Joy, Manisha, and I just finished one of the most exciting and unique (but stressful) events we've shared as a family. A few weeks ago we were contacted by the producers of "Monsters Inside Me" on Animal Planet to film Manisha's story. One of the producers found my article, "Monster Inside My Daughter," where I wrote about Manisha's parasitic infection. The producer contacted me through my website. We went back and forth for a while, and then Animal Planet emailed that they wanted to try to squeeze in Manisha's story to finish out this season's shooting. We had one week to make it happen. I didn't believe it would be possible considering how many people were involved and the logistics of doctors' schedules, et cetera. 

But I started contacting everyone-Manisha's doctors, Shands, and a family in Nepal who have a little girl the same age as Manisha was when she got sick. Animal Planet wanted a little Nepali girl to do some reenactments. Through whirlwind emails, we got it approved by the Shands' legal and public relations departments. Dr. Carney set aside all day Friday to be involved, and the family with the Nepali daughter drove in from Tallahassee and stayed both days to do the reenactments. Animal Planet is planning to film Dr. Hostetter at Yale next week.

I have a new appreciation for how difficult it is to produce shows-making sure the lighting is right, the sound is perfect, what to film, what not to film, reshooting scenes several times from different angles to see what works the best, dealing with outside noise like barking dogs, helicopters, and my stomach that wouldn't quit growling (I hope they make sure that doesn't hit the airwaves all over the world).

There were four people that came down from New York and a freelancer that drove over from Jacksonville. They were young, talented, and processed great people skills. Their backgrounds were interesting-not what you would expect. One lady had a degree in anthropology and culinary arts, another lady had a degree in biomechanical engineering, and a third one, a young man, had a degree in comparative literature.  The fourth guy was "a jack of all trades."

Joy called the whole event a "breathtaking experience." She was very excited to have them conduct Manisha's interview in her bedroom (it was her contribution to the show). 

Manisha felt satisfied that by being interviewed, she could help someone else and raise awareness about neurocysticercosis. It felt surreal to relive some of what Manisha and I went through-the emergency room, seeing the MRI machine again, and reenacting many scenes. It was a little more fun this time, although it was more stressful than I thought it would be.

The public relations director at Shands said it was very rare to give this much access to a filming crew (we were all over the hospital), but Manisha's case was so unusual, they wanted the public to hear the story for its educational value. 

There were many reenactments at the house as well as at the hospital, interviews of Manisha and me, as well as "portrait" shots that took about five minutes.  As a home schooling mom, it was a fascinating learning experience.

The show should air on Wednesday night, August 11, at 10pm EST.

You can visit my website at  http://www.lorilynroberts.com/neurocysticercosis.html  to see some photographs from the shoot.

May 10, 2010

By Lorilyn Roberts

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I began my presentation with the following statement:  "You have no platform. You are not famous. You are not an expert in any particular subject. You have no fancy initials after your name. The reality is nobody cares about you or your book."

As depressing as this might sound, it's how I began my presentation to the First Coast Christian Writers in Jacksonville, Florida, in the fall of 2009.  But I ended my comments with the following observation:

"If you were to present Jesus' marketing plan for the Gospel, it would probably go something like this:  Jesus had no internet, no TV, no blog, no books, and no public relations people. All He had were twelve disciples whom He loved and on whom He had to depend to spread the Gospel around the world.

"God was able to use those flawed human beings to bring ‘The Greatest Story Ever Told' to a world way beyond what they could have envisioned, both then and into the future. If God can do that, our books can reach those for whom they were written.

"We don't need to overstretch our wallets, but neither should we sit idle. We should pray hard and seek His will not only in our writing but in our marketing, lest we waste our time and money. Ultimately, God will get our book out there if we are good stewards of the gifts He's given us.

"I wonder what the marketing people would say today if we told them our marketing strategy was to have twelve people talk about our book to everyone they met and that was all. We had no money to spend either. This is just a thought to ponder as I think about how difficult it is to market."

To read the full article, go to: http://www.lorilynroberts.com/john_3_16_marketing_network.html