A Life Less Lost
Like an English summer, the teen years are packed with highs and lows, lightning, thunder, sunshine and rainbows. In a flash, the warm smile of my youngest son, David, was transformed into a cloudy grimace. Doors refused to close quietly. Our porch flooded with smelly trainers. In despair, I told my older son, James, that he would argue with me even if all I’d said was the sky is blue. And he did - for ten minutes!
Hormones, peer pressure, rapid growth, awakened sexuality and exam pressure create a tornado of emotions, which sucks in everyone in its path. No matter how determined I was to remain calm, I still often ended up in a fury over silly things.
Each day in the UK, six teenagers will find out that they have cancer. In 1996, fifteen-year-old James was one of them. That tsunami affected everyone in our family. A Life Less Lost is the memoir of that experience from a mother’s point of view.
Public Speaking
Kimm has given a variety of talks to groups of different sizes, ages and interests.
Examples of some of the themes include:- The Story Behind the Book
- Cancer Survivorship
- Considering Self-Publishing
A Life Less Lost is not a religious book but Kimm does show the difference her faith made to her. She also offers talks for church groups on themes such as:
- Loss
- What would Jesus say about receiving bad news?
- Risky Service
- Intrigued by The Shack?
Teenage cancer
- Every day six young people (13 to 24 year-olds) in the UK are told they have cancer. That’s about 2,100 young people a year.
- Cancer is the number one cause of non-accidental death in teenagers and young adults in the UK.
- Overall incidence of teenage and young adult cancer has risen by 1.5% per year over the last 30 years.
- Young people get some of the most aggressive cancers, which can be made worse by their growth spurts. Yet because only 0.5% of all cancers occur in teenagers and young adults, they are often misdiagnosed initially. This decreases their chances of survival and can mean they are excluded from clinical trials.
From the Office for National Statistics.
Kimm & her family.
Workshops
Kimm has lead writing workshops for adults and children, authors and those who’d just like to have-a-go.
Writing from Life. This is a popular workshop for any group. We all have stories to tell and perhaps need a little help to get started.
Give Poetry a Try. This is a good one for novices, including children, although adult poets have also enjoyed it.
Plotting for novels. Where do you start? Come along and get a few pointers.
Thanks again for your session. We got some great feedback. I have sent your details to some of my colleagues and hope you can work with us in the future
Judith Robinson Kirklees Library Services
For more information about the book, talks or workshops, please contact me. You can also visit my blog for a calendar of events.
Buy the book here simply fill out our contact form and a copy of the book will be sent to you as soon as the payment has gone though.