A Little Retrospective: A Decade Past

After reading Erin Napier’s journal post on a decade in the rearview, I felt inspired to do my own, and honestly, these last ten years of my life have been pretty nuts, and thus worthy of a retrospective!

Here we go….

2010: Five Years Into It

In 2010, I hit my five year transplant anniversary, which I celebrated by doing the show Oliver! I went to Duck for the second time with my parents and my sister and enjoyed it just as much as I had the first time I went with Tiffany and her family in 2008. I was blogging but I didn’t have this site yet. I knew I wanted to write a book , but at the time it was sort of an ephemeral idea with me writing a few things here and there.

2011: Unbreak my heart

The year began with The Importance of Being earnest, and heart issues. I had Afib/SVT—we never really figured out which—which led to an admit in January and a second ablation at OSU in April, but I was released before my birthday, continuing my streak of not being in the hospital for my birthday. I did Ragtime that summer, we went to Williamsburg, VA, for family vacation and I loved it. I also moved into Barton Cottage (the townhouse) that year.

2012: New Job

I moved to the Clerk’s office after the 2012 elections, was in The House of Bernarda Alba, and was still writing. I turned 30! :)

2013: So much travel

I went to NYC for my first Jeopardy! audition and saw Once with my cousin Jack. We had a lot of fun that trip. I went to Disney World with my dad and was in Les Miserables that summer and And Then There Were None in the fall.

2014: The last working year

I began the process of taking disability retirement from the Senate, because working full-time was just not working with what my body needed. March 14 was my last day, and I saw The Phantom of the Opera that night with my friend Mary. I went back to Disney World with Dad , was in The Music Man and Hello, Dolly! and made life promises as a Lay Dominican.

2015: Getting it all on paper

I began the process of writing The Book by getting my entire story on paper, thus creating the very first complete draft. Edel 2015 was awesome—I spent my 10th anniversary there and was interviewed by Hallie Lord and Jen Fulwiler for Jen’s radio show. It was a great experience! I had my second Jeopardy! audition in Boston. Dad and I ate at Legal Seafood, Cheers, and a great Italian Restaurant in the North End. I also set up this website! So it’s five years old this year!

2016: Jeopardy!

I was in the hospital in January with pneumonia (booo!) but went to SoCal in April (yay!) to be on Jeopardy!

2017: Digging into my writing

I attended the Making Things Happen Conference and made great progress in my writing from that. I started writing and editing for Take Up & Read. We went to Williamsburg and Duck for vacation!

2018: Working

I started sending out book proposals….and more proposals….and more proposals…..My brother got married!

2019: Gold, Jerry, Gold!

I got my contact with Ave Maria Press, wrote the book in about three months, and my sister got married in Colorado. I was in the hospital when my book cover was revealed and pre-orders opened! And I moved to Orchard House! Oh, and Dad and I went to a Blue Jackets playoff game—another thing I could check off my bucket list! :)

2020: The book!!

The book was published. I’m going to New York in April. And it’s my 15 year anniversary in July.

Also coming up: Seeing My Fair Lady with Dad in March!

Woooooo!

Publication Day

It’s here.

Publication Day.

Books that were pre-ordered should be arriving in mailboxes all over the place, and now you can walk into a store and request my book.

Wow. That’s a really weird, and yet amazing, feeling.

I mean, my book is on the Target website! (and part of a 3 for 2 deal….)

Pub day flowers from Farmgirl Flowers

I spent five years shopping the proposal for what became my book. I was sad, frustrated, I never thought anyone would want my story—was my story no good? Was it just bad?

I am so thankful that Ave Maria Press accepted it and they have been a fabulous team to work with!

I am so thankful for all of you readers—without you this would not have happened! (really. It’s true!)

I hope that you love the book. I hope it helps you in your own life.

Today, I am just really, really, really thankful.

It's Publication Week! Instagram LIVE Tomorrow!

It’s PUBLICATION WEEK!!!!!!

via GIPHY

I can’t believe it—Friday is the big day!

