A Childhood Cancer Survivor Blogging about the World of Childhood Cancer

Artist Nat Fast

July 3, 2010

I met a warm, sparkly-eyed man when I was four. I met him at PCPA Theaterfest when my brother, Dean, was a young performer in the play “The King & I.” He would sit backstage, or in the voms, and he would create amazing drawings from what he observed. And every time I would see him, his eyes lit up with love, and his calm and gentle voice would ask me how I was.

Well, twelve years have passed, and I am still friends with Nat Fast. My brothers and I are beyond those Young Performer days at PCPA, but I have this incredible treasure of friendship with Nat that will live on forever. I am always touched by the gift he has to be able to draw and paint with seriously amazing talent.  

Guess what I get to do after dance tonight? I am going to see a show of Nat’s work.

What a blessing to have Nat’s friendship (and art) in my life!  Go hug an artist!

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Revealing the Identity of Someone #2

July 1, 2010

It seems like many moons have passed since I quizzed you on who you think might be Someone #1… and then I compounded the puzzle by adding Someone #2.

Don’t you love guessing games?

Here come the clues:

Someone #2 is a best-selling author, television host extraordinaire, founder of Cassidy’s Place, Cody’s House and Association to Benefit Children, and someone who cares deeply about children. I am deeply honored, and more grateful than my words can say, to tell you that I received a beautiful endorsement from Kathie Lee Gifford for Grace: A Child’s Intimate Journey Through Cancer and Recovery.

I imagine that Ms. Gifford has a schedule that keeps her flying swiftly about her life.  Then, someone like me comes along who requests her time and attention. Just knowing that she took the time to look at my book makes me so happy. It lets me know that there are people who truly care about changing lives for the better… even people who are very successful.

It seems to me that being successful means greater responsibility. Success is a blessing. We then have the responsibility to use what we have to help others. Yes, we need to be excellent stewards.  Life is short. We have so much we can give, and nothing feels better than giving.

Thank you Someone #2!  Miss Kathie Lee Gifford, you touch my heart with your gift to me and other cancer survivors. You motivate me to be generous, and you have given me a master lesson in stewardship.

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Relay yesterday, Johnny Tan Interview Tomorrow

June 28, 2010

Relay for Life this past weekend was awesome! Our team, Team Trilogy, raised over $17,000 for the American Cancer Society, and all of the Arroyo Grande teams together raised $93,000! It is remarkable to see what all of these dedicated people do– it is truly God’s work. The feeling of love that surrounds this whole event is something I wish for all of you to experience. Consider joining a team next year. You will truly make a difference and what you receive in your heart will be so much more than what you give from your time and your wallet. Trust me. I speak the truth.

Tomorrow morning, at 8am PST, I will be talking with Johnny Tan:

http://www.frommymamaskitchentalkradio.com/blog/2010/06/25/melinda-marchiano-author-of-%e2%80%9cgrace-a-child%e2%80%99s-intimate-journey-though-cancer-and-recovery-%e2%80%9d/

I would love to have you call in with questions at 347-327-9995. Life is always more fun and more rewarding when we do it together. Please join me!

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Foreign Publication Rights

June 26, 2010

Part of the thrill of creating and marketing my book is the joy I have from meeting many people I never would have met. Another unexpected part of the thrill is that I get to learn something new every day about publishing. I am not sure where, but I have heard of the term “foreign rights” before and never thought too much about it.

Today, I am thinking much more about it than ever. We received news today that there is interest in foreign publication rights for Grace. I am imagining Grace: A Child’s Intimate Journey Through Cancer and Recovery translated into German and Korean. I am imagining Grace in bookstores on the other side of the world, and this tickles me to giggles. In my most hopeful dreams, my written words would be able to help people who are suffering here in our country. I never, ever imagined that my words might travel to other countries to help people there. But, isn’t this exactly how God works? He loves us so much that He finds a way to help us– even when we are utterly clueless. Wow.

Tomorrow is Relay for Life day in Arroyo Grande, California… hometown of Zac Efron, and also home of highly dedicated and loving people working their tails off to make cancer to take a long walk off a short pier. Thank you to everyone who has given their time in their own hometowns to Celebrate, Remember, and Fight Back! Tomorrow is going to be awesome!

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LIVESTRONG Dedication Pages

June 24, 2010

Did you know that LIVESTRONG is creating the World’s Largest Dedication Book?

LIVESTRONG Action will present the book to world leaders to impress upon them the immediate attention we need to place toward finding a cure for the global epidemic, cancer. My mom and I are both dedicated to helping others with cancer and to doing all that we can to help find a cure. I am grateful for all that Lance Armstrong and the people at LIVESTRONG are doing to move toward this goal.

Gosh, I feel so loved. My mom wrote a dedication page for me:

http://www.livestrongaction.org/dedication/melinda-marchiano

It just takes a moment to sign my page, and each dedication and each signature will tell our world leaders how vitally important it is that we act now.

Can you guess who Signer #16 is?!!!!!!!  Giggle. Giggle.

Each week, someone I did not know before contacts me to tell me that they are battling cancer. I believe that nearly everyone who will read this post has been touched by cancer in some way. (Some of us have been “hammered” rather than “touched”!)  Let’s all do what we can… working together creates amazing results.

