Newly Minted Author

Are you really a writer if you haven't written a book? That, of course, was my little internal self-doubt question I would hit myself with late at night. Even after years of writing articles, papers and blog posts, you'd think I'd have that part of my self-identity nailed down. 

It's not a justifiable self-critique, of course. At least not in the daylight. But perhaps ticking that check-box off my life list will let me sleep a little easier now. It's a milestone, and one I am very proud of.

Oh yes, my reason for rambling... Last night I posted our Stem news item announcing the forthcoming book Jordan Furlong and I have been working on for the past year. As you can see from reading Jordan's post from earlier today, he's equally as thrilled as I am.

For the particulars, please check out the Ark Group's bookshop summary, the executive summary & TOC, or the sample chapter that are now available.

Writing with a co-author wasn't as bad an experience as one might expect. It helps when your co-author is Jordan Furlong; but it also helps when you have a personal history of critiquing each other's work. Jordan knew my Columbo routine of 'just one more idea' going in. (Even when it meant yet another twist to our narrative.) To say I'm appreciative would be an understatement.

I would also like to add a note of thanks to my colleague Emma Durand-Wood, who is a big part of the idea generation process at Stem. Her ability to flesh out the intended message, or identify an inconsistency that Jordan or I wouldn't see, was invaluable to the writing process. We mentioned Emma by name in the acknowledgements for good reason.

And finally, I'd like to thank Terry Edwards and Matthew Kraemer from Pushor Mitchell for stepping up to be one of our book's case studies. We're proud to be working with such a great firm.

Book cover: