'MysteryDates®' wins publishers’ association award for best cover of a nonfiction book

MysteryDates®, a VitalityPress book that carries the subtitle “How to keep the sizzle in your relationship,” recently won a BAIPA contest for best nonfiction cover.

It’s the second time VitalityPress books illustrated by Joe Marciniak and written by me, Woody Weingarten, have won cover awards from the Bay Area Independent Publishers Association. The first time was for a whimsical children’s fantasy, Grampy and His Fairyzona Playmates, which was co-written by my granddaughter, Hannah Schifrin, when she was 8 years old.

 

MysteryDates is both a memoir and a travel guide with hundreds of tips on what to do, how to do it, and where to go — locally, nationally, globally.

I’ve also written two other books, The Roving I, a compilation of 70 of the best newspaper columns I’ve written, and Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner’s breast cancer, which is a combination love story and guide to research, meds, and help.

 

For more information, or to order any of the four books, go to woodyweingarten.com.

Blog praises Woody Weingarten's caregiving book

Veteran author, blogger thinks 'Rollercoaster' helps male caregivers cope with cancer

The main subject of a new Goodreads blog is that  "Rollercoaster" can assist male caregivers in dealing with breast cancer.

Veteran blogger-journalist-novelist-publicist Debbie Cohen writes about what "sometimes slips through the cracks" after diagnosis — a "male partner's concurrent need for assurance in his new role as…primary caregiver."

Debbie Cohen

She says that being "expected to be a pillar of strength…can be a frightening experience for many men. To help that fear, veteran journalist Woody Weingarten has written an important book titled "Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer."

It's "exactly the type of book that Weingarten could have used himself," she notes. "He lost his first wife to breast cancer."

Although the book's focus is on breast cancer, her blog continues, "any caregivers, particularly those who are there for patients with AIDs, Alzheimers or, indeed, any life-threatening or altering disease, would benefit from it."

"Rollercoaster" is a memoir-chronicle, a love story, and an up-to-the-minute guide to research, meds, and where to get help.

Debbie's blog is appropriately titled "Why We Need More Books and Advocacy On Behalf of Male Caregivers."

Her first book, "Keeper of the Scale," which deals with body image and the power of female friendships in forming a "diet buddy" threesome.  It is available in both paperback and in ebook format.

'Rollercoaster' full of resources, asserts blogger

Zealous writer: 'Rollercoaster' can make cancer diagnosis 'a little bit easier on us all' 

M.J. Joachim

M.J. Joachim is a "very passionate" author and writer from Mesa, Arizona.

A fellow blogger, Philip Verhese Ariel, explains that her passion, in part, has been aimed at "making the world a better place…by raising awareness."

One small step toward that goal, I'm absolutely thrilled to report, occurred when she gave my new VitalityPress book, "Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer," a glowing review.

Below, starting with the next paragraph, are excerpts from M.J.'s piece, which was published on Feb. 3, 2015. The full review, of course, is available on her website.

Breast cancer is one of those scary, taboo subjects nobody wants to talk about, despite the fact that millions of people are and have been affected by it. 

It’s personal. Cancer always seems to be so darned personal. 

For decades we’ve danced around the big C word. 

Until now! 

How I wish this book had been around when my father and uncles died of cancer so many years ago! How I wish this book had been around over the years when I had two benign breast biopsies - one at 28, another in my mid 30’s.

Weingarten is the caregiver of his wife Nancy and her breast cancer; years later, he is also the patient with cancer. 

Seems many of us get to deal with the big C more than once in our lives, and in various ways too. 

For all the research, money raised, government programs, medicines and treatments tried, things which Weingarten fully addresses in this book, we still don’t seem to find the answers we need. 

This book doesn’t offer any false hope. Weingarten describes in scrupulous detail the evolution of cancer meds and treatments since the 70’s. It’s an important section in the book, and if I ever do get cancer, you can bet I’ll never opt to take tamoxifen, partly because of what I learned in this book.

All the big C talk aside, Rollercoaster is a love story about a man and a woman dealing with her diagnosis, treatment and side effects (those little things no one really wants to talk about like loss of sex drive, anger and anxiety, relationship challenges, an entire myriad of fears ranging from how to deal with hair loss to night sweats and coping with nightmares, even eating to deal with stress). 

Twenty years later Woody & Nancy are still happily married survivors of the big C that changed and redefined their lives forever. 

“Marin-Man-to-Man is a drop-in, dues-free support group open to any male whose partner has or has had, breast cancer (or another life-threatening disease).” Much of this book makes reference to this excellent resource and support group for male caregivers living in the San Francisco Bay Area, a group Woody himself attends. 

Closing chapters are full of valuable resources and books for both caregivers and cancer sufferers alike. 

If you haven’t personally been touched by cancer yet, you’re lucky. I strongly recommend this book to everyone, because this book has the ability to make the dreaded big C diagnosis a little bit easier on us all.

Thanks so much for taking time to share your story, Woody. I trust and hope many people will be extremely fortunate to read Rollercoaster and benefit from you and your wife’s experience with breast cancer.

Book on male caregiving wins readers' praise

Reviewers give 'Rollercoaster' five stars, say it's 'frank,' 'eloquent' and a 'must read'

Readers are giving "Rollercoaster: How a man can survive his partner's breast cancer" — the new VitalityPress book I, Woody Weingarten, wrote about being a male caregiver — five-star ratings, and calling it a "must read."

On Amazon, for example, certified retirement life coach Gloria Dunn labels it "a love story written…charmingly with both wit and compassion. If you only read one book about a couple going through the cancer process together, this is a must read."

"Black Blender" writes that it's a "terrific book on a neglected subject."

And Georgia McDaniel, one of my wife's "chemo-sitters" and a current breast cancer patient herself, writes that she "appreciated the insertion of various statistics or results from studies to punctuate a particular point."

Leah Garchik

Leah Garchik, a daily columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, notes that I've "written a memoir, an instructional guide, a journal of emotions…Anyone who has suffered through watching a loved one face possible mortality will find succor here."

Callie Raab, herself an author, writes she found the book "surprisingly frank, eloquent, moving, and enlightening…and a powerful reason for others in a similar situation to hope."

And on the Goodreads website, Fran French, a medical professional, concurs: "I laughed, cried and felt totally immersed in the words and feelings Woody Weingarten expressed. A must read."