Ask the Author: Darcy Leech
Answered Questions (13)
Darcy Leech
Well, for me I was the daughter and sister of loved ones with muscular dystrophy. My brother was born when I was 3, so I didn't really know life any other way. We learned to appreciate each day for what it was worth, the value the moment we were in, and to express as much love as possible in quality time and genuine affection. Things mattered less, material success mattered less, and life was beautiful. There were challenges of course, and my dad bore most the burden as the wage earner and most physically capable in the family. He made many sacrifices. Those sacrifices made us better and each day more meaningful though. The story doesn't sugar coat our lives, but the story does convey that perseverance and love on stronger than disease. The giveaway just ended (and I didn't see you name on the winner list... sorry...) but I think you'd find From My Mother very meaningful and I hope you get the chance to read it!
Darcy Leech
End of Watch sounds like an interesting read on at least one similar topic to From My Mother - life support and end of life care. Probably a different twist in a Stephen King psychological thriller... maybe I'll have to pick it up sometime!
And yes, I do read non-fiction. I love non-fiction actually. I taught AP Language and Composition for six years and taught almost exclusively non-fiction texts. My favorite non-fiction author I've read the most books from is probably Malcolm Gladwell. Riding the Bus with My Sister is my favorite non-fiction memoir. You?
And yes, I do read non-fiction. I love non-fiction actually. I taught AP Language and Composition for six years and taught almost exclusively non-fiction texts. My favorite non-fiction author I've read the most books from is probably Malcolm Gladwell. Riding the Bus with My Sister is my favorite non-fiction memoir. You?
Darcy Leech
Sounds ambitious, but interesting. My best advice is to make a good outline to see if all the parts fit well together before starting. With a strong outline and purposeful attention to sensory details and helping the reader "see" the science fiction word, the drama should come to life!
Darcy Leech
I posted From My Mother as the author. And actually, I found that book on Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
It looks interesting. Tell me if you post a review and I'll go read it!
It looks interesting. Tell me if you post a review and I'll go read it!
Darcy Leech
My most recent read is 1001 Ways to Market Your Books by John Kremer. It's a pragmatic read to help me in my quest as an author! My New Year's resolution was to read a book about the publishing industry per week. I haven't met that goal exactly, but if you read my Goodreads reviews, you can see some of the best ones I've read lately!
Darcy Leech
From My Mother will help readers like me grapple with some very tough questions. It will be worth the read!
Darcy Leech
o In the process of finding a publisher for From My Mother, I had a chapter excerpt, “Beyond Willpower”, nationally published in the Quest Magazine: http://quest.mda.org/article/beyond-w.... The comments and new Facebook friends I met helped me know that my honest self-revelation was affecting real people in meaningful ways. After that article was published, I knew I had a worthwhile reason to finish. I also published a Kansas Poem of the Week: https://150kansaspoems.wordpress.com/... I wrote that poem in college, and my professor wanted me to seek publication. I refused because the writing is a moving picture of how as a surviving sibling of a terminally ill brother, I lost a bit of my parents too. I didn’t want my mother to read the poem because the piece is an extended metaphor comparing my mother to my lilac “who outlived her Son and weeps”. It conveys my family’s battle with depression and moving forward after losing my 13 year old brother with special needs. I also have a blog where I write about the publishing process, reflections on my family and philosophical musings about genetic diseases and cures.
Darcy Leech
o I write part-time currently, but I’m hoping to be a career author one day. Currently, I work as an instructional technology coach helping teachers learn how to successfully use technology in the curriculum. I was an AP Language and Composition teacher for six years, and believe in the goals of education and a person’s ability to absorb life lessons from good books. I enjoy working as an educator and appreciate having summers to write.
