needle in a haystack. Only perseverance and luck will make it happen. And then comes the marketing, after I sign on the dotted line. That's when all the homework will pay off.

DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT: be different

Why, I ask myself, would anyone want to read a book about a mother with two sons in the Red Sox minor leagues (MINOR LEAGUE MOM: A MOTHER'S JOURNEY THROUGH THE RED SOX FARM TEAMS)? But they did! After ten months, my book has sold half of the first printing. I am astounded by this, so I analyze. I had read everything in print on the subject of minor league baseball before I started writing and discovered that I had a unique story to tell...a story of a family with two sons playing for the same pro team, with the same goal: becoming a major leaguer. Neither of them ever made it. There would be no instant name recognition to this story. Still, a mother's point-of-view was unique in the world of pro sports.

But my story also had to be readable. So I wrote my memoir in the best way I knew how. As a former writing teacher, I knew the pitfalls. I needed to have my sons, the two main characters, grab the reader's attention and sympathy. They are likable kids, smart and motivated, so that was no problem. There was plenty of family history to write about. Both boys worked so hard through the seven years in the Red Sox system, yet they were so different.

Now I am at a crossroads before beginning another memoir, this time about my elderly parents in their nineties - their funny habits and idiosyncracies, before the caregiving started. They were each healthy in mind and body until the last several months. However, I plan to chronicle the caregiving, too, since that lasted only a short time for each of them, and Ev and Walt died almost exactly a year apart. They would have passed together, if there was any way they could have planned it. I am still reading memoirs and essays published about caregiving for aging parents. I don't want to repeat what is already out there.

Here is the point. In order to do something different that a publisher will want to print and that readers will want to pick up, I've got to have a new twist, a new hook. And I do. Why? Because I am different from all those other caregivers, and my parents were different from all the other parents - loving toward their children and each other, set in their ways, yet able to charm and joke. They were fun to be around, and Walt's blue eyes created instant girlfriends among the women he met. My mom was sweet and smart, but had a real adamant streak when she decided someone had tried to get away with something. The memory bank I have is different from anyone else's.

It is this memory bank of funny stories that I will recount in order to show how I got through the end of the story. That is my twist. It is difficult enough to hold your parents in your arms while they make the transition. Without the memory bank, it would have been nearly impossible. I am different because my story is different. Isn't everyone's?

HOW DOES AN UNKNOWN AUTHOR GET PUBLISHED??

Here is my journey from handwritten journals to printed book.

Our younger son, Todd's, professional baseball career ended in 1999 during spring training with the L.A. Dodgers. He had spent six years with the Boston Red Sox, attaining AAA status (the highest level of the minor leagues) for the last two years. When the Dodgers released him in '99, it was time to move on. Our older son had played in the same Red Sox minor leagues with Todd during '92 and '93.

I had written all my life, first as a child writing poetry, then as a high school student who won writing prizes. I obtained an MA from Columbia Teacher's College in NYC and went to work teaching high school English in Connecticut, Georgia, and Maine. So it was natural for me to keep journals during our sons' saga through the Red Sox minor leagues. Besides, I think every English teacher believes he/she has a book buried within!

It took me eighteen months after the story ended to corroborate the facts and convert the journals into narrative form. That was the fun part for me! Memoirs must be completed in full to be sold.

The first step

I did what every author has encouraged future writers to do...I networked! I contacted at least 100 people I knew and told them my story; then I contacted at least three times that number whom I did not know to tell them my story. The first break was finding the brother of a Colby classmate of my husband's who was a reader for a literary agent and a published author himself. He edited my 400+ pages and convinced me I had something worthy of publication - a unique story and a readable one! His editing took six months.

The most important thing!

I then called a sportswriter for The Providence Journal newspaper (also an author and friend of the family). If you want something badly, you have to believe in yourself and then sell your product!! Over lunch, Bill Reynolds perused the first fifty pages of my manuscript and declared, "You've got to publish this!" He also recommended two resource books to purchase:

How to Write a Proposal for Literary Agents and

Guide to Literary Agents (2002) .

The latter is published yearly.

Literary Agents in a Nutshell

Manuscripts are not submitted in totality to an agent. Agents only accept proposals, which must be preceded by a query letter. Writers can spend months on the wording of the query letter, which is an introduction not only to you, the author, but also to your manuscript. Queries should only be one page long. Nathan Bransford, literary agent for Curtis Brown, Ltd., has excellent suggestions for writing the perfect query letter on his website: http://www.nathanbransford.com/. Although Nathan did not take me on as a client, I am devoted to his blogs!

I included my query letter with my proposal, since I had a prior entree to the literary agent in Boston through his reader, who was editing my manscript.

In general, if the agent likes the query letter, he will ask for the proposal. If he likes the proposal, he will ask for a partial manuscript. If he likes the partial, he will ask for the complete manuscript. I spent six months developing a seventy-page proposal for this agent in Boston, who handled sports memoirs. It is very important to find an agent who specializes in your genre, since each agent has his own niche. My query letter and proposal were hand-delivered to the literary agent in Boston by the man who had edited my manuscript.

