Write for the Fight blog tour : guest post from Tess Hardwick

***Don't miss my giveaway to win 3 ebooks of WRITE FOR THE FIGHT right here on my blog ! ***

 Led by best selling author Tess Hardwick and Tracey Hansen, WRITE FOR THE FIGHT is a collection of life experiences from 13 contributing writers, all of whom will donate their royalties from the book to organizations dedicated to the fight against breast cancer.

About WRITE FOR THE FIGHT: A Seasonal Collection of Essays

Authors Tess Hardwick and Tracey Hansen, inspired by the myriad of voices in the world, compile a melting pot of life paths from over a dozen unique individuals, each exploring the four timeless questions we’ve all pondered:

• What do you miss about being 5 years old?
• What would you tell your 20 year old self?
• What is left on your life list to do? What do you still dream of?
• What would you want people to say about you on your 80th birthday?

From the thoughtful to the blunt, the experienced to the young – WRITE FOR THE FIGHT is a humorous and emotional journey that will take you back to the best of times and get you energized for the future.

About the Authors

Tess Hardwick is a novelist and playwright. She has a BFA in Drama from the University of Southern California. In 2000 she wrote her first full-length play, My Lady’s Hand, which subsequently won the 2001 first place prize for new work at the Burien Theatre.  Her first novel, Riversong, was published by Booktrope in April 2011 and became the Bestselling Nook Book in October.

Tracey M. Hansen is an author, blogger, and procrastinator from Cape Coral, FL.  When she is not making her readers laugh over at www.traceyhansen.com she likes to travel or hang out at home with her ‘ManPal’ and three feisty fur-kids. She is afraid of flying, the dark, bees and Rosie O'Donnell...not necessarily in that order.

You can find our respective sites at:
www.tesshardwick.com
www.traceyhansen.com
www.booktrope.com

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To kick off the Write For The Fight blog tour, Tess Hardwick  has written this guest post specially for Madhouse Family Reviews, explaining how the project came into existence :

It was a rainy Sunday morning and I was on the way to church with my young daughters when the idea for Write For The Fight came to me like it fell from the sky. I imagined four questions, examining the stages of life, written by a dozen or so writers. The author’s profit would go to cancer research.

For months, I’d hosted a Thursday guest post on my blog with various writers answering the question, “What would you tell your 20 year old self?”  I was amazed at the variety of advice we would give our 20-year-old selves but also the similarities.  It was an enormously popular series and prompted me to think about the other seasons of life.  What might we learn from answering similar questions about them?

·       What do you miss about being five years old?

·       What, at this point in your life, do you want, wish and dream of for your life going forward?

·       What would you want said about you at your 80-year-old birthday?

The idea for my co-writer came during that same drive to church. I’d met Tracey Hansen via twitter months before and I’d become an avid fan of her blog. Her ‘voice’ is raw and funny, in juxtaposition to my own lyrical and emotional style – perfect bookends between various other styles, ranging from witty, poetic and thoughtful. She graciously agreed to partner with me and we pitched the idea to Booktrope Publishing.  They agreed. We were thrilled.

Some of the 11 other writers came to us from contests Tracey Hansen and I ran on our blogs, while some were handpicked from Booktrope Publishing. They come from various generations, parts of the worlds, and religious backgrounds.  The essays are shockingly honest and illuminating about the human experience - all our commonalities and differences.

My hope for the future of the book is that it will prompt readers to contemplate these questions for themselves. All the writers who participated in this project agreed that answering the questions clarified past lessons and current goals. In our busy lives, we don’t take enough time to ponder the meaning found in our pasts or what we truly want for the rest of the time we have on this earth.

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