Happy to be Alive for Christmas

When you wondered if you'd live to finish writing your book,Touched by Hannah.

This past summer, I was too ill to put out the garbage.

I was able to sit upright and write for 4-6 hours daily while enduring Pleural effusion (massive fluid in my left lung). Writing was the remedial treatment that gave me purpose and guided me through hell.

I also let myself chill and watched plenty of golf and the Summer Olympics on my 75” smart TV. I wish Dad and Grandpa Hennessy were alive. They would be blown away. I’d happily let Dad lounge his sports-loving butt in my man-chair.

In November, after many hundreds of hours joyfully grinding, I finished writing Touched by Hannah and emailed my manuscript to the amazing Twila Belk for proofreading.

Belkie is the ‘Gotta Tell Somebody Gal’—a writer and speaker who loves teaching at writers' conferences and enjoys helping writers through her role as The Writer's Champion. I trust her one hundred percent.

TBH has already garnered much interest from media, agents, and anyone else who hears of it. This feedback has caused endorphins to overtake my soul and uplift everything.

The natural high I’m riding is motivating me to finish writing my book proposal, a challenging project I hope to complete by late January. Then I can begin querying agents, hopefully sign with a reputable agent, who will sell Touched by Hannah to the right publisher.

It all seems to be coming together like I’d envisioned for ten years. How sweet it is!

After being published, I’ll have written the screenplay for the Netflix movie we will produce. The TBH segments in the film will be flashbacks that teenage Hannah (played by Hannah) experiences as she attends a reunion for the actresses from our award-winning hit cable TV series, ‘Yolo YoYo’s.’ Hannah and friends fun & uplifting adventures through Yolo County. (2019-2021)

Please pray and wish I can live to achieve my dreams. 🙏💪

The story within the story

In 2013, four years after Hannah’s birth and my cancer surgery, Saved By Hannah was the name for a film I planned to write and produce. I decided to write the book first to tell our entire story. The photo below explains how the title, Touched By Hannah, came to be.

And in the End 

During our outing on December 10, I had to wear a sweatshirt. “Ugh, and ouch, being under 60 degrees is painful.” This New Yorker has morphed into a spoiled Californian😆

Those folks (below) joined me on a wonderful outing to old town Sacramento. Without them, there’d be no happy holidays, writing Touched by Hannah or performing at speaking gigs—no award winning films or love and support. My fam is everything and never taken for granted.

I wish similar blessings for you this holiday season. Good times surrounded by loved ones and the best twenty twenty-five.