O’Kray: The Lady Lovin’ Her Life is back
By Paula O’Kray
Well, hello there and how the heck have you been? I’ve missed you guys, too.
The first thing I’d to say is a very heartfelt thank you to my readers. When the Gazette contacted me to let me know that you were missing my column, I was deeply touched.
So, what have I been doing for the last few years? Well, I’ve tried to keep writing on a regular basis and getting it out there for you. I started a blog the summer of 2017 but wasn’t sure if anyone was interested in reading me online. Still, I kept up at it, hoping it would lead to something good.
I was also following up on a suggestion that one of my readers made a few years ago. She suggested I write a book, a compilation of my columns. “You’d buy that?” I blurted out. “Buy it? I’d buy a bunch of them and give them out as Christmas gifts,” she responded. Stunned, flattered and knowing nothing of writing books, I set out to discover how one does such things.
I wrote to all the other writers in the Gazette who had already produced books – Justin Isherwood, Ken Blomberg, Bill Berry and Wendell Nelson. All very forthcoming and supportive, although each author’s story was different. I started to put the puzzle together, one piece at a time.
By the time I put a manuscript together to send to a publisher, I found myself without a job and thus no money to produce the book. Books are expensive. So, I focused on the important stuff, like finding a way to pay the bills, and the book was put on hold.
Eventually I got the book rolling again when I realized the more important story was to write about the big motorcycle ride I went on in the summer of 2017, since so many of you were very interested in that story. I could always put together a compilation of my work, but the motorcycle story was a timely one, so I put that manuscript together and sent it to the publisher.
They loved the story and after I sent a check for the deposit, I began working with an editor. She helped me make the story even better by asking for a lot more detail, detail I couldn’t get in the Gazette column due to word limits; adding conversations that took place and describing relationships I made in much more detail.
Sounds simple, but it took a long time. Getting permissions, doing research, and having a few major holidays in there didn’t help. Then my editor took a five-week vacation to Africa. But step by step, we got through the process and one amazing day in April, I was holding my book in my very own hand. It was surreal.
A lot of work, but well worth it. I dedicated the book to the woman who created the Woman’s Freedom Ride, and she was speechless when she found out.
I’ll be seeing her and many of my friends from the ride in mid-June, when I head to Topeka, Kansas to help break the world’s record for the most female motorcyclists in one place, while also raising money for disabled vets.
If it weren’t for you though, dear reader, I may never have had that experience, and never written a book about it. Thank you so much for your ongoing love and support, and as I said in the book, you guys ROCK!