Category Archives: In the Kingdom of the Sick

It’s Paperback Release Day for In the Kingdom of the Sick!

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It’s hard to believe it’s been over a year since In the Kingdom of the Sick was published. It’s been a busy spring and summer with book-related speaking events, teaching summer classes, and some medical stuff, and somehow it’s the release date for the paperback version already.

I’m really excited, and I hope that the book will reach a new audience. The issues the book raises are evergreen, and the questions I receive at panels and events and e-mails I respond to continue to advance the conversation about chronic illness in this country.

Writing a book is such an emotionally volatile process—you toil away for years, send your book out into the wide world, and if you’re lucky you get some good pub date exposure…and then life very much goes on as it was before. Well, that’s not totally accurate; I am certainly getting more sleep and sunlight now that the writing and editing and intense promotion is over, but it’s very much a process of detachment. I poured everything into each stage of the process, and now it’s out there, and I am here, teaching, writing, mothering.

I am extremely grateful for all the support the book received when it was published, from appearing on Fresh Air, getting reviewed in the Wall Street Journal, being named an Editor’s Choice for Adult Books 2013 by Booklist, to all the writers and bloggers who took the time to feature the book and post reviews and interviews. A more complete list of reviews and interviews can be found here. I am also thrilled with the opportunities I continue to receive to talk and write about gender and pain, rare diseases, prevention and public health, etc., and hope the conversations about chronic illness and the ways in which culture, science, and technology shape the experience of being a patient will keep going.

I’d love the paperback to reach new readers, and so I’m asking for a little bit of help. If you can, will you:

1. Share this post on Twitter, FB, and other sites
2. “Like” the FB page for the book to stay updated on events and relevant articles
3. Follow me on Twitter
4. If you’re read In the Kingdom of the Sick, it would be great if you posted a review on Amazon. It is important exposure, especially as the paperback debuts…

Thanks so much for your continued support, and if you pick up a paperback copy, I’d love to hear from you!

PS–Incredibly, this month marks six years since my first book, Life Disrupted, published, and it’s awesome to hear from readers regularly and know that the issues surrounding chronic illness and young adults still resonate. Thank you!

Pub Date Reflections, Paperback Release, Spring Events, (and More)

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Thank goodness it’s April! While winter often felt endless this year, now that it’s finally spring and the illnesses and setbacks are behind us, I realize I need to post some updates about some great events lined up for the next few months.

Incredibly, a year ago today was the official pub date for In the Kingdom of the Sick. I more grateful than ever for the constant support, encouragement, and enthusiasm for the book and the issues it raises, for the press and publicity it received last spring, and the ongoing interest and opportunities to discuss these issues further. The paperback version of In the Kingdom of the Sick is set to pub this July, and I’m looking forward to more events, posts, and activities leading up to that.

On May 3, my friend Cheryl Alkon and I are presenting a session on writing nonfiction/health books at Grub Street’s Muse and the Marketplace literary conference at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel. It’s a wonderful three-day event “designed to give aspiring writers a better understanding about the craft of writing fiction and non-fiction, to prepare them for the changing world of publishing and promotion, and to create opportunities for meaningful networking.” I always wanted to attend when I was in graduate school and just starting to look for an agent, so I am really thrilled to be able to present.

If you’re in the Madison, WI area, I’m participating in a panel on electronic medical records at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on May 9. It is described as “a free public dialogue exploring electronic medical records (EMRs), a rapidly disseminating technology with great potential impact,” and is free and open to the public.

More locally, I’m participating in the “Connected Patient Panel: Exploring the Role of Online Patient Support Communities, Twitter Chats and Patient Advocacy” for the New England Society for Healthcare Communication’s Spring Conference (NESHCO). It’s on Thursday, May 15, 2014 from 12-1 pm at the Mystic Marriott Hotel & Spa, Mystic, CT.

And up next on the personal side? An update on my C25K training and thoughts on why I really like running—even if I am still a struggling novice.

Thanks again for all your support, and for listening despite the unintended silences!

Psychology Today and recent headlines

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I am thrilled to have the opportunity to blog at Psychology Today. My first post at my new blog, In the Kingdom of the Sick, is up today. I would love it if you’d click on over, leave a comment, and subscribe to it. I will be posting lots of new content and articles over there, and will not replicate the material that appears here on my personal blog.

I also have a new piece up over at Cognoscenti, WBUR’s Ideas and Opinions page, where I am a regular contributor. It’s all about collaboration between patient and provider, and why participatory medicine is so important. I wrote a lot about this in my new book, and am happy to see it getting mainstream media attention.

Up next here: a book review of My Foreign Cities, a memoir about a woman’s experiences living with her husband’s cystic fibrosis.