(If you haven’t pre-ordered yet….do it! )

I wanted to let you know about a few things that are happening:

First, tomorrow at 2:00 PM EST, I’m doing an Instagram Live!


My account is @emily_deardo, so come on over! I will be going through the book, showing you all the features and talking a little bit about the genesis of the book and some behind-the-scenes things of an “easter egg” nature.

If you can’t come at 2, a live is available on IG for 24 hours, and I’ll try to cross-post it here and also on Facebook.

Second, I have a Media page now on the blog

This page is where I’ll post reviews, media pieces, interviews, and things of that nature, so if you miss something, it’s all there for you to read!

Third, I’m recording a podcast episode!

I’ll be talking with the lovely Lindsay Schlegel on her podcast, “Quote Me” . The episode date is TBD, but I will let you know when it happens!

So that’s what’s on the docket for this week….I’m so excited!

SQT--ONE WEEK until pub date!!!!!!!

Linking up with Kelly!

-1-

GUYS.

NEXT WEEK IS PUB DATE. (Preorder here!)

I really can’t even handle it right now, I am so excited. I know I’ve shared this GIF a lot, but it really sums up all my feelings:

via GIPHY

It’s just….weird. I mean, great, and weird, and surreal to have the thing you’ve always wanted actually happen.

-II-

It’s also surreal to have a cardinal want to interview you—-in April I’m going to NYC to be on Cardinal Dolan’s radio show! Since I love NYC, this is a real treat for me and I can’t wait to do this. I hope the weather cooperates and it’s nice because I’d like to visit Central Park, which I’ve never actually done. I’ve driven through it in a cab, but I’ve never properly been in it.

-III-

Yesterday I had a call with the marketing department and we talked about all sorts of ideas and fun things. There are going to be book plates! And other fun things! Some of these things are just for email subscribers though, so if you want all the goodies, then be sure to subscribe! (Mail chimp is being silly right now, so I might have to manually add you if your email doesn’t go through. I’m working on it. But if that happens I’ll add you manually so you won’t miss anything!)

-IV-

In health news: I’ve got insulin now and my blood glucose levels (BGLs) are doing better, YAY.

-V-

I want to share some of the great endorsement graphics that AMP did for me. If you follow me on social media, you’ve seen these, but they’re too good not to share here, too.

I’m so honored by these endorsements (and the others I’ll be sharing in the coming weeks!)

-VI-

I had my first radio interview this week, so that was scary, because I wasn’t sure how the CI would do, but it was fabulous. So yay! I have a few more in the coming weeks. When these things go live, I’ll post them on the book page and share them on social media!

-VII-

Finally—movies. I used to be really into the Oscar race, and it’s been a few years since I have been. But I’m jumping back in this year. I saw Joker yesterday.

The score is superb, and Joaquin Phoenix does a fabulous job as Arthur. It’s definitely a different take on the Joker than anything I’ve seen before in cinema—the arch mastermind cleverness really isn’t there. This is a rawness, a desire to hurt people who have hurt him, and I think it works for the character and the storyline of this particular film.

There is violence, and it is jarring. I don’t understand where people were getting the idea that this is an anti-woman film—it’s not. I do think that it springboards into discussions of: what do we tell kids about themselves? Do we lie to make them feel better? Or do we tell them the truth, even if it’s painful? How do our small actions impact other people? So I think it’s valuable from that aspect. It definitely made me think about these things, and at one point I was talking to the screen, telling characters to just behave! Don’t be so mean! Etc.

I tried to watch The Irishman and I lasted about 15 minutes. I am just not a Scorcese fan. I can’t tolerate his movies. They’re just too long and too rambling for me. The only one of his movies I was able to watch completely was Silence. And even that one is…..rambling.

I’m hoping to watch Ford v. Ferrari next, and then Judy and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood for the acting nominations.

SQT--A reaaaaaallly interesting week!

Linking up with Kelly!

And it’s gonna be fast quick takes today!

