Brain still pretty mushy, but this is what I've written

Yes I've written that sales letter I'd been putting off - and had a bash at a guest blog for Men Get Eating Disorders Too. Despite my brain still feeling like a lump of cold mashed potato (and probably the colour of the [tasty but disgusting looking] mash-with-chestnut-puree that Ben rustled up the other evening), this is a sneak preview of my draft:


Blogs are great, but sometimes books are more convenient!

Blogs are great. As a serial diary writer I’ve been doing this kind of writing since… well… for a heck of a long time: first my teenage diaries, then a regular blog for a regional newspaper, blogs for clients (I’m a freelance copywriter by trade) and – since January 2011 – my blog AnorexiaBoyRecovery about my teenage son’s recovery from anorexia.

I love it when someone tells me how much my blog has helped them in their own battle with an eating disorder (I get feedback from anorexia sufferers as well as their parents). Of course I’m not a clinician or an expert; I am just an ordinary mum writing about the day to day experiences of living with a teenage boy with anorexia. But when you suddenly find yourself on this devastating journey, it can be so reassuring to know that others have been along this road too. To know what they went through, to know what signs to watch out for and to know what worked. And, importantly, during those many false summits and disappointments, to know how they found the strength to continue fighting as they helped to guide their child towards recovery. This is why I write my blog.

But the trouble with my blog is that it’s very long. I now have 25 months of posts – 418 in total - which are a real pain to click through because blogs aren’t like books. You can’t just scroll through them from start to finish and you can’t easily refer back to something you found particularly helpful or relevant. Worse, much of the earlier information – for example from 2011 - risks getting overlooked altogether.

This is why I made the decision to publish my blog in paperback. The first volume (which includes an edited collection of posts from 2011) is now available on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com. 2012 is coming soon, plus Kindle versions of both. Each book is over 300 pages long, so you certainly get plenty of words for your money! 

Even if Ben (now aged 19) and I help just one family fast-track its way through the huge anorexia learning curve and get help, then we have succeeded with these books. And every time a parent contacts me to say how much my blog has helped them, I know it is serving its purpose.

"Anorexia Boy Recovery: A mother's blog about her teenage son's recovery from anorexia Part I – 2011" by Bev Mattocks is available on Amazon and is published by Creative Copy.