REVIEWS
LOOKS EASY ENOUGH
A Joyful Memoir of Overcoming Disease, Divorce and Disaster
Scott Stevenson
Deadora Press
$18.00 (451 pages)
LOVE AMIDST DISASTER
The author on the back cover of the book tells us the story is an inspirational tale of facing life's tough challenges and coming out ahead. Well, the author is right - facing cancer, divorce, a forest fire and a stock market crash yet still coming out ahead is very inspiring. The author is a skilled writer and a great story teller. He pulls you in, gets you involved in the lives of the characters, and he makes it hard for you to put the book down. And taken as an inspirational tale, I would highly recommend it.
But the book is more than an inspirational story; it's an honest to goodness love story. Not a sappy harlequin where the characters are as deep as the page they're written on, but a real life romance between a real life man and woman. The tough times that befell the author and his wife became vehicles in which to express their love. There is one chapter in the beginning of the book where the author's wife received a phone call from her doctor informing her that she had breast cancer and the author rushed home to be with her. He saw her crying and realized how much he truly loved her. The description of his feelings, " . . .a sense of love that fills every cell of my being and goes beyond this lifetime . . . it overwhelms me and I grab the rail for support . . . " brought tears to my eyes. And the tender and caring way the author and his wife interacted and played off each other throughout the whole cancer journey; attending all the medical and hospital appointments together, giving each other massages when they were stressed out, the way the author fully accepted and supported his wife's decision when she switched from conventional to holistic treatments after her mastectomy, and much more.
Definitely a romance!
The author and his wife also jumped in to help his sister when she told them she was filing for divorce from her abusive Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde husband (friendly in public and abusive behind closed doors). This was yet another opportunity for them to not only strengthen their love for each other but also for his sister. Paying for his sister's attorney, purchasing her house out of foreclosure so she and her four children wouldn't be turned out onto the streets, attending all her attorney meetings and court hearings, and spending umpteen hours helping her gather and prepare court documents went way beyond generous. Only a couple confident in each other and truly in love could do that much for another.
Another chapter that comes to mind is when the author and his wife are in the cab of their old work truck, driving home from the mountains after a day of erecting a giant cedar tree in the middle of the house - they had just retired and were building their dream home in the mountains. The sun was setting and the blues played on the radio when the author said to his wife, "'Hey Dudette, can you see the color green in the sunset?' 'No, Dude, I don't see any green in the sunset,' she replied. 'Really? I can see the color green just above the horizon just outside where the reds and oranges stop,' said the author. 'No Dude, there isn't any green,' said his wife for a second time. 'I'm sure I can see an olive green color,' the author replied. 'Well Dude, remember you're color-blind. There is no green!' " The previous evening the author and his wife had watched the movie, The Big Lebowski, where the main character played by Jeff Bridges is called The Dude. The author and his wife had been calling each other Dudette, Dude, Dudster and Dudest for most of the day. They made me wish that I had a similar relationship . . . other than with my cat!
And then there are the pet names for each other. At first they called each other Husband and Wife because they had just been married and were still getting used to the idea.At other times she called the author Bub ("Its easy to say; all you have to do is put your lips together and blow. It takes no effort and Susan definitely likes things that take no effort.") And then there was Newt, Mutt, Bean, Toot, and Monk ("short for monkey"). The author called his wife Babe-O ("I also like things that are easy to say. Like Bub, all you do is put your lips together and blow.) Followed by Bubble, Monkin, Chile Bean, and others.
Tell me this isn't a love story!
But life for the author and his wife was not a bed of roses. Remember this is an inspirational story of making it through some pretty tough times. A forest fire, a stock market plunge, fears of a cancer recurrence, and a nasty four-year divorce are not the best of times. But through it all, the author and his wife trusted in each other, helped each other (as well as others), saw the humor in life, persevered, and truly did appear to come out better people.
LOOKS EASY ENOUGH is a heart-warming, grown-up love story woven in and around an inspirational story of overcoming some pretty tough odds.
For additional information on the book, LOOKS EASY ENOUGH, check out www.lookseasyenough.com. The book may be purchased directly from the author at www.lookseasyenough.com, online in paperback and e-book editions form Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Atlas Books and may be ordered at Barnes & Noble and Borders retail stores. It is also available at the following local establishments: Julian Book Store, Yesteryears, Julian Coffee Shop, The Store at Lake Cuyamaca, Earth Song Books, The Book Works, SoulScape, Upstart Crow, Myztic Isle, The Book Tree Controversial Bookstore, and The Grove.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
.
.
.
