Colton has played a dynamic role in the publication of my book.
When it came to the cover, I initially envisioned it without Colton’s face being revealed. I had certain ideas for the cover of the book (one where Colton’s face wasn’t shown) but that didn’t pan out. My publisher really wanted the face of a little boy on the cover, but I was adamant that I didn’t want my son’s face on the book. I felt this way because I wanted him to be able to have a private life. Since I had reservations about my son’s privacy, we compromised with a stock photo for the first draft.
Upon showing Colton the cover with a stand-in, dubbed ‘fake Colton,’ his response was priceless. He insisted, ‘Mom, that’s not me; I need to be on the cover.’ That was that. He agreed to the photo that now graces the book cover and finds it incredibly cool to be featured.
Just the other day while he was flipping through the book he made a funny comment when asked if he liked the book.
His response:
Mom-I love it! I’m mostly looking at the pictures and you made the right call not putting both of our faces on the cover.
And while I don’t remember ever considering my face on the cover, that only solidifies he’s happy he’s on the cover.
Colton thinks it’s awesome that Mommy wrote a book, but honestly, he doesn’t really understand the concept of the book. He doesn’t know the story surrounding his miracle birth and I’m ok with that right now. He enjoys revisiting our conversations through the book but hasn’t delved deep into its content. And that’s perfectly fine for now. I know one day he will and we will have a conversation about it.
The other night when we were leaving his “reading group” AKA tutoring, he asked his tutor if he could put my book on the shelf at the center. I have certain feelings about marketing a book, it’s not EASY. But he made me smile and think: Who needs marketing when I have this kid?
Long after I’m gone, our book will remain in the world. If this book touches just one life, all the emotions—fear, faith, and doubt—that brought us to this moment will be 100 percent worth it.