Imagine the result being the cure for cancer. Yes… I will not give up until this happens!

P.S. Please click this link– take a moment to make a difference!  Even better yet, create a page for someone you love.

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Selling 10,000 Books at a Time

June 22, 2010

Does this post title grab the attention of my author friends?

I imagine your ears are perked as high as a German Shepherd ready to protect his family from danger. I received an email today from my friend, Matt, who wants to assist me in achieving exactly what my title states.  You can imagine that my ears perked up to their perkiest level and my brain started crackling with all that he wrote in his email. Don’t you love when someone shares their wealth of knowledge with you– just because they want to help others?

It seems that authors and publishers would hoard this information, fearing that helping others would result in even slightly higher sales of other author’s books. This just might send them to the poorhouse. But then… there are people like Matt. Without Matt, I would never have had a clue of how to go about getting my book published. And I never would have met Matt if I had not taken a spur-of-the-moment, hour and a half drive to Santa Barbara last February with my mom.

Sometimes the decisions we make, the teensy-weensy little decisions, end up making a huge difference in our lives– and even in the lives of others. More and more, I am learning that we need to reach out to life every chance we get. That “reach out to life” last February has to be one of the best decisions of my life!

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Grace is at the Printer!

June 18, 2010

Yesterday, Sheila “bulletproofed” the final files for Grace: A Child’s Intimate Journey Through Cancer and Recovery and Bryan sent the files off to the printer. Oh my gosh– I am so excited to see a final copy!

In January, we began speaking with Greenleaf Book Group about designing and distributing the second edition of my book, and on February 15, I turned in my manuscript. Four months later, Grace is now created and ready for her formation into final printed book form. I love Sheila’s cover design, and I cannot wait to see the features, like the silver foil that spells out Grace!

I love Sheila’s balloon design, and I really love the “Happy Quails!”

What I desire most of all is for my words to reach people’s hearts. I am very grateful to Sheila for her cover design that will make people smile. She has been amazing in helping me reach people before they even read one of my written words.

Thank you Sheila!

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Julie, Nikki, and Squishy People

June 17, 2010

Today I met a woman named Julie. Julie is a nurse, and she is a beautiful, loving, caring woman who radiates love all around her. Do you know what I am talking about? I love when I meet someone who exudes so much warmth and love that their life vibrations  go straight through me.  I left her three hours ago and I still feel the glow from deep within her.

I call people like Julie “Squishy.” Imagine poking your finger into the Pillsbury Dough Boy and how soft, supple and tender he is. Well, Julie is one of those tender people walking this Earth, and she is not doughy because of any excess skin or fat. She is so tender that she “squishes” when touched. And her Squishiness is a direct result of being filled to the brim with love!

I am adding Julie to my handful of people in this life who I consider Squishy. Nikki, from the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation is quite possibly the Squishiest of the Squishies!

Are you Squishy? Why not give it a try? It makes people around you feel incredibly loved:)

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Grace Final File Approval and Summertime!

June 15, 2010

WooooooooHooooooooo! What could be more exciting than summer beginning and Grace nearly ready to send to the printing press? After a few minor edits, Grace: A Child’s Intimate Journey Through Cancer and Recovery will be complete. Seriously????? Complete?????

Let’s see, today is Flag Day, June 14th. I began writing my book in February of 2009. After one year and four months, over 90,000 words, and countless hours of effort to put it all together, my second edition of Grace is fully formed, lovingly created, and so close to being ready to share that I can almost hear that printing press rattling.

Perhaps tomorrow I will declare the day, “Balloon Day,” tape a balloon to my head (ouchy on the hair,) dance a major happy-dance, and sing a made-up song about gleeful authors completing their labors of love. Yes, what a celebration it is to complete an enormous project! Since my project comes straight from the depths of my heart, I believe that a Paul Bunyan-size celebration is absolutely appropriate, and entirely necessary.

WoooooooooooHooooooooo!

Completion and Summertime… Life is precious. 

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The Children Authors Show

June 12, 2010

On June 14th and 15th, my interview will be available for listening on The Children Authors Show.

http://www.wnbnetworkwest.com/WnbAuthorsShowChildren.html

Guess what incredible, amazing, unbelievable day it was today?

The very last day of my sophomore year of high school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whoa, I don’t believe there are enough exclamation points stored in my computer to express my tremendous relief. It has been a long and grueling 10th grade year. The overachiever in me nearly did me in. The bright spots have been dance, of course, my AP World History class with Mr. Houchin and my AP Biology class with Ms. Toshach. I would love to take AP Biology next year again– yep, I’m a “Bio-Nerd!”

And then, another huge highlight of this past school year has been working on Grace and Grace: A Child’s Intimate Journey Through Cancer and Recovery. It never seems like work when I am doing things for Grace. Today, yes, today, I received the final PDF pages to approve so that Grace can take her trip to the printing press. I will be spending my first free weekend from homework proofreading.

Also, the Civic Ballet is having their final performance of this season on Sunday night. Dress rehearsals, proofreading, more rehearsals and more proofreading. Ahhhhhhhhhh… isn’t summer wonderful?

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