Gum on My Shoe

The next part of the book proposal to be written is called About the Book. "Isn't it ALL about the book?" you might ask, and you'd be right, up to a point. But as we have been discovering, a book proposal has to cover rather more ground than "Hey this is a great book, sign us up!" There are sections covering the market (audience), our credentials as authors, other books already published, production details, promotion, brief chapter summaries and sample chapters... phew! In many ways, the About the Book section is a summary of all those parts, and then some... and it's important to get it right. I had my big pad of paper out earlier, and my best fountain pen, and did some scribbling... out of which, I believe, came some useful ideas which we will be looking to develop in the next few days. Wish us luck!

We’ve not provided any updates for a little while but rest assured, we are working away behind the scenes! The main focus at the moment continues to be putting together the book proposal for "Gum on My Shoe". That is taking longer than we (certainly Marty) originally imagined, mostly because we’ve never written one before and were a bit naïve as to what it entails. It’s challenging, but as we go through the process we are gaining a far better sense of where we want to go with the book, and who our main audience will be. Marty has been active on Twitter recently, and has met some great people over there. If you would like to follow us there, our Twitter handle is @GumOnMyShoeBook . We’d love to hear from you! We’ve also been blessed in finding some great people to provide words of endorsement, which should stand us in very good stead. Mighty thanks to those who have done so, or have said they might! The support and encouragement of you all means the world to us. We rea...

Introducing an occasional series of guest posts. Today, Chris Roberts shares her story and reveals what Gum on My Shoe means to her. I have Bipolar I, which includes the psychotic symptoms during the mania episodes. The psychotic symptoms include schizophrenia, paranoia, and delusions. I was first hospitalized when I was a little over 17 and a half, and off and on for over 30 yrs. There was no such diagnosis for Bipolar Disorder back then and it was thought that I suffered a drug overdose and would not come out of it. It wasn't until I was about 34 yrs. old that I was diagnosed. I'm almost 55 yrs. old now and have less severe manic episodes, but still suffer with mood swings and the intense emotions that go along with the disorder. I haven't had to be hospitalized in several years now. I take an anti-psychotic, mania meds, and an anti-depressant, to help not cure the disorder. I enjoy the Gum on My Shoe Facebook page , because it further educates people about wha...

I’d like to share my experience of the Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) course I completed last week, because it deserves to be far more widely known about than it is. I’d never heard of Mental Health First Aid until I attended an event organised by the "Time To Change" programme, but it sounded just what I was looking for and I registered on the first available course. I had to take time off work, and pay for the course myself, but I can honestly say it’s the best investment I’ve made in a long time. What is MHFA? "Mental Health First Aid is an educational course which teaches people how to identify, understand and help a person who may be developing a mental health problem. In the same way as we learn physical first aid, mental health first aid teaches you how to recognise those crucial warning signs of mental ill health." [MHFA England website] Four versions of the course are available in the UK. Lite (3 hours, £75) Standard (2 days, £300) Youth (2 days, ...