A perfect combination of candor and humor, Joni Rodgers' BALD IN THE LAND OF BIG HAIR struck a chord with readers worldwide. Diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in her early thirties, Rodgers' story of survival is not only compelling and poignant (and all those other adjectives so often used to describe memoirs), but also flat-out funny. And frankly, it's a rare person who can laugh about cancer --- "Hi, I'm Joni, and I'm a sucking black hole of emotional need right now. My hobbies are taking drugs, napping and calling people I hardly know for emergency child care. Wanna be my friend?" Senior writer Jana Siciliano was fortunate enough to ask Rodgers a series of questions about the evolution of BALD IN THE LAND OF BIG HAIR, the difficult process of getting the book published, what's next for Rodgers, and much more.

BRC: BALD IN THE LAND OF BIG HAIR is a wonderful title. What particular incident inspired it?

JR: During my first few months of chemo, my husband Gary insisted we keep working out at a health club several times a week, and there was always a lot of big hair wranglin' going on in the locker room. One day, Gary made a comment about being the only chubby middle-aged man amongst all those young and studly weight lifters, and I said, "You think that's tough? Try being the only bald girl in the big hair capital of America!" He hooted --- and if I get a laugh out of him, I know it's a keeper.

BRC: As a writer yourself, did you check out other writers' work on the subject of cancer and recovery? What particular books gave you a good perspective on your situation on days when you couldn't quite be as "up" as you hoped to be?

JR: Most of the cancer stories I read during treatment were long on melodrama and short on humor, and more often than not, the protagonist didn't make it to the last chapter; so instead of reading "cancer books", I began a quest to read all the Pulitzer-winning novels since 1950. I became very depressed when I was first in remission, and the book AFTER CANCER: A GUIDE TO YOUR NEW LIFE by Dr. Wendy Schlessel Harpham (a physician, author, and fellow lymphoma survivor) was a Godsend. It had the hard information I needed along with her own triumphant story (she's still alive and kickin'!). I also loved TALK BEFORE SLEEP by Elizabeth Berg, LOVE, MEDICINE, AND MIRACLES by Dr. Bernie Seigel, and WHY HEALING HAPPENS by Dr. O.T. Bonnett.

BRC: As a radio personality, what did you learn that helped you communicate better with the people surrounding you when you were sick?

JR: Disc jockeys learn to nutshell thoughts into brief, concise comments, and that's important when talking to doctors. They sit through the same litany of complaints twenty times a day, so unless you're specific and brief, they may tune out without even realizing it. Interviewing people on my radio shows also taught me to ask direct questions and recognize the difference between a real answer and a dodge. Some doctors don't want to admit they can't answer a question, so they give a placebo answer that makes you feel better until you get home and actually think about it. I'd rather hear the truth, even if the truth is "I don't know."

BRC: You are so candid about your experiences --- did you consult your family members before writing about them and their relationship to your illness and recovery? If so, how did their reactions alter your writing, if at all?

JR: I kept the manuscript pretty much to myself while it was under construction. I have great respect for both the privacy and opinions of my husband, parents, and siblings, and I'm a compulsive pleaser, so it would have been easy to spin some happy-go-lucky fairy tale about this chin-up gal in a zippety-doo-da world. But what would be the value in that? When the book was finished, I offered Gary --- who is a very private person --- the opportunity to read it and told him I wouldn't pursue having it published unless he was solidly okay with it. He declined, and still hasn't read it. He says he has no desire to revisit the experience, but respects my choice to go out on a limb in an effort to help people. I'm incredibly blessed to have him on my side. My parents read BALD just before it was released, and while they were understandably uncomfortable with certain passages, they are unconditionally supportive and genuinely proud of the attention the book is getting.

BRC: You have so many roles in your life, the most intense of which is MOM. What was your main concern with your kids the entire time you were going through your illness?

JR: Well, of course, just remaining on the planet was my main concern. I knew how my death would alter the landscape of their lives. On a day to day basis, Gary and I tried hard to keep things as normal as possible, and we promised to answer every question truthfully. I think that's so important. This was happening to them, too. We had to recognize that they were entitled to their feelings and needed to play an active role in my treatment. We became the Swiss Family Rodgers; shipwrecked and beset by pirates, but hanging in there together.

BRC: What was the inspiration for the book? What day did you just decide --- I have to write this down? And did you hope others would learn from your experiences or did you just want to get stuff off your chest?

