Nineteen authors from around the world were given six weeks or less to produce “a story involving a mother somehow.” The result is a gorgeously eclectic collection of tales that will make you laugh, cry, and truly appreciate the “mad courage” of motherhood.
Early in 2014,
I saw a call for submissions to an anthology of short stories on the theme of
motherhood. By chance I’d
been working on something that I thought might fit, but I was fairly new to
short story writing, so I ummed and ahhed as to whether I should submit it.
As I read
further I discovered that the anthology would be raising money for the
Guthy-Jackson Charitable Foundation. They fund research into an autoimmune
disease (NMO), looking for methods of prevention, treatment programmes and a
potential cure (http://www.guthyjacksonfoundation.org/about-us/).
I loved the
idea of my writing contributing to such a good cause, but feared my story might
not be good enough. The umming and
ahhing continued. What was the worst that could happen? My story could be
rejected, and I’d learn to cope with a bruised ego.
On reading the
call for submissions again, I discovered that Francine LaSala (https://francinelasalaproductions.wordpress.com/), the wonderful person organising the
anthology, had lost her mother to an autoimmune disease and was putting the
book together in her memory.
Feeling a
strong wish to be part of something so personal, so heartfelt, I sent off my
story.
A short while
later, there was much dancing round the living room when an email arrived
telling me that my story had been accepted. When I saw the calibre of the other
authors involved, I felt proud and humbled to know that my little story was
going to sit alongside those of authors who had already published a number of
books. Many that I’d read and enjoyed.
I was in awe of
how Francine, with the help of her editorial “partner in crime”, Samantha Stroh
Bailey (http://perfectpencommunications.com/), efficiently organised the editing and
proofreading stages, gathered together blurbs, biographies and photos, and set
up a website for the book (http://akindofmadcourage.blogspot.co.uk/). Along with its super cover, the
anthology was first published in April 2014 as an ebook and paperback. The
result is a wonderfully eclectic collection of stories about motherhood. Some
will make you laugh, others will make you cry.
Nineteen
authors from different continents came together for this wonderful project. It
was a privilege to be one of them. A Kind
of Mad Courage is still available, raising money for its worthy cause, and
can be purchased on Amazon.
Wendy Janes
# # #
About the Author
Wendy Janes spends
her time running her freelance proofreading business, writing novels and short
stories, and volunteering for the National Autistic Society’s Education Rights
Service. She has recently published her first solo novel, What Jennifer Knows. You can connect with Wendy online and discover
more about her writing via Twitter, her Facebook author page, and Amazon author pages (UK/US).
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