A Touching and Mature Meditation on Life, Love, and Mortality

Dance Me to the End by Alison Acheson

I’ve met some very interesting people in the few short weeks that I’ve been working on Medium. Alison Acheson is a writer who has had a similar career path to my own. She’s had several novels released with a series of publishers, and her craft of writing articles on the Writer’s Cooperative contain sage and useful advice.

I encourage you all to follow her here:

I got in touch with Alison because I had the impression that she and I were both in the same stages of learning the ropes of this new platform. We’ve had some wonderful discussions via email where we’ve shared our impressions and discussed strategies for further success.

Alison’s writing is not like the majority of what you find on the internet. It’s sort of comical that modern writing, particularly internet writing, has such a strong focus on leaving lots of white space between the words. It’s gratifying to know that there are still authors out there that focus on crafting eloquent and poetic phrases.

This is a great article of Alison’s for both new and experienced writers:

Dance Me to the End

‘Dance Me to the End’ is the type of book that can restore your faith in modern publishing, even as it breaks your heart. The book is a memoir about Alison’s time with her husband after he was diagnosed with ALS. There is tremendous honesty within the pages as well as self-reflection, wisdom, and eventual acceptance.

I know from personal experience that it takes a lot of effort to write a book. It’s not like you just sit down and have the words flow from your fingertips to the page. Writing a truthful account of your experiences provides you with the opportunity to make sense of them, but often that means hurling yourself into painful memories again and again and again.

I can see the compulsion a writer feels to process a moment of such extreme personal loss, but as a writer I find the undertaking to be very courageous. Then again, this is what writers do, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. As writers, we have faith in our ability to rework moments and memories in an attempt to pluck the diamonds from the rough and set them as markers to allow others to find an easier path through a tough moment.

‘Dance Me to the End’ is a book that will provide an individual with guidance when they are seeking direction in a moment of tremendous loss. In a world where most publishers often seek little more than the quick money that comes from the novelization of the latest ‘Avengers’ film, this book stands out. It’s not exactly light reading, but it is a very high quality work, and if you ever finding yourself drifting at sea, this book might contain the words to help you return to shore.

Check out Alison’s author page on Amazon here: