Rory Feek Is Writing A Book About His Life With Joey: ‘It Is A Book That Covers A Lifetime’

After much persuasion and encouragement from his fans, Rory Feek has revealed that he is, in fact, writing a book about his life with his late wife, Joey Feek.

“Over the last six months or so, I have been asked many times (and encouraged many more times) to write a book. To turn the stories in this blog I write into a book of some sort. I have never really responded to any of the questions before, but the truth is… I am writing a book. It is almost finished actually. But it isn’t filled with blogs that I have written about my wife’s last few months or the posts I wrote about our life for the two years before that, it is a book that covers a life time. Mine.”

In January 2014, Rory started his blog This Life I Live. The original goal of the blog was to write about him and Joey simplifying their lives and raising a baby together. However, that later changed when Joey was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Rory’s blog posts turned into frequent updates about Joey’s condition and a way to share the precious memories they were making as she was slowly dying. Since Rory started his blog, his fans have tried to convince him to turn his posts into a book, and while Rory said he has always wanted to write a book, it just wasn’t that easy.

“I had always wanted to write a book,” Rory wrote. “I had even taken a couple meetings with an agent at one of the big publishing houses a few years ago, but in the end… Joey and I weren’t famous enough. Our ‘Q’ score was too low, they said. I had to go home and google that phrase to find out what it meant. (…it is a measurement of the familiarity and appeal of a brand, celebrity, company, or entertainment product used in the United States… the higher the Q Score, the more highly regarded the item or person is among the group familiar with them).”

When Joey started getting worse, their Q Score started to rise, and the calls from publishers started pouring in. It was a bittersweet moment for the country music singer; he was finally getting the calls he wanted about a book, but it took his wife dying to get them.

“They saw something I guess: the prayers on Joey’s behalf, the Facebook numbers, the national press. A perfect storm. A husband with a voice, a wife with a story, and an audience who cared about them. Sadly, our Q score and fame had finally risen to a place that made publishers interested.

“So yes, I am writing a book. And part of me is thrilled. And another part of me is embarrassed. Because of what it took for the opportunity to come around. Because the one person that made this possible, isn’t here to share it with me.”

Rory talked to many publishers before he finally found the one that worked with his plan. In February, Feek started conversing with Matt Baugher and his team at Thomas Nelson, an imprint of Harper Collins based in Nashville. Baugher and his team wanted to do what Rory wanted; they weren’t pressuring him to get a book out right away and weren’t focused just on the end of Joey’s life. Because of this, Rory quickly realized that he wanted them to publish his book.

“Instead, they wanted me to write what was on my heart,” he wrote. “To tell the story that has to be told. The one that I feel the need to share. And so I have. Or at least, I’m in the process of telling it.”

Feek added, “It is a book about a man so lost, it’s a miracle that he was ever found. About doing unforgivable things, and still being forgiven. About the grace of God and the girl He used to change me and everyone around me forever.”

[Image via This Life I Live]