This week I’m hosting Kathy Herman with Dangerous Mercy, Rose McCauley with Christmas Belles of Georgia, Eddie Snipes with I Called Him Dancer, and Rebecca Jacoby with Beating Cancer. If you want to enter the drawings for the books, please leave a comment on one of the post during the week with your email address. I will not enter you without an email address (my way to contact you if you win). If you don’t want to leave an email address, another way you can enter is to email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com. The drawings end Sunday (December 11th) evening.
Blog Interview with Rebecca Jacoby:
Q: What prompted the idea for your book?
A: I think each of us has a family member, friend, colleague or acquaintance comprising the statistic of more than 500,000 people each year who are diagnosed with some form of cancer. My grandfather, mother and aunt each died from it…my mother before she reached her 50th birthday. This never strays far from my heart.
Then, within one week, three colleagues and a friend told me of their diagnoses. Shortly afterward, when my husband received a diagnosis of bladder cancer, I had to do something. What positive messages could I speak to them and others? I began soliciting, compiling and editing survivors’ stories. My husband’s and colleague’s stories are included.
Q: How has the book been received?
A: Honestly, I do little promotion for it, just an occasional Tweet or Facebook message. I intended it as ministry to bless cancer victims and families. I have had feedback in the sense that God is using it for good. He has placed people in my path who need the message of hope that the book expresses.
For example, two women at my church who were undergoing treatment for cancer read it and thanked me for the lift it provided to their spirits. I am grateful to have offered some comfort to them and am thankful they both now are survivors, too. So, I think of it as a useful, inspirational tool.
Q: What can you tell us about the survivors’ stories?
A: When people receive a diagnosis, they seem most interested in reading about others who have survived the type of cancer they have. Therefore, the book is organized by type of cancer. Each chapter begins with a thought-provoking quotation and is followed by the survivor’s story. One woman says that living with cancer is like riding a rollercoaster everyday. Another likens her experience to pushing a dandelion through cement.
I kept each writer’s voice intact. Several are from Christians. But through tears and trials, the common thread is gratitude. Each survivor tells how he or she sees life through new lenses, and often, stronger faith. I think that is a blessing we can all share.
