Thank you! Thank you!

Thank you to all of the friends of mine who have bought a copy of my book or ebook from the BookLocker.com link (http://booklocker.com/books/5123.html) or purchased a book from me in person.

I am still in the process of completing the final editing for the song and video of Cancer on my Mind to be posted to YouTube in January 2011.

The Cancer on my Mind web site will be up and running in the next week or so. This site will contain: cancer related Media links section and three videos (a song and video based on my book, a promotional video for my book, a student film I made while attending DVC); video shooting photos section; an About the Author section; a Cancer on my Mind screen play section; a Book Reviews section containing 16 book reviews that are featured in the book, from medical schools like Harvard, Stanford, UCSF, UCLA, Columbia Medical Center, Columbia University, John Hopkins University, Kings College Hospital, London, England; a Poetry section; and a Guest Book.

Merry Christmas to all!

I have received many positive reviews to my book and appreciate them all.

Cancer on my Mind is a reality on the Internet

Cancer on my Mind is a reality on the Facebook, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, BookLocker.com, Twitter, and Google and Yahoo search engines.

I will be distributing book copies to local San Francisco Bay Area television stations to get an interview on a weekend morning show on Channel 2, 4, 5, and 7. I will be giving a book copy to the CNBC store in Terminal 3 at SFO, for corporate viewing and approval, to get approval for a book signing in January 2011.

Jesse and I are still editing the video based on Cancer on my Mind and will posting the song on itunes, and the video and promotional video on YouTube in January 2011.

Thank you for all of your support.

To buy and read a chapter excerpt of Cancer on my Mind, go to http://booklocker.com/books/5123.html.

Happy Holidays to all!

Cancer on my Mind is now a published book available for purchase

Cancer on my Mind is now a published book available for purchase at http://booklocker.com/books/5123.html

I have spent countless hours writing this book, actually it has taken me SEVEN years to get Cancer on my Mind published by BookLocker.com

I want to thank my Mom for her support to help me survive cancer up till this point in my life. I celebrated living cancer free for 10 years on July 5 2010. She has also listened to me during the good and bad times of trying to complete my book project, and also unconditionally nursed me back to life after my brain surgery. Thank you so much Mom!

I hope that those who are diagnosed with cancer or those who need a good book to read about never giving up to survive a battle with cancer, will enjoy my book.

A web site, song and video will be available in the next 3-4 weeks.

If you have any comments about my book or blog, please write them in the blog posting.

Thank you for all of your support,

Cheers,

Walter

I submitted an error-free manuscript today

I and a good friend of mine located a number of errors in my manuscript a few weeks ago. A generous friend donate the services of his professional proofreader to my book project. After a few rounds of submitting the final manuscript and book cover to BookLocker, my publisher, I am happy to say, the task has been completed. Yeah! Yippie! I will receive a final copy in 10 business days and them anyone can order a book through the BookLocker.com web site.

I am designing business cards and tee-shirts to use the promotion of my soon to be published book, Cancer on my Mind.

I will shoot the final scenes of the video and pending song with Jesse on Thursday.

A short promotional video was shot by Jesse last Saturday. I want to thank Jesse for all of the effort he has put into writing the song and shooting and editing the video. It has been a long 17 months to finish this project.

I want to thank Angela at BookLocker.com for helping me to make my dream of publishing a book about surviving a brain tumor come true. I hope my book will inspire everyone who is diagnosed with any kind of cancer to fight hard and try and live longer. Never forget that you can do anything, just as long as you keep trying to accomplish it a little bit every day.

The finish line was reached today...

For those of you who have been following my blog postings, talking to me in person at work or at social events, or knew me when I was diagnosed in 2000, I am happy to write that my publisher, BookLocker, informed me that the print galley for my book Cancer on my Mind, was approved TODAY, and I will be receiving the first copy of my book in 10-12 days.

The book promotion machine will be started up in the a few days. I am very excited!

Jesse, Christina, John, and I shot the last scene for the song and video to be posted on YouTube in November 2010. Thanks John for letting us use your car in the video.

