Currently querying: THE COST OF BREATH
To really fight for my son, I had to confront a question that no one around us was willing to face: would more extreme interventions help him, or prolong his suffering? And if we intervened again, what kind of life would we be asking him to live?
When my son Declan was born with a rare disease, my husband and I said yes to every possible intervention and treatment. A trach, ventilator, g-tube, surgeries, round-the-clock nursing care; anything that might give him a chance at a good life. As long as there was hope for something better, we would fight. Over the next decade, our family endured repeated near-death crises and relentless failures by systems and people that were supposed to support him, and by extension, us. As evidence of his suffering grew and his progress stalled, the question at the center of our lives began to change. It was no longer about how far we were willing to go to keep him alive, but whether continuing to fight was right for him.
Combining the emotional impact of A Heart That Works with the long-term medical caregiving of Breath Taking, it confronts the taboo quality-of-life question at the heart of Me Before You: When does fighting to preserve life become prolonging suffering instead?
As a hospital ethics director who read the manuscript put it, there are very few voices that speak honestly about caring for medically complex children and the impossible treatment decisions parents face. The book will help both parents and clinicians understand that space.
To stay updated on my progress, see below!
If you don't want to be on my newsletter list, but just want to be notified when the book is released:
Publishing is a Process!
I’ve learned a lot about publishing since I started working to bring this book into the world. The biggest and most challenging lesson is that writing the manuscript is only the first step. After that, the process usually looks something like this:
-
Developmental editing - a brutal process that takes a lot of time. At least for my book.
-
Find an agent (which is difficult in itself). Agents work on commission, meaning they are only paid if your book sells. They receive thousands of submissions and take on enormous risk with each client they represent.
-
Further develop the manuscript with your agent
-
Your agent sells the book to a publisher
-
You’re matched with an editor and go through additional rounds of editing
-
The book cover and interior design are created
-
Marketing, publicity, and speaking opportunities are planned
-
The book is published
-
And then the work of getting it into the world truly begins
To make things more complicated, the real path is rarely this linear. There is a lot of “wash, rinse, repeat” along the way.
_______________________________________________________________________________
My most frequently asked question is:
When will your book be published, and what’s the status?
I have completed the full developmental overhaul of my manuscript with the help of a professional editor and am thrilled with the results. I'm diving back into querying agents! Wish me luck!