Darcy Leech
o I wrote often when my mother was in the hospital, but my writing went silent shortly after she passed. I threw myself into daily life and tended to my infant son trying to forget the beeps of the oxygen monitor. My mind wouldn’t rest, and eventually neither would my pen. I shared parts of my story online. One of my mentors and college professors told me I should apply for a Lana Jordan Aspiring Artist Grant with the Salina Arts and Humanities Commission. I did and won a fully funded grant. The grant funding gave me the resources and confidence I needed to land a contract. So, writing for healing is what started me, then the support of people who had read parts of the work helped me finish. The writing was painful. At times I wanted to quit, but I knew there were readers out there who deserved the story. I wrote for them.
Darcy Leech
o This book is part of my calling in life – I feel destined to write it being the healthy daughter of the strongest woman I will ever know who carried a genetic degenerative disease. When my brother passed away when I was 16, I carried a notebook with me everywhere, and I wrote essays to cope with the feelings and mute the stimulus around me. Writing is a survival tactic for me, and so is reading well-written, honest stories I can relate to. I want to offer people in families like mine a story which stares adversity in the face and comes out stronger. I’m drawn to the genre because reading true stories is one of the best ways to learn life’s lessons without having to make the mistakes. I would have been a better person if I could have read a book like From My Mother when I was 15 or 25.
Darcy Leech
o From My Mother is an inspirational non-fiction narrative, a memoir on surviving and thriving in a family ravaged by genetic disease. For those interested in the genre, it also serves as a piece of narrative medicine, showing the human emotional and psychology effects of a family affected by a rare, incurable genetic disease. A story of resilience and strength, it is a faith story of a woman who, when she cannot speak because of a tracheostomy in her throat, motioned like a butterfly to tell her family she was ready “fly away home.” Above all, From My Mother is a true story of connection in the human condition, literature worth the read.
Darcy Leech
o Writing has been my career goal since second grade. ¬Being pragmatic and financially conservative, I was as an English teacher for six years and am currently a technology instructional coach helping teachers integrate technology in the curriculum. I’ve worked as educator thinking “this will help me build skill in my career as a writer.” From My Mother is my first book. I have plans for a trilogy of fiction and a children’s book on similar concepts. I’m hoping From My Mother goes well enough that I make a career of writing.
Darcy Leech
o I wrote From My Mother first as a process to heal after losing my mother to respiratory failure caused by her genetic disease, myotonic muscular dystrophy. While writing was cathartic for me, I knew there were others like my family out there, more women like me grieving the loss of a parent, wondering how to raise her child well. There are women like my mother who feel alone, that no one understands their rare disease and its silent effects. From My Mother is a true story which needs to be told. As technology advances, more and more people will have to make choices about life support, or have a child who wouldn’t have survived years ago and has a complicated prognosis. More descendants will live as caretakers for their parents or watch their parents die after a long hospital stay. Those feelings are complex. I’m hoping reading the honest revelations of a rare but relatable story means something to those walking similar paths. There are readers out there who need From My Mother. I wrote to reach them.
Darcy Leech
o “The best writing is rewriting.” To have a marketable product, you have to spend time in revision. Even once you have a contract, you have to spend time in revision. Don’t expect someone else to catch every error and give you a clean text without you doing the lion’s share of the work. You need to know your text better than anyone else because you’ve read it over so many times.
o Also, this is the social media era of book marketing. Build a platform with a wide base of social media reach over time. You can’t build a large Facebook account overnight because you’ll run into adding restrictions. You have to make your social media growth feel organic by doing a little each day until you have large accounts. Your tech skills will matter, and marketing really is a set of problem solving and creative thinking exercises to answer questions the generation before us hasn’t answered yet. So put on your thinking cap and try new things.
o Also, this is the social media era of book marketing. Build a platform with a wide base of social media reach over time. You can’t build a large Facebook account overnight because you’ll run into adding restrictions. You have to make your social media growth feel organic by doing a little each day until you have large accounts. Your tech skills will matter, and marketing really is a set of problem solving and creative thinking exercises to answer questions the generation before us hasn’t answered yet. So put on your thinking cap and try new things.
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