Balloon Monkey

Steve Michael Reedy, author of

Monkey Mind Tales

, the Death Writer and

Captain Safety

, aka Bob LaGree former "Strongest Human in the World."

When you are an introvert with social anxiety, spending more than an hour in a public place can suck the life out of you. Seriously. I slept for twelve hours last night and woke up with a pounding headache. On Saturday, I spent seven hours at the North Texas Book Festival attempting to convince anyone with a pulse and a pocketbook to purchase my death book, or at least listen to my spiel. Hard to do when they're doing the potty dance and I'm about to deliver some pretty heavy stuff. Maybe it was the fact that my booth was across from the balloon guy (Hey kids, how about a book on death for your mom and dad!), or the fact that my booth was next to the restroom facilities, that almost everyone winced at me as if I were trying to sell them a poop flavored Popsicle. Okay, not everyone did that, but enough so that the guy sharing the booth with me noticed. After awhile, he became my official spokesperson. I was pooped by 11 am and beginning to wonder why I don't want to write stuff that people actually want to read.

Fudgsicle anyone?

I know, you can probably hear the world's tiniest violin playing near your ear right about now. That is if you're still reading. I don't know anymore. Do people still read? Do they have the attention span capable of doing so? Or do they simply click the "like" button and move on to the next thing?

I sold four books. One to my booth mate, one to another

writer

at the fest, one to an actual person visiting the event and one to the balloon guy. Unlike many of the other attendees, I held out till the bitter end. As I was packing up my table, I asked the balloon guy if he'd make me something. I was having a pity party and I wanted a memento. We'd joked throughout the day, but as he built an elaborate monkey in a tree for me, he asked "So, what is your book about?" He then proceeded to tell me about the death of his wife and how that affected him. I just listened. As he handed me the monkey, I felt better. Sometimes it's not about how many books you sell, it's about the people you meet. Or maybe it's all about the power of balloon monkeys.

This picture doesn't do him justice.

A is for...

Well, it’s for a lot of things, actually.  There were three reasons I ventured into an exploration of death and much to my surprise and AMAZEMENT, they all start with the letter A.

It was an ACCIDENT.

I was in my first semester of graduate school at Goucher College trying to figure out my thesis topic.  I was sitting at home waiting for my mentor, Diana Hume George, to call my house.  As the tock clicked past our meeting time, I became anxious and called her number instead. (I’m not known for my patience.)

A funeral home answered.  I hung up.  I checked the number. I called again.  The same funeral home answered.  And the rest is history.

ANXIETY

Maybe it’s because I suffered through most of my life with ridiculous social anxiety that death and its natural aftermath, grief, seemed particularly scary. In the past, if your mother died, I would run from you.  Not because I didn’t like or care for you, but because I didn’t know what to say or how to act and it made me feel incredibly uncomfortable.  I learned that I’m not alone.  Death is scary, but next to birth, it’s the most natural part of life.

ANTICIPATORY GRIEF

At the beginning of this project, I was approaching 40, and I’d only lost a grandmother when I was a kid.  I feared that the latter part of my life was going to be filled with death and sadness.  Yes, both wait for me, but now I feel much better for facing my fear instead of pretending that the proverbial pink elephant doesn’t exist.

And it all lead to a BLOG and a BOOK, but more about that later…

The A to Z Challenge

Starting Sunday, April 1, I will be participating in the A to Z Challenge.  So what does this mean?  It means that each day I have to write a blog post that has to do with a letter of the alphabet.  As it should, the challenge starts with "A" and continues on with the alphabet. Easy peasy!

Since I mostly blog about death related topics, hence the name "death writer," I plan on sticking with that theme. I realize I don't have a gazillion readers, but still, it would be kind of weird for me to write about aardvarks, bunnies and carrots when someone really wants to know if they can carry on Grandma's cremains on their flight back home to Kansas.  Don't worry, the month of April will be informative and fun.

A few days ago, I brainstormed on facebook with some writer friends for possible topics.  They were a big help, but I want to hear from you.  Is there something you're dying to know about?
Come on, don't be shy.  Tell me.

So, what's my goal for this challenge?

World domination.

I'm kidding, but not entirely.  I want readers.  It's no fun to just write and never get any feedback.  You follow me, I'll follow you.  Just don't ask me to drink any Kool Aid.