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“A Whole New Normal walks readers through the journey of a person who is confronted with the treatment for an acoustic neuroma. The author gives an honest and vulnerable testimony to the complex emotions, fears and challenges people face with such a life disrupting experience. As a surgeon who treats scores of people for this condition every year, I value this book as an asset for people in all phases of their treatment path.”

Douglas Backous, M.D. FACS

Medical Director of the Center for Hearing and Skull Base Surgery, Swedish Medical Center

Local writers Marla Bronstein, A Whole New Normal, and Marian Exall, A Slippery Slope, both chose to self-publish their work in 2013. Exall has written a mystery novel featuring a female protagonist, while Bronstein’s book is a memoir about her struggle with acoustic neuroma. Learn about their individual writer’s journeys and how their books are faring in the rapidly changing world of publishing. VB’s Brendan Clark will also be on hand to discuss local self-publishing options.

For more information, check here:
http://www.villagebooks.com/event/marian-exall-marla-bronstein

I hope you can join me!

More details here.

There are only ten copies of the book from the first printing that are not yet spoken for at Village Books.

Earlier this evening, I uploaded the revised (and hopefully last) version of the book to be printed.  This one has wider inside margins and the font is a tad bigger, so people with BRAIN TUMORS won’t get headaches reading it!

Sheesh!

I also am pleased as punch to be able to share  many lovely words of support, encouragement and appreciation from medical, literary and another AN patient here and on the book cover.

I’m so excited, and very proud of the book, and really really grateful to my friend and uber-talented artist-designer-all-around-reniassance man Les Campbell, for all of his beautiful work making the inside of my book be worthy of the cover he designed to contain it.

It’s three weeks till my reading at Village Books (see here) and I hope to have copies for everyone who wants one.

Dean and Dudly Evanson were brought into my life over ten years ago..and their music has guided me as I faced two major surgeries and all the way through recovery….please spend seven minutes of your life watching this…

Thanks for listening….

“Most AN patients recover well from their treatment and go on happily with their lives. Unfortunately, some of the few who do have complications are much more vocal, and their stories are very accessible. Marla’s story offers balance. I would recommend this book to give hope and comfort to any person recently diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma or considering undertaking treatment.”
Farrokh Farrokhi, MD, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, WA

He was kind enough to send this to me  to place on the back cover of the book…

I am honored, humbled and touched beyond words!!

“Most AN patients suffer no consequences from their treatment and go on happily with their lives.  Unfortunately, some of the few who do have complications are much more vocal, and their stories are very accessible.  Marla’s story offers balance.  I would recommend this book to give hope and comfort to any person recently diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma or considering undertaking treatment.”

Farrokh Farrokhi, MD, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, WA

Dr. Superman came through…well…his office called today anyway and said he liked the book and would be happy to write a sentence or two in support for the back cover.

I CAN BARELY CONTAIN MYSELF!!!!!

This is all so real!!

And all this, with an updated printing of the book being worked on this week…fixing a few typos, formatting issues and overall enlarging the font a bit, making it  a tad easier for those of us with brain tumors to read. I can’t help it, I want it to be perfect.

All will be completed in time for October 9 at 7pm. when Village Books here in Bellingham has agreed to allow me to have a reading and signing event!!  I’ll post more info here (and everywhere) when it gets closer, but save the date!

Today I received a phone call from Dr. Wonderful.  Yes, it freaked me out for just a moment, and then I heard the three little words every writer longs to hear…..

“Wow, Great Book!” (or something like that….)

And the first copy will be arriving in Australia soon!

These two events made my day, not only because it’s been a long challenging week at work and I was exhausted, but also because so many copies of A Whole New Normal  have been bought  by friends and strangers on line, purchased in the store and mailed by me…and nary a word.  Do I “need” the feedback?

Need is such a, well, needy word…

I don’t NEED it, but I’ll tell you I have been floating on cloud 9 all afternoon…

A dream-come-true would be a hospital/neurological center buying books to give to their newly diagnosed patients.

So, if you have purchased the book, please let me know what you think..if you haven’t gotten your copy yet..why not?   (find it Here)

This morning was a buffet breakfast (OMG..I restrained myself from O.D.-ing on the bacon) then closing comments, and off to the last two breakout sessions.

Today was “my” day, the first was “Coping with an AN” where Kate Boswell ran a breakout session we heard seven strategies to deal with the AN, and yes, I did all of them during the course of my journey! The second was East-West medicine, where he talked about acupuncture and acupressure. Check.

Then it was over.

Really?

So soon?

I got a little misty-eyed, I mean, when am I ever going to have a chance to be in a room (cold and noisy BTW) with so many people who have lived my story? I made a lot of new friends who I hope to keep in touch with. I gave my contact info to EVERY newly diagnosed and watch and wait person I talked to. That was my favorite part of the whole weekend.

I hope to join the ANA in two years when they meet again. I wonder what it would take to get them to come to Seattle?

😉

I hung out at the pool for a little while, then decided to go for a walk. There’s a photo exhibit across the road from my hotel, then I took a walk down Avenue of the Stars. I guess people don’t normally do that, because two cabs stopped and offered me rides.

It will be good to be home.