Bedtime Stories for the Living by Jay Armstrong - Book Tour - Book Sale - Guest Post - Giveaway - Enter Daily!

Hello, lovelies!!  It gives me great pleasure today to host Jay Armstrong and his new book, “Bedtime Stories for the Living,” here on FAB!!  For other stops on his Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in this post.

Be sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $10 Amazon Gift Card!!  Also, come back daily to interact with Jay and to increase your chances of winning!!

This eBook is on SALE for ONLY $0.99 during the book tour!!  See below for more details.

Thanks for stopping by!!  Wishing you all lots of good luck in this fabulous giveaway!!

Bedtime Stories for the Living

by Jay Armstrong

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GENRE:   Non-Fiction/Memoir

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BLURB:

Diagnosed with a progressive brain disease, a young father is determined to teach his children the importance of pursuing their dreams.

A cell phone’s ring interrupts the silence as Jay Armstrong sits in his high school classroom preparing for the year ahead. Something about the ring makes his stomach drop. It’s his doctor.

The words, “diffuse cerebellar atrophy, a rare, degenerative brain disease” float through the speaker. All of Jay’s youthful dreams of being a writer rush back, flooding the twenty years he has spent teaching students how to appreciate novels, memoirs, and poetry. The care he put into teaching them how to write with clarity, insight, and humor, and how to dance at the prom. The bedtime stories he never told his children spin in his imagination. It will all die when he dies.

Jay chooses to experience his condition as an inspiration here to teach him to appreciate the time he still has. He writes letters and stories to his three children about his failing voice, his impaired motor skills, and falling down on Christmas morning. Writing helps him cope with the illness and its symptoms. And so, he accepts the mission of writing more stories for them: the difference his father’s wink made at a critical moment of a baseball game, why they should take walks even in cruddy weather, and how he avoided having to explain what semen is for.

As his condition worsens, Jay’s faith in the power of storytelling deepens. His daily life is wildly different than he foresaw, and possibly shorter, but he can leave his children a legacy more valuable than any financial inheritance. He writes "Bedtime Stories for the Living", an episodic memoir to show his children how to accept their limitations and find joy. The collection of tender, witty stories about fatherhood, persevering despite illness, and pursuing your dreams, demonstrates how love gives us the strength to face heartache with bravery and grace.

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EXCERPT ONE:

Introduction

There is something you should know. In the history of my ordinary suburban life, I’ve never told any of my three children a bedtime story. Not telling your child a bedtime story seems like a major dad offense. Like forgetting them at Target or wearing a clown costume to “Back-to-School Night” or letting them swim twenty-six minutes after lunch.

Do I love my children?

On most days I do.

On most days, like you, they’re decent people. So why didn’t I tell them bedtime stories?

Selfishly, I don’t like the pressure. The nightlight. The slow swirl of the ceiling fan blades. Their big eyes staring up at me, expecting me to entertain them, to stir their imagination. Who do they think I am? Bruce Springsteen? No. I’m a dad who gets his sushi from a supermarket. I wear sneakers with khaki pants. I once taught high school English in New Jersey. I mean, to be creative and tell a story on demand is down-right stressful. Who needs that kind of stress after 9 pm?

My parents were better parents. When I was a kid, Mom and Dad would tuck me into bed and tell me stories about my grandfathers and grandmothers, about how Mom and Dad met, or about playing stickball in narrow Philadelphia streets. Bedtime stories were history. They brought my little universe into focus, shaped my identity, and instilled a love of storytelling.

As good suburban boys do, I fell in love, got married, and had three kids. Just when things were going as planned, in 2013, I was diagnosed with a progressive brain disease called diffuse cerebellar atrophy. The disease degenerates my motor skills, balance, coordination, eyesight, and speech. A fall can lead to a head injury and weakening esophageal muscles to choking and asphyxiation, and so on—a veritable smorgasbord of potentially fatal complications. Two years later, sarcoidosis, a complicated autoimmune disorder that attacks every major body organ, was added to my list of health issues.

It was only when the prospect of death became real that I began writing.

In 2015, I created Write On Fight On (writeonfighton.org), and for the next five years I wrote and posted bedtime stories I never told my kids. By writing these stories, I began to reexamine who I once was, who I am now, and the man and father I hoped to one day grow up to be. Writing made me realize, in the face of our inevitable death, our time to tell our story is painfully brief. And that we should make like Springsteen and do what we can to achieve our dreams.

As I wrote this book, time passed. The kids grew up. My diseases progressed. People I love died. And one spring morning, standing in the driveway with my hands in my pockets, time’s yellow chariot turned the corner. The air brakes exhaled, “Bye Dad” was said, and as the bus, my children, and a swirl of exhaust smoke disappeared down the street, I realized the irony of my effort. I was trying to preserve time while it was passing like a school bus in the morning. We can’t stop time. We can only slow time by doing what we love. Doing the things that make us feel alive. And I have never been more alive than when telling a story.

This is a book of bedtime stories for the living. Stories that, if I did my job well, slow time, and make you and me glad to be alive. These stories are real. Or as real as memory allows them to be. As I discovered, life is both a funny and a heartbreaking experience. These stories are the moments I want to share with you because I believe, deep in my dad heart, we all have stories worth sharing.

I came across an article about how, in the mid 1990’s, Dr. Marshall Duke and Dr. Robyn Fivush of Emory University developed and conducted a twenty question survey of children entitled, “Do You Know” which asked them about their families. The results showed that the more stories, both positive and negative, the children knew about their family’s history, the more resilient the children tended to be. As the study concluded, knowing family stories was “the single best predictor of children’s emotional health and happiness.” For better or worse, our family stories help us navigate our own troubles. Stories gift us courage when we’re afraid, offer direction when we’re lost, or comfort when we’re lonely.

