Four weeks from today, I will be sitting in a little shop in downtown Kennewick with 20 signed copies of a book I never imagined I would write.

I will be at FrogPatch Paper & Works, 20 N Benton Street,
in Historic Downtown Kennewick, sharing my book, talking with people, signing books, and probably doing what I do best — talking … *big smile*

The book is When Cancer Called My Name

It is a collection of free-form poetry and short reflections about diagnosis, treatment, remission, and that strange place afterward when everyone else seems ready to move on… but you may not quite be there yet

And the more I talk about this book, the more I realize something
This book is not just for people who have had cancer
It is for the people sitting beside them
Spouse
Daughter or Son
Friend
Caregiver
Nurse
The person who loves someone with cancer
and sometimes has absolutely no idea what to say

It may even be for someone who simply wants to
understand a little better what it feels like to hear those words:
“You have cancer”

I wrote the poems from inside my own experience.
They are not medical advice.
They are not answers.
And they certainly are not meant to tell anyone else how they should feel

They are simply words
Some of them are tender
Some are angry
Some are a little funny — because really, what else can you do sometimes?

And some are about what happens after the treatments end
That long echo that follows

So … Come say hello!
I will have 20 copies to sign with me

Yes — just Twenty

I shall have bookmarks and flyers, too,
along with information about some of the ways this book
might be useful beyond simply reading it yourself

I have been thinking a lot about that …
Could this book sit quietly in a cancer center waiting room?

Could a caregiver pick up my book and find a poem
that says something they have not been able to put into words?

Could it be useful to someone who works with cancer patients?

Could someone give my book to a friend, as a gift, and simply say,
“I just do not know what to say … but maybe this will help”

I think so

And that is part of why I am sooooOOo excited for this little gathering at FrogPatch Paper & Works

Not just selling books … … Meeting people … … Hearing stories … …
Talking about the things we do not always know how to talk about
And signing a few books along the way

So if you are in the Tri-Cities area, I hope you shall come

Bring a friend
Bring someone who has walked this road
Bring someone who is walking beside someone else
Or come simply because you’re curious

I shall be there
Saturday, September 19
11:00 a.m. — 1:00 p.m.
FrogPatch Paper & Works
20 N Benton Street • Downtown Kennewick

And if you happen to be one of those first twenty people
who would like a signed copy … Well …
I shall have my green pen ready ... *big smile*

When Cancer Called My Name
Poetry • Reflection • Hope
Because sometimes a book does not need to have the answers.

Sometimes it simply needs to say:
“I know
I was there, too”