But before you head on to read the guest post and giveaway, take a look about her amazing book:
Far Outside The Ordinary by Prissy Elrod
Genre: Non-Fiction (memoir)
An emotionally honest account, Far Outside the Ordinary chronicles the period in Prissy’s life when, during a routine physical, her fifty-yearold husband is given less than a year to live. Southern black caregivers move into her home and work around the clock to aid her family. Soon, Prissy finds herself a spectator in her own home, observing events far outside the boundaries of her once ordinary life.
Far Outside the Ordinary is also a story of happily ever after, a romantic fairy tale. When her high school boyfriend reappears in her life, Prissy learns love has no expiration date. Sometimes a second chance at love can come disguised, and when least expected.
{ Guest Post }
know. Far Outside the Ordinary is a story told with a series of happenings occurring in a small time line. Each one of these events are out of the ordinary on their own. But, when woven together, they became extraordinary.
On an ordinary day, during my ordinary life,
the earth shifted under me. My balance, once solid and grounded, was lost.
Specifically though, this book is about a
Southern woman who refuses to let a terminal cancer diagnosis steal her
husband. When Western medicine gives no hope, she turns to unconventional
Eastern practices. Extraordinary practices!
Southern black man, a caregiver, to move into her home and help with her
failing husband. Soon, events outside her once very ordinary life begin to
occur. However, I think it was the
ending that gave me the idea for the title.
This is not a book about cancer, though it is
the topic. It is a book about love, the many facets of love, and how it is
found in so many unsuspecting places. It is also, as many have described, a
Cinderella story, a book filled with tragedy, drama, humor and romance, all
bundled together as one.
When writing Far Outside the Ordinary I wanted it to seem as if I was sitting
next to someone, telling the story, not writing for a reader. It had to be
real, just as if they were piggy-backed atop me and hearing, seeing, smelling,
tasting and touching, all sensed through my story telling.
Since the book launched five weeks ago, I have
received countless letters, phone calls, emails, tweets and Facebook messages.
Some from perfect strangers. Each person telling me they felt as though they
were right there, how this book impacted them. I think I succeeded in sharing
my story, perhaps exceeded. That alone makes it extraordinary to me!
I’ve been asked over and over, “Is Prissy really your name?” Yep, officially, though not legally. It’s all I remember ever being called. Daddy thought I would have a hard time spelling Priscilla, and shortened it to Prissy when I was only six hours old. An artist at heart, I eat organic food and own an excessive amount of skin care products. Anthropology, Starbucks and Whole Foods are all you really need in life. That and my wonderful husband and treasured family all living within four miles of me in beautiful Tallahassee, Florida.
To get this story down on paper was an exercise in courage. It took four years to write, three computers, two espresso machines, 48 how-to writing books, a Florida State University memoir-writing class, 24 blog subscriptions, a half-dozen periodical journals, 14 revised drafts. I didn’t let anybody read it for the first three years. Finally, I sent the manuscript to a Pushcart Prize–winning writer in Texas, and hired him to read it and tell me if it was any good.
I love this post so much. <3 Prissy just has this amazing writing style. I'm so glad you hosted her on your blog!
Glad I have her here too! And she does have a great way with words, very much looking forward to reading her book. 🙂
I hope you love it. It's been a great read so far 🙂