By These Things Men Live--Chronicles of a Four-Time Cancer Survivor

The wife of one of my very close friends has cancer. She got over it once and now it is back. She is too sick for chemotherapy and the doctors do not expect her to live much longer. I know she is in a lot of pain and suffers with the treatments. I had no idea until I read some of your book how bad it is. No wonder she cries all the time. This is well written and very moving. The fact that you have survived shows it is possible and I hope your book is published since it will give other hope.

I will back your book with great pleasure.


Tony
Life Bringer

Bob, this is fantastic. Your first chapter had me fighting back tears. The subsequent chapters took me through fascination, compassion, humor and hope. I love everything about this. Such a powerful story with such beautiful writing.
Very happy to have you on my shelf.
Tracy
The Guardians

I have a good friend on her 2nd bout of chemo for lymphoma, and an acquaintance with bone cancer. Having read 4 chapters I'll be recommending they read this. You've written something important here, and in a compelling style, and I salute you for it.
Cheers,
Simon

A marvel, the attitude ... 'We're both born monster-killers' ... the writing ... 'thoughts of death pinball through the mind' ... and the indomitable humour ... 'left without an immune system. But not for long'.

Qigong, I've never heard of, but you make it sound well-worth pursuing. This book is an education, and armour against ignorance and fear. 'Just a positive outlook and a glimmer of hope' yes, I know only too well what you mean. I'm also appalled at 'the numbers game' though I'm sure it's true. 'Beowulf and his buddies with their war masks would've smacked their shields with the flats of their swords' a great attitude, some fabulous doctors, and the teacher appearing when you were ready.

Life dealt you some lousy luck, Bob, but you turned it right around. This book is an inspiration. I hope it comes to the attention of Harper True Life ... backed.

So glad you wrote this for all the people who need to know just what it's like. Love lines like, "A giant palm pressing on my diaphram." The detailed descriptions throw insights into the process of painful recovery. Mst have taken it out of you to write this and a hell of a lot of courage. My only nit pic is that pehaps you could make two or three paras in the pitch just for an easier read.
Backed with pleasure.
Christina
From Under the Bed

I read Tim Roux's review of your book and dropped by to check it out. Glad I did. I've seen those maps, with their oceans littered with every sort of monster. They're enough to make you close your eyes,hunker down and stay at home, which is not a Beowulf attitude. Seize the monkey, seize the minute, seize the day is a message we all need to hear.

Gotta agree with Simon on your book. SHELVED!

I can use your comments on my book when you get a chance. Cheers!

JC
The Obergemau Key

Amazing stuff Bob! I am very happy to back this and just hope many more people will too! it is incredible work! Good on you, fella!
Simon

Bob,
I think it would be hard to find someone who hasn't been affected by cancer. Either they, or a relative or friend has fought the battle. Most are not as successful as you have been. Your story and the way you have written it definately have a place on bookstore shelves in the future.
Good luck with the book and best wishes for a healthy future.
MickR - The Nightcrawler

Hi Bob, this is an intense story. I can't imagine what you have gone through and it is a great thing you have done sharing it with us. I also believe in the power of positive energy but I find it hard to practice sometimes. The fact that you could do this while undergoing such terrible body changes is immense. Your descriptions of what the body goes through when killing bone marrow were graphic but definitely needed. This is on my shelf. Well done! Helena (A Load of Rubbish)

Very heartrending story, Bob. Every paragraph not only a moving assemblage of words, but jammed full of information. No nits. Best of luck. Backed
Thomas J Winton (Beyond Nostalgia)

This is an amazing book. The courage of the protagonist stands out above all else. You write is a clear, meticulous fashion about the things which happened to you as a cancer patient, both externally, in the ward, and internally, in your mind and spirit. You keep coming back to,'fortune is apt to favour the man who keeps his nerve,' your quotation from Beowolf, and you show us the courage which makes this possible, but also the difficulty, as your 'Thoughts careen through the foliage like frightened monkeys.' This is a valuable book, which is bound to be of great help and encouragement to many people. Backed.
Gerry McCullough,
Belfast Girls.

Dear Bob Ellal,

Thank you for sharing your story with us. First of all, I love the quote in your pitch “Talent and aptitude are good; but persistence and resilience are better to achieve success”. A great one and, in my experience, applicable to the craft of writing.

Your first paragraphs accomplish many things at once: setting the stakes and tension as well as your personality and humor. Great job! Oh goodness, the mention of diarrhea four times an hour builds sympathy, to say the least. I’ve read a few true stories on this site, and they all involve experiences so horrific that readers tend to shy away from them. However, your humor sets you above the rest and saves you from this potential pitfall, just as it may have saved you when fighting cancer. Your humor gives the reader hope and alleviates the weight of the reality you face. The humor transitions well into “Seize the monkey” and alternative medicine. It also helps that you write well.

