From Tandem Riding to Tandem Writing: The Book Cometh

The seminars ended and the crowd went wild. Then the much too familiar words came:

“WHERE IS THE BOOK?”

Juggling his busy Couples Therapy practice during a period crammed with seminars, retreats and talks, made book writing time scarce for Michael. Our frustrations grew as the book requests of friends, colleagues and clients reverberated in our souls. As the year’s speaking engagements wound down we knew Michael was being allowed time to write.

In May of 2014, at the conclusion of a four-day speaking engagement in Washington D.C., Michael began the dedicated and arduous process of writing “the book”. Vexed by an author’s most unwelcome companion, “writer’s block”, Michael bravely muscled his way through each setback. With several starts and stops along the way, Michael and I continued our difficult daily discussions about the writing journey.

“Are we having fun yet” we wondered aloud.

Introductions were written and re-written. Titles were claimed and later scrapped. Deeply profound middle-of-the-night thoughts were filed away to Dropbox journals for a future project. Disappointment, discouragement and a major dose of self-doubt dealt crippling their blows.

Michael and I persevered through each barrier and its subsequent regrouping. The difficult critiques from me often felt harsh, having the potential power it seemed to separate even the best of friends. Prayer and persistence eventually had their way.

On the evening of August 5, 2014 the book idea was birthed. As Michael counseled couples that night, I penned my creative inspiration to paper (actually I typed on my Mac) to form the beginnings of Chapter 1. The home was overflowing with excitement upon Michael’s return and review. With mere moments of collaboration, the foundational structure was in place. Three months of barriers crumbled as we embraced the project as a couple.

How novel a thought that husband AND wife should co-author a book on marriage. Now just six weeks and 3 chapters into the project, positive energy abounds as we climb this new mountain together.

We are so excited about this tandem writing journey and look forward to sharing with you, our readers, along the way. Whether riding tandem or writing tandem, there is great joy in discovering the right path together.

Until next time,
Paula