There aren't going to be as many rhymes as I would've liked, so it is going to be a very little wee book! I just don't want to rush writing them and am therefore aiming for quality rather than quantity! There are still going to be a few of Gemma's illustrations included, but she's so very busy at the moment with her new career (and all of the other things that a twenty-something-year-old-living-in-London should be busy with during their first year after graduation) that I'll just be delighted with whatever she can manage within the relatively short deadline we've agreed!
It's not just the writing of the rhymes that's making this such a great experience: I've learned lots in the reading and researching for it; I've enjoyed getting my 'fundraiser' hat back on with all that that entails in looking for sponsors etc; I've had a lovely night with some of my village pals to 'road test' the rhymes; and I've made some new friends through the Women V Cancer Ride The Night Facebook page!
One of those new friends, in particular, has become an invaluable ally in the pulling together of the book. Sandhy's a professional graphic designer and has raised pots of money for Women V Cancer through both her own fundraising efforts and helping other people with theirs. She also writes a fantastic blog, which you'll find by clicking here. All of our communication so far has been through the internet, but my measure of her is that she's a great designer, she's passionate, she likes things to be done efficiently, she's headstrong, she has a wealth of experience in many different areas that she delights in sharing, and she says it as it is. She's also an ovarian cancer survivor. I was chuffed to bits when she offered to design the book and put it into a 'proper' format for printing, but she's been helpful with so much more than that and I'm very lucky to have her on board.
So, it looks like sometime soon (fingers crossed, within the next month) I'll have my first little publication for sale! I've written lots of rhymes for lots of people in the years gone by, and every one of them has been a joy and a privilege to write or recite. And I've been involved in plenty of other fundraising or voluntary projects, all of which have been really great experiences (especially the World of Difference work at the hospice!) so it just makes me feel really great that I'm sort of pulling on all of that previous experience in an effort to make this project as successful as possible.
And (as I said in my 'red corner/blue corner' post) if it's not a great success I will, at the very least, have learned another whole load of new things and raised some funds towards the fight against cancer in the process. Nothing to lose and a whole lot to gain, and that's what's making me feel good today!
