Butterfly Words Flying Onto the Page

When Barton and I met with the designer who will be designing the covers and interior of our book, little did I realize I would be publishing my own memoir, Chrysalis: Colors of the Rainbow before the manuscript Barton and I are working on together. Chrysalis is more complete, and to put our time to use, we decide that I will work on completing Chrysalis in preparation for publication.

Two weeks ago, I took off a day so I could attend a luncheon meeting. However, instead of attending the luncheon, I found myself at the coffee shop with Barton. I pulled out Chrysalis and find that my hands are flying across the page. In addition to edits from my editor, I wrote for five hours. Five hours. At the end, while I was exhausted, it was an incredible moment, to feel the flow of writing so strongly.

In two weeks, I have completed many edits and additions, worked on front and back matter and began preparing formatting for publication. Because the book includes information on a pharmaceutical medication, I had my lawyer look at it to make sure I wouldn’t be held liable for any claim. I've written to those who I wanted to read it, write a testimonial, and I am still waiting to hear back from the author I asked to write the foreword.

It’s been difficult to focus on my day-to-day work because I am so inspired- it is a force that just takes over. I have to write, absorbed for hours at a time. I see the progression, and the movement toward publication.

I have been waiting to publish this manuscript, and it’s had many versions. The first one was getting everything I could remember about my mother down on paper. Then I began to work on my emotions surrounding events of the mother’s death. I’ve gone through several complete revisions, and it did end up on a shelf for several years. At Barton's request, I took it off the shelf to review.

This next year, I hope to be doing more in terms of therapeutic writing, so the timing is feels right to get it out. The momentum has picked up speed, and now, I’m waiting on just a few missing pieces. The designer is still looking into the possibility of using my mother's painting as the cover design. No matter when it comes out or how, I am excited, and for the first time in a long time, I have felt that flow of writing take over.