Me and the Ugly C

I always said I was going to be a writer someday. Have my picture on the back of a book and my name on the front. Maybe I'd use one of those fake author names. A super fun one like Penelope Huffnagle or Lily Arugula.
But what would I write about? A love story? An exciting adventure book geared toward kids? A thriller with a murderous plot? The problem is, well, I'm just really not that cool. I'm terrible at witty retorts and although I find myself hilarious, most of the time I stand alone. So how can I create characters that say cool things or sparkle in the sunlight and make all the girls swoon or go to wizard school and say cool spells that turn on the lights or lift things into the air? Lumos! Leviosa!
I could go on and on but what I'm getting at is that I'm 36 now. I'm not famous like I totally thought I was going to be. I really expected for Oprah to have called by now and the movies made from the series of books I had written about some magical universe where humans have wings or where two star-crossed lovers chase each other through time and space as they battle good and evil while healing the sick and feeding the hungry should surely be taking the box-office by storm.
So, ok, fiction isn't my bag. How about real life? I could write about something that really happened. It's like cheating a little though. How creative is that to write about what happened to me today? I mean, who is going to want to read that? Or BUY it for that matter? That's too much pressure. And frankly, truth be told, I'm so scattered I can't focus on any one thing for too long. I had self-diagnosed myself with ADD but a friend pointed out to me that what I actually have is ADOS -- Attention Deficit Oooooohh Shiny!!!
But I DO have a story to tell, and I thought writing my story would have a lot of therapeutic value in it for me. So my solution -- a blog.
A long time ago, Saturday Night Live had a little skit they did called “Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey.” It was just a part in the show where words scrolled across the screen and began like pure enlightenment and ended leaving you thinking, "Huh?" Here's an example.
"If you had to list the different types of haircuts in order of how warm they kept the head, you'd probably put the flat top near the bottom. But you know, I bet it’s surprisingly warm."
-- “Deep Thoughts” by Jack Handey
See what I mean? Now that's deep. Ok, it amused me then, and it amuses me now. I always thought those things were hilarious. They didn't make a lick of sense, and I loved it! So I have always had a running commentary in my head of “Deep Thoughts by Beck,” random musings that most likely only I would find funny or worth a giggle. But that DID sound like a good place to start.
This brought me to the beginning of my blog….Deep Thoughts by Beck.
Months after logging my deep thoughts onto the screen of my computer, my friend, Cory, took it upon himself to pitch the writings in my blog to a publisher. LazyDay Publishing soon after offered me a contract, and now my lifelong dream of being an author is coming true.
This is the story of me and my breast cancer. The story of Me and the Ugly C.
Welcome to my journey.