In my last post I said I had decided to write a book about my debt experience and what I had learned from it; and that I had decided to self-publish, first as an e-book.
I’ll be blogging about the topic too. One of the obvious advantages of this form of publishing is its immediacy and flexibility and the way one can link to other sources of information. Thus I’ll certainly aim to signpost people who want advice on debt problems, to helpful websites and blogs. Here are two absolute “musts”.
2. The Motley Fool website is another well-known resource for financial advice of all kinds and they have a “Dealing with Debt” stream among their discussion boards: http://boards.fool.co.uk/Messages.asp?bid=50079
A few years ago I hit a financial crisis. I had a business which, after five very promising years, had begun to stagnate. I had turned a blind eye to the problem and came very close to bankruptcy.With the help and support of friends and of a few professionals (one of whom happened also to be a friend) I was able to avoid that, and eventually came through the experience without permanent scars to my spirit or credit rating.
Later, I decided to write a book about the experience and what I had learned from it. My book would be written from the perspective of someone who had been there, had the problem and found a way out of it.
After spending a lot of time over the past two years trying to get a deal with mainstream publishing houses, I have now decided to self-publish the book. It will be available first as an e-book; later, depending on demand, as a paperback and an audiobook.
The e-book will be available early in the New Year. Its working title is “Back to the black: how to become debt-free and stay that way.” If you’d like to be advised by e-mail when it’s available, please post a response on this blog.
A friend died at the weekend. His name was Jonathan Dell and he had been in the restaurant business for many years, notably as a director of Pizza Express and then in his own businesses. He also reinvented himself several times in recent years by developing his creative talents, including photography and copywriting.
If you’ve never heard of this man you may wonder why I’m blogging about him. The reason is this. Jonathan died of a brain tumour at the age of 51. Before that he had been living with multiple sclerosis, ever since I first met him; first the relapsing-remitting type, then the secondary progressive type. He went from being the restless entrepreneur - driving all over the country to manage his restaurants and look for new business opportunities – to being a train or taxi passenger, but still striving. Then he could walk with the aid of a stick but preferred to avoid it. Then he needed two sticks, then eventually a wheelchair. I remember he invited me for tea at Brown’s Hotel a year or two back; at that time he could walk with the aid of two sticks but wanted to get from our table to his taxi without them. I was impressed with how the staff was solicitous and caring but did not try to interfere, even though the 10-yard journey took us about 10 minutes.
He tried all kinds of new treatments, of course; volunteering for trials of new drugs and technologies, including a drug based on serum from goats’ blood and later an electrical impulse system called FES, (functional electrical stimulation) to boost the failing nerves in his legs. Never giving up, always striving.
Earlier this year Jonathan went downhill; it was first thought it was the MS getting even worse but then a brain tumour was diagnosed; the ultimate obscenity on top of what he had already been through. By the time he died at the weekend, he had had enough, in the words of his partner Sarah who has cared for him these past few difficult years.
Now here’s the point; if you didn’t know Jonathan you might have wondered when I was getting to it. Jonathan Dell had more health issues (to use the modern euphemism) than any 10 or 20 or 50 average people, but he made light of them. Yes, he would complain if he thought that health professionals had let him down, but that was simply because he had been in business all his life and liked to get things right; he would complain just as effectively and articulately if he got bad service in a restaurant or shop and he didn’t believe in the usual British way of pretending that everything is acceptable, as in: “How’s the food?” “Lovely, thanks!” However, he never – at least never in my hearing – complained about his condition. I never heard him say or imply “why me?” Strangely enough, when I worked for The Stroke Association and met many stroke survivors, I found the same thing: the people with the real problems complain the least.
I’ll try to remember that, next time I have a cold. Rest in peace, Jonathan.
