Help Promote the Stories of a Girl Who Lost Her Battle with Cancer

Tomorrow, January 31st is IndiesForward day – a special blogging event dedicated to spreading the legacy of Julie Forward DeMay and her touching memoir, The Cell War Notebooks.

What would you do  when faced with a battle for your life? Author, photographer and creative spirit Julie Forward DeMay took on her fight with cervical cancer like she was playing for the new high score in her favorite video game, Asteroids. Inspiring, witty, beautiful and brutally honest, The Cell War Notebooks is a compilation of the blog Julie kept during the last seven months of her life. It’s a powerful read for anyone, whether your life has been touched by cancer or not.

Julie introduced her blog, also dubbed cell war notebooks, this way: “36 year old female documenting life with cancer… In January 2008, I was diagnosed with Stage IB cervical cancer. I was treated with surgery in February 2008 and in remission until December. The day after Xmas, I found out the cancer had spread to my left lung and chest wall, which is now considered Stage 4. This blog documents my journey to healing.”

Julie wrote the blog that makes up the book in 2009. She was a creative writing major with dreams of being published, but never had the chance. That’s why her mother decided to self-publish the stories in 2011, and spread the tales of Julie’s bravery, humor, spirit, and inspiration with the world. The book gained a lot of attention in Wisconsin, where the family is from, but Julie’s mother was unsure how to promote it further. She contacted the Self-Publishing Team at Duolit for advice on getting the word out, and they’ve launched this incredible IndiesForward event to share the book with the world.

If you’re a blogger or book reviewer, you can participate in IndiesForward and share the book with your readers by dedicating a blog post to Julie. Write about an obstacle you’ve overcome, how cancer has touched your life, or anything that gives you inspiration every day. At the beginning of your post, share a bit about Julie and Cell War Notebooks, along with links to the book. (Duolit has created a simple Prep Kit to help you with a blurb, graphics, and more info.)

Check out the paperback on Amazon and keep up with the event and the book on Facebook. All proceeds from book sales go to Julie’s nine year-old daughter.