After two tries, the third try was the charm to get the book cover approved by BookLocker today.

I want to thank Angela at BookLocker for accepting my book for publication and helping me finalize the manuscript and book cover for printing. You are awesome, Angela. You rock!

My advice to everyone is to dream big and have fun accomplishing something that you never thought you could accomplish. I survived a grade three glioma astrocytoma brain tumor for five years after reading that I had a 40% chance to survive. Fast forward another five years and you are talking about me, defying medical odds and living an unbelievable ten years after a death wish brain cancer diagnosis.

Never say never.

Cancer on my Mind update

After changing all the names of the doctor's and hospitals in my final draft manuscript, I am happy to report that it was been received by BookLocker this morning. I still have to have Jeremy, my graphic artist, produce a final book cover draft after I receive a precise spine width from BookLocker. I don't know what the real time line is for a draft paperback copy, but I would guess 4-6 weeks.

An ending to the video will be shot in the next 1-2 weeks.

I will be shooting a 3-4 minute video to use as a press release and promote my book to TV and radio stations.

The whole process is coming along slowly, but surely.

Second Final Manuscript Submission is the Charm

With the help of a good friend of mine, I submitted the final manuscript draft of Cancer on my Mind. I was advised in order to avoid any future lawsuits, to change the doctor's and hospital names in the manuscript. I decided, "what the heck," why not read the book again and check for any spelling or grammar errors. I am glad that I read the book again, because I did find a few more spelling and grammar errors on the 16th read of Cancer on my Mind. I will receive a book cover spine width measurement to hand over to Jeremy, my amazing graphic artist (Jeremy Sosnick, Fine Art and Design, http://www.jeremysosnick.com/), email the final book cover draft to Angela/BookLocker.com, and will receive a paperback copy of Cancer on my Mind in 4-6 weeks.

The Mighty Click that Changed my World

Back in the summer of 2003, I wrote my first 50 page draft of an untitled book about surviving a grade two/three glioma astrocytoma brain tumor. I wrote on breaks at work and in my spare time writing: at a Los Altos Starbucks, nursing a cup of coffee and bringing my lunch in a plastic container and eating snacks; in my unheated rented room on Coral Court in Los Altos; in my excellent studio apartment in Los Altos across from the Los Altos Country Club; in my condo near SFO.

Seven years (and thousands of hours of writing)later, I clicked the send button with my mouse, at 9:20 a.m. on September 3 2010, and submitted my final draft manuscript to Angela at BookLocker.com, to create a 5.5 x 8.5 paperback book entitled, Cancer on my Mind, for $13.95 per book.

I spent the last 5-6 months creating a book cover with a talented graphic artist/web designer, Jeremy Sosnick of Fine Art and Design (http://www.jeremysosnick.com/). After 60 drafts, countless emails, and employing his superior patience level on an unpredictable client like me, a colorful and creative book cover has been created.

I spent the last 1.5 years writing a song and filming a video with Jesse, a genius freelance producer/shooter/editor (http://www.jsternburg.com/site.jsternburg.com/Welcome.html) and good friend. We finished the song on September 3, at 10 p.m. Jesse will edit the video in the next few weeks and it will premier on YouTube when

I launch the book and screenplay based on the book, in 4-6 weeks. BookLocker will produce a copy of my book in 4-6 weeks.

Don't ever let anyone tell you that you can't write and publish your own book about surviving a brain tumor that only gives you 40% odds of living 5 years.

I am living proof that you can write and publish your own book about surviving a brain tumor for 10 years, defy all odds by medical/statistical bean counters and doubters of how strange the human mind and body can be in times of distress and calmness.

Very close to sticking a fork in Cancer on my Mind

I have had amazing support from a very good friend to rid the manuscript of as many errors as possible.

The cover is complete and after the manuscript is formatted in book, ibook, and ebook forms by BookLocker, I will receive a specific spine width and Jeremy will finalize the cover dimensions.

I am choosing a few quotes for the book. Their are many great quotes to choose from by amazing people so I will have to be selective with my message.

I will submit the manuscript in the next few days.

