“There was no returning to ‘normal’ this time. Nothing as gradual as picking up speed after a sudden stop when the driver in front slams on his brakes in heavy, fast-moving traffic. This time, the highway itself had disappeared.” – Opening lines of Chapter One, The Silence of Morning: A Memoir of Time Undone
D. A. Hickman sees a memoir as a chance to share one’s experiences with others, and feels that memoirs offer connection, understanding and companionship. Ms. Hickman says, “Memoir is a form of outreach, really, and since books have been such an important part of my life, I wanted to make a contribution that might be helpful to others.”
In particular, Ms. Hickman sees memoirs as an opportunity to reach out to those who think they are alone when enormous problems flow into their lives. In that spirit, Ms. Hickman wrote The Silence of Morning: A Memory of Time Undone with the goal of sharing “a profound experience that exposed, in many ways, the vagaries of the human condition.” As an author with a spiritual, sociological bent, Ms. Hickman was interested in the deeper, more insightful, story, not the “surface stuff.”
For Ms. Hickman, the profound experience was her beloved son’s suicide at age twenty-seven, which she realized was a “mystifying, but forceful, catalyst for spiritual realization.” In writing this book, she committed to unearthing the deeper story of loss so others could benefit. In the book Ms. Hickman also questions the viability of an anxious, addictive culture, guided by her son’s struggle to find meaning and purpose in a chaotic world that serves up escape, excitement, and excess as “solutions.”
An author and poet, Daisy Hickman is also the founder of SunnyRoomStudio—a creative, sunny space for kindred spirits. She holds a master’s in sociology from Iowa State University, and earned her bachelor’s in legal studies at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. Ms. Hickman is also a spiritual thinker and author of the 2014 nonfiction release, Always Returning: The Wisdom of Place.
1106 Design was pleased to assist Ms. Hickman with the cover and interior design of both her 2014 release and her newest book. The Silence of Morning is available on Amazon and Ms. Hickman says she may “include Book Baby at some point for eBook distribution purposes.” She decided to produce an eBook in addition to her paperback as “some people prefer to read this way.”
Regarding the self-publishing process, Ms. Hickman noted the multitude of decisions that must be made and advises authors to “fully understand the significance of each,” and recognize “… which decisions are ‘final’ and which are easily changed.” She reflected on the higher standard to which self-published books are held, saying that it’s much higher than books produced by big-name publishers. “Errors from traditional publishers are somehow ‘overlooked’ or minimized in importance. Very curious, indeed,” says the author. Ms. Hickman found the services of a proof reader to be “quite helpful,” as he “caught many things and provided overall book comments.” She says, “Some authors may include a copy editing phase, and that is a good idea, as well.”
Her advice to self-publishing authors? “Work on the book at least one more year than you think necessary. Interview a couple of people who have already done it.” In addition, Ms. Hickman advises that understanding the book designer’s vision and ensuring that both the author and designer have a similar vision is helpful. Ms. Hickman even has a new idea for a service for self-publishing authors. “Before sending a ‘finished’ book off to Amazon for printing and proofing, find a way to ‘print’ the book for author review. Some vendor out there could probably do this quite easily. It wouldn’t have the polish of POD, but it would still provide text in book format that could be reviewed before finalizing a book. Amazing what the eye sees once the text is in actual book form.” Authors can order a printed proof from Kindle Direct Publishing and IngramSpark, and doing so is something we highly recommend (and now that 1106 Design is a recommended provider for IngramSpark, authors who are 1106 Design customers and who open an IngramSpark account receive a proof automatically from 1106 Design). But, we’ll keep Ms. Hickman’s suggestion in mind and see what we can do!
In closing, Ms. Hickman says of her book, “I truly hope my memoir speaks to loss and grief, but to other societal issues as well. I tried to capture our culture, its addictive tendencies, and the troubling implications that follow. The spiritual component is here, as well. I will always be a student of society looking for the deeper story and the universal message to derive a better understanding of the human condition.” We congratulate Ms. Hickman on the publication of The Silence of Morning: A Memoir of Time Undone.
Book Title and Subtitle: THE SILENCE OF MORNING: A Memoir of Time Undone
Author: D. A. Hickman
Link to Amazon book page: http://www.amazon.com/Silence-Morning-Memoir-Time-Undone/dp/0990842363/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1449315487&sr=1-2
Author website url: http://sunnyroomstudio.com/
Facebook page url: https://www.facebook.com/sunnyroomstudio/
Twitter handle: @dhsunwriter and @mysunnystudio
Genre: Memoir, Literature, Sociology/Spirituality (nonfiction)
