Dancing With Dementia Release Date

Dancing With Dementia has a release date!

March 31, 2020.

About 2 months away … so cue the freak out!

This book has been a labour of love for the last few years. The majority of the book is the story our journey. The collection of stories should make you laugh, sigh, shake your head, and blink back a few tears.

The latter part of the book includes lists for people who have someone with dementia in their lives. There are lists of early warning signs we’ve seen, tips to redirect and reassure those with dementia, ideas to ease communication, tips on how to make the move to a nursing home or other living situation, and tips to take care of the caregiver.

Dementia is NOT an easy disease. It’s horrific and cruel. We’ve managed to keep our Mom mostly happy and content. She's still laughing, still dancing. We hope our story will help others who are in the first steps of this dance with Dementia.

If you are interested in an ARC, please let me know (in the comments, email, or sign up for the newsletter).

The wonderful Mason Canyon (MC Book Tours) is going to help me out by hosting a blog tour for the release. If you are interested, you can sign up HERE.

My website is now active. 

I've set up another blog to discuss more things dementia related. 

I also have a YouTube Channel devoted to Quick Tips based on ideas in the book.

The only links I have available at the moment are for Amazon. Here are .com and .ca links, but it should be available in all countries. The price is set at $0.99 (US) for preorders and the first couple of weeks after release. After that, the price will jump up.

Amazon.com           Amazon.ca.         Apple Books.         Kobo           Barnes & Noble

Add it to your Goodreads shelf here!

Once other links for the books are ready, I'll let you know!

So, that's the news! If you know anyone who might benefit from the book or tips, I hope you'll let them know. Thanks!!

IWSG & The 1 Wish

The Insecure Writer's Support Group is the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. He, his clones, minions, friends, and fellow authors make it an amazing event every month.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

And we’re revving up IWSG Day to make it more fun and interactive! Every month, we'll announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.

***
April 3 question: If you could use a wish to help you write just ONE scene/chapter of your book, which one would it be? (examples: fight scene / first kiss scene / death scene / chase scene / first chapter / middle chapter / end chapter, etc.)

Wow - what a thought-provoking question!

I think (at this moment anyway!) that I would use my wish on the final chapter.
Tying up loose ends can be such a challenge!

In my romance stories, I tend to be a little cheesy when I write the first draft of the last chapter.

In my dementia project - which is a combo of memoir/narrative non-fiction and self-help advice for caregivers of those with dementia - tying up the entire book and ending with encouragement and hope is proving to be a little challenging as well. I think I'm almost there, though!

Over all of these though, I think I would spend that wish on writing the blurb that will pull in ALL the readers! 😀

How about you, where would you spend that wish?

Genre Help Please!

For the last couple of years, our lives have been dominated by dementia. Two of our loved ones were diagnosed over a year ago, although the condition was consuming us all long before the diagnosis.

As part of a way to deal with it all, I've been compiling the stories into a book (because that's what we do, right?).

I don't plan on using real names. I'm not out to embarrass anyone (some of the stories are snort-laughing funny, others are heartbreaking).

It's not a memoir. It's not a self-help book. It's not strictly nonfiction as I've changed names and have avoided some details to avoid identifying anyone.

It reads like a story. It is a story. A story of our family, our struggles, our victories, our pain, and our love.

This isn't a medical book. I have no medical knowledge, just experience. While it could be considered a guide for people caring for those with dementia or Alzheimer's, it's not exactly that. It's a journey. Our journey. One that might help a lot of people in similar positions.

The tone of the book will be light-hearted despite the pain and sorrow, because that's the best way we know how to survive.

My question of you, is:

What the heck am I writing? How do I classify it? Any ideas?