The energy snake is an excellent visual manifestation of the powers of your positive thinking and meditation. In my fallible opinion, you may want to prepare the reader more to deal with this mystical image, perhaps with a paragraph explaining your initial or later reaction to the image. Expected? Unexpected? Did you later wonder if it’d been real? Also, I wish you could feature the humor more in a pitch with paragraph breaks, as humor seems such an important element of the work to me.

These small matters aside, your story is inspiration. Bravo! Backed.

Best wishes,
Alan Marling

Bob
A tremendously inspiring tale of inner strength, spirituality, love and compassion. It reminded me at times of Lance Armstrong's biography. I love the interwoven strands of Eastern wisdom.
Shelved
Frank

This is a really inspirational read that will bring hope to both cancer sufferers and those seeking to learn from the experience of others. I am quite sure there will be a market for your manuscript. Hope you find your publisher soon. Backed. Clare (Second Lives)

Hi Bob,
First of all, congratulations. Not only for surviving, but for writing a book that should have huge appeal and bring hope to thousands. As I said, I researched lots of sites areas when my hubby developed cancer. Some of the things I found were amazing. Excercise is one area which is supposed to have the most benefit and has a lot to do with oxygen. Cancer can't survive in oxygenated environments. I wrote a short story about a cancer cell years ago, but have been researching a better ending for it. It's called 'Where there's Life' and you'll find it in my short story collection if you fancy taking a look.
I've only read a couple of chapters so far, and I'm about to go shopping, but I'll come back later for some proper comments, this is just drivel. But I'm glad to have you on my shelf in the meantime.
Sue

Hi Bob,
There is nothing as great as a story of survival. I read 1/2 of your book and will read the rest during XMAS break (I teach so I have lots of time!). More power to you.
SHELVED
Jane Cooper
The Transformer (a fictional account of survival)

Bob, I doubt there is a more inspiring read on Authonomy. You demonstrate with remarkable clarity the power of the mind in combatting serious illness and you do so with honesty and considerable narrative skill. This an important book with a large potential readership, and I hope HC or another major publisher will take it up. Good luck.
John (Alby and Me)

What does it take to survive four bouts of bone cancer? Combine the mind/body connection with chemotherapy. What does it really take? Everything.

Okay, when facing a mountain to climb, the best way to go is one step at a time. I think we need to apply this theory to the mountain of a pitch you have written.

Let's try little easily digestible chunks to entice the reader into the story.

'By These Things Men Live' is an uncompromising account of beating bone cancer four times in the early nineties--a blueprint for others confronted by this disease. The heart of the book [details] how I used Chinese internal energy exercises as a complement to both conventional chemotherapy and the high-dose treatment of two bone marrow transplants.

[Using] the mind/body connection, internal energy exercises, meditation and visualization--both as adjuncts to allopathic medicine and as a means for surviving its devastating effects. This is not the typical cancer survivor book, in which "butterflies lighted on my wrists" every time I ventured outside--as a result of the insights gained while fighting for my life. At times, terrifying, at other times, inspiring and outright funny - 'By these things men live' is a story about nerve, will, and determination in the face of impossible odds.

No matter how many times one gets knocked down, no matter how many challenges one faces--don't quit!

Get back on your feet. Talent and aptitude are good; but persistence and resilience are better to achieve success--not just when facing cancer, but in the struggles of everyday existence.


I find the above infinitely more readable - agree or disagree.

I feel your story will pique the interest of many - resulting in good sales.

Bob,

I believe there is still so much we do not know about cancer. The contributions of stress, a poor diet, environmental chemicals, food additives, plastics, you name it. Our life styles must have some effect on our health, and a change it life style, as you show, can be very beneficial in remitting cancer. An excellent and very honest account of everything you went through. I appreciate your honesty about your fears. Your anxiety is palpable.

I would like to back this outright for you because it is such good work, but my own book is languishing on a very steep and slippery slope, and returns on backings have been poor of late. If you'll have a look at Chili con Carnality and give it what you think is it's due a backing from me will be readily forthcoming.

By These Things Men Live is not an easy or comfortable read - how could it be when dealing head-on with cancer? But your honesty and guts shine through the well-written narrative. You find the words to articulate extremes of stress and emotion with vivid and immediate effect. I have no suggestions for improvement here - just respect for your ability to take your readers with you down such a traumatic road. Backed.

