“Why Don’t You Just Relax and Enjoy Retirement?”

That was what my friend Peter said to me many times when I reported that I just could not get my book finished.

I couldn’t explain it, but I just wouldn’t feel “complete” if I did not have a solid collection of my best stories. Especially after my first book, A Kindness I Will Never Forget. It was a sad tale, and I just sort of wrapped it up at the end.

I had sent my son, Ryan, a stack of my books that he kept in his hat store. He sometimes gave them away to people he knew. But many times, when those people would return again, they would eventually ask about me. Ryan said they always looked sad, and they would ask, “How is your mother doing?” with a very concerned tone in their voice.

“Mom,” he told me one day. “You need to have a book of stories about how your life has been going the last 30 years. Your first book doesn’t really illustrate what your life has been like, and that you are just fine. You are more than fine. The first book doesn’t really get that across.”

I knew he was right. And I had already had that exact thought, of writing another book – I was proud of the many stories I had written over the years.

And yet: I didn’t know exactly where to begin.

I knew I had stories on so many different subjects – stories on La Strada, on my family, the community, trips I took, dogs, parking commission stories, people who had made a difference in my life.

How do you group all of that together? How could that possibly become a book?

Where would I start?

I first decided to collect them all together so I could see what I actually had written.

There was something I had done that really helped – whenever I finished writing a story, I saved it and always included the word, “story” when naming the file.

So… I decided to do a search on every file that contained the word “story” in the title.

I had over 1800 stories!!

I wasn’t sure if that number could be correct, but it did work out mathematically, because it meant I wrote about 3 stories per week. It sounded about right.

With Mr. Google’s help, I found a way to list all of the story titles, in 3 columns per page, using a very small font. But even grouping them like that, I still had over 10 pages of story titles!

As I spread the pages out on my dining room table, I began to feel sick. I just stared at the pages. There were just too many. I would look at them for a few minutes, and then I would promptly give up. Every time. It was just too overwhelming.

I’ll do it tomorrow, I would tell myself.

But each day, I would try again to look at the lists, and every single time, I would walk away again.

Enter Umoh

So, I was especially grateful to reconnect with my friend Umoh. In the many years since we had worked together at La Strada, she had built a business helping women finish projects that were important to them.

I sent Umoh a message one day and explained how I couldn’t find a way forward with my book, and how I kept getting discouraged. I asked if she could help me in some way.

She immediately said yes!

We scheduled an afternoon together. I spread out the pages of my story listings on my dining room table. “See?” I said. “How will I ever do this?”

“Don’t worry,” she said. “We’re going to do it together. We will find ways to get rid of whatever is blocking you, and I will be with you all the way.”

And then, we just got started. We read through the list of 1800 stories and put a check mark by all the stories we both remembered, and came up with some “groupings” of things that seemed to go together.

I was on my way…

And today, after much hard work, and many many hours of writing, rewriting and editing, I’m so excited to finally share with you:

Misadventures in My High Heels: Walking Through Life's Ups, Downs, and Silver Linings

This book is a collection of stories that illustrate an unspoken pathway from hardships, to fully celebrating life.

It’s not lost on me that the journey to publication was a struggle in itself!

But the reactions from readers were what always kept me going. What I was most proud of was the effect the stories had on people. I had received many comments and messages over the years, telling me that a story had inspired them, or had helped them to see problems in a different light.

It was so fulfilling to feel like I was making a difference. I hope my stories will encourage and inspire people to live their very best lives.

Learn more about the book and buy your copy here.