After five years of writing a book and a song, and shooting a video, the dream journey will become a reality in October 2010. Yippie!

Cancer on my Mind success

I received a email from Angela Hoy, BookLocker, that Cancer on my Mind had been accepted by BookLocker to be published as a publishing on demand book by BookLocker. Yippie! Five years of work has finally paid off. I can't remember how many hours, days, and summers I spent writing many drafts of this book.

I met with my talented graphic artist, Jeremy Sosnick, and we discussed the specs and a re-design of the book cover.

I am very excited to get the book cover and manuscript into a paperback book form, but am learning that I am 80% of the way to accomplishing this task. Formatting the manuscript and finalizing the book cover to BookLocker specs is huge task to take on.

I have a total of 11 positive comments from various doctors from top name universities in the U.S. to put on the back cover and inside the book.

Cancer on my Mind update

I received three more positive comments last week from Stanford University, John Hopkins University, and UCSF.

I will be submitting a synopsis for a Cancer on my Mind screenplay to film school all over the world to see if a film student is interested in making a short film.

I will meet with my book cover graphic artist, Jeremy Sosnick, and put the final touches on a book cover.

I will submit my manuscript to BookLocker, a great publishing on demand company, get approval for the self publishing, and send the complete book in for printing.

I joined Twitter and will be posting daily.

Yippie!! I celebrated 10 years of cancer-free living today at 8:30 a.m.

I celebrated 10 years of living cancer-free today at 8:30 am after being diagnosed with a grade two and three glioma astrocytoma brain tumor. The five year statistics gave me a 40% chance to live. Never say never. If you encounter a barrier or negative encouragement when trying to accomplish anything, ignore it, and push even harder. Always remember,"Positive thinking is better than drinking."

I want to thank all of my friends and family, the doctors and nurses at UCSF, and those who encouraged me to keep my head up and take life and cancer on one day at a time.

Things are looking good...

I had a meeting with a friend yesterday about creating a marketing/promotion plan for Cancer on my Mind. The meeting went well and I was happy to hear that he was very encouraged about writing a song and shooting a video, having a screenplay that is 905 completed, a eye-catching book cover and a courageous and emotional cancer survivor book. I am blessed to meet people who believe in me and my book and aren't afraid to go the extra mile to get the word out to people all over the world that if you are diagnosed with cancer that you can defeat it and live.

We will start up the Cancer on my Mind soon. I am so excited!

More progress on the Cancer on my Mind web site and book cover

The Cancer on my Mind web site is taking form. I like the web site format and pastel colors. The Poetry and Information Links contain data.

I am still deciding on the book cover background, spine, and back cover color. This has been a difficult decision for me to make. I have asked 30 people for their opinion and one color has dominated the poll. Can you guess which one?

I will be sending off the manuscript to BookLocker this week seeks submission approval, and then will send off the book cover template and manuscript. It takes 4-6 weeks for BookLocker to send me a draft copy and request some (if any) changes.

I am getting excited!

After five years of hard work, this project will come to a successful end.

Look for me on Oprah and CNN soon!

Updates on book cover, new news on the COMM web site, and final draft manuscript work

I am still deciding on what book cover color to select for a final draft. I had it narrowed down to a black with red font or yellow with red font. I am now mulling over a few other book cover colors:

Light green

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385343493/ref=s9_al_bw_ir04?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-6&pf_rd_r=17XV8FW726FYK2E91GMF&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1263723282&pf_rd_i=341154011

Bright green

http://www.amazon.com/Breakfast-Lunch-Tea-Little-Bakery/dp/0714844659/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277356101&sr=1-1

Bold green

http://www.amazon.com/Sheriff-Yrnameer-Novel-Michael-Rubens/dp/0307378470/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277356828&sr=1-3

Light purple

http://www.amazon.com/Weed-That-Strings-Hangmans-Bag/dp/0385342314/ref=pd_rhf_shvl_15

Blue?
http://www.amazon.com/You-Suck-Story-Christopher-Moore/dp/0060590300/ref=pd_rhf_shvl_17

Bright yellow/fluorescent green
http://www.amazon.com/Associate-Novel-John-Grisham/dp/0440243823/ref=pd_ts_b_65?ie=UTF8&s=books

Dark orange

http://www.amazon.com/Out-Amsterdam-Phillip-van-Bossche/dp/0870707531/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277355328&sr=1-1

Light blue

http://bookcoverarchive.com/book/the_unbearable_lightness_of_being


I found a flash animator to create a animated banner of "Cancer" "on" "my" "Mind" graphics popping out a hinged brain (side view) one by one, from left to right. I will have to see if the cost is within my book project budget in the coming weeks and months.

