About “Dancing with Rejection: A Beginner's Guide to Immortality” ​(the Trilogy) Book 1..

​

Michael Robert Gaudet begins his story with the early realization of his fate as an artist...whether he likes it or not. The "proof would be in the pudding", as he went on to become an acclaimed, monumental mural-painter.
He very nearly suffered the same fate as his father Robert, who died of kidney failure at age31 in 1963. Robert was a tenacious and determined young man, even as he contemplated the epic unfairness of his impending, early demise. He set out to stitch together a daring and courageous plan for his own immortality, that involved genetic engineering and a brazen act of manipulating time and space.

Book 1 of the Trilogy "Dancing with Rejection".

"Dancing with Rejection" is at once a romping adventure that sketches vivid portraits of the mentors that would change his life, and the women that would torment and beguile him.
Gaudet chronicles his harrowing journey to the edge of oblivion, and his ongoing quest to
make the best of a precarious health picture, that haunts his dreams.
Part medical drama and part "rags to riches", this book is a kaleidoscopic, sweeping tale of
tenderness and tenacity, as seen through the eyes of an artist.

This book explores the primal, human need not to be forgotten, as if you never set foot on
this planet.

"Dancing with Rejection" on "Lit Happens" TV

Best-selling author Wes Funk requested an interview with me to help launch "Dancing with Rejection: A Beginner's Guide to Immortality". I was happy to comply.

Best-selling author Wes Funk made me feel relaxed and at ease during our TV interview.

"Lit Happens" is a literary showcase of up and coming, as well as the old guard, of the Saskatchewan writing community. I appreciate the opportunity to discuss the story-line of Book 1 of the Trilogy for the historic record on this show. I can only imagine how much more succinct I will become as we drill deeper into the project.

"Lit Happens" host and literary darling Wes Funk puts his guest at ease.

Wasn't that a particularly interesting ten minutes? As usual, Canadian literary darling Wes Funk was the best host you could hope for. He was gracious and friendly, but also willing to ask the salient questions to keep the interview flowing. It flowed along seamlessly, just like his writing style.

Last year, Wes commissioned me to paint an over-size portrait of him. I guess this is another bid for "immortality", if you get what I mean. Thinking, this is a primal human urge, to leave some kind of mark or testament on this planet. It is a desire to be remembered.

We conferred and decided YES, I would make a special presentation on air!

 Wes asked me to bring the portrait to him at the time of our interview. I agreed, and after a brief huddle, Wes, his producer Dean and I decided to make the presentation live on air. It was a very full eight minutes!

Word on the street is, the interview will be aired sometime in early December 2014. Stay tuned for that, coming to this space.

Near-Death Experience. Now what?

Seeing as how the imminent release of Book 1 of my memoir “Dancing with Rejection: A Beginner's Guide to Immortality” (the Trilogy) is coming up in the next couple of weeks, I thought it would be a good idea to offer a synopsis. The book consists of several intertwining themes.

These include, but are not limited to: 

1) the last year or so of my father Robert's short life, who died of kidney failure on November 22nd, 1963, at the age of 31, 
2) Robert's vivid presence in my life as a (not always) benign spirit, 
3) my life-long fascination with the mystical power of the number three 
4) the early realization of my fate as an artist...whether I liked it or not, 
5) the sometimes turbulent, messy love life that ruined many sleepless nights, 
6) the kidney disease that very nearly cut my life short at the age of nineteen, 
7) my ongoing quest to make the best of a precarious health picture, 
8) the heroic “Gift of Life” that changed everything, 
9) my response to a “Near-Death Experience”, which was to carve out a career as a monumental mural painter.

After my NDE, I decided instinctively that I wasn't prepared or willing to settle for a non-eventful, conventional life. I determined that if nothing else, I would set out to do my level best to somehow “leave my mark” on the world in this temporal, mortal life. I believe this is a primal, human need. The need not to be forgotten, as if you never set foot on this planet.

