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Much Ado About Publishing

When Only the Story Survives

by Nina L. Diamond

You have no idea how much I did not want to write about Charlie Sheen.

Well, maybe you do if you're as disgusted as I am by the misguided avalanche of media attention he's been getting for his bizarre, self-destructive behavior. But, I had to write this because a very nice young man named Justin is dead.

Justin wasn't famous. He wasn't rich. But, he was bi-polar. His behavior was exactly like Charlie Sheen's, minus the violence and the millions. Before Justin killed himself last summer, he wrote a book manuscript. It will not bring a $10 million advance. But, neither will Charlie Sheen's book, though that's the amount Sheen has said he wants. Justin didn't write it because he wanted attention or money. He wrote it because he wanted to help people. People like himself. People like his ex-fiancee and other loved ones who try to help those with mental illness and discover that it is often impossible.

Justin wasn't even 30 when he died. He was a gentle soul, and he tried so hard to have a life. But, in the months before he died, his disease not only worsened, it led him to behavior that cost him his job. It also cost him his fiancee, though they remained close friends. I've read the manuscript. His ex-fiancee asked me to read it because she wanted to know if I thought it was publishable. It is. Or, it will be when it's finished.

Justin wanted her to write chapters that would alternate with the ones he wrote. He wanted people to read about what it was like for her to live with someone bi-polar. He hoped his book would educate the public and help those who faced what he had faced. His powerful writing is poignant, witty, and filled with despair. Justin had been on and off medication. His doctors hadn't yet found the right medication or combination of medications, that would work for him. That's common when treating mental illness. It can take many years, many doctors, and many different medications before a patient arrives at a treatment that's just right.

If and when the right treatment is found, it's common for people to feel so good that they think they're okay and that they can just stop taking their medication. When they do, though, the mania and depression become uncontrollable again. The companies and organizations that are using "Winning!" and Charlie Sheen's other delusional slogans in their promotions hope to benefit from all the media attention the manic actor continues to receive for his bizarre antics. This is as sick, in its own way, as Sheen is. A public relations catastrophe awaits them after his further mental deterioration.

Earlier this month, it was reported that major news organizations were already preparing Charlie Sheen's obituary. Yet, at the same time, they've been showering him with an unwarranted amount of media attention, treating his manic ravings as entertainment. Those who have promoted Charlie Sheen's manic, delusional state for the public's entertainment should be ashamed of themselves. It's really that simple. Rest in peace, Justin. And, Charlie, I hope you can find your peace. While you're still alive.

 

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As a journalist, columnist, essayist, and media critic, Nina L. Diamond's work has appeared in many publications, including Omni magazine, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, The Chicago Tribune, and The Miami Herald. She was a regular contributor to a number of "late, great" national, regional, and newspaper Sunday magazines, including Omni; the award-winning South Florida magazine; and Sunshine, the Ft. Lauderdale (now South Florida) Sun-Sentinel's Sunday magazine. She covers the arts and sciences; the media, publishing, and current affairs; and writes feature articles, interviews, commentary, humor/satire/parody, essays, and reviews. Ms. Diamond is also the author of Voices of Truth: Conversations with Scientists, Thinkers & Healers (Lotus Press) and the unfortunately titled Purify Your Body (Three Rivers Press/Crown/Random House) , a book of natural health reporting which has been a selection of The Book-of-the-Month Club's One Spirit Book Club and the Quality Paperback Book Club. For its entire run from 1984-1998, she was a writer and performer on Pandemonium, the National Public Radio (NPR) satirical humor program, which aired on WLRN-FM in Miami. She has appeared on Oprah, discussing the publishing industry, but, in a case of very bad timing, that appearance was two years before her first book was published. She has written her Much Ado About Publishing column for Independent Publisher since 2003. * * * * * Follow Nina on Twitter: http://twitter.com/@ninatypewriter Become a "fan" on Nina's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/NinaL.DiamondFanPage * * * * * Read some of Nina's previous Much Ado About Publishing columns: Authors Uncovered Choosing Crazy The Nice Guy Behind Evil Wylie: A Conversation with Andrew Shaffer De-Witched, Authored & Remaindered Moron Press: The Finest in Dreck Lit Playing 20 Questions with Evil Wylie When LOL Meets PPF Sunday in the Park with Scarlett, Seuss, Webster, Zhivago & Salinger There's No Such Thing As a Quick Remote Thanks for the Genes From Blog to Eternity

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