I Wrote a Book!

On March 22, 2020, one week into lockdown for the COVD-19 pandemic, I decided to write a book. I’d been thinking about writing for many years and had a few ideas. Being stuck at home seemed like a great time to start.
That day, I wrote the first 1,751 words of my book. And today, I wrote the last of 119,668 words, the first draft of a book that has been on quite a journey with me.
In the coming weeks, I’ll tell you more about that journey, but for now, let me tell you about my book...
It doesn’t have a title yet, but it does have 31 chapters and nearly 120,000 words.
It’s a ‘How To Be a Birth Doula’ book, based on the doula training I developed and taught for 16 years. I am no longer training birth doulas, so this is what I offer to the world instead. I know how crucial doulas are to changing birth in our culture, and I want folks who want to be a doula to be able to access training in a book.
My book will be published sometime in 2022, I’m hoping for March.
There’s still a ton of work to be done: deciding if it’s going to be one book or two, developmental edits to put the book into a more cohesive structure, adding stories from my years of attending births, a round of edits to put it through an anti-racism lens, read-thrus by my beta readers, more edits, promoting it, and creating a forum to support the community of readers who want to become a doula or support others at birth.
I wouldn’t have known I had to do all that if I hadn’t decided to join a 9-month writing program, one of the best decisions I ever made! Cami Ostman and The Narrative Project, and my critique group (thanks Dana, Isabel, Lauren, and PJ!) have been invaluable in helping me become a better writer and helping my book come to life and find its shape.
I waited to make an announcement about my book until the first draft was done and - yay! - here I am! Now I’m going to be talking about it a lot! I hope you will be cheering me on from the sidelines, and I ask you to share this blog post with anyone you know who is interested in becoming a doula.
Please follow along in the coming months as I share the progress of my book, along with lessons I learn about the publishing journey, tips from my marketing and copywriting business, and tales from life on Whidbey Island.
I hope you’ll enjoy reading. If so, please subscribe to my blog at the bottom of this page, and get my blogs delivered right to your inbox.
Thank you for reading, and thanks for being you!