I have mentioned what fun it was to write this book with Tony. Then, yesterday I read an email that Tony had written to a friend describing what it was like to write this book with me and now I wonder if perhaps I was the only person having fun.
I must admit that Tony, journalist that he is, described the event accurately.
QUESTION: So, Tony, what do you think the book is about? His response was:
When Becky and I decided to join our voices in this book’s special message, I thought we would be talking about “The Eternal Life of Stuff” as a simple inventory of the junk we’ve collected and where it is now. I saw all the things we carry as just so much valueless weight, and so I initially treated my chapters with what might be described as “humorous contempt.”
After we had cobbled together 30 chapters, Becky said (during a ZOOM session),
“This is all wrong, Tony…don’t you think?”
When Becky ends a sentence with “…don’t you think?” you know things are about to change. She continued with,
“The chapters are all in the wrong order.”
We spent several days rearranging their order according to some strange map in her head. But when we finished, I admitted (much to my annoyance) that she was right!
Through this process, we added two critical chapters, filtered out much of my negativity, toned down Becky’s penchant for overusing the word “happy,” along with her addiction to exclamation points and came up with a pretty darn good book.
The funny thing is that we didn’t figure out what “The Eternal Life of Stuff” was about until AFTER it was finished!!!!! (Exclamation points on loan from Becky).
Sure, it’s about the things we all accumulate through life, but more to the point, it’s about the memory invested in each piece of stuff that passes through our lives. I am however, still trying to figure this stuff out. So, if anyone can tell me what our book is really about, I sure would appreciate some illumination.
I think the book is about sharing personal details of your lives with your readers, allowing them to see who you are. Tony is my brother, who always loved to spin yarns, even when we were little. He used to tell us siblings about dreams he had. Now, maybe I’m not the most detail-retentive person in the world, but REALLY??!!! When was the last time you remembered a dream well enough to create an hour-long story from it? Sometimes Tony tiptoed through some facts in the book, but I’m sure it was the result of fuzzy memories, not intention. Anyway, none of those fuzzy facts were germane to the stories. The book was a delightful surprise for me; I was astonished at how it engaged me. I was even more astonished that my husband, who only reads James Patterson, golf, and whatever pops up on his Facebook, was the first to finish the book! I loved the segues from one story to the next also. Looking forward to your next publication.
I beg to differ, Barb. I don’t tiptoe through the facts, I stomp all over those suckers! (Not really). The thing is that my memory may falter and blur some facts, but the truth always remains in the story. Mom taught us that, didn’t she? ….. Love ya’, Barb.
“The Eternal Life of Stuff” has been out since May 2024, so it’s now about five months old, barely more than an infant. I am past the initial blush of excitement that came with getting our creation into the hands of readers. It’s time to reflect on the experience.
Before taking on this project, I thought writing a book would be hard, so I procrastinated — for years! My co-author Becky, through some kind of mysterious magic, provided the spark that ignited my sleeping imagination, and so together we wrote, then we edited — 49 times!
Once the book was finished, we thought we had completed a labor of Hercules that he had forgotten to complete in his ancient lifetime. We had given birth after a one-year gestation period. The final push was hard and painful, but we were so happy to have produced a wonderful bouncing baby book. However, once the dust settled, we discovered that writing the book and having it published were child’s play compared to nurturing it through the marketing maze.
It’s one thing to write a book. It’s a whole other world to sell it. Getting readers to buy our book? That is showing itself to be the harder labor. We’re still trying to figure that out. We’re flailing in this dark pool of post-publishing muck, realizing the full truth of authorship — it’s more about the business than the art.. Our learning curve is steep, but we are learning, dog-paddling our way to success. I think, though, that even if we don’t receive a raft of financial rewards, we have achieved creative victory.
On Sunday, October 20, from noon to 4 p.m., Becky and I will be at the Easton Book Festival, in the Sigal Museum on Northampton Street, where we will sign our book, share conversations with readers, and — with the stuff of dreams in our hearts — sell “The Eternal Life of Stuff.”
Thanks all for reading (and buying!)
“The Eternal Life of Stuff”
Tony Nauroth