It's been a long process getting my bridge book from an idea to a 400-page volume. The genesis of the book came on New Year's Eve 2022 when I was discussing resolutions for the New Year with my daughter Janice and her husband. As some of you may know, I am a New Year resolutionist.
When I suggested writing a bridge book for beginners, my daughter insisted that I tell a story about four people learning the game together.
"People learn better through stories, Dad", she insisted. "No one wants to just read about a bunch of rules and conventions."
And so I set out to tell a story. Six months later, I was ready to test run my book.
Your dialogue needs work, your characters lack depth, your lessons are flawed, your book needs to give the reader the opportunity to practice using apps. And those were just comments from my immediate family.
Needless to say, I put the book on a back shelf to collect dust.
New Year's 2023 came along and with it another project. I decided to put together a book for Brebeuf College's 60 th anniversary by collecting stories from staff and students of the school both past and present. With the help of former colleague Sandra Boetto, we collected almost 150 memories.
But what to do with them? By a fortuitous happenstance, I was introduced to book designer Luis Flavio Nunes who helped us produce a successful product.
In my interactions with Luis, he discovered I had tried my hand at writing a bridge book.
"Can I have a look?" he asked.
You see, Luis knows a thing or two about bridge. He has helped bridge guru Barbara Seagram get a few of her books to print and is the man responsible for all of her newsletters.
"I think you might have something there Mike," he wrote, ever encouraging.
And so began our twelve month project. In fact, Luis began by drawing up four pages of notes on the characters in the book. I was a bit surprised but quickly realized that writing a book, unless you're Stephen King, requires lots of planning. In fact, Luis explained that it might take 14 or 15 revisions to get it right. I scoffed at the idea which I now realize is more fact than fiction.
When the book was finished, I was gratified to get a Canadian Bridge Champion to review it. Dave Colbert, a fellow math head from my teaching days, was kind enough to make sure I got all the salient bridge pieces in the book correct.
The book is called Bringing Us Together One Hand at a Time and it's now available on Amazon as a e-book. A paperback version of the book is in the works.
I'm certainly not out to make a lot of money from this venture but rather, to grow the game of bridge. And in the process, hopefully bring people together, one hand at a time.
