My funding is now at 63% which, in a bit over a month, is way more than I had expected. Almost all of what has been funded so far has come from people who know me. I am so grateful for the huge support. I had expected that I would need to reach a wider audience at some point but had anticipated that it would be for a great deal more than the remaining 37%. 

I have been wondering how I can make the book more appealing to people who don't have the incentive of helping a friend. So much of it seems to be about death and that is not necessarily a tempting prospect. In this instance writing about death in such an intimate way has the purpose of reflecting the life and love that precede and survive it, but to a passing stranger looking for a book to support, the outline may sound rather grim. 

Though one of the characters is dead and the other writes about the victims of terror attacks, it is not a grim book. It is about unwinding the burdens of grief and shame and being able to live again. It is about regaining agency and power. 

And it is about empathetic love for strangers. Though Anna can't influence or protect, she discovers a gentle, persistent love for her fellow humans, one not based on shared experience or need or desire, but based instead on the understanding that we are all the same and what we have in common is greater than that which separates us. 

My first plan is to re-write the synopsis and blurb. That is easier said than done - it is very difficult to write about one's own work. I am not sure what are the aspects that will draw others in. If any of you have any suggestions please do let me know - if there is something you find compelling or interesting from what you know so far I'd be really interested to hear from you.