THE THINGS I MISSED

WHILE WRITING A BOOK

Photo by Khrystyna Khristianova on Unsplash

Overgrown garden, similar to mine

Things I have Not Noticed, during writing the book

I have mentioned this character flaw before, but it has become more evident to me, now that the book is an actual, physical object out in the world.

The thing is: how much time, energy and focus got eaten up with the demands of the book, particularly when coming down the “home stretch”. There never seemed to be a day without the book needing some form of attention.

Everything else took a back seat. Particularly everything garden-related.

So it was that I noticed that the hedge in our front garden was looking like an abandoned waif, all leggy and no leaves on its bottom branches, full of dead wood. How had I not noticed that?!

I’m happy to report that thanks to my gardener’s advice, and a good haircut, the hedge is now showing signs of recovery. Apparently, some fertilizer, some water, and some compost gave it a new lease of life. Tiny, little green shoots are appearing, the type you might expect to see after a long winter, when spring is in the air.

Recovering Hedge

OK, so it’s the first day of Summer, but let’s not quibble.

Discovering Personality Traits

I’ve come to realise that my personality trait is to zero in on something, and forget that there are other things that also need my attention. I’m not sure it is a good thing, but I’m not the type to be able to keep several balls in the air at the same time. Other things, that also needs my attention, will drop off my radar.

A Second Book? Do I Dare Do that Again?

I have been asked if I will write a second book. Hmm. On one hand, that would be the thing to do. Momentum and all that.

Other parts of me are saying, what, are you crazy? Don’t you remember the last time?

So, as an exercise in making that decision, I thought I would ask you readers which of these potential book titles would appeal to you.

Ideas for Book Number Two, should that ever occur:

IDEA ONE:

A book about writing a memoir (lots of material there!) called, “How to Write A Memoir, While You’re Still Sane Enough to Do It.”

IDEA TWO:

A fiction book about the life of my mother, who also “ran away” from a situation that did not suit her in her early 20s. (Being a teenage bride to an unsuitable husband, getting a divorce. Shocking and almost unheard of in the 1930s!) Travelling solo from the prairies to Chicago, getting married (second time), widowed, stock market crash of 1939, being Rosy the Riveter during the second World War, a still-born baby, travelling to the TB sanatorium on the streetcar to visit her dying husband, etc.

That would have to be fact-based fiction, as there are too many gaps in my knowledge of her life to make it anything but that.

IDEA THREE:

A book of my growing up on the prairies in the 1950s, the attitudes of the time, the landscape, going to a one-room schoolhouse, living on a farm, etc. I’m not sure I have enough for that one. I covered quite a bit of it in the background of my first book, I ATE EVERYTHING BUT THE NAPKINS: HOW I OVERCAME OVEREATING.

And a big, big, thank you to my readers

While I’m at it, I do have to say an enormous THANK YOU to all the readers of this Substack, as I wrote about the trials and tribulations of writing a book. It has been your comments, your support, and your reading of my weekly posts that has kept me going over the long, arduous process.

And a 5 Star Review! Woo hoo!

Although I hate to brag, (apparently you’re supposed to, in order to get more people interested in your book) I have just had the most wonderful 5 star review on Amazon.

I blush to include it here, but, as you can see, blushing has not stopped me!

“5 out of 5 stars”

Came for the adventure and came away with a great message

Reviewed in Canada on June 20, 2026

“I loved this very personal memoir told by one of my favourite Substack columnists, Rose Hurst of ‘Memoirist in the Museum.’ She has an honest and self-deprecating way of bringing you into her life’s journeys seamlessly as if you were there ... and this message of adventure and weight loss seemed improbable until you read every word and realize there is a philosophical underpinning to it all. Thoroughly enjoyable.”

If anyone else feels moved to write a review on Amazon, or Goodreads, or anywhere else, that too would be ever so welcome!

Also available through these links:

The Barnes and Noble link:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/i-ate-everything-but-the-napkins-rose-hurst/1149972041

Or Amazon, if you want an ebook or paperback, here’s that link:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0GX2ZNJ7S

Or, Books A Million:

https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Ate-Everything-But-Napkins/Rose-Hurst/9781805419495