I am still searching for the perfect title. This one hit me during the night: “A Mountain, a School and Some Clean Water” What do you think? Would you be intrigued enough to buy a book with this title?

Chapters 1 through 10 have now been edited. Working on the chapter 10 revisions this morning.

I just completed the revisions on Chapter six and started the process to look for book reviewers and think about a cover design. I had some success in the book reviewer department and I have some ideas for the design. Onwards and upwards!

It has been a fabulous weekend with friends and family (from Manitoba). Son Trevor and his “Hot Damn Band” were in town from Nashville and performed twice. Everyone is leaving soon and things will be back to normal. All in all, it has been a great few days.
www.trevorfinlay.com.

One other thing I have noticed during my years of writing is that even though something you have written is painfully obvious to you, if someone else questions the section, it needs reworking. If one person can’t understand what you are saying, there is a good chance others won’t either.
Just sayin’

My editor just sent me her edits for Chapter 6 of my book, “Climbing Kilimanjaro and Making a Difference”. I am finding out that this whole editing thing is lot of work but I am convinced that the end result will be worth the effort.

I recently tried to read a book written by a friend. It had been self published and I was quite excited to read it. Unfortunately, I couldn’t. It was full of spelling mistakes, large spaces in the middle of sentences and grammatical errors. It was such a shame that he gone to that much work and yet chosen the $200 self publishing package, which apparently didn’t include editing.

I consider myself to be a good writer. I have a good grasp of the English language and my understanding of grammar is decent. I honed my skills writing policy for the federal government for ten years. I know what you are saying. Nobody reads that stuff anyway!! Well, my boss did and every time I sent a policy into his office for comment, it would come back with edits all over it.

I have to admit I was offended at first. But then I tried to sit back and look at it objectively. I came to an astonishing conclusion! It was actually a better product after I incorporated his edits. He was seeing things that I was oblivious to because I had been getting too close to it. I actually learned to appreciate his input.

When I first met with my editor, I had two issues that I wanted addressed. I wanted to know if my book was something that only my grandchildren would love and if it somehow had wider appeal, I wanted an editor who would be brutally honest. It passed my first criteria and I braced myself for the second. I thought I had become immune to that kind of honesty throughout my working career.

The edit of the Introduction came back with the normal grammatical changes plus a comment that part if it was too “preachy”. Okay, I had asked for it. And you know what? She was absolutely correct and with a little work I was able to remove the preachings. Hmmm…I wonder where that desire to preach came from. Policy writing perhaps?

Since that time we have moved some paragraphs, eliminated some redundancy, elaborated on or clarified some paragraphs and ensured that I am not straying too much from the subject at any time. Oh yes, and some grammar has been fixed. And I am deeply appreciative. I am not sure what other editors do but I firmly believe that a good editor should go way beyond fixing grammar.

For anyone who has not ventured down the editing path, I strongly suggest that you find an editor who is willing to do that for you. And don’t take the criticism personally. As long as the information you want to convey is still included, it is just possible it can be said better. It will definitely be a better product after it has been reviewed in depth by a second pair of eyes. It is worth the investment to ensure your masterpiece is the best it can possibly be.

I hope I am not being too preachy!

My book is tentatively called “Climbing Kilimanjaro and Making a Difference”. I think it summarizes what we have accomplished but is it the right title? Will it attract attention? Will it encourage people to purchase it? Is it too long? Will it pop up on the inevitable searches on Google, etc.? Lots of questions for which there are probably no answers. If anyone has any suggestions on book titles, I am listening.

I am very excited to report that the details of our trip to Tanzania have been finalized. We will visit the schools in the Mwanza region, see the borehole and watch our Canadian flag being raised at the new classroom, visit with a family that is benefitting from the well and do a short safari. We will also spend a bit of time in Dar es Salaam and Arusha. The highlights of the trip will be published as an Epilogue in my book.

Stay tuned!

I have been asked why I would want to go through the exercise of writing a book, having it edited, finding publishers, doing the marketing and all the other things that go along with trying to at least break even in the process. It is not as if writing a book was something on my “bucket list” although everyone thinks about it from time to time.

The decision came to me after I had done a few presentations about our climb of Mount Kilimanjaro. I realized that the climb is not something that everyone, and especially people my age, are prepared to do. It was brought home even more when I realized the interest that people had in helping others as we had done by using the climb as a platform to raise money to bring clean water and classrooms to Tanzania. There was a need to make people understand that my son and I are two ordinary people who were able to accomplish something extraordinary through perseverance and hard work.

I hope that people will enjoy following us on our adventure as much as we enjoyed doing it. My goals in writing the book with Chris’ input were the following:

• To encourage people of all ages to set goals for themselves and to strive to attain them, no matter how lofty they may be. It is never too late to try to reach a goal. A healthy lifestyle is key;
• To take people who may never climb a mountain on our adventure up and down Mount Kilimanjaro, enlighten those who are thinking of making the trek and bring back fond memories for those who have done it; and
• To help people realize the immense power of one or two people in making a difference in the lives of so many who desperately need the help.

If one or more of these goals is met for each reader, the long hours put into the book writing exercise will have been more than worth it.

Thanks to Twitter, a great site has been brought to my attention for those who are new to writing or for the writers among you who have more experience. I suggest you check it out for hints on getting that book out there. http://bookbuzzr.com/

Thanks to Debbie Harbridge for her significant donation to the classroom project in Mwanza, Tanzania!