Dear reader, please know that I’m humbled you are reading this book. Thank you. I hope my stories help you, give you permission to dream, and maybe give you the strength to tell your own stories. I hope you paid full price for this book because college for three ain’t free.

But if this book doesn’t offer my children financial prosperity, more than anything, this book is a gift for them. It’s a family history, an instruction manual, an honest reflection about a fleeting moment, a smile, a glance, and the goodnight kiss I often failed to give them.

Maybe one day, when they’re lost or confused or angry or sad or daydreaming about the prom queen, they will open this book and read a story or one of the letters I’ve written to them. Maybe my words will let them hear my voice again. Feel my lips pressed against their ears. And maybe they’ll know they’re not alone. That Dad is here. With them. Helping them through life forever.

Be well,

Jay

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GUEST POST:

My favorite scene in “Bedtime Stories for the Living” is…

My book’s scenes are like my kids. It’s impossible and unfair to pick a favorite. I love them all. They are all fun and flawed in their own unique way.

However, I think my favorite scene to write was the first scene, “The Phone Call,” when I was diagnosed with cerebellar degeneration.

This scene taught me how to write about a personally difficult subject in a way that didn’t sound whiny or self-indulgent. It taught me how to mix hard truth with humor and emanate a tone of hopefulness even when it seems all hope is gone. This was a big moment for me as a writer. It also established the tone of the entire book but helped me discover my voice as a writer.

Writing about my incurable brain disease is not necessarily fun. However, my disease is my material and if I can present my material in a way that’s honest and engaging and relatable to the reader–who may not have a brain disease–but certainly is enduring their own suffering, then I’ve succeeded as a writer.

Despite its subject, the first scene contains moments of absurdity. My neurologist looked like the musician Paul Simon. And as he was describing the diagnosis and all it’s awfulness and as my mom, who was with me, was biting her bottom lip, I missed some of the doctor’s details because I was brainstorming Paul Simon songs that seemed appropriate for the moment:

“A Bridge Over Troubled Water”

“The Sound of Silence”

“Homeward Bound”

“Mother-Child Reunion”

So when I wrote that scene, I incorporated my neurologist–the Paul Simon doppelganger, and his song titles into the chapter. I wanted to blend emotions for the reader. I wanted to let the reader know it’s okay to laugh. For me, the scene validated humor as a survival skill. It also made me realize, both as a writer and a human, that I was the flawed yet funny hero my story needed.

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AUTHOR BIO:

In 2013, Jay Armstrong was diagnosed with diffuse cerebellar atrophy. A condition that causes dysfunctional motor skills, speech and vision impairments, and balance deficiencies. At the time of diagnosis, he was establishing himself as an endeared high school English teacher, a varsity soccer coach, and an above average dancer. However, the progressive disorder forced Jay to reevaluate his life.

Supported by his high school sweetheart turned wife (Cindy) and their three children (Haley, Chase, Dylan), Jay retired from teaching in 2021 to pursue his dream of becoming an author.

Jay believes in the power of storytelling. He also believes in dad jokes, laughter, and the unrelenting pursuit of dreams. Jay’s debut book, Bedtime Stories for the Living, is an episodic memoir in which Jay shows his children how to accept their limitations and find joy. The collection of tender, witty stories about fatherhood, persevering despite illness, and pursuing your dreams, demonstrates how love gives us the strength to face heartache with bravery, humor, and grace.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Jay is passionate about Philly sports, soft pretzels, and Rocky Balboa.

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CONNECT WITH JAY:

Website:

https://writeonfighton.org

Website:

https://jayarmstrongwrites.com

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/writeonfighton

Twitter:

https://www.twitter.com/writeonfighton

Goodreads Author Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22134372.Jay_Armstrong

Goodreads Book Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59747516-bedtime-stories-for-the-living

Amazon Author Page:

https://amzn.to/3L6XAMk

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BOOK BUY LINKS & BOOK SALE INFO:

**The Bedtime Stories for the Living eBook is on SALE for ONLY $0.99 during the book tour!!!**

Amazon US Kindle eBook:

https://amzn.to/3DeV5FE

Amazon US Paperback:

https://amzn.to/3RAmINN

Amazon CA Kindle eBook:

https://www.amazon.ca/Bedtime-Stories-Living-Heartbreaking-Pursuing-ebook/dp/B09L5SC6CM

Amazon CA Paperback:

https://www.amazon.ca/Bedtime-Stories-Living-Jay-Armstrong/dp/B09L52B3LL

Apple Books eBook:

https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1598611714

Barnes and Noble NOOK eBook:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bedtime-stories-for-the-living-jay-armstrong/1140591539?ean=2940165155536

Barnes and Noble Paperback:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bedtime-stories-for-the-living-jay-armstrong/1140591539?ean=9798985214321

Kobo US eBook:

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/bedtime-stories-for-the-living

Kobo CA eBook:

https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/bedtime-stories-for-the-living

Lulu Paperback:

https://www.lulu.com/shop/jay-armstrong/bedtime-stories-for-the-living/paperback/product-y67dzn.html

Vivlio eBook:

https://shop.vivlio.com/product/9798985214314_9798985214314_10020

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GIVEAWAY INFO:

Jay will be awarding a $10 Amazon Gift Card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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This contest is sponsored by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish Promotions.  Prizes are given away by the sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.