I hesitated to blog about this because it is SO new that the wrapping isn’t fully off the box yet. But I decided to share for two reasons. I am excited about this new endeavor and I feel it serves a large purpose.
A friend recently, while discussing the writing crossroads I find myself sitting in the middle of, suggested that I consider writing a book entitled “The Next Chapter.”
This comes on the heels of yet another rejection from publishers, of my fiction series. Perhaps fiction writing isn’t my forte. Or, perhaps the timing simply isn’t right. Who the heck knows? I certainly don’t.
At any rate, as we talked, I got inspired and excited about writing “The Next Chapter.”
The more I thought about it, the more I discovered a treasure trove of hard-earned insight and wisdom I have to share. And, it just might help someone else in the same situation.
I tossed together a rough draft book cover in Canva late last night, to get the project started. It is not set in stone but is a place to start.
And, based on your feedback about the X across the man on the cover, here’s a rough attempt at putting in a ghostly man image instead. Of course, this is still a Work In Progress.
You see the premise of the book. I’m going to share my opening paragraphs and I welcome your comments and suggestions! This is going to be an incredibly rewarding piece of writing.
INTRO:
“You can never move forward if you are always looking back.”
Did you know that in 2018 there were over eleven million widows in the United States alone? Let that sink in for a minute. Over eleven million women faced with rebuilding a life after the loss of a spouse.
And yet, at that time; when you are one of those eleven million in the throes of the loss and grief, you feel completely and utterly alone. No one could possibly know the degree of pain and emptiness you feel. Surely, no one else has ever had such an irreparably broken heart as yours. But they have.
The average age of a woman, when she loses her spouse, is 59. I was 57.
It is statistically proven that women live longer than men for many different reasons. Mathematics plays a large part. Most often, men marry younger women which adds to the gap in the equation. Generally speaking, women take better care of themselves, eat healthier and are more aware of their overall well-being than men. But, none of that lessens the intensity of grief when your spouse dies.
The widow faces a life of many years, perhaps even decades, without a partner. While there is a small percentage of widows who remarry, statistics show approximately ninety percent do not.
The purpose of this book is to encourage and empower women in the process of reinventing themselves after such a loss. Many of the same principals could apply to men who have lost a spouse or even divorcees. But, for the purpose of this book, I am focused on women forced to start over ― alone because of death.
There you have it. Please share your thoughts! In the back of the book, I am going to share stories from other women who I know personally and who are also widows. I want as many different aspects of re-inventing oneself as I can gather.
Writing and Music 
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