Resistance to dying does.”“That message is simple: When you come to one of the many moments in life when you must give an account of yourself, provide a ledger of what you have been, and done, and meant to the world, do not, I pray, discount that you filled a dying man’s days with a sated joy, a joy unknown to me in all my prior years, a joy that does not hunger for more and more, but rests, satisfied. Lots of excellent information that can be useful in one way or another. Play what-if games. Your writing style has been surprised me. I never read through comments but I found these really helpful and made it all the way to the end! But the reader knows what happened, questions are answered, things are resolved, puzzles are solved. We bought it for our Quaker Meeting Young People.I would definitely add Lasting Matters by Barbara Bates Sedoric. One that satisfies.That doesn’t mean every ending is happily-ever-after, everything tied in a neat bow. They expect the end to do its job. Don’t play the wishing game, hoping it will simply work itself out when the time comes. Lasting Matters is a thoroughly researched and well crafted organizer designed to allow your family members the freedom to grieve in the days following your death rather than making a million decisions. Her approach is real and supportive and absent of cliches. It feels like there’s been an outpouring of books on end of life recently–boomers who have lost their parents are both the writers and the readers. I recommend Finish Strong: Putting Your Priorities First at Life’s End by Barbara Coombs Lee, a former nurse and PA turned end-of-life healthcare advocate.
Artsy types may think it hip to just stop and enjoy gassing on talk shows about how life isn’t so tidy.Well, terrific. It would help people become more aware of the dying process and what to expect long before they reach that time in life.After reading “The Conversation” by Angelo Volandes, I read Jonathan Kozol’s memoir of life with his father, “The Theft of Memory.” Kozol’s attitude surprised me but also broadened my sense of hope. Even you, am I right?Of my nearly 190 published books, more than two-thirds have been novels that started as ideas, so I know what most everybody in the business knows:That’s why publishers rarely hand out contracts and advances to first time novelists before they see Don’t play the wishing game, hoping it will simply work itself out when the time comes.And if you get near the end and worry something’s missing, that the punch isn’t there or that it doesn’t live up to the power of the other elements of Read through everything you’ve written. Make it unforgettable.This goes without saying. End your stories with how you see life, but don’t just stop.That said, some stories end too neatly and then appear contrived. With tasks to complete at the end of each chapter, reading this book is a dynamic affair. Kozol has been a moral and intellectual hero for many years and undoubtedly treated his dying parents with exceptional love and patience, but I’m not certain that I could behave the way he did.Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying by Derek Humphrey must be on any list of books that claims to cover ALL end-of-life issues and choices.The books recommended here are excellent and, in fact, I have used several of them as reference material for the book I wrote: Death, Dying, and Modern Technology – Making Informed Decisions at the End of Life.I was helped by Mary Beth Willi’s “Learning how to Let Go”. In the same way you decide when to enter and leave a scene, carefully determine when to exit your novel.This may seem obvious, but I’ve seen it violated. I sat down and tried to write the first scene of my story. But his character arc is about to resolve and become complete.The action must happen on stage, not just be about or remembered or simply narrated. We’re to wonder what happens now?”All that does for me as a novelist is to remind me that I have one job, and I recommit myself to doing it again every time. The search for great recommendations led us to some tremendous reads that we’ve compiled here to share with all of you. It was only when Sophie’s husband accused her of giving birth to another man’s baby that she went for paternity tests and discovered that her husband was right (sort of). Mine may be the last familiar hospital face she sees before she goes under and I want her to remember it as calm and present.”“Grief turns out to be a place none of us know until we reach it. It can’t be resolved by a miracle or because he realizes something. Medicine looked more like the enemy, and death the friend.”“I wish that, at the end of life, when things were truly “done,” there was something to look forward to. Now bring it in for a landing. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris, a real life adventure story set in France. A few months ago, a Twitter follower asked us for recommendations on books about death and end-of-life care. We do not expect this shock to be obliterative, dislocating to both body and mind. But take the time and listen to your friend, family member when they are going through this grieving process. It reveals you.”“I look at her. Invent a story world for my readers and deliver a satisfying experience for them. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Jot notes about it.