The steps toward publishing my first book Deep Breathing: Finding Calm amid Cancer Anxiety are accelerating to a run these days! The book has been a long time comin’ . . . the original journal during my six-month cancer adventure in 2013-14 had to be whittled from 140,000 words to 80,000 for publication—no small feat, and I had lots of help! Currently, I am rereading it in its various formats to give final approval for ePUB and Kindle, as well as the print version. The mechanics of getting a book in the hands of an intended audience have many moving parts, and providing a digital version these days is a big one.
Meanwhile, through all the technical aspects, I keep my eye on the purpose for writing it and the people who may benefit from it. I hope Deep Breathing becomes a companion to many through their own anxious journeys—whatever type of worry-cloud hovers—and brings blessing and reassurance especially to my friends in the lung cancer community. But who would have known a teeny-tiny virus would become an almost universal threat worldwide? As I have re-read my book in this new context, I realize that the same mindset I adopted while sick with cancer still applies, no matter the threat.