In case you were curious...

This is my first blog post - I'm almost nervous about doing this! However, I started this blog for a few reasons. Firstly and most importantly, it gives me an outlet to air my opinions and observations to the benefit of my closest friends and family, who are normally victimized by my incessant ranting. Another reason is simply that I love to write.

Finally, I started this blog as part of The Wesley King Project.

I'm writing a book, for which I have picked a title but am not yet announcing, which is a memoir that covers the most traumatic, terrifying, and tumultuous year in my life. One day I was a hard-working, extremely energetic, self-centered, newly pregnant newlywed, and seemingly overnight I transitioned into the sobbing, sickly, emotionally drained, helpless wife of a brain-injured husband, holding his hand as he lay in a coma. I nearly lost everything that makes my life worth living in a very short amount of time.

The book, as I will call it until I announce the title, chronicles the ups and downs, the funny moments and the tragic ones, and the laughter and tears that took place during the worst parts of my family's (particularly my husband's) struggles. I am writing it in sort of a journal-entry format, in real time, as the events are happening. I chose that voice because I want the reader to feel what I'm feeling on the same timeline that I endured. It also allows me to describe my thoughts, feelings, and observations, with astounding clarity; more so than if I were to say, "And then, this happened... and then, that happened..." You get the idea.

In an effort to find out if there would be any interest in my story, I decided to start an online book critique group. I wanted to elicit the opinions of the people who matter most - regular, everyday people who read. I began by sending a campus-wide email to every student at OSU-Tulsa (where I attend school), giving a summary of my story and asking anyone interested in reading the book to email me. The process was this: I would add everyone's name to a distribution list, then send out the chapters via email as they were written. The group would then read the chapters, and send me an email describing what they thought. I specifically asked for group members to avoid editing spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc. All I wanted was a big-picture thought about my work. Is the story interesting? Is it clear? Can you tell what's happening? Would you read more? Those are all questions I was seeking to answer.

The initial response I received was amazing - literally more than forty replies in ten minutes. Not only did I find that there was a widespread interest in the story, but complete strangers began sharing their stories with me about hard times they had faced. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Eventually, I established an online presence for the group by creating The Wesley King Project on Facebook. Even more people showed interest; in fact, I soon had so many members that I had to stop sending the chapters through email because it was considered spam. That's when I started the website, where I posted all of the chapters, interviews, and other relevant materials.

As of today, there are well over 200 members in The Wesley King project. However, many of them don't really know anything about me beyond the fact that I'm writing a book and that I had a really awful summer last year. I feel that if I start talking about who I am now, if I let people get to know me, they might be more likely to want to read my book. The story is uplifting, inspirational, funny, sad, heartwarming and soul shattering. To this day, there are moments that still make me cry when I think of them (for example, my husband having no idea who I was when he was brought out of his coma).

I hope you will join my group; but if you're not interested, that's okay too. Maybe you will find some kind of enjoyment from reading my blog; if you don't enjoy it, then I wasn't talking to you, anyway!

Until next time,
Jess