1. OK, so my body does weird things before big events. Jeopardy taping? Pneumonia. I guess for the book release month, my blood sugars will go nuts! But it’s OK, we’ve got them under control now.

2. But to get them under control, Dad and I spent 25 hours at OSU, in the ER/observation, so that was….fun. Best not discussed.

3. So I’m taking two types of insulin right now—a rapid acting one before I eat, and an “intermediate” acting one. These have both made my body much happier! There is sleep! There is energy! My cells rejoice in insulin!

4. But……sigh. OK, doctors’ offices. You must have a system for the hearing impaired to contact you. MyChart doesn’t always work. You must have ways of contact that a patient can do independently! I couldn’t directly contact my doctor’s office last Friday and that led to a really crappy weekend! Today, I can’t select my doctor on MyChart, so I had to contact my FABULOUS transplant coordinator, who will send them numbers that I emailed her! Guys, you can’t think that your lovely “secure system” is going to be the best way for people to get care if they’re hearing impaired! I RAGE ABOUT THIS.

5. STATE OF THE BOOK WICKET is here!

6. Maybe this is the time to show everyone the handy chart about emergency room vs urgent care usage…..

7. OK, that’s it for this week, go read the link at point 5! YAY BOOK! Two weeks to PUB DAY!!!!!!

The State of the Wicket

My babies on IG! :) You can follow me there @emily_deardo.

Oh, my babies are in the house!!!!!

Really, it’s so weird. It almost doesn’t feel real. I just like to look at them.

They are coming off the presses. There are two weeks until the publication date! Aghhhh!

This post is titled “The State of the Wicket” after a Diana Gabaldon blog post of the same name, where she updated her readers on what was going on with books. So I’m doing the same thing today.

Here’s what’s going on:

• My first event has been scheduled! I’ll be doing a book signing at the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference. As more events are added, they’ll be on the event page here on the site.

• I’m also lining up some interviews. When those are released, they’ll be noted here on the blog, on social media, and I’ll link them on the book page. I’m probably going to create a separate media page for interview links and such. Some interviews have been done already, and I can’t wait for them to come out!

Here are some ways you can help promote the book….

• Add it to your Goodreads to-read list if you’re on Goodreads!

• Ask your library to order a copy.

• Ask your local Catholic bookstore and “regular” bookstore to stock it!

• Once you get your copy, share a picture of it on social media, tagged #livingmementomori

• Leave a review on Amazon once you get it and read it!

Preorder links are all here, so you can choose your bookstore of choice!

I know, I’m talking about pre-ordering all the time here, but it really is important. It helps the press know how many copies to print, and it helps build up buzz for the book, which is tres important in getting the word out so as many people as possible can get a copy!

If you want to read something I’ve already written while you’re waiting for your book, Catholic 101, my ebook, is available!

If you are subscribed to the newsletter, you get everything first. Links to interviews, first opportunities to buy signed books (once I figure out logistics), any fun things, etc.

I would love to come speak to your group!! just drop me an email and we’ll connect!

On the Ninth Day of Christmas, MY BOOK ARRIVED

There she is, guys.

She really exists.

It’s so hard to explain what goes into a book. Years of work, in my case. I started writing my story when I was in college. Sending out queries and proposals and getting nothing back, or form rejection letters. Freaking out over sample chapters.

And now it’s here.

It’s been written. It’s been published. It’s beautiful.

It’s just like when Jo March opened her package at the end of Little Women and whispers, “My book!”

It’s really real.

So yeah, today was pretty exciting….

And then I took the book to Chuy’s for lunch with my best friend Tiffany.

And showed her to Jesus….

Over the next month—the official pub date is January 24—I will be talking about the book in IG videos and Facebook lives, as well as sharing endorsements and telling you what is exactly in the book, because it’s not just my story. There are tools for you to use!

If you haven’t pre-ordered, please do so, because if I want to write another book (and I do), then this one has to sell like hot cakes. :)

I was going to write about Christmas for quick takes this week, but this just takes the cake over everything else.

I’m just so excited!!!