A great start for novel

CYNTHIA RAMSAY

Before the book launch even took place, a Norwegian publishing house had purchased the rights to publish Skin Deep in Norwegian, Finnish and Swedish.

Co-authored by Jewish community member Gerri London and children’s writer Sandra Diersch, Skin Deep is about Corinne, a teenager struggling “to come to terms with her mother’s mortality while struggling with her own ideas of beauty.

“When her mother suddenly announces that she has breast cancer, Cori’s world seems to end. Things that once seemed so important to her no longer matter – it’s hard to care if your hair is flat-ironed when your mother’s is falling out due to chemo. For Corinne, this summer she is learning who she really is underneath, and who her real friends are.”

The young adult novel is based on London’s own experiences with breast cancer. Diagnosed 13 years ago, London told the Independent, “I saw that it was really difficult for my children, even though they tried to pretend that they were very positive about how the outcome would come out. I thought about young mothers who have little children and were getting chemo and having surgery, and how were they coping, and how were teenagers, when they [are going] through such a tumultuous time in their life, all of sudden to be put into this position of their mother being sick and being frightened she’ll die. I just thought that this [book] could maybe be a learning tool for teenagers so that they didn’t feel so alone, or that they knew that someone else was feeling the way they’re feeling.”

London has known her co-author since she taught Diersch in the first grade, 37 years ago. They reconnected when Diersch was a teenager and have been friends ever since.

“Skin Deep is Sandra’s 10th book, and my first,” said London at the launch party in Vancouver on Aug. 14. “After my long journey with breast cancer surgeries and treatments, I approached Sandra and asked if she would like to write a book with me.... I saw how my illness affected my family and I wondered, What could I do to help families who are in the same situation as our family? As a result, Skin Deep was born.”

Diersch said, “It’s been quite a journey getting to this night. I remember sharing a very early draft of this story, then called Hidden Things, at a writers retreat in 2000.... It was very rough, but it was well received. Skin Deep has been a labor of love for Gerri and myself.

“When Gerri approached me about writing a book with her, I was skeptical,” continued Diersch. “I’m pretty possessive of my characters and my plot, and I’d never worked collaboratively with another author before, but I read Gerri’s journal, read her notes about her journey and, as I thought about what she’d gone through, and thought about her whole suggestion, the idea grew on me and, gradually, characters and a plotline started growing in my head and ... that’s all I need to get going.

“Our idea was to tell the story from two points of view: Melinda’s, the mother, and Corinne’s, the daughter. By including Melinda’s journal entries in the narrative, the reader gets a sense of what Melinda [is] experiencing. By using this unique, I feel, narrative style, we’re hoping that teens will get a better sense of empathy for what their moms are going through and our mom readers, our adult readers, might remember a little bit about what it was like to be 14.

“And, although we began this project in 2000, there were gaps in the years, when other projects took precedence ... and, even though I had nine books published, it was tough to find someone who would take our project on.” The pair eventually signed a contract with James Lorimer and Company Ltd., who published Diersch’s other books.

“Hearing the joy in Gerri’s voice when she called to tell me that she was holding [the] book in her hands ... made it worth all the hard work, as I’d had that 12 years ago, when my first one came out, and I remember I had a copy of that book in every room in our house,” said Diersch. “I was so excited, and I’m sure that there are copies around Gerri’s house as well. It’s a pretty amazing feeling.”

At the launch party, Diersch shared the news that Stabenfeldt International, a Norwegian publishing company, had just purchased the rights to translate and publish Skin Deep, and she read part of a letter from the company’s editor: “I started browsing the manuscript and, before I knew it, I was reading and I just couldn’t put it away. It’s a great story. I don’t think I’ve ever made a decision this fast before, but we definitely want to publish this book.”

Diersch concluded, “Although I was hesitant at first to write a book with another person, it has been an amazing and unique journey.

Gerri’s passion for the project, her faith that our story would eventually be published and her faith in me as a writer have buoyed me up when I was discouraged. It’s an honor to have her name on the cover as my co-author.”

In addition to their remarks, Diersch and London read the prologue of Skin Deep aloud. It is a well-written and heartrending beginning to the novel, which is available at Black Bond Books and other local booksellers, as well as online.

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