Daily Herald
On August 7-8, 2006, the whole world watched as a team of doctors performed a miracle at Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. For the first time, four-year-old twins Maliyah and Kendra Herrin were having surgery--in separate rooms. Born conjoined from mid-torso down, these two angels captured the hearts of millions of people around the world!
Like most Utah residents, Mrs. Lu Ann Staheli was also aware of the birth and eventual separation surgery of the conjoined twins, having seen numerous medical updates as the girls progressed. "Of course, I never anticipated that someday I would be the one to write it," Mrs. Staheli said.
But this past August, that very opportunity came to her. "I was approached by Richard Paul Evans (The Christmas Box) to work with the girls' mother, Erin, to get their story down in the form of a book. As soon as I met Erin, I knew the story of her entire family needed to be told through her eyes and voice. Hundreds of emails flew back and forth between the two of us, but now we have a book we can both be proud of."
The early reviews have already been positive. Evans says, "It's a great book, a story of faith and the power of a mother's love." Others are also excited about the publication which has a May 1st release date.
TLC recently completed a special about the girls set to air in June, and Oprah can't wait to read the book. She plans to have the family on her show again this summer to celebrate the day the girls receive their prosthetic legs.
Royalties from this book will go into trust funds for the girls.
Copies can be purchased at www.WhenHeartsConjoin.com.
5 comments:
You edited the 13th Reality books? I currently am reading those books. Met the author James at the LDStorymaker's conference. He is so funny, I just had to see what he wrote. He writes really well. I made a goal for myself. I will be published within 5 years. If it is written down it feels real. I can do this. I LOVE writing.
About why I decided to leave a comment--I followed the Herrin twins removal (if you will) and found it fascinating. I normally don'y get involved in stories like this but since it happen in UT and I used to work at University hospital, right next door to Primary's I did. I would love to win the book "When Hearts Conjoin". Anne said I had to leave a comment here so here I go. I'm excited to read it. Beautiful interview BTW. Thanks for being interviewed.
I did. James was in my writer's group for awhile and he let me take the manuscripts for both 13th Reality books to school to read to my students' for their feedback as well.
Goals are great! I have a sticky note on my computer dated Feb. 2008. It says: publish a story in Oprah's magazine, publish a novel, and sell 10,000 copies of one of my books. Well, I'm not quite there yet, but my first book, When Hearts Conjoin, will be ON Oprah in July, was written first person with a story arc as though it were a novel, and is on its way to selling 10,000 copies.
The Herrin's have a great story, and the twins are darling! I hope people enjoy the book.
Good luck in the contest, and thanks for your compliments on the interview.
Glad to hear about this wonderful, heart-warming story! I enjoyed your
interview with Anne Bradshaw and can't wait to read this book. Many thanks, Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
This book sounds so amazing. I can't wait to read it! I really enjoyed reading your interview with Anne Bradshaw at Not Entirely British. Check out my post at inkavenue.blogspot.com Thanks!
Keep up the fantastic work.
I'm looking forward to reading about the Herrin Twins. I remember following their separation on the news. Thanks for writing such terrific books.
I enjoyed reading your interview with Anne, and posted a link on my facebook.
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