Come join the pre-launch...and later the launch...party for Book 1 of the Trilogy at the 
Facebook page. (  www.facebook.com/groups/dancingwithrejection   )                                                
See you there. 

Proof Copies of "Dancing with Rejection" (Book 1 of the Trilogy) Arrives!

After plugging away on this pet project for months and months (years really, but who's counting?) I was thrilled (no exaggeration) yesterday when my friendly Purolator Man pulled into my driveway with a plain brown box in his hands.

Our friendly neighborhood Purolator Man was gracious enough to pose for a photo as he arrived with a plain brown box.

After investing SO much time and energy into creating Book 1 of the "Dancing with Rejection" Trilogy, I was thrilled to finally get the first Proof Copies into my hands. It was only thanks to the unflagging efforts of my editor Christina George, the indefatigable Annaleigh Sage Bergman (who stepped up to offer her Interior Formatting skills), and my darling wife Sharon...who never wavered in her support and encouragement, that this day arrived.

Knowing how much you, dear reader, enjoy opening such an alluring package, I decided to hold my enthusiasm in check just for a few seconds longer to faithfully photograph this process, step-by-step.

The plain brown box that arrived on 06/11/2014.

Burning up with curiosity, and about ready to burst with excitement, I couldn't wait a second longer to slash the packing tape and dig in!

WHAT oh what is inside? The tension mounts!

The box was well packaged with a long, twisted piece of plain brown paper to prevent the contents...very slippery...from sliding around. Let's pull it out, shall we?

I bet the length of twisted paper was at least ten feet long. 

The length of twisted paper, once it was pulled out of the box, was at least ten feet long. I appreciated the care and attention to detail that the packers had lavished on ensuring that the contents stayed put. It was confidence inspiring, not to mention the fact that the package arrived only one day after it was promised on the CreateSpace website after I requisitioned the shipping.

What's that I see inside the dark interior of the box? 

Let's get rid of that packing paper and take a peek inside the box, shall we? It was such a massive head rush to see (even the back cover) of the first Proof Copies of my long-awaited Book 1 of the "Dancing..." Trilogy!

After juggling so many moving parts, it is exciting to be finally holding physical copies.

I must admit, it feels kind of surreal to be holding physical copies (albeit "Proof Copies) of Book 1 of the "Dancing with Rejection" Trilogy. Book 2 is written already, but Book 3 is still ricocheting around inside my cranium, a little unformed. The best part of this whole project is, it injects a heightened sense of urgency into my life, even as I am undergoing "dialysis therapy" three times a week, for four hours each session.

Dialysis is a blood-cleansing therapy for people with kidney disease. It's all part of the story!

Plot-line for "Dancing with Rejection: A Beginner's Guide to Immortality"

"Dancing with Rejection: A Beginner's Guide to Immortality"  Book 1 chronicles the premature death of my father Robert of kidney failure, my initial diagnosis (Near-Death Experience...medical drama!) leading to my transplant 17-11-1979. There is also a lot of adventurous story-telling about some of the more outstanding characters I met in those days. And of course, I go into my early steps that lead to a career as a monumental mural-painter. My reaction to the "NDE" was to paint the 1st "Recovery" mural that graces the cover of Book 1 and also our masthead here. All in all, Book 1 was written to appeal to my fellow dialysis warriors, transplant patients, and generally EVERYBODY.
Book 2 is already written as well, but will be published after a bit of rest. That is the story of my rise to "fame" as a mural-painter...along with the deterioration of my health...leading to dialysis after 34+ years as a wildly successful TX patient. Both books are wrapped up in angelic encounters, as well as, of course, an ongoing love story!
Book 3 is being written as we speak!
My mission with the Trilogy is to engage a wide audience to increase awareness around kidney disease and kidney health, as it affects an everyday guy and his family across three generations.

The original design for my "Recovery 1" mural was slightly altered to feature the figure on the far right stepping off the edge of the canvas, to represent "getting on with life"...people to see, things to do.

In the next day or so, we will be receiving the first batch of hard copy Proof Copies of ook 1 of the trilogy. Excited? Oh yeah!