Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Split Second 

It's in the Numbers

Most of the book was written in my backyard sanctuary, but when I’m ready to write, I can write anywhere.  I’ve written in a woods, in a riverbed, at my daughter’s volleyball games, and in the truck waiting for my husband at the end of a soybean field. But my best writing often happens on a long flight, at 35,000 feet.

 

I reside in Ohio.   My book consultant and editor live 1,264 miles away in Colorado.  I met them once and continued working with them from a distance.

 

It gave me great pleasure to visit my kindergarten teacher and say “I’m an author”.  I visited her the week before Split Second was released.  She’s 101 years-old and she still remembers many of her students from our small town and was delighted with the news.

 

The book cover includes a photo of my husband and me walking in our corn field.  Our daughter took the picture during a family walk with no intentions of it being considered for the book cover.  It was taken on December 25th, Christmas Day.

 

The book was released on my Dad’s birthday, April 16th.  Coincidently, Split Second has 16 chapters.

 

Aside from my book consultant and editor, only 11 people – my immediate family and a few friends – knew I was writing a book.  Three months before the book was released, I broke the news.

 

Split Second started out as a 10-page essay.  A mentor recommended that I start writing with the goal of writing an essay for his leadership class to read.  After reaching 10 pages, I kept writing.

 

It took 6 ½ years to write, edit, and publish Split Second.

 

I often listen to music while writing and my favorite artist is Parijat.  I have 6 of his collections and listened to all of them while writing Split Second. 

 

I wrote some of the most difficult sections of the book during writing seminars.   These seminars not only helped me capture some intense emotions, they also helped me cultivate writing practices I used outside of the seminars.  I attended 3 seminars while writing Split Second.

 

The question I’m most frequently asked is “Why did you write Split Second?”  I wrote Split Second to understand the life lessons my career and my father’s illness and death were stirring inside me and I chose to publish Split Second with the hopes of helping others who were wresting with family relationships and demanding careers too. 

For other questions, the answers are in the numbers.  Here are ten things …um, ten numbers…you probably didn’t know about Split Second.

 

The bonus number: 41.  Another frequently asked question is “Are you writing another book?”   We’ll have to wait to find the answer to that question, but I do plan to keep going on life adventures.  In 41 days, I take off for my next adventure – my husband and I are climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.  When I am ready to write, I will!