The manuscript is in the final stages of re-formatting, editing, grammar and style corrections, and then it will be sent off to BookLocker, a self publishing book company for approval. Thank you to the special person who has accomplished this amazing task for me. You know who you are. Thank you sooo much!

A Lot More Progress on Cancer on My Mind

Jeremy and I have created the first front cover, back cover, and spine for my book.

The web site will consist of: picture of a cancer park in Phoenix Az.; video interviews about the book and reasons for a talking tumor in a brain cancer non-fiction book; video and song posting of a project that Jesse, the talented video-dude, who help me write, record, and shoot the video; sample book chapters; a few poems I wrote; pictures of the filming of the video, indoors in my condo, and outdoors on Mt. Tam, a cemetery, industrial 3rd St in SF, and the Oakland Coliseum.

The manuscript will be completed edited and re-formatted in a few weeks. I will submit it to BookLocker, a POD company, wait for their approval, submit the manuscript and book cover template, and wait for a draft book to be delivered to me in four weeks. So, I am looking at early August 2010 to get the book, song and video out.

Manuscript, book cover, song and video progress continued

I celebrated ten years of living a cancer-free after being diagnosed with a brain tumor in June 2000. Back then I had a 40% chance to live ten year. I did it! If you put your mind (yes, a pun was intended.) toward accomplishing anything in life, you can do it. I am living proof that it can be done.

Boy, am I a lot closer than I was six years ago. If you decide to take on a creative endeavor or three like I did, please be ready to be in it for the long haul. Creative is a large animal to sink your teeth into. I decided to stack the deck and write a song and shoot a video with my good friend, Jesse, after completing my book. The song is done and Jesse and I have a few more video scenes to shoot before he edits the video into the 2:49 minute song.

The song is awesome and will surprise everyone.

I re-formatted and fixed the grammar/inconsistencies in the manuscript which shortened it from 156 pages to 142 pages. I wrote more talking tumor dialogue to make the book more interested and injected more sarcasm and "you will die soon" back talk from my number one enemy.

I received an amazing endorsement last Sunday from the leader of brain surgery at UCSF, Doctor Charlie Wilson. Doctor Wilson trained my brain surgeon, Doctor Sandeep Kunwar, and the head of UCSF Brain Surgery and Pediatric Brain Surgery, Doctor Mitchel Berger.

Here is the quote: “The author has provided an insight into the mind of a patient told that he has a malignant brain tumor. His story of faith, courage and perseverance is from the heart, and if you will, the mind. He has an inspirational message that illuminates the human spirit from the inside. The audience for this story is everyone.”

Pretty awesome, huh! My endorsements so far: one from Harvard; one from UCLA; and three from UCSF.

I have been working closely with Jeremy Sosnick, brother of Andrew Sosnick, on a full-color book cover. After a few months of researching book covers and the specifics of how to sell a book or any product, Jeremy, created four pencil draft covers. I chose part of one draft and included my ideas. He created 14 draft color covers, and now we have moved on to colors and font ideas. We met last week and chose eight ideas which will include both of our book cover ideas. I am so excited that the book cover process is going well, mainly because Jeremy is a great artist and he is open to all of my book cover ideas and suggestions.

I will submit the manuscript to BookLocker for approval and will hopefully launch the book, song and video in early July 2010.

Manuscript and book cover progress

I re-formatted the entire manuscript in seven days. I am now checking over the grammar errors in the manuscript to make error-free and submission ready for a publishing on demand (POD) company named BookLocker.

