Preface

I have written a dozen books prior to this one. These books have included autobiographies, motivational books, business books, and several novels. As a blind person, I write in a totally unique and quite unusual way. I dictate each of my books to a very talented colleague, Dorothy Thompson, who is the best grammarian I have ever known. As I dictate, she puts the books into sentences, paragraphs, and chapters. We write very quickly and rarely make any changes or edits. With over 8 million books in print, we must be doing something right.

I have a number of unwritten rules that I follow when I am writing. I never plan or outline my work. I don’t title a book until it’s finished. And I rarely read what I’ve written until it is completed. Another of my unwritten rules involves never collaborating with anyone else in authoring a book. I’ve had a number of very flattering offers to cowrite a book with some very well-known and talented people. I have never accepted one of these offers because of the unique and unusual way that I work.

Now, for the first time, I find myself collaborating on a book. This goes against everything I have done to date, but I’m willing to alter my successful system for one very important reason: It is best for my readers and the overall project.

I’ve never considered collaborating on my novels because they merely require me to tell the story that is in my mind. Authoring autobiographical books would not lend themselves to collaboration, because I am ...

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