Bright Spot

Something to look forward to! Yesterday I got the advance copy of the anthology on and for parents of disabled kids in which I published an essay, Easy to Love but Hard to Raise. I've had that title backwards all this time, and perhaps because of my glass half-empty psyche, still hear it better that way. But never mind that! I've been reading the whole book, essays and in-between commentary, and think it is fantastic! If I had a book like this one when I was bringing up my kid, it would have made all the difference in the world. What a blessing that it will be out there, spawning all sorts of support groups, conferences, perhaps a whole movement that will help all those who don't know what to do to help their kids. The only thing I don't see there so far, and I'm scarcely 25% through the book, having just gotten it late yesterday afternoon, after going to the post office and paying postage due, is stuff about what the law says schools and public institutions owe our kids, what we can fairly ask for. I'm going to tell my friend in Philadelphia, Linda, to write to the blog for the book on Facebook, and perhaps she can add that dimension to the discussion.
I shouldn't put so much hope into this, but I'm thinking that if this book hits it big, perhaps I can draw some attention to my writing and pick up some sort of online writing job or teaching or something or get my books picked up by a publisher somewhere. This is the kind of thing people will buy; I know, because I have bought many books on similar subjects, and at one point, I would have bought anything I thought could help us deal with the difficulties of raising a kid with neurological differences.
I told the editors I wanted to help market the book by contacting NPR and doing interviews, doing readings, chatting up Facebook, or whatever. The book comes out in November. I can't wait!