I am meeting with Jeremy on Thursday to review a color draft of my book cover.

Still have three more small video scenes to shoot and then Jesse with begin the editing.

Finding time to take wonderful walks and have great dinners after work.

Being in love is wonderful.

More Progress on the Cancer On My Mind project

I took a well deserved break from the book, song, and video. I feel recharged and happy again. The song is 90% completed. The video is 90% shot and will be edited by mid June 2010. Once the song is mixed and we are happy with it, I will submit it to the US Copyright Office. If anyone wants to use it, we own it, so please get our permission before you use it.

I have seen the scenes that Jesse shot for the video and they are awesome. Great job Jesse!

I am reformatting the manuscript and cleaning up the remaining grammar errors in the next two week. I will submit the polished manuscript to Booklocker, a publishing on demand company for review and hopefully acceptance to self publish.

I have been working with Jeremy, an amazing graphic artist, designing the book cover concept, color, and font. I will be getting a color version of the design we decided on next week.

Life is good. I am looking at late June 2010 to have the song and video posted on YouTube, and my book in print and for sale.

More Progress With Cancer On My Mind

After a few weeks of planning from Jesse and I, a video shooting crew of five, gathered our talents and equipment and shot the beginning scene of my music on the beautiful coast of Mt. Tam, overlooking the shimmering Stinson Beach. We were patient with the thin clouds on the breathtaking coastline, and waited for a sunny clearing to shoot scenes of Christina, as she posed, smiled, drank wine and ate a sandwich, as my girlfriend. I manned the circular reflector, under Jesse's direction, on Christina's face to fill in the unlit side of her face. Jesse is an amazingly creative cameraman and saw many beautiful moments to direct Christina in scenes involving the stunning Stinson Beach background, an epiphany of Christina blowing a lady bug off her hand, toasting wine glasses, and enjoying the sunny day and coastal view. The day's shoot was filmed from my POV (point of view), an amazing video concept that Jesse came up with.

I checked my email upon arriving home at 10 pm, and was happily surprised to find a re-written draft of a screenplay from Allen Amundsen in my email in box. It is awesome and creative!

Major Progress on Cancer On My Mind

Since my last blog entry on January 15, 2010, a lot has happen with the book and video project:

-the song music is almost completed, but all the vocal and instrument parts must be painstakingly re-aligned by Jesse; the book cover was shot by with Steve last week and we chose the four pictures we want to use to PhotoShop a book cover
- the back cover will include a head shot photo and four positive book comments
-the video is 75% shot, but must be creatively edited together by Jesse into a highly creative video to post on YouTube
-a web site needs to be constructed
-i located a POD site to print and sell my book from called Booklocker

Still Looking For a Book Agent, But Shooting a Video For My Song, Too..

After a three month break from sending out query and book proposal letter to book agents, I am back at it again, sending out my complete book proposal the old school way, US mail with a self addressed and stamped envelope (SASE). It cost me $1.90 per mailing. Sending out query letters via SASE is 88 cents. I have a list of 60 more book agents that will sent query and book proposals to and hope for the best. If I can't get a book agent to represent me, then my next best alternative is to self-publish, and get some good press that might attract some attention to a book agent.

The song needs some cleaning up and then it will be ready to be copyrighted. Jesse spent a few 6 hour days tossing around video ideas for the song, and finally came up with a brilliant idea to shoot the video in a controlled environment, to make lighting and set building easier. Creating a shot list and pre-production will take a few weeks. We have a creative idea to turn into a "me versus brain tumor" video, to kind of mimic my book. I am very excited about the creative process of the making of the song and devising the video idea and shooting the video. I feel very lucky that Jesse and I work well together and can let the music and video process run its creative course. Patience and spending long hours is something that I have done with my book, alone, but not sharing ideas to write a song, produce the music, and record my own voice on a song. I have been very lucky to hit this amazing creative streak in my mid to late 40's.

TED Blog: How to live to be 100+: Dan Buettner on TED.com

TED Blog: How to live to be 100+: Dan Buettner on TED.com