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Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding.

A publisher said yes to my new project Bounce off the Rocks. After all the years I pursued publication of my fiction work…I received a yes for my first non-fiction project.

Someone said yes.

Yes. It’s a beautiful word.

(Oh c’mon. Let’s look at it again: Yes. So pretty.)

So what exactly does this mean? Well, it turns out that it’s over to me to make it happen.

There’s a big difference between the way fiction and non-fiction manuscripts unfold. In the fiction world, an unpublished writer comes up with an idea, develops the idea, workshops the idea, writes one, two, three, twenty-three drafts, does a final polish and sends a query letter to appropriate publishing houses as soon as the manuscript is darn-near ready to go.

With luck, someone says, “Sure, send along the first few pages, chapters or even the whole manuscript.” And then the writer…waits…for an answer.

In non-fiction, however, it appears that a different set of rules applies. The manuscript doesn’t have to be polished in time for the query or the pitch. It’s all about the proposal. Publishers want to know: what’s your big idea? Why are you the one to write it? Why is there a need for it?

And so, for Bounce off the Rocks I developed a five-page proposal. I had dozens of pages of notes and sample chapters and it didn’t hurt to have the support of an author who served as both sounding board and cheerleader. She encouraged me to approach her publisher … who said yes.

Bounce off the Rocks has grown exponentially over the past month. The outline is set (and I cannot wait to write the first draft!) As this month begins I have conducted about 30 of the 100 interviews that will serve as source material. The interviews – which have run between 30 minutes and two hours each – continue to astound me. People have suffered and bounced off the rocks in the most incredible ways. I don’t mean they have rebounded and become world-renowned super-stars. Some have crashed. A few have not recovered. Others have managed to recover in ways that seem divinely inspired.

What I have learned is that after a life-altering experience we behave in a way that is akin to a dream-state turned outward.

Sort of like that moment that I heard yes.

* * * * * * *

Immediately after the meeting with ‘my publisher’ I hopped aboard an 88-foot boat with eleven other women to putter around British Columbia’s stunning Desolation Sound. Most of the women in the group had plenty of experience bouncing off the rocks. Several were widowed this past year. A few had been through separation and divorce. Only one was still married to her long-time partner.

But none of us defined ourselves through these lenses.

We were a dozen women – plus two men – who hiked, swam, cooked, ate (oh, how we ate!) and danced every night. The two men on board were our captain and his trusted engineer who seemed to embrace our exuberance. Think Kevin Coster in the final scene of Bull Durham. Yes, they did dance with us and there is nothing sweeter than the sight of two men on either side of seventy, dancing to classic disco.

I Will Survive, indeed.

* * * * * * *

During that week on the water I mulled over the outline for Bounce off the Rocks. In fact, I over-thought it. I should have probably done more dancing and less mulling.

With the outline in place I will continue to conduct interviews with people who are so generously willing to discuss how they coped after a life-altering experience. I am a writer, sure, but on this project I begin as a listener.

The most common reaction to the interview so far is: “Wow, I’ve never actually told that whole story before.” One man said it was a relief.

So, have you had a life-altering experience? How did you behave when your life was suddenly a blank slate? How did you cope?

My intention is to put together a book that allows people to tell their stories and through those stories – about endings, loss, abrupt change, betrayal, accident, near-death – a reader will be drawn in to ask: How would I cope in that situation? How did I cope in my own life crisis? And how will I cope next time?

If you would like to share your story please contact me: susan@gingerheart.com.