My Book
BookMark: Life-Changing Secrets I’ve Learned From Interviewing Authors
I invite you to download the first chapter free here. I loved writing this manuscript. And, now BookMark is being shopped to agents and publishers. You are welcome to share your thoughts with me in the comments below. If you are an agent or publisher, and love what you see, please contact me.
BookMark: Chapter One
[view/download PDF]
All inquiries:
Diana Page Jordan (503) 381-3126
BookMark is memoir, told in vignettes, interweaving excerpts from hundreds of interviews I’ve conducted with bestselling authors. It is part “Cinderella,” part Terry Gross, many of the vignettes gathered around life lessons. At the core, BookMark is about Transcending the Trauma, to inspire readers who may have suffered horrors in their own lives, to find the brilliance in their lives and attract more beauty and wisdom.
This is my unique story, blended with journalistic training and integrity:
I was born in New York, and lived the first few years in an apartment on the Upper West Side, my grandparents’ home filled with magic, music, healing, and love. But at age four, I was removed to an isolated town outside the City. I never saw my real father again, except for once when I was six, an event which ended tragically. And, I was brought up by my stepfather, a tall, dark, handsome violent pedophile, and my beautiful mother who is a suicidal, alcoholic schizophrenic. Both are skilled actors. I survived through my rich fantasy life…and through books.
Fast-forward to a career as broadcast journalist and an author-interviewer – once afraid to speak — now talking to authors whose books grace The New York Times Bestsellers list, and finding that the right author comes to town at the right time.
There is a lot of talk about The Secret and Law of Attraction, but readers who have been traumatized, especially early in life, are often trapped by beliefs formed during times of torture that are no longer relevant. BookMark lights a path toward healing and hope.
BookMark is powerful, inspiring, and enlightening, and is currently looking for a publisher.
shannon leonetti said,
September 21, 2009 @ 8:21 pm
When I read the title of your book in the willamette week newsletter I went running to amazon and to powells, wanting to secure a copy! Then I read this web site and found it hasn’t been published…..how sad. What’s next?
Diana Page Jordan said,
September 22, 2009 @ 5:03 am
Shannon,
I really appreciate your enthusiasm, but I’m sorry you are disappointed. It’s a good thing: my manuscript, BookMark: Life-Changing Secrets I’ve Learned from Interviewing Authors, is being shopped right now. You will get some sense of the book during the Willamette Writers meeting Tuesday, October 6th. Also, on the next night, I will be doing a workshop called Rev Up Your Life — drawing from some of the same material. Here’s a link: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/tools/invite/4428639
Stay in touch!
Thanks,
Diana
The Accidental Novelist said,
February 9, 2010 @ 11:19 pm
I know your book will find a home! Your story is inspiring… and I find that stories are what inspire and connect us.
I had none of the experiences that you had as a child, I can’t even imagine. But I did discover, early on, how magical connecting with a good book is.
Diana Page Jordan said,
February 10, 2010 @ 7:27 am
Yes, I feel deeply fortunate that despite the trauma, I had my books, and therefore was witness to great beauty, possibilities, and, as you say, to magic.
Blythe Ayne said,
April 4, 2010 @ 9:44 pm
Dear Diana,
Wishing you a Happy Easter… a time of regeneration, reflection, & manifesting.
May you filled with the joy of them all,
Blythe
________________
John Wilder said,
July 22, 2010 @ 9:38 am
I read your chapter. It is insightful and evocative. You take the reader along as the unseen and unheard observer into your soul.
I can relate to your background. I was brutalized repeatedly by my very sadistic father and was ignored and unloved by my distant alcoholic mother. And yet we are both survivors and stronger for it.
Blessings on you and yours
John Wilder
Diana Page Jordan said,
July 24, 2010 @ 12:32 am
John,
Thank you for reading my blog. And I have profound appreciation for what you are sharing.
I didn’t write it in my blog, but I recognized yesterday that something has shifted in me. I don’t want to survive, because that means my life is always in juxtaposition to the evil I experienced. Instead, I want to thrive. Just the recognition of that sense causes me to breathe deeply and smile. In my mind’s eye, I see a bird flying up and away from the patched-up devastation. Very freeing.
My best,
Diana
marriagecoach1 said,
July 24, 2010 @ 8:32 am
I also appreciate how devastating it is to be molested by a pedophile dad. I have worked with several women for whom have experienced this. I too was sexually abused not by my father but by a Catholic priest. I am one of thousands who have never come forward. It does not define me because I choose not to let it. It was a sad event in my life but I am not damaged goods. I was taken advantage of by some pretty messed up people becaujse I was not big enough or strong enough to defend myself, but now I am and never again.
Blessings on you and yours
John Wilder
Diana Page Jordan said,
July 26, 2010 @ 10:22 pm
Hello John,
There’s a lot of courage in what you’ve done.
I used to wonder – as a kid – why my stepfather hated God, Catholicism; why he was so violent. One day, I was sifting through a drawer full of photographs, and suddenly I saw a picture of him as a sweet little boy – wearing altar boy garb. The church molestations were not yet public, but something in me just knew. Years later – although I was afraid to ask him – I realized that since he grew up in Paterson, NJ, he likely was a victim in those Catholic church molestations. But still! He didn’t have to pass it on! I didn’t. You didn’t.
All my best,
Diana
marriagecoach1 said,
July 27, 2010 @ 8:03 am
Diana,
If you feel my comment is inappropriate, you can just delete it. If you will accept a personal question, have you risen abouve your past abuse ( and please accept my sincere condolences that you were violated by a trusted family member) have you dealt with it so that it does not affect your sex life. So many women are permanently scarred so that they have a hard time dealing with their own sexuality.
