A New Office and a New Website

After years of wishing for this chair, my family surprised me with it for my birthday in early August. I have spent hours and hours and hours in it since then, getting so much work done! I call it my office (phone, notebook, coffee all nearby, it's totally an office!)

I have spent a lot of time this week swinging in my new deck chair and thinking and editing and stressing and wishing things were less overwhelming than they were at the moment. I am finally breathing a sigh of relief today (and the gorgeous, warm-but-not-hot weather definitely helps). Seriously, I don’t know what I would have done without my newchair - it has been my number one productivity tool and stress reduction strategy!

It still feels weird to say to people that I have a book coming out, even though it’s consumed me for the past many months.  The funny thing is that if you had asked me back in, say, January or February if I envisioned writing a book this year, I maybe might have said yes (maybe), but I’m not absolutely sure. I did have a couple of projects brewing in the back of my mind, two books in fact, but neither of them were the book I ended up writing. I have heard though that books can be fickle like that - sometimes you think you’re writing one book but something completely unexpected comes out. I can vouch for that fact!

My book was finished months ago - it was getting a whole new website up - this very website right here - that was this week’s seemingly impossible project. Because in these days and times, writing a book is actually the very easy part of the process, and as it turns out, really the tip of the iceberg. There is so much else that goes on to support the marketing and selling of the book. My website may be up and running now but my head is still spinning with everything else I need in order to launch the book - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Smashwords, Goodreads, Amazon, oy!  

So about the book!  It’s called “Surrogacy Success: An Intended Parents’ Guide to Developing a Rewarding Relationship With Their Intended Mother” and it’s a real labor of love. 

It’s soooo pretty, right? As soon as I laid eyes on it I squealed to my designer (who conveniently also happens to be my husband) “I LOVE it! It’s perfect!” I really really LOVE it!” and I absolutely do. Doesn’t it look inviting? In the sea of Amazon books that pop up from a search, I think this one will really stand out and draw attention in a positive way (‘cause take my word for it, there are A LOT of books on Amazon that draw attention in a not-so-positive way, holy moly!)

“Surrogacy Success” is a guidebook for couples who are considering surrogacy, couples who are currently engaged in surrogacy, and friends and family who want to better understand surrogacy so they can support their loved ones. It’s a surrogate’s perspective of the whole surrogacy process, from considering a surrogate arrangement all the way through the birth and beyond. Heck, it could also be a great resource for a woman considering becoming a surrogate mother herself. 

And now I have dates that it goes up for sale, gulp! It will be on Amazon for pre-sale next week on Friday, September 4 (ohmygosh!) and it will officially launch on Sunday, September 27.  I know there is some logic to those dates - a book launch on a Sunday? But the publishing consultant I’m working with assures me that’s a wise thing to do, so I trust her, because she’s been a fantastic advisor so far. 

To support this book I have this brand new website. It’s called Surrogacy by Design because I wanted to keep it in the family so to speak (because I’ve had another website called Fuller by Design for years, and I still do), and I think that name does the trick of linking the two sites. Plus it speaks to what I write a lot about - thinking through your choices, your options, really considering things in order to make the best decisions possible. That’s what the message is at the core of my “Surrogacy Success” book- this is your experience, so take control of it with plenty of reflection and considered communication. 

It’s an exciting new venture to start blogging here, one I’m really invigorated to take on. And I’d like this to be a partnership of sorts - much like surrogacy, which is the ultimate partnership. If you have ideas for topics you’d like to see me blog about, whether they’re general surrogacy topics or specific aspects from my own experience, I’d love to hear from you. I want this site to serve you, and I can only do that if you tell me what you’d like to read. 

So please be in touch! You can email me at any time at surrogacybydesign (at) gmail.com and I promise to write back!.