The Waiting Game

The literary agent rotated my proposal between his office in Boston and his office in NYC. Six months later (!) I got a two-line rejection letter. Eighteen months later, I had received seventy of these two-liners. It was a Catch-22: literary agents aren't interested in an unpublished author, but how does an unknown author get published if no-one is willing to take a chance on him/her?

It was now four and one-half years since our son Todd had finished playing pro ball. Then life interfered! My Mom and Dad, healthy and in their nineties, were hospitalized for the last ninety days of their lives in successive years in the town next to us in Fla. I concentrated on their remaining months and settling their affairs for three years.

Persistence Pays Off!

Finally, I went to Plan B. I explored the option to self-publish and decided that wasn't the road for me. So I began to solicit small, independent publishers, from Florida to Maine. Fortunately, New River Press, in Woonsocket, R.I., was interested in my proposal. They had formed an imprint division for new authors from New England called Barking Cat Books. We signed a contract twelve months ago (Aug., '08), with scheduled publication for April, '09 (to coincide with the opening of baseball season).

The Hard Part

I submitted the manuscript and all the photos to the publisher electronically by early December, '08. He sent it electronically to his editor in England. As part of my proposal there was a two-page marketing plan. I began to market the book and myself on the internet in January '09. The publication date was set for April 7, '09, since my husband and I reside in Florida until May and book signings were already scheduled there before the "snow birds" went north.

The Waiting Game

We waited for the editor's final proofs...and waited...and waited. In an ideal world, the editor and author work closely together. In my case, I got three emails over three months from the editor, while the publisher remained in close contact with her.

There is something else over which the author may have little control - the book cover. In my case, I sat with the publisher and artist. Together we changed the title of the book and developed the cover. The upper section of the cover with the "heart hands" is my contribution.

Finally, the third week of March, the editor sent the final proofs, without having cut anything! The book was supposed to be shorter, with larger print. The theory in publishing is that anything over 300 pages won't sell well. Because of time constraints, we had to go with almost the entire manuscript as the editor had returned it; hence, we needed smaller print. We were under a tremendous deadline to print in THREE WEEKS!!

The pros of small, independent publishers and a lousy economy

In general, the process I am describing, from manuscript to published product, can take a year or more. Small, independent publishers have a much shorter turn-around time. The publisher chose a printer close to us in nearby Deerfield, Fla. Because of the economy, the printer was able to slide our job in first. My husband and I almost had nervous breakdowns awaiting the finished product! Invitations had gone out and deposits had been made for the book signings at various clubs around Fla. We made it with FIVE DAYS to spare!!

The cons of small, independent publishers and a lousy economy

And so began a marketing campaign that in ideal circumstances would be handled by the publicist on the publisher's staff. In this economy, my publicist was now part-time and had five other authors to deal with. The internet, book signings, the ads, radio interviews, press became overwhelming for me. I hired a publicist in NYC for three months - all I could afford. Like agents, publicists specialize. Mine handles radio and tv. All the rest is up to me, except distribution and websites. I now spend two - four hours every day marketing. I hired a videographer and we put a promo video on YouTube. The book has its own website; I have a Facebook page, and two blogs (this is one). I am still learning how to spread the viewer base on the internet. I have two book signings/presentations with powerpoint show every week which I must prepare for.

A Wild Ride and a Full-time Job

So, ten years after our second son finished his pro career, I have a finished product called, MINOR LEAGUE MOM: A MOTHER'S JOURNEY THROUGH THE RED SOX FARM TEAMS. It's been a new life for me, from teacher to interior designer to author - interesting, challenging, exciting. Certainly the most fun has been interacting with wonderful people I meet at the book events. As Nathan Bransford said in his blog on August 11, '09, "There's no such thing as 'just an author' anymore, and I suspect there never was."

Visit the book's website: www.minorleaguemom.net

NO TIME TO WRITE!

I have published a book in April from Barking Cat Books entitled, MINOR LEAGUE MOM: A MOTHER'S JOURNEY THROUGH THE RED SOX FARM TEAMS. It is the saga of our two sons in the Red Sox organization from 1992-99, and is written entirely from a mother's perspective. It chronicles the triumphs and tragedies of the minor leaguers on their way to the big leagues, as well as the effect on the parents. Although neither of our sons made it to the majors, one played at the highest level of the minors (AAA) for two years with many future stars who did make it.

I kept journals during the seven years the boys played in the pros. After their dream ended, I converted the story into narrative form. I promised them I would wait to publish until they were firmly established in other careers. I also promised our sons they would be the first to read my manuscript and could edit as they wished. This is indeed what happened.

Another time I will describe my journey to get my manuscript into print as a first-time author.
At the moment, I want future authors to know that once my book was in print, I have had an almost full-time job to market the work. This is expected by the publisher, especially in today's economy, with staff cut-backs. Unfortunately, I am spending ALL my time on the internet, developing book signing/presentation dates, preparing for them, or doing radio/tv interviews, etc., etc.

I have been a fan of the literary agent Nathan Bransford (Curtis Brown, Ltd.) since well before I found a publisher, despite the fact that he passed on my query to have him represent me!
I find fault with his latest blog, which describes the publishing process. He neglects to reveal the incredible commitment an author must devote to marketing during the year after publication.
To his credit, however, in a blog on August 11, '09, he stated, "There's no such thing as 'just an author' anymore, and I suspect there never was." How true!