I dealt with a woman publishers agent who worked with authors on book tour etc. Her dad sexually abused her nightly from the time that she was 5 until she was 17. Her mother gave tacit approval because she did not have to put out. Her dad got sick, had a heart attack and she went home, He died and I suggested confrronting her mother for the first time and the mother hung herself in the garage two days later. I have not heard from the client since. She had a great deal of problems with her sex life as a result and threw herself into her work doing 90 hours a week.
Blessings on you and yours
John Wilder
Diana Page Jordan said,
July 27, 2010 @ 10:30 pm
John,
A question both challenging and ultra-personal. Since I have said much of this before – but scattered in various blogs – I can answer that to some extent. Early on, hell yes, it impacted me. I was promiscuous, loved getting high, would say in my mind “you can have my body or my soul, but not both,” and I would crash terribly hard the next day, feeling that no one loved me. Makes sense. My real dad was beat up by my stepfather in front of me when I was six and told to never return. I never saw him again. I learned as an adult that he had tried every legal channel possible to be with me, but had died of a broken heart at age 54. Abandonment. My stepfather raped and mentally & verbally abused me, and was terrifically and unpredictably violent, from the time I was age 4 1/2 until I left for college at age 17. Sexual abuse and disrespect. PTSD. And my mother was alcoholic, suicidal, and schizophrenic. Neglect. Mental Illness. Alcoholism. Did I feel safe? Not until I learned last month that my stepfather died. Sexually, over the years, I learned to trust, I’ve been clean for almost twenty years, and I’ve had probably $15,000 dollars worth of therapy. I’d say I’m healed. But it’s been one helluva journey. One, without which, I wouldn’t have had the compassion and intuition I possess now.
Best,
Diana
marriagecoach1 said,
July 28, 2010 @ 6:47 am
Hey Diana:
I am so glad for you. I realized that my questions were highly personal, I just wanted to make sure that you had dealt with the issues and had achieved healing.
It had to break your heart to see your dad beaten up in front of you.
It never ceases to astound me the horrible things that man does to his own and by man I mean mankind, women included. I still believe in old fasihioned justice and would have loved to speed your step dad’s demise for you. I make it my business to intervene when bulllying is going on, no matter who. Sexual offenders can’t be fixed. There is no known therapy to deal with them and still we keep letting them out of jail to do it again.
Thanks for your gift of vulnerability and trust you bestowed upon me.
Blessings on you and yours
John Wilder
marriagecoach1 said,
September 6, 2010 @ 4:49 am
If you don’t secure a publisher, I suggest that you self publish. It is very easy to do in an E book format as well as audio book. You could then do the radio talk show circuit to hawk your book. Talk radio is very male dominated but you could convince the men to buy the book for thier wives.
You could then parlay the profits of the audio book and ebook into self publishing the hard copy and you have the library system that buys books full price as well as the military market and book clubs who will buy a thousand copies at a time. These are markets that tradtional publishers tend to ignore. The other problem wiht tradtional book publishers is that they only promote your book for a quarter, 3 short months and then it is on to the next book. In many ways, you are better off self publishing.
Blessings on you and yours
John Wilder
Diana Page Jordan said,
September 7, 2010 @ 3:42 pm
Interesting idea! thanks so much for suggesting it!
Best,
Diana
John Wilder said,
September 7, 2010 @ 3:49 pm
If you want, I can hook you up with the king of self publishing who has resources to take you through the process step by step including the other markets that I talked about. I have studied how to market my book before ever writing it. I am going the self publishing route. By the way, stay away from POD publishers at all costs.
Blessings on you and yours
John Wilder
Virginia said,
May 10, 2011 @ 6:47 pm
I must admit that I don’t even have words to describe how I feel after reading the horrendous childhoods both of you had. Guilty, is all I can say to describe my feelings of being tarnished by emotional abuse that I experienced.
The courage and tenacity you both had to end up in fabulous careers is astounding! Frankly, I have no idea how you did it.
While going through a bad time in my life (nothing like yours) I self published a book which helped keep my mind off anything else. I had 1,000 copies made and they are now sitting in my basement.
I was wondering if John could tell me about the other markets: my library took my book as a donation; how do you sell to the military? and where do you find book clubs who will purchase your books? and are there any other avenues for me to “clean out my basement?”
I feel guilty asking these questions; yet in awe of both your accomplishments. You have taken life by the horns and I, having a much better childhood than you both, have taken an easy way out.
Blessings and congratulations for overcoming a childhood that NO one should have to live through.
Diana Page Jordan said,
May 12, 2011 @ 9:24 pm
Hello Ginny,
Thank you for writing. We all have different experiences – no sense in comparing them. The horror of these childhoods can be lessened by sharing and by exposing the secrets.
There is always a positive that naturally flows – even from evil. I know that I was drawn to books to escape from my pain and to understand that there is a greater world out there. I became a journalist out of my search for Truth. And now, I write and speak so that others who are forced to travel the same journey know that they are not alone, and that they can survive. And, ultimately thrive. I wouldn’t wish evil on anyone, but I do know that there is a gift in the most torturous situation, and that when one is healed enough, it becomes so obvious, that, at least in my case, it may well fill one with joy.
As for your books, I gently suggest that maybe the writing was what was most important. That said, I don’t know any channels to sell them, but the traditional. If I were you, I would connect with the closest writers association in your area. In the Portland, OR area, it is the Willamette Writers.
All best,
Diana