Pub Date Aftermath

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It’s been a whirlwind week, and I want to take a moment to quickly check in and say thank you to everyone who has supported me, and to say hello to all the new readers who found their way here through my interview on Fresh Air with Terry Gross and other press events this week. It’s great to have you here, and I’ve so enjoyed reading through all the e-mails and comments and hearing from you.

Fresh Air was an amazing experience, and I am so grateful for the opportunity. I also got to field some great, insightful questions at my Northeastern University event the other day, and look forward to my reading and signing at Brookline Booksmith on April 17th.

For events, press, and virtual book tour links, make sure you check out my In the Kingdom of the Sick page on this site, where I keep an accurate and updated list. I also use my Facebook author page and Twitter account for more immediate links, events, and articles of interest, so I’d love to see you there. While I will continue to do round-ups here on the blog for book-related news, I plan to return to more regular, substantive posts.

Up this coming week? A look at nutrition, chronic disease, and prevention…and why I’m inching closer and closer to vegetarian cooking.

It’s Official!

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in-the-kingdomAs of yesterday, In the Kingdom of the Sick is officially available in bookstores and online.

I have so much more to say about all of this, and about writing and audience and lots of other things, but this week, I’m simply juggling virtual events, in-person events, the end-of-semester crunch, and the like.

So let me say the most important thing of all—thank you! To those of you in real life who have supported me and helped me find time to write, to those of you who are virtual cheerleaders, to those of you who gave me your time and insights along the way, and to all of you who have shared links, posted items, and plan to read the book. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of doing a Q&A with Paula Kamen over at Ms. Magazine’s blog. There are lots of other links to share in the coming days, but here’s an important update: my segment for Fresh Air will run tomorrow, April 11. The show runs 1-2pm; check your local public radio stations or listen online.

(I will be doing an Author event at Northeastern during that time, so you’ll hear it before I do. Be kind ☺)

Exciting News and Virtual Book Tour Events

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The controversy over chronic Lyme disease and the way social media has so greatly influenced the trajectory of patient advocacy are issues I explore in detail in In the Kingdom of the Sick, so I am thrilled that Dorothy Leland posted a review of the book over at LymeDisease.org today. Please click on over and check it out, especially if you or someone you know has been impacted by Lyme disease.

In other book news, I have some exciting announcements:

I will be appearing on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross. I am a huge, huge fan of this show and am so excited for this opportunity. It looks like my segment will air Tuesday, April 16th, but I will post specific details on how to listen and confirmation of this as the date approaches.

C-SPAN BooK TV will be taping my reading event at Brookline Booksmith on Wed, April 17th, at 7pm. If you’re local, Brookline Booksmith is one of the best independent bookstores in the Boston area and a great venue, and I would love to see you there! (Be advised events take place on the lower level of the store.) Please also pass along this event information to anyone you know in the Boston area who might be interested.

And since we’re talking dates, a reminder that I am also doing an author event at Northeastern University at noon on April 11, if a daytime event is more convenient for you.

Thanks so much!

In the Kingdom of the Sick Virtual Book Tour Event: Review at Pop Health

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This week kicks off the virtual book tour for In the Kingdom of the Sick. From now through pub date (April 9) and beyond, writers, patients, and experts will be participating in a variety of events for the book–interviews, reviews, giveaways, announcements, etc.

I am thrilled to announce today’s post is up over at Pop Health, where public health professional and pop culture expert Leah Roman reviews In the Kingdom of the Sick. Leah has a great perspective on these issues, particularly in terms of the language we use to describe illness and the societal tensions illness causes. Please click on over to read the review and leave your comments for her.

Thanks so much, Leah!

Spring Preview: In the Kingdom of the Sick Pub Date, Book Events, and More

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in-the-kingdomAs you know, I wrote another book.

You might not know that its release date is right around the corner: APRIL 9, 2013.

I am pretty excited to share this with you.

In the Kingdom of the Sick: A Social History of Chronic Illness In America is available on pre-order now, and you can read more about in this starred review from Booklist.

If you’re local to the Boston area, I want to share two key author events. I would love to see you there!

1. On April 11, I will be doing a Meet the Author discussion and book signing at Northeastern University at noon. (I teach at Northeastern, so this is especially cool for me.)

2. On April 17, I will doing a reading at Brookline Booksmith at 7pm. This is one of my favorite bookstores around, and I can’t wait.

I am also really excited to announce that from late March throughout April, I am doing a virtual book tour with interviews, reviews, giveaways, and other events on different sites across the Internet, so no matter where you are, you can still be involved. I have some seriously amazing, insightful, and gracious people involved in this, and I will link to all of it from this blog.

I will also be posting events, reviews, and other press on my new Facebook page and on Twitter, so you can follow me there, too. The book explores patient rights, gender and pain, social media and patient advocacy, as well as the influence of science, technology, and culture on the experience of chronic illness (and more), and after all this time, I can’t wait to see it out in print and in readers’ hands.

Stay tuned!