Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Behind the Scene



Wow!  What a wild ride this has been.  I am so happy things fell into place like they did.  I look back at my initial brainstorming session from March 2014 when I entertained the idea of documenting our family story.  The process was a bit overwhelming at first because I was not sure 1) if I could accurately remember all of details of the events, both big and small; and 2) whether or not I would be able to find the time to develop the story in a way that would interest people. 
I had some ideas how I wanted to execute it but I also had reservations because I was not sure I wanted to make the time commitment.  Our experience with the spiritual medium was so amazing and it brought peace to our family.  During the reading Lilly mentioned there was something big planned for me after my surgery with an emphasis on this ‘big event’ being outside of my comfort zone.   We all wondered what it would be but we knew we had to be patient and see what would transpire.  

I walked away from my computer for nearly two months because life was busy and my heart just wasn’t into it at that time.  May 5, 2014 was a turning point for me.  I knew as soon as I read the article “Tell the Untold ‘God Thing’ Stories in Your Life” I was supposed to keep brainstorming and make a commitment to document our story.  A few days later I heard, for the first time, about the book titled “It’s a God Thing” on the KLove radio station.  It was the string of events that fueled my fire to start writing.  

I could not get the thought of writing out of my mind.  I continued to brainstorm where I left off in March and I could not stop.  Every time I sat down at the computer my fingers did the typing.  All of the memories came flooding back and my fingers could not keep up with my thoughts.  I started telling my family about my journal and the idea of blogging about it to share our multiple spiritual events with everyone.  We were all very excited at the idea.  I estimated I would have 75 pages in a Word document when I was finished but ultimately I ended up with 201!  I truly feel God gave me the grace to write and to tell our story. 

I started working hard on the entries in hopes I would complete a vast majority of it before my surgery on June 16, 2014.   I knew it was going to be a 7+hour procedure so I wanted to provide a distraction for my family so they could not worry about me during the surgery.  I was able to complete approximately 11 entries before my surgery.  I allowed myself a few weeks at home to recover but then I decided it was time to plow through and get several more entries completed.  I wanted to keep my mind busy while I was not working so the transition back to the office would be a bit easier.  I was on a lifting restriction and Chelsea was at our house taking great care of Bryson, Holden and Layton.

After several entries I decided to get to work on the boys’ scrapbooks.  Since Holden came along I was unable to keep up with printing off pictures and putting them in albums.  I started doing scapbooking through Shutterfly and I set a goal to complete Bryson and Holden’s 2013 albums.  As I was completing the albums, an advertisement jumped out at me.  On the right of the Shutterfly  screen was an ad that said, “Do you want to get your work published?”  I never pay attention to all of the pop ups but that one caught my attention.  I clicked on the ad and it took me to the Author House website.  I filled out a one page form and clicked ‘submit.’

A few days later a representative of Author House contacted me to discuss my inquiry.  We talked about the process of getting a book published and the packages available.  I told him I would talk to my family and would get back with him.  After some discussion with my Dad, Rochelle and Josh, we decided this would be a great tribute to Mom and a keepsake for our family.  Our goal was to tell our story so our children could one day understand who Mom was and what her life was about.  

Near the end of July 2014 I contacted the gentleman at Author House and signed the papers.  He told me I was under no time frame to get my final manuscript submitted.  After I got off the phone with him, I got on my blog and I saw it had 6,462 hits.  I starred at the number for a brief moment because it seemed significant.  First of all I was shocked that after 4-5 weeks there was that much interest in our story but then it hit me.  The number 6462 was the last part of Mom’s cell phone for many years.  I really felt that was a sign that this is the ‘big event’ Lilly kept referring to during the reading.  That same day, my Check In Coordinator, Rochelle (Keith) contacted me.  Again I felt this was the path I was supposed to take and it definitely was outside of my comfort zone.  



The countless hours spent on typing each entry is absolutely worth the end result.  The whole process was therapeutic and it really helped me cope with Mom’s illness and passing.  There were times I had to walk away from the computer because the emotions were just too raw.  I would go to bed and lay there thinking about how I would complete the entry and tie it into the next one.  I enjoyed going through old pictures and talking with my family about various memories for clarification.  We reminisced about all of the time we spent and the memories we made as a family.  

