Time With a Teacher

Life recently surprised me with an unexpected gift — a bit of time with a masterful teacher.

I spent the entire first week of September doing one of the things people do but dread to do when they’ve written a book.

They make a list of people they hope will be willing to endorse it, write up a (hopefully enticing) letter introducing their book — then they swallow their pride, gulp back their fears, and send it.

I sent just such a letter to a woman I respect and greatly admire as a midwife, as a researcher, as an author, as a teacher, as a person — Dr. Sara Wickham.

She invited me to mail her a copy.

So I popped a book into the mail, then sat back and waited for her to respond.

I woke on Saturday morning, September 14th, and saw I had an email from her.

My heart skipped a beat.

Let me tell you, it’s one thing to think about writing a book. It’s another thing to write a book. It’s yet another thing to edit (and edit and edit and edit) a book.

Then it’s a whole other thing all together to let other people see your book, especially people you respect and greatly admire

I steeled my nerves and opened the email.

And she said she liked it!

And she said it could be even better.

She began by suggesting I re-format the references, then she suggested I strengthen my positions with additional references, and then she suggested I make Homebirth: Commonly Asked Questions an appendix to Homebirth: Safe & Sacred rather than maintain it as a separate book.

I won’t lie. I was daunted by her suggestions.

I asked her almost whimsically if she’d like to implement those suggestions herself.

She said, “Yes!” and I nearly fainted!

Less than forty-eight hours later, a beautifully improved version of the book appeared in my inbox, and warm, salty tears sprang into my eyes.

Welcome to the beautifully improved version of Homebirth: Safe & Sacred!

If you’ve already purchased Homebirth: Safe & Sacred and/or Homebirth: Commonly Asked Questions from me and would like to see about exchanging what you’ve purchased for this new version, by all means, send me an email at kim@kimosterholzer.com!

Photograph by IStock

Kim Woodard Osterholzer, Colorado Springs Homebirth Midwife and Author

Books by Kim:

Homebirth: Safe & Sacred

A Midwife in Amish Country: Celebrating God’s Gift of Life

Nourish + Thrive: Happy, Healthy Childbearing

One Little Life at a Time: Recommendations + Record Keeping for Aspiring Homebirth Midwives


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