LOCAL AUTHOR - COMES OUT SMILING
by Glenda Winders, SDUN Reviewer
Scott Stevenson's book started out as a tribute to his wife, Susan. The couple had gone through a rough patch during which they'd lost their retirement money in the stock market, faced Susan's breast cancer diagnosis, helped Scott's sister through a nightmare divorce and saw the 2003 Cedar Fire encroach on the home they had just finished building in the Cuyamaca Mountains. "We were sitting on the back deck watching the sunset and I told Susan, 'I'm going to write you a love letter and base it on the experiences we've had over the last few years,' " he said in an interview.
An architect and builder by profession, Stevenson, 58, had no idea how to launch his writing project. Later - when he still hadn't begun - he hoped his wife had forgotten he'd ever mentioned the idea, but she hadn't. "Eventually I started writing, and then I couldn't stop," he said. "I wrote like I talk and like I design buildings. I'd close my eyes and picture the scene in my head and then write it down as if I were telling it to Susan."
He hadn't kept a journal but he was able to dig back through receipts, medical bills and legal documents to get the dates and information he needed. As he wrote, the work became easier and the quality of his writing evolved. He produced well-drawn characters, conveyed authentic emotions and created colorful passages, such as his description of the morning he and his wife discovered a white owl on their property: "The cab of the truck is drafty, the heater works sporadically, the days are bone cold and a sprinkling of snow covers the ground. The sun has yet to make its appearance, and the early morning fog still clings to our side of the mountain."
The final result was a 1,500 page manuscript he edited down to 450 and titled, "LOOKS EASY ENOUGH, A Joyful Memoir of Overcoming Disease, Divorce and Disaster." The finished product brings together all the suspense of a Dan Brown Thriller and the philosophical search of Elizabeth Gilbert's "Eat, Pray, Love."
"Different people relate to different sections of the story," Stevenson said. "Some say it's an adventure story, others say it's a do-it-yourself book and others a comedy. One person called it a grown-up love story." The memoir is all of those things. Short chapters focusing on each of the crises the couple faced make the book a fast read. It opens in flashbacks to 1999, a year after Scott and Susan married, with chapters about the Cedar Fire's sinister approach interspersed at key points to warn readers that even more loss might be waiting in the couple's future.
Scenes detailing how they built their home on weekends with the help of Scott's family provide welcome relief from the calamities befalling them on other pages. And despite the grim experiences the author recounts, many of the episodes are laugh-out-loud funny. In one he is distracted by the hair plugs of a doctor who is treating his wife. In another he drives home from the building site without pants because he accidentally drenched them in tar and had to leave them behind. As he drives down Interstate 8, he avoids 18-wheelers whose drivers could look into his truck and discover his predicament. "Humor played a big part in getting through these tough times," Stevenson said. "Not that we went around cracking jokes, but we were able to step back and be receptive to the possibility of something funny happening."
Some of the real-life characters in the book aren't so funny - from his sister's abusive ex-husband to the doctors who were too busy to answer Susan's questions and the attorneys who enabled his sister's divorce to drag on to the point where she had no money and her house had been foreclosed upon. Their names are changed and their personalities disguised in the story.
Stevenson's personal philosophy underlies everything he writes. Raised in South Dakota as the grandson of a Methodist minister, today he doesn't identify with any organized religion. But he believes humans are put on Earth for a purpose, and he's spending his life trying to figure out what his might be. His curiosity began in high school when he saw a short film about a man who spends his whole life unsuccessfully trying to find his way out of a purple cube. Eventually, as an old man, the character opens a door and then falls over dead. "I thought, 'What if I spend my whole life trying to grasp the wrong door and then on my deathbed realize what life was really about and what I should have been doing instead of wasting it,' " he said. "I also don't care for pain, and life is much less painful if you see it as one big learning experience. If you can say, 'Hey, I chose for this to happen so I could learn from it.' "
Stevenson believes in reincarnation - part of what he called the game of life. "You're born, you learn as much as you can in one life, you die, you come back," he said. "If you can help other people and have fun along the way, great. That's what got me through all this."
In conclusion, Stevenson states, "It would be really nice if someone could read this book and realize that if this turkey and his wife could make it through all this, there's no reason why they can't also make it through their own tough times - being unemployed, a bad diagnosis, an earthquake or whatever," he said. "You just do what it takes to make it through."
An architect and builder by profession, Stevenson, 58, had no idea how to launch his writing project. Later - when he still hadn't begun - he hoped his wife had forgotten he'd ever mentioned the idea, but she hadn't. "Eventually I started writing, and then I couldn't stop," he said. "I wrote like I talk and like I design buildings. I'd close my eyes and picture the scene in my head and then write it down as if I were telling it to Susan."
