Most people love Chicken Soup For the Soul books but not everyone can say they have had their story published in one. For local author and inspirational speaker, Glenda Standeven, it is one more thing off her extensive bucket list.
Standeven is a 30-year bone cancer survivor who lost her entire right leg, hip and pelvis to the disease in 1988. In September, she received word that her story, I Just Needed to Say Goodbye, was chosen among thousands of submissions for inclusion in the latest volume of Chicken Soup books - Dreams and the Unexplainable.
“At first I thought it was just junk mail but I opened it out of curiousity and I’m so glad I did. The first email was to congratulate me on being moved on to the next round of eliminations so I never told anyone at all. It would have been like saying I almost won the lottery,” laughs Standeven.
“I had submitted the story almost two years earlier and had completely forgotten about it.”
The second email arrived a couple weeks later to congratulate her on making the final selection. It was then that she happily shared the good news with everyone. The book hit the bookstores around the world on Oct. 26 and Standeven also has signed copies available for purchase at all her speaking events. She and her husband, Rick, are in the planning stages of a cross-Canada speaking tour in the spring of 2018.
This is not the first time Glenda has had her name in print. She wrote I Am Choosing to Smile, about facing life’s obstacles with optimism, and What Men Won’t Talk About and Women Need to Know, which chronicles her husband’s prostate cancer journey from a woman’s perspective.
Her next speaking engagement is planned for the Sardis Library on Nov. 23 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. where she will be doing a reading from the book and sharing the submission procedure for others interested in sharing their stories. Come early as there are no reserved seats and space is limited.