The Last Lap.......Four Ordinary Women

by 

Patti Dickinson

Wednesday the galley arrived for our soon-to-be-released book, Four Ordinary Women.  It is a softcover, reduced-sized version of the hardback it will become after this final edit.  This time, we edit not from printer-spewed pages, but from this galley that is like a book.  The endorsements are there, the acknowledgements, the dedications, even a photo of us on the back cover.  It is really a humbling moment to hold it in my hands. Many feelings.  This is both a private and a public victory.  Private because I've always known that I had a book in me, and I have come close.  I had a quarter of a book in me.  Four authors total. Public because you can get this book at Amazon.com.  That's about as public as you can get without running for office!  

So we edit for the third time, but instead of holding a bunch of dog-eared pages, we hold a book. I am saving this galley, making changes on a sheet of paper.  I want this galley to be a clean copy.  The kids have been funny...picking it up, thumbing through it.  My son, a high school senior, asked to take it to his high school journalism class.  So this little galley will be well-traveled.  It will become part of the family lore....each kid is mentioned several times in the book.  They love reading the parts about themselves.  Seeing themselves through my eyes. Perhaps even seeing me as not just the mom-who-keeps-the-family-on-track but a mom who aches with them when things are going wrong and who is happy to celebrate their accomplishments with the world.  

Okay, maybe not the world --- if the publisher has had this book translated into a number of languages he hasn't told me that yet!)