He hadn't kept a journal but he was able to dig back through receipts, medical bills and legal documents to get the dates and information he needed. As he wrote, the work became easier and the quality of his writing evolved. He produced well-drawn characters, conveyed authentic emotions and created colorful passages, such as his description of the morning he and his wife discovered a white owl on their property: "The cab of the truck is drafty, the heater works sporadically, the days are bone cold and a sprinkling of snow covers the ground. The sun has yet to make its appearance, and the early morning fog still clings to our side of the mountain."
The final result was a 1,500 page manuscript he edited down to 450 and titled, "LOOKS EASY ENOUGH, A Joyful Memoir of Overcoming Disease, Divorce and Disaster." The finished product brings together all the suspense of a Dan Brown Thriller and the philosophical search of Elizabeth Gilbert's "Eat, Pray, Love."
"Different people relate to different sections of the story," Stevenson said. "Some say it's an adventure story, others say it's a do-it-yourself book and others a comedy. One person called it a grown-up love story." The memoir is all of those things. Short chapters focusing on each of the crises the couple faced make the book a fast read. It opens in flashbacks to 1999, a year after Scott and Susan married, with chapters about the Cedar Fire's sinister approach interspersed at key points to warn readers that even more loss might be waiting in the couple's future.
Scenes detailing how they built their home on weekends with the help of Scott's family provide welcome relief from the calamities befalling them on other pages. And despite the grim experiences the author recounts, many of the episodes are laugh-out-loud funny. In one he is distracted by the hair plugs of a doctor who is treating his wife. In another he drives home from the building site without pants because he accidentally drenched them in tar and had to leave them behind. As he drives down Interstate 8, he avoids 18-wheelers whose drivers could look into his truck and discover his predicament. "Humor played a big part in getting through these tough times," Stevenson said. "Not that we went around cracking jokes, but we were able to step back and be receptive to the possibility of something funny happening."
Some of the real-life characters in the book aren't so funny - from his sister's abusive ex-husband to the doctors who were too busy to answer Susan's questions and the attorneys who enabled his sister's divorce to drag on to the point where she had no money and her house had been foreclosed upon. Their names are changed and their personalities disguised in the story.
Stevenson's personal philosophy underlies everything he writes. Raised in South Dakota as the grandson of a Methodist minister, today he doesn't identify with any organized religion. But he believes humans are put on Earth for a purpose, and he's spending his life trying to figure out what his might be. His curiosity began in high school when he saw a short film about a man who spends his whole life unsuccessfully trying to find his way out of a purple cube. Eventually, as an old man, the character opens a door and then falls over dead. "I thought, 'What if I spend my whole life trying to grasp the wrong door and then on my deathbed realize what life was really about and what I should have been doing instead of wasting it,' " he said. "I also don't care for pain, and life is much less painful if you see it as one big learning experience. If you can say, 'Hey, I chose for this to happen so I could learn from it.' "
Stevenson believes in reincarnation - part of what he called the game of life. "You're born, you learn as much as you can in one life, you die, you come back," he said. "If you can help other people and have fun along the way, great. That's what got me through all this."
In conclusion, Stevenson states, "It would be really nice if someone could read this book and realize that if this turkey and his wife could make it through all this, there's no reason why they can't also make it through their own tough times - being unemployed, a bad diagnosis, an earthquake or whatever," he said. "You just do what it takes to make it through."
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
IF ALL ELSE FAILS, LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE!
Linda Bulger, 2010 Amazon Top 500 Reviewer
There's nothing better, in my opinion, than spending a leisurely evening with new friends and hearing their story; not just their experiences but also how they responded and what they learned. If you feel the same, then grab this book and spend a few evenings with Scott Stevenson and his wife and family. Get comfortable and open your mind. Prepare to let your other plans slide, because you'll be brushing your teeth with this book in one hand and staying up late to read just one more chapter, oh, maybe just one more after that . . .
Scott Stevenson worked hard as an architect in Southern California, saved his money, and at age forty-six married Susan and retired. His plan was to design and build their home in the Cuyamaca Mountains east of San Diego. Scott's personal philosophy underpins the book: what he calls seeing the Big Picture of Life, the Magic. He believes that we "choose" our experiences because we have something to learn from them, and that our goal in life is to learn and grow until we understand the Oneness of all things. Scott closed his business and entered a new phase of life with energy and got ready to build.
Looks easy enough so far, right?
