Title Queen

What to do with "Meh. Sorry."

All of the titles I’ve offered for my book are “Meh. Sorry”.

All of them.

Like, my brain dump of every good title that I can think so far of for my memoir are just meh?

Okay, fine. I don’t have an ego about this. I don’t have to be the title queen (but ALL of them? Really?).

So anyways, I’ve decided to take this to the streets. I’ll tell you my titles. But I want to hear yours first, and I don’t want to taint your creativity with mine. I’m dropping the overview of the book here, and if you’d like to play along, I’d love to know what you would name this book. Ready?

---

(Book Title) is a story about illness, belief, and taking action. At the age of twenty-four, Ashley Schneider had a life that fascinated her—a job traveling around the world on a cruise ship, peak fitness, and enough cash to fund each adventure she went on. She wasn’t looking to rectify the pain she carried from her mother’s disease, she was looking for a free drink at the bar and connections to get a contract through Alaska. Then, stirred by a surprising revelation Ashley abruptly leaves her Caribbean career to run 125 consecutive marathons across America for her mother in an effort to raise $500,000 for the MS cause, wildly inexperienced to do what she’s imagined.

Part 1 of the book, which is inclusive of the first three chapters, flows through present time of Ashley on the cruise ship during a three-mile training run, and back in time to the experiences that prime her to say yes to this epiphany. Her love of fitness (especially in light of her mother’s decreasing mobility), her affection for travel (also brought forth by her mother’s inability to), and her mother’s disease all collide within her mind while she runs. It’s at this moment that Ashley realizes that her purpose is to run across America for her mother; that this revelation has been waiting for her to come upon it all along. Without questioning its practicality (or lack thereof), Ashley quits the job she loves to do it.

Arriving home, all at once Ashley must face the reasons that she left—her mother’s uncontrollable disease, her family’s impractical caregiving, and how her parents, siblings and Ashley herself avoid the stress, anxiety and depression that accompany seeing a loved one suffer with a chronic illness. With a concrete start-date as her motivation and no cash of her own to invest, Ashley persistently pushes through obstacles—an abrupt and steep training plan, building a business, brand and website for the endeavor, finding a support person to accompany her, securing a motorhome and transport vehicle, and acquiring sponsorships—with naive whimsy and undeniable grit. It’s Ashley’s belief in herself and her destiny to undertake this endeavor that solidifies the date she circled in bold on the calendar to start running east from the Golden Gate Bridge on March 22, 2010.

Arriving in San Francisco on that date comes with its own challenges, but at long last, after a year of training, Ashley is at the Golden Gate Bridge ready to begin her run across America. The simplicity of the endeavor–running–gains dimension within the scope of why she is on the highway doing it for five hours every day. The people she meets, the places she passes, even the individuals that come along to support her through each day’s marathon all have a relationship with her within the structure of the cause. It’s the purity of her intentions that disillusion her from the challenges that inevitably arise with such an extreme undertaking.

Surprisingly, the physical aspect of the feat seems to be the only thing that comes with ease throughout the story. Ashley’s body holds up beautifully as the pieces of her romantic relationship and event fall apart. The days become long to meet the non-running demands of the endeavor–meeting supporters, doing interviews, rerouting around dangerous highways, making public appearances, fundraising, dealing with a major theft from the charity’s bank account, and even something as simple as how early she can get her fiancé to wake all become challenges to overcome. Ashley’s purpose throughout the mounting adversity centers around that which she has pushed aside her entire life—her mother’s increasing needs, the resentment that festers, and the revelation that Ashley has always had the power to create meaning from the wreckage.

The story comes to a close as Ashley crosses into New York City on a bland Tuesday–the overcast sky matching how she feels about finishing her run. Upon completion, Ashley achieves an unbelievable accolade, becoming the 16th female to ever run across America, but she falls terribly short of her fundraising goal and she can’t help but feel disappointed. Over time, Ashley learns that her journey is far from over and that the ways in which she has failed may actually be exactly what is needed to create something worthwhile. The final paragraph summarizes the ending of Ashley’s relationship with her fiancé and also outlines what she does next—creates America’s Longest Relay Run to empower other runners like herself to transform their pain into purpose through a powerful cross-country running experience, hosted by her charity each year.

The success of the charity’s relay run and the sudden death of both of Ashley’s parents in 2017 are the main catalysts for writing her memoir. Today, thousands of runners, donors and volunteers engage with Ashley’s story each year, finding comfort, hope and purpose through her experience.

---

So, there you have it; an overview of my book! Submissions are now open for the title. Dear God, let’s hope you’ve got something better than “Meh”.