Help us publish Breast Dancer, an uplifting book for people journeying along the
wild and wooly road of cancer — to help them know that they are not alone.
About Breast Dancer
I wrote Breast
Dancer just after I completed treatments for breast cancer. Even though I lived in Alaska, I had a
great support group of friends — distance runners and survivors— who walked the
road with me.
Here is an excerpt from the book . . .
Breast Journey Step 16 – North to the Yukon
. . . Some of the heartiest laughs I’ve ever produced, deep and loud and unselfconscious, were with Team Survivor Perseverance, on the Klondike International Road Relay.
Despite our ironclad motto — “What happens on the Klondike stays on the Klondike” — I must share some of the unforgettable moments I’ve spent dancing with these gals on a grassy dance floor under a humid tent in Whitehorse, Yukon. Together we listened with glee to one laid back Canadian band after another, celebrating Life in a way that only Survivors can, having kicked death’s ass and happy to tell the tale. These women distinguished the important (friendship, kindness, passion) from the
unimportant (perfection, guilt and housecleaning). These were Survivors who had
been up all night, running for miles through the mountain passes, and who were
now full of both endorphins and watery beer.
Especially memorable was the year before I myself had been diagnosed. Appointed fashion consultant for the team, I’d arranged pink boas for each member to wear to the dance and award ceremony. As we danced and the tent became increasingly,
humanly humid, the pink feathers began sticking to all our glistening faces and
arms. For some of these friends, having recently endured the indignities of
surgery and hair loss, these feathery adornments recaptured the first touch of
their lost femininity.
Jan hatched the lovely idea to pass on the boas to anyone with a new diagnosis, and
so the feathers have made their way around the state and the country, with our
sweat and our music still clinging to them, to bring joy and hope to other
women.
Running — and the bold, fearless women who do it — saw me strongly through this odyssey and prepared me for those to come. As with singing, the sheer joy of surrendering myself to the Road, and the satisfaction of giving my all as part of a team, contains some of the deepest spiritual lessons of my life. During radiation fatigue, my motivation to get out the door and run came from my commitment to this team.
Why We Need Your Support
It has taken seven years, and many edits,
and now we are finally ready to go to print. I keep thinking that perhaps they
will find a cure, and that breast cancer will become a thing of the past, but
so far, that has not happened. Just last month, I met a woman at a resort on
the San Juan Islands who had just finished her treatments, and we shared our
stories, and laughed, and cried just a bit. She is waiting for this book to be
published. But first, we need your help.
We have included the lyrics to several songs
in Breast Dancer. Some music
publishers have generously donated the rights to use their lyrics, but for 12 songs,
the publishing companies require that we pay a fee. We also have some stock
imagery costs related to the cover, and getting the word out about the book.
I’d like to record it too, for those people in chemotherapy for whom reading is
not so easy, but who might like to listen to my melodious voice. If you
contribute to this campaign, then the women who are waiting — for a laugh, for
a story, for a dance — can get a copy of this book to set on their bedside
table, for those nights when they can’t sleep, and just need to make
connection.
Whether or not you can donate, please
consider sending this information along to friends and family.
Thank you for your help, and may your life
be blessed with health and dancing!
Stretch Goals
All of the editing and book layout work for
Breast Dancer has been done pro bono. We’ve set a conservative goal for this
campaign, to cover the music rights and the costs associated with self-publishing
in e-book and printed formats.
If we are fortunate enough to exceed our
goal of $2,500, the additional funding will go toward purchasing books for
women who can’t afford them. We’ve got some festive perks to thank our donors,
and most importantly, you will get that good feeling that you are helping
someone through a difficult time. Survivors come in all ages, sizes, and
demographics. Who knows — someday, that person just may be you.
If we do not meet our goal, we will purchase as many reprint permissions as possible, and publish Breast Dancer in a slightly abridged form. We think all the lyrics are important to the story, but we'll make some hard choices in order to get this book out and into the hands of people who need it.
About Joyce
The Reverend Joyce Parry Moore is an Episcopal
Priest, ordained by the Diocese of Alaska, and serving in the Diocese of California
where Mother Joyce serves as at the rector of St. Bartholomew’s Church in
Livermore. Meanwhile, she is earning her Doctorate of Ministry degree in
Pastoral Counseling. Her dissertation project focuses on providing continued
healing through creative arts for women and families affected by cancer.
In 2006, faced with a diagnosis of breast
cancer, Joyce had the opportunity to sing Verdi’s Requiem with the Juneau
Symphony in Alaska. Mother Joyce recorded her feelings about the healing power
of music, and her This I Believe
essay aired NPR’s The Bob Edwards Show
on August 9, 2013.
Joyce lives in Livermore, CA with her
husband, the youngest of her five children of a blended family (shaken, not
stirred), their two dogs, two birds and two lizards. You may contact Rev. Parry
Moore at jparrymoore@gmail.com to order copies of the book when it is actually published, or to share your stories of healing and surviving.