The first and most devastating challenge was his wife Susan's breast cancer. Next on the bumpy path, Scott's sister Beth went through a harrowing divorce, with Scott and Susan deeply involved in helping Beth and her children through the ordeal. During these hectic four years, Scott and Susan were also watching their retirement investment dwindle and eventually vanish in the downturn of the NASDAQ. And, of course, they were building a house - actually building it themselves, with help of the Family Crew: Scott's 78-year-old mother, sister Beth and her two pre-teen daughters.
Again and again, things that "look easy enough" turn out to be full of trouble; but Scott and Susan handle it all with love, calling on their belief in the Big Picture to see them through. When their new house is threatened by the 2003 firestorms tearing through Southern California, it seems like the last straw. Who could possibly "choose" that experience?
LOOKS EASY ENOUGH, A Joyful Memoir of Overcoming Disease, Divorce and Disaster is full of love, laughter and inspiration. Scott and Susan don't just survive all the adversity, they embrace it and come through smiling. You'll smile too at the house-building adventures, the details of Susan's treatment and triumphant return to full health, and through it all Scott's buoyant belief that it's all about learning and growing. The easy conversational style delivers an exceptionally well-structured story - Scott makes writing a book "look easy enough!" Reading this memoir is like spending a few evenings with warm and wise new friends. Highly recommended.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
INSPIRATIONAL AND FUN: I COULDN'T WAIT TO READ IT EVERY MORNING!
Susan Schenk, LAC, MTOM, 2010 Amazon Top 100 Reviewer
Every once in awhile a book comes along that inspires me to jump out of bed early just so I can read it. LOOKS EASY ENOUGH, A Joyful Memoir of Overcoming Disease, Divorce and Disaster is one of those rare gems! I just couldn't wait to enter the world of Scott and Susan Stevenson. This book is an easy, fast read with short chapters that keep you entertained, laughing, crying and learning wisdom while wondering what is going to happen next. Would the fire destroy their dream house which they built themselves by reading do-it-yourself manuals that made it look easy enough? Would Scott's estranged brother-in-law stop stalking his sister and finally agree to a divorce? Would Scott and his wife Susan lose their retirement in the great crash of the NASDAQ? Most importantly, would Susan heal from breast cancer?
And you thought you had stress in your life. Scott Stevenson faced all these challenges within a four-year period! (I wonder what score he would have received on the Holmes an Rahe Stress Scale?)
In this remarkable memoir, Scott shares how he maintains a joyful disposition through it all by keeping his eye on the Big Picture, not getting lost in the small one. Though he lost almost all his lifetime savings (about a million when you count the money he earned from the NASDAQ), he notes, "I am here on Earth to learn from my chosen experiences, and the only value of money is what I can learn from it, not what I can purchase with it." He feels that the only thing that really matters is how far we advance on the "Game Board of Life" and we even chose our battles before we were born so that we could advance more spiritually. "Seeing these experiences as events I chose to have in order to learn from (the Big Picture view), rather than as unpleasant experiences that just happened to me out of the blue (the small picture view) allowed me to avoid being caught up in the pain, worries and fears of the moment . . . The Magic is quite simple. Learn as much as you can from each experience. That's it. Just learn. And, as you learn, you will grow intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually; you will be moving along your path."
About his house (which by the way was not insured!), Scott remarks, "If it takes having our house burn down to move further along the Board, then I'm happy to have it burn down. It's a small price to pay to accelerate us toward our ultimate goal."
This inspirational book is a must-read for those facing cancer in their family as it details the healing of his wife Susan from breast cancer while using alternative therapies. Rarely does anything I read bring tears to my eyes, but the passage in which Susan knew she was finally rid of cancer in her subconscious (as well as her body) was very moving.
Most amazing, through all this tumultuous time, the couple remain loving and respectful to each other, and they never run out of pet names for one another. Though this book has been called the Eat, Pray Love for guys (since it comes from the male perspective), it includes plenty of romance for women. I read parts of it to my husband, since we are going through a stressful transition right now. Scott and Susan make a great role model as a couple not wavering in their commitment and love.
The book is filled with humor and fun. Insights and tips for emotional and spiritual well-being are weaved into this true story. I usually read 4 or 5 books at a time. But not with this one; it got my full attention!
Susan Schenck, LAC, MTOM, is a raw food coach, lecturer, and author of two-time award winning book, The Live Food Factor, The Comprehensive Guide to the Ultimate Diet for Body, Mind, Spirit & Planet, known as the encyclopedia of the raw food diet. Go to www.livefoodfactor.com to read more articles, recipes & health information.