The title of my book

This week’s blogging question, “If you were to write a book about your life with Coraline what would its title be?”

This is a great question as I am actually writing a book.

It is a memoir called “Everybody Wants a Dance with Coraline: Stepping into Love, with My Daughter with Down’s Syndrome”, and it is about the universal truths my four year old daughter Coraline has taught me about what it means to live fully and joyfully, after she was diagnosed at birth with Down's syndrome and two holes in the heart.

The title of my book was presented to me when Coraline was three weeks old. I remember the phrase the midwife used, and thinking, “when I write my book about our lives, that is going to be the title”. (See my story).

I share my journey of growth, from shock, tears and fear of change; to the life changing realisation that embracing both being yourself, and the unknown, opens up a world of wonder. My personal journey from perfectionism and control, with falls into comparison over the years after Coraline was born, to being the happiest I have ever been, helps shift a new parent’s perspective of their own experience, whilst honouring all the emotions they are likely to be feeling and inviting them to feel them fully.

My transformation is portrayed through a combination of posts from my award-winning blog “Coraline and Us” which I began writing when Coraline was two days old, interspersed with present-day reflections, and pieces by my husband Kevin, a man who demonstrated pure love from the moment of Coraline’s birth.

My book is for new parents of children with Down’s syndrome, so that they may trust in life, in themselves, and in their child, as well as for the wider circle around them who are interested to learn more. In fact, it is for anyone as learning to choose the path of love over the path of fear, and choosing our perspectives in life, is universal.

I am currently sending the book out to agents, and my plan is to send it to at least a 100 until one says “yes”!