This is a book that should be published, it is honest, open and so well written. It gives the reader a knowledge of the emotions of patients going through such illnesses. This is so atmospherically written and so powerful... the imagery of the snake is superb.
Good luck with this, it deserves to be published.
Backed with pleasure
Chris (inside out)

This is a book that should be published, it is honest, open and so well written. It gives the reader a knowledge of the emotions of patients going through such illnesses. This is so atmospherically written and so powerful... the imagery of the snake is superb.
Good luck with this, it deserves to be published.
Backed with pleasure
Chris (inside out)

Super. Uplifting and moving.
Backed.

A miracle book! Congratulations on writing it
and wishing you all the best, you certainly deserve it.....
Mikey..........The Free (shelved)

Hi, Bob. Great pitch. Leaves no doubt as to what the reader can expect.
The book is an inspiring narrative. I think we all must wonder what we would do if faced with cancer, or any life threatening condition. "By These Things Men Live' is enlightening and encouraging. A very well written account of your battle with cancer and the problems one might encounter in that situation. I only read 4 chapters but enough to see that your style and narrative skill will carry this off without a hitch. I think this book deserves attention and will certainly back it. On my shelf and the best of luck with it, Bob.

John Harold McCoy - Bramwell Valley

This is truly wonderful. I would buy this novel for the three cancer survivors at my place of work. They all suffered from different types of cancer and have similar and different stories to tell. What most amazes me, however, is their indomitable spirit and will. I have a tremendous amount of respect for them and you for writing such an honest, moving account. How could I not back and support such a work. Good luck and stay healthy.

Natalie

Very good first chapter. Like Beowulf, but fighting another, unknown, monster, but with one difference. Beowulf could have refused the challenge and left, but you have no choice. I cannot imagine what it would be like to be shut in like that. Backed, of course. Dave

I always find true life difficult to comment on - so I openned this with a touch of trepidation. The first line made me think, and the writing was fluid. I decided to jump to a random chapter - and chose 36. It was short, so I also read 37. The text was simple and easy to read, without pretence. Of the two, I liked 37 better, particularly the last section of 37 -- I have those days where I check my wallet, the lock on the door -- I rarely wonder about life with or without passion. But for just that one moment staring out the window -- I was there with you.

Thanks for sharing your story.

You are indeed 'King of the Geats'!

Bob it's a testament to your bravery that you are still here to tell the tale. I love the way you found solace and inspiration in the Swedish Warrior King Beowulf. He would be proud of you.

I lost a dear friend of mine three years ago to cancer. She thought that she'd conquered this indescriminate disease, alas she was wrong.

I wish you well for many happy years ahead my friend and namesake.

Bob

This is intense. In a day and age when cancer is the common fear among people it is these stories of struggle that really resonate with the masses.
Your strength shines through in your writing. I like the shortness of the chapters, they allow the reader to fully absorb the content before moving on.
My friends mother has had breast cancer, lung cancer and colon cancer. She is now cancer free. It is nice to hear stories of surviors. THe struggle and the odd humor that lies within the strife you endured is oddly beautiful at times and heart wrenching throughout.
Backed. Without a doubt.
T.L Tyson-Seeking Eleanor

Bob, I am awed by your warrior spirit - you are the true descendent of Beowulf and I sincerely hope you have beaten off your Grendel and his mother too (and the dragon), for good and all. You talk my language with this book as I have written about holistic health for twenty years, so am with you on qi gong, kundalini, visualisation etc.
Hmm, have you tried HayHouse with this? It might be right up their alley.... I did a book with them (well, a detox pack actually) and they are good people to work with.
Your chapters, on the whole, seem very short - but then, I wonder, is that a problem? Not for this kind of book, actually...well, that's my opinion, for what it's worth...

I'm more than happy to back this...
Jane
WALKER

Bob

So inspiring ......Three member of staff in our office have a parent fighting cancer at the moment.....All three parents are having daily chemo..

...Typically none of them are in today, I'll definately show them this tomorrow......

I found your writing light and humourous, which is astonishing considering the subject matter you're tackling....
But scary too, scary because it could happen to anyone.....Cancer has no respect or compassion......

Wishing you continued good health.....shelved

This book will be a greart source of support to people coping with cancer. I've lost three friends in the last twelve months to various types of cancer, and know how it affects not only the sufferer, but whole families. Your own example will be an inspiration to the thousands who read this excellent book, and the fact that you even manage to laugh at it occasionally, as well as to swear at it, shows the range of moods you experienced during your persistent fight. Backed with pleasure. Best wishes, Tony

Hi Bob!