The last entry was completed on December 28, 2014 at 11:01 p.m.  I was determined to get my final manuscript to the publishing company before the new year but I missed the mark.  I spent several hours during the holiday weekend editing my manuscript.  There were several rules I had to abide by before I could submit the final work to the publishing company.  We also decided to purchase an editing package so the book could be written as well as possible.  We were reassured the content would not be changed but word usage, tense and punctuation would be the main focus.  They charge per word so I knew I needed to cut out a lot of items to help minimize the cost of editing. 
Once I was finished with combining all of my entries into one document and editing the transcript, I had to draft a portion on “About the Author” and a brief summary of the story for the back of the book.  I also had to submit my thoughts on what I wanted the cover to look like.  Once that was completed, I was able to move forward with the online submission process.  This was completed on January 4, 2015.  My manuscript passed content evaluation on January 9, 2015.  During that process, potential copyright issues were addressed.  I had to reach out to the author of the “God Thing” article as well as the author of the “Schmidt Sisters Make Their Mark” in order to reference them in the book.  Both authors were very responsive and executed the release to use their articles in the book.  I had to get written permission from Rochelle to use her Caring Bridge entries in the book.  Of course, that was the easiest and least time consuming request I had to submit.  

Also during that process, I had to contact the producer of bib number 333 from Jason’s Bug Run so I could use a copy of the picture of the bib in the book.  I was shocked how quickly the company got back to me.  Finally, I had to reach out to the Jadon’s Hope Foundation to make sure it was okay to use the picture of the bib in the book.  I received a very heartfelt response from the father of Jadon and I am looking forward to running the 5K on April 8th in Olathe in honor of Jadon!
The funniest request I had from the publishing company was to get permission from Dad since he was “modeling on the cover.”  I had to read that email twice and I immediately called Dad.  You had to be there but it was so funny!  Clearly this was an error on their end because we had no intention of having Dad serve as the “model” on the front cover.   We concluded the misunderstanding happened because the picture we ultimately chose for the cover initially had Dad in it.  The picture was taken on the day of Rochelle and Scott’s wedding.  As soon as Josh found that picture on his old computer, I knew it was the one we had to use for the cover.  I love how vibrant and happy Mom looks in the picture.  We chose to crop Dad out of the picture so the focus could be on Mom as she was faded into the clouds.  

On January 29, 2015 the editor was ready to take over.  We were told the process would take about a month.  I received the edited manuscript on February 27th and at that time I had two choices.  I could either read through and accept and/or decline the suggested changes or I could not read through it and agree to all of the changes.  By this time, I was getting tired of going through the process and I was not sure I had it in me to read through the manuscript again.  I was tempted to agree to the changes without reading it but I knew it was important to read through and make sure the suggested changes made sense.  I described it to people as if I was on the last mile of a marathon.  I wanted to give up but I knew I was so close and I would regret not taking the time.  

I locked myself in our room one weekend and read through the manuscript from start to finish accepting and declining changes.  I was so relieved when I submitted it back to the publishing company on March 1st.  A few days later I checked my email and I saw that the proofs were ready.  They emailed me a draft copy of the cover as well as the pages formatted for a 6x9 book.  The tears filled up in my eyes when I saw the cover for the first time.  I was so excited to finally see it all come together.  I called Dad and Deanna and Rochelle and Scott.  I emailed them a copy and asked for feedback.  We were all very pleased with the progress.  

At that time, I was provided a form to identify up to 25 changes I wanted to make both for the cover and for the inside of the book.  I really did not want to have to read through it again but I knew this was my one final chance to make any/all necessary changes.  As I identified changes I pulled out the page and added it to the pile.  At the end I counted up the changes and there were 32.  I then identified the most important 25 changes of the 32 and filled out the form.  The following morning I submitted the changes and the following day I received the proof with the requested changes.  I compared the form to the proof and agreed with all of the changes.  I emailed them to Deanna at work and asked her to take a quick look.  We agreed everything looked good and I submitted the approval form.  Just then Deanna called me but I could not take the call.  She sent me an email and said she noticed changes made to some of the captions under the pictures.  The changes made were an error on the publisher’s end.  They applied a caption change to the incorrect picture.  I was so glad she found the error when she did.  I contacted my check in coordinator and she rectified the problem. 
I was informed on March 10, 2015 the book became available for purchase.  I was notified today that e-books are also available.  Below is a link to the Author House website where you can read a preview and/or purchase the book. 

http://bookstore.authorhouse.com/AdvancedSearch/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=Strings+from+Above

I really hope our story brings hope, peace and comfort to others who need encouragement during difficult times.  Our blog has over 17,000 hits and has been read by people in France, Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Germany, Turkey, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland.  If our story has impacted just one person our mission is complete.  

I still have not found any strings since June 2014, however we continue to receive gentle reminders that Mom is present in our lives.  A few months ago, Layton passed by a shadow box with Mom’s pictures and he stopped and pointed up and said, “Nana.”  I was taken back because we had not pointed that out to him before.  Just the other day, Chelsea told me she felt as if something brushed by her.  She glanced over expecting to see either Bryson or Holden but they were in the basement.  She then looked back at Layton, who was in the tub, and he was pointing and saying, “Papa’s Nana!” 

Once again, thank you for your constant love and support!  I truly believe God had a plan for all of this and we are so humbled and blessed to have walked this journey!  


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