JR: A psychologist told me I'd be able to move on from this experience only after I found a way to use it to help someone else. He was so right! Helping others is empowering and lifts our eyes up from our own funk of despair. I volunteered at MD Anderson Cancer Center and offered through the guidance counselor at my kids' elementary school to help two young moms who were going through chemo. After my first novel was published, I realized, "Oh! God wants me to be a writer!" I set out to write the book I needed but couldn't find when I was in chemo; a book that doesn't sugar coat the truth but offers a small light at the end of a long, dark tunnel. I also wanted --- for readers and for myself --- to set the experience in the greater context of a life, the message being, "Cancer is not who I am. It's just one thing (albeit one HUGE thing) that happened to me."

BRC: How has your relationship with the world changed after writing this book? What reactions do you get from people who have read the book and DON'T have cancer? It's such a moving and funny book that I would think it would touch pretty much anyone, even if they have never gone through this stuff before themselves.

JR: I'm amazed and delighted that BALD is being embraced by so many different people on so many different levels. Many readers see BALD as a parable for the refining fires in their own lives, others just take it as a good read and, of course, everyone loves to laugh. In any case, I feel privileged to have them open their hearts to it, and I'm so touched by the wonderful emails and letters I receive. As far as my relationship with the world, I feel more at peace with other people --- and myself! For the first time in my life, I feel like I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be.

BRC: Tell us a little about the writing of the book --- how difficult it was for you at the beginning or did it get harder as it went on?

JR: It definitely became more difficult as the book evolved. At first, I tried hard to be lighthearted and fluffy with that famous "positive attitude" all cancer patients are expected to plaster over their actual emotions. But I kept thinking of the person for whom I was writing this book: the woman who's going through hell. I've been that woman, and I couldn't bear to leave her all alone, while I pretended to be the Unsinkable Molly Brown. This memoir took me by the hand like the Ghost of Christmas Past, forcing me to truly know all the fear, anger, and grief I was too numb to feel at the time, and that was hard. But it also helped me understand and forgive myself and a few other people who disappointed me. And it opened my eyes to see how much I grew as a result of the journey.

BRC: What did you NOT put in the book that you wish you had?

JR: Thank you for asking that! Most people ask me what I regret putting IN! (Not a thing.) I do regret leaving out a passage about my sister Diana. I realized too late that it was accidentally cut along with a chapter I decided was too full of grinding, irrelevant medical stuff. I did mention my other sisters, Janis and Linda, and how wonderful they were, but now I wish I'd devoted a separate chapter to these three fabulous women and what they meant to me during this experience and throughout my life.

BRC: What was the initial response of editors to your book? Was it a hard sell?

JR: A very hard sell. Most editors and agents never even read beyond the word "cancer", but I don't resent them for that. Typically, "cancer books" haven't done well in the marketplace. A few others tried to tell me it was in bad taste --- that "people with cancer don't laugh about it." (Wrong!) By the hand of God and a series of odd little coincidences, I connected with my agent Laurie Harper, who immediately knew this was not the typical "cancer book", and worked like a stubborn little lawn tractor until she found an editor --- Marjorie Braman at Harper Collins --- who felt the same way. Marjorie and her staff have done a fantastic job presenting the book as a memoir instead of a "cancer book," and whatever success it ultimately has will be due to her sharp instincts about that.

BRC: Speaking simply as a writer, what specific advice do you have for someone writing a memoir?

JR: Tell the truth, but recognize it as your truth --- biased, subjective, and influenced by unspoken motives. Examine those motives, and allow a good long settling-in period before you even consider publishing. BALD was a seven year journey for me --- two years to live the story, three years to write it, and another twenty months to get it published. The process was agonizing and slow as the mills of the Lord's justice, but anything less would have detracted from the end result.

BRC: What was the first thing you ever wrote and do you still remember the reaction you got from those who read it?

JR: When I was in junior high, my friends and I were very into True Confessions and other magazines that featured these really awful little stories like "My Passionate Italian Adventure" and "Could My Lover Be the West End Strangler?!" Once we'd exhausted our supply, I started writing the same sort of inane, slightly lurid stories, starring us and the cute boys in our class, and selling them for a dollar. Response was…predictable.

BRC: What will you be working on next?

JR: I have a good start on another novel, and I've been working on short stories for a possible collection. Fiction is my passion, but I'd also love to write a weekly column. (A recent review compared me to Molly Ivins and Anna Quindlen and, of course, that went straight to my head!)

Visit my website, at http://www.jonirodgers.com/.

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