As part of the Celebrate Lit tour for Beating Cancer, please join me in welcoming Marianne C. McDonough to the blog today!
Journalist and author of award-winning 8 Steps to Getting Real with Cancer, Marianne C. McDonough believes the way to beat cancer is one truth at a time. She tells patients, “This is your journey. You’re the best person to lead it.” A cancer survivor since 2012, Marianne wants patients to assess the hard questions cancer presents and discover their own truths. She understands patients are stressed, anxious, and exhausted. From her personal experience, she offers a straight-forward book that inspires hope. A Minnesota native, Marianne enjoys lake activities at her cabin with her family, musicals, baseball, bridge, dancing, and walking through the woods or a nearby park.
You can connect with Marianne on her website and Facebook.
Like eagles soaring above a storm, cancer patients tackle an unpredictable disease. To navigate the turmoil, they must dispel the myths surrounding cancer, understand the facts, and determine how they want their journey to look. Armed with their convictions, they can create a path that achieves maximum health and gives them peace. Although support helps, ultimately, they must make their own decisions.
This book is about choices and the beliefs from which those choices emerge.
Beating Cancer One Truth at a Time encourages patients to:
- Confront cultural myths about cancer
- Clarify their own truths
- Proactively plan treatment and prehab activities
- Acquire positive and hopeful mindsets
- Create a vision worth fighting for
- Develop cancer smarts for survivorship
Designed for self-reflection and/or group discussion, Beating Cancer One Truth at a Time guides readers toward empowerment and freedom for a journey they never wanted but have to master.
Hi Marianne! Welcome to the blog!
Marianne: Summer because of the longer days and no need for boots or jackets.
Carrie: the longer days are nice, but i love the cold!
Marianne: Love them both. Do I really have to choose? My parents owned a dog kennel, and I worked in it as a teenager. Dogs are good for us. Their capacity to love is unequaled. But I’ve also enjoyed cats. They amuse me with their athletic antics and capacity for adventure and ingenuity.
Carrie: I’ll allow a ‘both’ answer lol
Marianne: Card games, especially bridge and cribbage, both of which my parents and grandparents played.
Carrie: I love card games too, but i still have never learned to play those two!
Marianne: I still enjoy print, especially for nonfiction books, because I like to write notes in them to refer to or review later.
Carrie: That is true for me too.
Q: Around here I like to say that reading is my superpower. If YOU had a superpower, what would it be?
Marianne: History is interesting to me, so I would choose to do time travel, as long as I know I could always return. The “Back to the Future” films are among my favorites.
Carrie: Those are some of my husband’s favorite movies too 🙂
Q: Which books are ‘on your nightstand’?
Marianne: The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey, Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good by Jan Karon, The Bad Girls of the Bible by Liz Curtis Higss, 60 Ways to Keep Your Brain Sharp by Bonnie Bath Sparrman, BSN.
Carrie: Ooo excellent choices!
Q: Writing spaces are as diverse as authors and books. Where is your favorite space to write?
Marianne: I love to write on my porch at the cabin, especially if it’s a beautiful day with a soft breeze off of the lake. I can open the windows and breathe it all in.
Carrie: that sounds absolutely lovely!!
Q: What surprised you about Beating Cancer as you researched this book?
Marianne: I intended it to be a companion guide for my first book, but it grew into its own entity, much to my surprise. I care about cancer patients, and there are so many of them out there. Gradually I realized there was so much more I wanted to say to encourage and help them effectively fight this despicable disease and feel proud of the way they navigated their journey.
Q: Were there any songs that inspired you as you wrote your book?
Marianne: Toward the end, I heard Josh Groban’s song, “Granted.” I love the chorus:
If you have a dream, go chase it
If you feel hope, don’t waste it
If you find love, embrace it
And never take a single breath for granted
The story’s yours, go write it
Tomorrow’s undecided
Our days are counted on this planet
Never take a single breath
Take a single breath for granted
Carrie: Beautiful ♥
Q: What do you most want readers to take away from Beating Cancer?
Marianne: Page 31: “Anyone who has battled cancer at all is a winner for standing up to it.”
Page 100, “When you have completed treatment, you are already a winner and a champion.”
Carrie: Amen!
Thank you so much for taking time to talk with me! 🙂 Before we say goodbye for today, tell us what‘s coming up next for you.
Marianne: I am considering a number of projects but am praying for what is next on God’s agenda for me.
To celebrate her tour, Marianne is giving away a grand prize of a personalized yeti tumbler!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
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This giveaway is hosted by Celebrate Lit, not RimSP
Follow along with the tour for more chances to win.
I would love to own this treasure of a book since it resonates with me. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012. Chemo, radiation and then the meds for 5 years. This was adversity and strength which I faced alone. No one knew the courage it took to continue on when I was weak and frail. I am now stronger and able to cope but RA followed me and now I have to contend with this difficulty. What a wonderful book which is a blessing.
wonderful interview, thank you
Great interview, thank you for sharing