That was three years ago.
Happy birthday, So This Is the End.
It's a novel about a woman who receives a miraculous gift: one extra day of life.
The book centers around the question, “If you had 24 hours to live, what would you do with your time?”
And “What if you met the love of your life…on the last day of your life?”
The novel was inspired by a dream. I woke up one night, drenched with sweat, heart pounding, because I dreamt that I died. In my dream, doctors somehow revived my body and told me, “You’ve got one more day. Use it well.”
The dream haunted me (in a good way), and I couldn’t shake it out of my system. I felt a powerful, almost physical urge to get it out of my mind and into a book.
A few interesting details about the novel:
- There are 24 chapters. Each chapter covers 1 hour in the protagonist’s final day of life.
- I wrote the first 19 chapters in a matter of weeks. Then I got stuck on the ending and couldn’t figure it out. The manuscript sat there, unfinished, for half a year while I slowly figured out what the heck I wanted the ending to be.
- I initially self-published the book and released it—for free—to my newsletter readers as a simple PDF that I made myself. File > Print > Save As > PDF. It had typos. It wasn’t perfect. The “cover art” was a doodle I did myself using a Sharpie marker which looked like this. Nothing fancy.
- Later, I found a publisher who wanted to release a hardcover edition.
- After releasing the book, I invited my whole community (friends, family, colleagues, clients, readers) to make a Final 24 List—a list of what you’d do if you had just 24 hours to live.
- People emailed from all around the world to share their lists. Many people decided to post their lists online, publicly, too. Lists of what they'd do, places they'd go, meals they'd share with loved ones.
- These "My Final 24" lists were breathtakingly beautiful. I cried so much. I made my own list, too.
- Perhaps you would like to make a Final 24 List today.
- Thinking about death can illuminate what really matters and how we wish to live.
So This Is the End is not a New York Times bestseller, and maybe it never will be, but it has created a mysterious, sweet little ripple in the world—and for that, I am forever grateful.
The journey of writing this particular book made me a better person. More grateful for each day, more awake and alive.
May we all live as if it’s the final 24.
-Alex
PS. If you are so inclined, you can purchase So This Is the End from Bookshop, IndieBound, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, all the usual places. Or chat with your local indie bookstore or library to see if they have it. If not, they might be able to order it for you.
PPS. In honor of the book’s third anniversary, I’d like to rededicate the book to my late Grandpa Selig. He died before I was born. In fact, he died when my mom was only 15 years old. He was gone too soon, but lived so big, with such joy and vitality, and always said, “Never miss a sunset.” Even though I never got to meet him, his spirit lives on, and I hear his voice when the sun sinks down each day. Look up from that computer or phone. Catch the sunset. Don’t
miss it. It’s here for just a moment.
PPPPS. I'm honored to be a panelist at the Mango Press "Intentional Living and Loving" Author Panel—an online event happening later today. Starts at 1:30 pm Pacific / 4:30 pm Eastern.
Author Mary Anne Radmacher (Courage Doesn't Always Roar) will be there, along with author Sherry Richert Belul (Say It Now). It will be a lovely chat about books, life, and living well. It's free to attend.
If you'd like to attend today, please email brianna@mangopublishinggroup.com and say, "I'd like to watch the author panel." She will send you the Zoom link. Thank you. See you there.
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