So, I’m publishing a book!

So there, naysayers in my head. My book, Always Forward, has been accepted for publication by All Things That Matter Press. I don’t know when it will be published, but at some point, in the not too distant future, my words, my sweat, and my heart will be in print for other people to actually read. As much as I’m excited, I’m also pretty terrified. Now I know what all those art directors and copywriters used to go through presenting to clients. I used to dismiss them by saying things like, “Don’t worry, clients just want a bigger logo,” or “It’s just business, don’t let it bother you.” Well, I finally get what they were nervous about – it’s you on the page that someone else is judging.

What is my book about? In brief, it’s the story of young Alex McEwan, a deaf man growing up in the 40s and 50s in a small town in Massachusetts. It follows him through high school, college, jobs, love, heartbreak and loss. When I started it three years ago, I just wanted to somehow tell a part of my dad’s life story and some of it is from his life. The rest…well, I made it up. Or, perhaps, Alex directed his own story as characters are wont to do.

As much as writing is a solitary thing, it really isn’t. Other people have to buy in to the time you spend doing it. Bruce, of course, was my first and biggest cheerleader. Even when he was ill, he would push me away and tell me to go write, or to get on my call with my editor. He’s always been the one to tell me I can, even when I think I can’t.

And my editor. Kathie Giorgio. Friend, mentor, teacher and another cheerleader to keep me moving ahead. My friends and my family also kept me going, amazingly no one ever said that I was nuts to write my first book at this stage of my life. Truthfully, I don’t think I could have written this any earlier. Time and distance have a way of giving you immense perspective.

In 1986, my dad and I went to see Children of a Lesser God together. As usual, at the box office he told the ticket taker he thought he should only pay half price…because he couldn’t hear the movie. She laughed and let him in for half price. We sat together in a dim movie theatre and watched a deaf woman up on the screen. She signed, she spoke, she loved and was hurt and was just…human. Just like anybody else. We figured it would open doors not only for deaf actors but the deaf community – that it would make people understand them a little better. It didn’t seem to matter, though, we still got asked incredibly stupid questions about deaf people over the years. Then, thirty-six years later, another movie came along to showcase a deaf family in Coda. Marlee Matlin won the Oscar for best actress in 1986. In 2022, Coda won the best picture Oscar and Troy Kotsur, a deaf actor, won best supporting actor. I really, really hope that it helps people understand the deaf community a little better and maybe my book does the same. I don’t presume to speak for any deaf person – they’re pretty good at doing that themselves, I just wanted to share the part of the deaf community that I know and love. I hope you read my book when it comes out.