Preface help

DerekBB · September 16, 2015, 9:20am

Hi,

I’m new here. I’ve been writing a blog for 3 years, while working on my first non-fiction book of which most of the content is ready, I hope to finish it soon. That brought me to working on my Preface and I’d like to ask advice. I’m not sure how long it should be, my primary thought is I’d like it to hook the readers and want them to jump right in…

So please can you offer me critique on the following? Thanks.

Preface - In 2004 I bought all the Adventure Cycling Association maps for my trip across America the following year. I was close to my peak as an endurance cyclist and looking forward to taking part in the national 24 hour Time Trial championships in 2005, before taking off on what I hoped would be the journey of a lifetime. Then it all went horribly wrong. Cancer once again reared it’s ugly head and not for the first time, I faced a battle not just for my body, but my mind and soul. As if fighting this terrible disease wasn’t enough, I had to endure watching my wife suffer and finally lose her life in 2009. I sank into a deep depression from which I didn’t emerge for three more years.
When told in 2012 my cancer had returned, the decision to cycle around the world was instantaneous and in just three weeks I had sold or given away everything I owned. I set off on my journey not knowing how long it would take.

It’s been a hard road.

Deciding on how to incorporate ones life story into a book about cycling around the world was probably the most difficult part of writing this book.
This is a story about living in the care system in England in the 1960’s, about a boy who survived cancer, bullying and dealt with the most debilitating of illnesses, depression, while all the time being told he would never amount to anything, never achieve his dreams. How the boy grew into a man and faced even greater challenges, but refused to accept the fate others mapped out for him. It’s not a story for the faint hearted, but I hope it will inspire others to dream and believe they can achieve more. How it ends shows that we can overcome the odds, that we can make the ‘impossible’ into ‘possible’ and that love will always win through.