The "New" Face of Menopause

On Friday, my hubby and I did a photo shoot for the NY Times. A freelance photographer named Derrick was hired by the Times to shoot some pictures of us for an article one of their writers is doing on the humorous side of menopause. It’s my understanding that several women were interviewed for the article so it’ll be interesting to see how much is written about what I had to say.

Nate had to leave work early in order to be a part of the photo shoot. Since he’s a “behind the scenes” kind of guy, I can’t say he was thrilled to be participating but I know he did it because of his love for me and he is always willing to give a 100% effort to support what I’m doing.

OK…so what is it that I’m going? Well, I’m trying to get my name out there to the masses. I would like every woman who’s at least 35 years old to purchase a copy of my book Whatever! A Baby Boomer’s Journey Into Middle Age. It really is a good book and I’m not just saying that because I wrote it. If someone else had written the book in the same style in which I wrote it, I would still say it was a fantastic book! I’ve had many women I don’t know personally tell me how much they’ve enjoyed reading it---both black and white women. I was actually concerned about that because some of my former white colleagues said they don’t generally read books written by black authors because they feel the book isn’t targeted for them. Well, my book proves that menopause doesn’t discriminate. It is an equal opportunity annoyer!

Another thing is, I want to represent the "new" face of menopause. Just because a woman goes through the change doesn't mean she has to crawl under a rock and hide. Far from it! She should be struttin' her stuff---proudly like a peacock---and embracing the new journey with grace and dignity.

I have to tell you I am still in awe of how the NY Times writer found me out of ALL of the authors who have written books about menopause and other related baby boomer issues. Finding me was like finding a needle in a haystack because I have no name recognition. This is how I know I am a living testimony of how good God really is. This time last year I lost my job over this book.....I struggled to get it published.....was trying to plan my wedding and was dealing with some teenage daughter drama. I ended up with NO publisher and NO book distributor. But what I do have is a promise from God and He always keeps His Word. I just love how He takes ordinary people and creates extraordinary circumstances.

The NY Times article is scheduled to come out on Thursday, April 19. I hope you'll pick up a copy and tell me what you think.