I have exciting news to share.

When my mother was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's dementia and her memory began to slip away, I wanted to do something to preserve her, to make sure that, although she no longer remembered us, we would never forget her. I wanted to preserve her for my children who adored their Nana; the Nana that taught them to play golf on the 6th hole of the Beachview Golf Course behind their home on Sanibel Island. The Nana that left stuffed animals on their beds when we came to visit. The Nana who loved baseball, almost as much as their mama.

I would write about her, I told myself, surely then she wouldn't disappear. I would write a book that would, in it's own way, keep her with us. And so, a year after her death, I began to write. But what is true with almost all creative expression, what came out was not what I expected.

My first book, The Cardinal Club: A Daughter's Journey to Acceptance will be published by Adelaide Books late next year. It is a story about my mother. And a story about me. But most of all it is a story about family and the desire we all have to be accepted.

There is still work to be done. Editing and updating and lots and lots of decisions to make. It is a dream come true for me and I am over the moon with excitement. I look forward to updating you on the process towards publication.