Wow, this is a really compelling piece of non-fiction you've got here. So many people in the world are still being affected - either directly or indirectly - by cancer. This should speak to a huge audience.

Okay, I'm making notes as I go, so bear with me... Your pitch - very well written. Love the short pitch and how you draw the reader in with a series of questions. The longer pitch would be easier on the eyes if you section it into multiple paragraphs. Couple of other things: "It's message?" - should be Its since the word is the conjunction of "it is." Also, the semicolon after good should be a comma, since you follow it with "but."

Inside - you mentioned in the pitch this would be funny at times, so the wit you deliver this with didn't altogether surprise me. The Beowolf conversation, trying to make a grim smile like that of the mask - gentle and funny! The worry of the assassin bullet - also cute and made me smile.

Some nits I found along the way:
-Spell out your smaller numerals - twelve by twelve room, six and a half feet high, fifteen minutes...
-11th paragraph - I'd replace the semicolon with a period. It's a really long sentence, so could be broken up for ease of reading. I also try to stay away from semis as much as possible, they can be jarring and slow down the reader's mind.

Your description of the claustrophobia in the hospital room and the terror that strikes is very well done. My heart pounded reading it. Then you switch back to Beowolf and Corporate Bob, giving the episode a little levity. Nicely handled, giving the reader a break. Then right back into real world facts - what the patient is going to endure, the breaking down of the body, risks associated wtih the chemo... All of this you compare to a cheap, red-wine hangover. You go back and forth so deftly with your descriptions - real, funny, scary, honest - it keeps the reader here and in the hard-core moment, but comfortable enough (through your humor) to keep reading.

-halfheartedly doesn't need a hyphen (second to last paragraph in chapter one)

Love the last line in chapter one - Monsters cannot survive here, only heroes. It's not necessarily a traditional "hook" but it does set the tone for the rest of the book. I am loving how this reads, the material you are weaving here, the bouncing back and forth of tone and humor. I will continue reading, and will message you directly with anything I find along the way that stick out or needs to be addressed. But I wanted to pause briefly and leave this comment for you and back the book. Great job!!!

Kim
Invisible Justice

I think that this is such an important message in everyday life. Cheers to your own determination in your life and putting your wonderful inspirations in writing and sharing them with the world! Best of luck with this.

A fine book to give suffers strength during very trying times. I can only imagine that it is not easy at all for you or those who care for you. MY best wishes to you.

BACKEd

Oh sorry, fine writing and an involving story. I almost forgot to comment on the couple chaps I read.

Most definitely backed for the wonderful strength shown and marvellous message it gives to others who may have their own struggles with bad health. There are many who do not believe there is more to life than the here and now and I believe you have shown them that there most definitely is. Thank you for sharing this with us all and i wish you continued good health and happiness. LOL, Lorraine xx
A Guide's Guide to Mediumship and Healing

By These Things Men Live By – Chronicles of a Four Times Cancer Survivor

Hi Bob,

Resilience, persistence and keeping our nerve… I work with adolescence everyday and these are exactly the qualities we need to support them in acquiring if they are going to lead successful lives. You convey what must have been a devastating trauma with careful and considered distance, the writing is engaging and smooth, very well edited and without all traces of sentimentality expunged. Your inner strength is fascinating to behold, your thoughtfulness, your philosophising in the bleakest of moments. I think I might just have to take a peek at Beowulf now. Great writing. Courageous and bold, and as Goethe so wisely said, boldness has magic and power in it.

Best wishes and good luck
Will do all I can to help this book to get noticed
Andrew W
(Sanctuary’s Loss)

Hi Bob,

I hope you get your book published. My dad and my older brother fought bone cancer and taught me how powerful the mind can be if you are determined to live.

I admire you for writing this poignant story, and I hope others will as well. I'm happy to back you with my very best wishes for your health and your success. I'm sure writing has been therapautic.

Rodney

I read this book over the summer, having met Bob on the author's blogging site Speak Without Interruption. It is definitely one of my favourite books of all time (and listed as such here) and not at all as you might suspect. Bob has incredible visceral writing power, no tricks, just straight-from-the-heart-and-brain shooting (lots of brain, lots of heart) and a moral courage in expressing himself which matches his physical courage. It is a masterpiece and has the additional advantage of being a novella, as most masterpieces are. Read it in without breathing, then exhale and thank the Lord that you have not had to go through what Bob went through with clear blue eyes determinedly open (and still has to endure every day from the side-effects of the treatments). Backed and a lot more. Undying devotion. I am waiting for the paperback so I can give it to all whom I love the most to feed their bodies and their souls.