My book comes from a daily diary of notes spontaneously written in real time at any time of day as events may occur. I could be taking notes on my phone, pc or tablet whatever I have at hand. I am not subject to a schedule. Sometimes there are several hours in a day or just a few minutes. This depends on the importance and priorities of my wife´s behavioral changes during the day.
As a self published author you have complete control of the graphics and text on the cover. The image of the candle recently flickering and now smoking on my book cover shows the burnout of a candle is slow just as Alzheimer's slowly shuts down life. The title “Preventing Her Shutdown” represents my desperate efforts 24/7 to keep my wife interactive, connected, mobile, and avoid a shutdown of her basic functions due to her Alzheimer's. The subtitle “Losing My Wife To Alzheimer´s acknowledges my futile efforts to fight for her life. There should be a direct relationship between the title and cover to to the motive and content of the book.
My wife was diagnosed with Alzheimer's six years ago. I started keeping a daily diary noting how my wife´s behavior was dramatically changing and how I was affected and began to relate to her differently. Somehow writing not only "alleviated" my continuous sorrow but also indirectly helped me make personal decisions and changes in how to interact with her behavioral changes as her "amateur caregiver". Taking notes almost daily seemed to be my personal escape as my laptop screen became my “ghost friend” I could talk to with total confidence. Writing daily helped me to reflect, invent and create ways to keep my wife “connected” and interactive, a "must" for all caregivers of Alzheimer´s. I wanted to share my experiences, successes and failures to help other amateur caregivers of their loved ones with Alzheimer´s.
