Writing About Myself

So much of Depression Cookies is about my youth (fictionalized for better reading), and I never felt shy or unsure about putting it all out there under the guise of my character, Krista. Anyone who knows me will see me in Krista, but it still gave me a shield. I talked about this shield in an earlier post. I can't imagine writing the same novel as a non-fiction piece.

I still haven't written, or even really tried to write, my Author biography and now I'm also faced with writing an Acknowledgements section. So much to consider. Two years ago, we met a small publisher by the name of Stephan Horvath. My mom had been in several writers groups with him and finally got up the nerve to pass him our unfinished manuscript. We assumed he'd hand it back and give us some feedback to help us move forward (or realize we needed to stop!).

Instead, he wanted to publish us under his Picarra label AND was very excited about our book. It was the first time Mom and I actually believed we had something more than just a book we needed to print off for family members and save for my girls. Unfortunately, he passed away from a sudden heart attack just a year ago after finally editing our completed manuscript. He certainly will be in that Acknowledgements section, but I also feel bad because we ultimately decided not to publish with his company. It is now run by his wife and daughter, and although they contacted us and wanted to still work with us, we didn't feel they had the passion for it Stephan did. Strange, I never would have dreamed a man would enjoy our book. I so see it as women's fiction.

But, I digress . . . how do you thank all the people over the last thirty-eight years that inspired this piece of work? I don't want to bore the reader by going on and on, but I also don't want to forever be correcting a major omission like almost every Hollywood star/starlet after receiving an award. Is it better to just say, "I thank everyone who has been an inspiration to this work, both living and dead. You know who you are." So lacking yet the best way to succinctly cover everyone.

I breathed such a sigh of relief when I typed the last words and hit send on the manuscript, but there are so many details in the publication process. It took ten years to write this puppy, now I'm wondering how many years it will be until I see the completed work sitting on my bookshelf (and hopefully on a few others).

Off to sit and consider . . .