Well, here it is folks- the big project I have been working on for the last several months: the complete story of what happened during those 3 weeks in Haiti. I was hesitant to write it, but after about 6 months of being back in the states, I felt a strong sense of obligation to record this story as it unfolded. There is a tremendous amount of extremely practical information in here about disaster relief, why the system is flawed, and what we can expect and predict about future disasters.

It also covers pretty much everything, from the day of the earthquake, to the time Mathieu and I finally got an airplane and left nearly a month later. Even now I have a really hard time believing what we saw and experienced. I tried to write it in such a way that the reader is there with us, experiencing it first hand.

This is just the initial artwork for the cover, it will change. I have a title and some tag lines but I’m keeping them under wraps for now.

The writing process has been extremely tedious. I have had to piece together all the details from notes, journal entries, Facebook and blog posts and contacting those we worked with there. I have had a few other projects interfere with knocking it out as fast as I wanted, but for the most part, I would wake up and literally start writing. It worked out to a chapter a day, about 3-4 pages every weekday for the last several months. One thing I learned about writing a book is it is so important to break it down and just do a little each day. If you try to sit down and just write it out in a few weeks, it is very easy to get burned out and discouraged.

Right now it is hovering around 127 Chapters, about 450 pages and I have 2-3 chapters left. Should finish the first draft on Friday or Saturday. Just in time to start breaking down the Canon T3i Camera that should arrive tomorrow. Next week I will begin the first proofreading/editing phase, I am imagining it will need to be cleaned up and cut down considerably. After I go through it a few times, I will then turn it over to professional proof readers and people who can really help me to do it well. For the most part I think the hard stuff is done and that is a huge relief.

I plan to self publish and make it available directly for purchase on my store. Also plan to have digital formats available for download and expect the whole project to be wrapped up around May or June.

It is a very cool fact that there are many blog readers who I have never met, who played a very critical role in our mission in Haiti and they are mentioned throughout the story. You guys know who you are! 🙂

I know I am a little biased about it- but wow- this was the experience of a lifetime. Sometimes I read a chapter and cannot believe it is something that really happened. Without a doubt one of the craziest and most rewarding experiences of my life and I am very excited to be able to share it!