I’ll be away for a few days. I’ve been asked to do a reading and a book signing. When the arrangements are firm, I’ll post the information. Write me your thoughts if you get a chance. Thanks.
Mar 17
A reader told me that she enjoyed the scenes of academic life and how Maggie coped with the problems that were brought to her. She also said that Maggie’s physical limitations were part of who she was and did not prevent her from living a full life which included love and romance. I love hearing from my readers. It makes me feel that “A Girl Like Me,” touched someone’s life.
Mar 10
As the book began to take shape, it irritated me more and more that the wheelchair had this broken weld. I took it to a commercial welder in a nearby town. When I opened the trunk of the car, the three men inside all came over to see what I had. They lifted the chair out and took it inside for evaluation. I explained about the chair and how I used it in my book. They argued on how best to fix it. It was quickly repaired and then the new weld was smoothed down and polished. I tried to pay for the repair but they refused. I promised them a copy when the book was finished. Thanking them, I took the chair home and set it aside. I had it firmly in my mind. More scenes came to me and the chair receded into the background. More soon.
Mar 02
February turned into March and early in April, I went to the town dump. Partly to get rid of trash and partly to take a break from writing. Someone had discarded a wheelchair which sat on top of the pile. It made me angy that someone had discarded an item which looked seviceable and could be used by others. I grabbed the chair, put it in the trunk of my car and took it home.
It had seemed okay at the dump, but on closer inspection, I found it had a broken weld. Opening the chair, I sat in it and tried to get the feel on how it worked. It was easy enough to manuever and I tried to imagine Maggie sitting in it. Whenever I felt a bit stuck in my writing, I went downstairs and sat in the chair, wheeling myself around. –More details soon.
Feb 29
I began “A Girl Like Me” in February 2006. Two years have now whizzed by and the book is now available from Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com. No one told me that the book would take a year to write and another year to get it into print.
Upon reflection, I feel I was fortunate in NOT knowing the obstacles that lay ahead. I just went ahead wrote the book and did everything else (with help of course) that needed to be done
More soon,
Mike London
