Way back in the olden days of 2006/2007 when this blog first started, I had a lot of people tell me I should write a book.
At first I didn’t see the point, then as I started to see what the appeal was to people I didn’t have the time to dedicate to it (I was slightly busy with new lungs) and when I finally thought about it seriously, I realised the moment had passed and my story had been told.
Over the last couple of months, though, I’ve been looking back over my early posts leading up to my transplant and realised that it’s actually still a remarkable story. What really sold me on it was how emotional I became reading back through it, not just remembering the highs and lows, but also seeing just how much of a roller coaster journey it was.
So, in order to coincide with my 5th 2nd Birthday (or 5th transplant anniversary if you want to be boring about it) at the end of November, I’m going to be publishing SmileThroughIt as a book!
I don’t know quite what forms it will take yet – definitely Kindle, but hopefully other eBook formats, too, as well as hard copy if I can get things organised in time. I’m hoping to put the release and the profits towards promoting organ donation and transplantation in the hope that I can make some small difference to the people out there waiting on the interminable journey I went on.
There’s a lot of things up in the air about the release at the moment, not least the title of the book. It will almost certainly be called “Smile Through It”, but it needs a catchy sub-title, too, so I’m throwing open the floor to suggestions from all of you guys.
Some thoughts I’ve had so far:
- Life in Limbo
- Life Lessons from Near Death
- Waiting for Go
I’m sure that my wonderful, creative readership will have many better suggestions, so please throw them in the comments or ping me a message on Twitter.
I’m also going to be looking for someone to help me with the cover design for the book, since my art-working skills aren’t really up to snuff, so if you know anyone or fancy a crack yourself, drop me a line.
Last, but not least, I’ll be keeping you updated on the progress of the book but if you want to be kept fully in-the-loop and up-to-date you’ll need to be signed up to my newsletter, where you’ll not only get my free eBook The Art of the Second Chance, but also other exclusive SmileThroughIt content.
Let me know what you think about this plan and if you have any suggestions for it, leave me a comment and let me know!