• Finally, I want to thank Julie for her willingness to take time out of her busy life to pen the backstory of “The Journey”—from her “first inkling” years ago to the reality of holding the finished product in her hands today. And it should be of interest to the many out there who aspire to author their own memoir… —LC
The Journey
“The first inkling that I wanted to write my memoir happened four years ago on the anniversary of my kidney-cancer diagnosis. I was, coincidentally, waiting to see my doctor for a check-up, when I had a frightening panic attack. I became dizzy, nauseous and blacked out. I was taken into a back room, given some valium, and told to lie down, close my eyes and try to breathe. In the darkened room, I slowly came back to reality as my terror subsided. My doctor did a routine exam and told me something I already knew. I needed help.
“Within a week, I began seeing a therapist who helped me unravel the mystery of what happened to me and more importantly…why. She guided me to a truth I had buried years ago…that I had some unfinished business to tend to. That business was undertaking the intimidating, ambitious and challenging task of writing my book…stories both entertaining and horrifying that marked a somewhat overloaded life. I started that work after two therapy sessions.
“Writing a book is a tough slog. I’d spent nearly four decades writing individual news stories, but never an undertaking of this magnitude. I began by making lists of the life events I felt most defined and explained the person I became. I identified the bookends—where I would begin and where I would finish— and then fill in the empty spaces with the stories of my life in television news and the decision to leave the news business and manage a horse ranch…stories which affected me most deeply and which might resonate with readers. I went through four complete re-writes of the book.
“The first attempt was what I call the ‘retch’ rendering…verbal vomit…just random writing…getting things on the empty computer page. I was embarrassed by those initial efforts. Then the winnowing began, followed by research and fact-checking to update the narrative. The final version demanded intense focus on word choices until I was finally satisfied and forced to release the manuscript to the printer. I was making changes up until the moment the document was sent.
“I made a decision to keep control of the ‘product’ by working with a local publisher, Melissa Coffman and her husband Scott. I knew I was too old and cranky to be told by some faceless 25-year-old in NYC that I needed to switch chapters around, eliminate one or change the title. It was the best decision for me to create the book this way and to keep the process close to home. I knew about language and words, but needed help navigating the maze of turning pages into a real book.
“Dozens of decisions had to be made about layout, typeface, font size, color of the cloth on the book itself, dust cover choices, quantity of a first printing, distributors, creating a website and on and on. Melissa got me through the morass of the book jungle, though there were many, many times I was quite lost. I am amazed that I survived the trek through that labyrinth and even more amazed that the book is now in my hands.
“I could write a book about writing a book, but perhaps I will leave that to someone else.”
To purchase a copy of Fearless, visit www.julieblacklow.com.
For media interviews, contact Mauri Moore at maurimoore@gmail.com.