Spurred on sadly by the reminder of how short life can be following death of my brother Paul on New Years' Eve 2019, I'm now writing my first book. This is something I have wanted to do for almost 30 years, and finally, I'm doing it.
With the first draft written, my next task is to print and read it all, then remove, add and tweak the content before passing it on to my editor. The process has been fascinating, and exactly what my therapist said it would be all those years ago when I discussed this dream with her. Encouraging me to do it, we talked about what it might be like. She informed me that writing a book that included parts of my life story would be a time of reflection, and one of going through those events (albeit in my mind) again. Her knowledge as a trained Psychotherapist, and her compassion as a human being, forewarned me that it would be a time when I'd need to be gentle on myself as it would be an emotional journey. It has certainly been all of that. What it has also been is a time of facing my fear of putting myself out there. This has to be the greatest irony of it all; I'm writing a book in the hope that it will inspire and encourage others to put aside fear and procrastination and do the things they've always wanted to do. You see I've always wanted to be a writer. For years I've had various blogs, and for even longer I've journaled. And, a book such as this has had many iterations that sit in inboxes, hard drives and servers never to see the light of day. I'd be lying if I said I was not afraid. In fact, right now, I feel fear every single day as I have been working through my manuscript. But I have to do this. It has been on my heart and in my mind for almost three decades now, and if I don't do it now, when will I? If you'd like to know when my book is ready, join my mailing list here. What have you always wanted to do? I'd love to know. Tell me in the comments. With love,
