Synopsis

Oh, how I wanted to be normal. But what is normal? Living with chronic pain for over 25 years and being diagnosed with Fibromyalgia when I was in 7th grade shot that idea out of the water and onto a roaring rollercoaster of physical and mental health challenges. Luckily, when I met my husband in college, I began a new trajectory with unimaginable experiences. None of which we would ever change if we could do it all over again.

Once Joe and I got married, that trajectory of what I thought was a “normal life” changed even more. My mental health crashed and burned, experiencing uncontrollable crying with manic and hyper episodes when I physically felt good. The spiral and mental torment of “I’m not good enough” and “how can I deal with this pain for the rest of my life?” set in. I was mentally destroying myself so much that I began having even more severe, unexplainable, physical symptoms. I knew something had to be done. Was suicide my only option? I didn’t want Joe, the love of my life and biggest supporter, to have to live with me like this the rest of his life. I didn’t want to interfere with his happiness and be the source of so much pain for him. But somehow he knew the person he fell in love with was still inside me. He vowed to protect me in sickness and in health. He believed in me so much he gave up his career as an animator to work a solid paying labor job. I loved him and trusted him so completely that I began to believe, maybe he was right. I wanted to get better. I began looking for help even though I didn’t know how. Starting with psychiatric hospital inpatient service, I had to do a total reset. There, they diagnosed me with anxiety, insomnia, and bipolar disorder. They put me on many medications and therapies that seem to make me feel worse with horrible side effects. This was supposed to be my way back to being normal? It was all just a band-aid, masking the symptoms instead of addressing the problem. But what was the real problem? No one could figure it out. Distance widened between Joe and me. How could he be attracted to someone like me? He still wouldn’t leave me.

Finally, there was hope! Alternative doctors with tests, results, proof I wasn’t imagining this! Joe had a hard time understanding why I was excited about a chemical imbalance and emotional trauma diagnosis. I had something tangible to fix. I had a goal, a solution to work towards, and a plan of action to make me feel whole again. I even felt good enough physically and emotionally that I got a job in my career field, fashion design! But it still wasn’t smooth sailing. Throughout our journey Joe was trying his best to keep up and understand what was happening to me. It’s hard enough trying to figure out who you are as you grow up let alone figure out how to care for someone else. Without his support, persistence, and patience I wouldn’t be here telling this story with him. We have gotten good at not letting the punches keep us down long - we keep on rolling no matter what. It’s all part of a bigger picture that forms our joy and wonderment of this amazing life we have. Joe’s belief in me paid off so much that he finally gave up the job that was destroying him. For the first time in 10 years, he was able to utilize his creativity and vision of a life for us that was so far beyond what I could have imagined.

Sales arguments

• The divorce rate in America at the time we got married was 78%. It has dropped to about 50% now which is good. However, the emotional stress for people with chronic illnesses of finding and keeping a partner long term is increasing.
• Social Media Network: Personal Facebook (1,111 friends) Rolling Rogans Instagram (857 followers) Rolling Rogans Facebook (146 followers) TikTok (59 followers)
• Rolling Rogans personal brand is building. We have connections and friends all around the US and even a global reach in UK, Australia, and more.
• Launching July 2022 we will be on a new streaming network called Onest Network. We are participating with a 30 minute segment in a 10 hour Limitless Conference, a Relationship inspiring show, and then a travel show launching Q4 of 2022.
• We are already under contract with Morgan James Publishing. Final manuscript deadline is August 2022 with final release date spring 2023.

Similar titles

• It is very difficult to find something close to our book. This is a unique story in a unique 2-sided flip book format with one side fully illustrated (somewhat comic book style) and the other side written like a traditional book. Two points of view of the same life experience.
• Madness: A Bipolar Life by Marya Hornbacher Published by Mariner Books in 2009 (Similar in the fact both books are memoirs of a bipolar life. Different in our book includes both stories from the person with the bipolar and a person/spouse as the support system.)

Audience

1.Newly married couples. 2.Men and Women with mental and physical illnesses. 3.All ages of people with friends or family members going through Bipolar. 4.Men and Women 18 to 40 (Could be for all ages but targeted to younger since we were in our 20s going through the experiences in the memoir.)

Advance praise

“There’s nothing ‘Medium’ about the Rogans” - Tom Bancroft (Owner and CEO of Pencilish Animation Studio and former Supervising Animator at Disney)