Welcome back! I have to start off by saying that I’m not a big New Year’s resolution guy. Honestly, I try to live pretty consistently, work hard, and do things I enjoy. I had to have one this year, and it was easy. I will get this book published!
First, let me update you on what has happened since my last post. Most importantly, I started working at Booz Allen Hamilton. I am a Senior Consultant in the Civil Health division, and I love it. I do important, fulfilling, diverse work. I really made the right decision by choosing them after grad school. Another really exciting development is that I am giving another speech because of the one I gave for Relay for Life. I was recently asked to give a speech for the American Cancer Society event, Coaches vs. Cancer. It’s going to be on January 20th at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. I’m honored to be giving this speech and will share it on here once it’s over. I hope that my career leads me to giving these speeches more. They are very rewarding and I hope inspiring.
And since I made this resolution, I have been working on my book every day. It was nice to take some time off, let what I read sink in again, and allow myself to remember the experience more fully. I know how I want to write it now. Carolyn Rubenstein told me about Nathan Bransford’s (@NathanBransford) website: http://blog.nathanbransford.com/. It’s been a wonderful resource, and I’m writing my query letter based on his website. I highly recommend him and this site. I’m working on two things for the book at once. First, I’m finding an agent. I have some great leads now, but if you have anyone I should research, please let me know. Next, I am also working on the chapters to send to the agent and publisher. I am going to send two sections of the book. The first one sets up the story with the beginning of my mom’s journal and the first few days, as well as a lot of background writing from me. The second section is mostly my mom’s writing and takes place during the scariest time in the hospital. I hope it will be a good juxtaposition of what the book offers.
Finally, I see this site almost has 1,000 views. So … I have a prize for the 1,000th reader. Just email me with a screen shot or a copy-and-pasted version of the screen. I promise it will be worth it. I’m not sure if I’ve said it before on here, but thank you for reading this. I really appreciate it and love hearing from you. I would love that to continue, so please feel free to email me at ledfordbrandon@gmail.com. Thanks again!
So excited for you, Brandon
! You are doing so many incredible things!!!