From the first moment
my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from
the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer
seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did
little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known
reason, I started this blog…
I just found out a week ago that I had sold my first novel.
It’s a coming of age, urban young adult book about a biracial boy who LIKES to
fight and the realization that he has to STOP if he wants to get ahead in life.
In my spare time, I’m also a “first line of defense” – what’s
called a first reader in the publishing industry – for an online science fiction
magazine. The editor’s wife is also a breast cancer survivor, and they sent me
a story to share with my wife. It was witty and sharp – which is the way I
prefer my humor (except for the occasional slapstick routine that makes me
laugh so hard I can’t breathe…).
It got me to thinking: how much “breast cancer fiction” is
there out there? I started a novel here some years ago in which I was
re-writing FANTASTIC VOYAGE – a novel written by Isaac Asimov...based on a
MOVIE script written by Henry Kleiner...which was based on a STORY written by
Otto Klement and Jerome Bixby...(and because the novelization of the movie,
everyone (myself included) thought that Asimov had come up with the idea and
written the novel from which the movie was made – which was a lot of effort for
almost no feedback.
I decided to check and see in what works of fiction breast
cancer appeared. So here’s my list and except for the one story I read above
and the one I’m in the middle of writing, I can’t vouch for any of these.
According to Amazon.com, there are 328 works of fiction that
deal with breast cancer. I notice on perusal that many of them are “self-published”.
While this doesn’t mean anything bad, it CAN mean that a manuscript was edited
by an amateur and have some of the problems that that implies. I have tried to
stay with novels released by other-than-self publishers.
Positively Beautiful, by Wendy Mills – http://www.amazon.com/Positively-Beautiful-Wendy-Mills/dp/1619633418/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414237990&sr=1-1&keywords=breast+cancer+fiction
Before I Go, by Colleen Oakley, http://www.amazon.com/Before-I-Go-Colleen-Oakley/dp/1476761663/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414237990&sr=1-2&keywords=breast+cancer+fiction
Cancer Vixen, by Marisa Acocella Marchetto, http://www.amazon.com/Cancer-Vixen-Marisa-Acocella-Marchetto-ebook/dp/B00O02CAZC/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414237990&sr=1-7&keywords=breast+cancer+fiction
Love In Bloom, by Sheila Roberts, http://www.amazon.com/Love-Bloom-Sheila-Roberts/dp/1250046475/ref=sr_1_46?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414238785&sr=1-46&keywords=breast+cancer+fiction
All That Glitters, by Jennifer O’Neill, http://jenniferoneill.com/?page_id=570
And of course…
The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan, http://www.amazon.com/The-Middle-Place-Kelly-Corrigan/dp/1401340938/ref=zg_bs_4673_4
I MAY read these. I may not. I MAY start my novel, A
FATASTIC BREAST CANCER VOYAGE again...I may not. Even so, at least we know that
there are people out there brave enough to write about it. Now if only I can
find a novel about a breast cancer HUSBAND...hmmmm...
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