There is power in writing your story. There is meaning in sharing what you’ve gained with others.

After an emergency room doctor told me I had both a brain aneurism and a dissected artery, I underwent a risky surgery where my chances of survival were less than 25 percent. I then suffered a spinal cord stroke that left me paralyzed from the neck down at 49. I woke up, decided I would walk out of the hospital in 6 weeks and accomplished just that. But there was no instruction manual I could refer to during this time, no resource I could lean on to find my way through dark hours, no guide on how to find my way forward.

But now, there’s a book in the works that points readers toward proactive vs. reactive recovery approaches, methods to overcome obstacles, and tips on how to avoid letting “I can’t” rule your vocabulary. My journey has taken unexpected turns, and it’s time to pass on what I’ve picked up: Finding Forward: You Have the Will Within hits bookshelves on October 12, 2021. Read on to find the link to preorder!

Interested in a behind-the-scenes look of what it’s like to write and publish your own memoir in today’s world? Read on for an EXCLUSIVE author Q&A between me and my publisher, Brown Books Publishing Group.

1. What was the most challenging part of writing Finding Forward?

Physically the most challenging part of writing this story was the pain of trying to hold my weak body up in a chair and typing the entire story with only my left-hand because my right arm and hand are still weak and uncoordinated. The muscles in my body would literally freeze in place while sitting, especially after a twelve or sixteen hour day teaching. My muscles couldn’t support my skeletal structure, and my body would scream from the pain. It would feel like glass shattering underneath my skin every time I stood and stretched, but I would repeatedly tell myself the complaint department was closed and to keep writing. Despite the pain, I knew that I was being given the chance of a lifetime to tell others how to keep fighting and not to give up. I knew each word typed brought me more salvation, but I also knew I was accomplishing another goal and getting my own life back. The most challenging part of the psychological side of the story was reliving each word I wrote. Words would conjure thoughts that were good, and not so good, along my journey. However, anytime the words I typed brought forth thoughts that were not so good, I thankfully had many more that I created along my new journey in life to bring happiness and balance back to front and center. There are always going to be challenges in our lives, and the more we open our hearts and let others in, the easier it becomes to meet those challenges and find outcomes that continue to move your healing forward in a positive direction.

2. What key benefit did writing your inspiring recovery story offer you?

Balance. This was one of the most incredible feelings of my life, first because I couldn’t feel all that well due to my paralytic stroke effects while writing the book, and I was continuing to rediscover what that word meant along the way as I wrote. I knew I wanted to write a book someday, and even more so the day I woke up paralyzed. However, I also knew I was in uncharted territory regarding my recovery. I was going to need to summon my inner strength, not just the physical, but also the psychological strength needed for relentless ups and downs while trying to determine what worked in my therapy routine and what didn’t work. Journaling was part of my balance. Journaling is still very important to me to this day because it helps me let go and acts as an account of my progress. When things worked, I needed to learn patience and pace. When things didn’t work, I needed to find peace within for not giving up, finding a new direction, and then sometime later re-evaluating what didn’t work the first time so I could try again later. As days turn into months and years, I kept journaling my progress. Writing the book beyond balance was a process of peace and pacing myself. What I learned along the way toward self improvement were also lessons I took into writing my story.

3. Given your recovery process, what is your writing routine like?

My writing routine is much like my recovery routine, so this was easy to do because my efforts are always all-in and engaged. However, it all begins with something my ghostwriter Bonny Hearn-Hill taught me from day one: “butt in chair!” While I worked out of town at my job teaching during the day either in the classroom or flight simulator, at the end of each day I would drive back to the hotel and write for hours. It always seemed like I could never shut my thoughts down. At home it was always much the same, therapy appointments, exercise regimens at home, and writing, which I always found brought peace and salvation.

4. What was the most rewarding part of writing Finding Forward?

There were many parts of writing this story that were and still are rewarding. Hearing people say at times, ”I wish someone would have written an instruction book to tell me what do after my aneurysm or stroke.” Knowing that I followed through on that goal and promise to myself was very rewarding. Thanking everyone from every ounce of my being along the way who helped me find a better and stronger step in my gait, their encouragement, wisdom, kindness, time and effort, and most of all took on enormous pain of their own to help me feel less pain so I could heal. Ask yourself how you would feel on that kind of journey with all its ups and downs both physically and psychologically that someone took the extra time and effort to help you feel better. How would you say thank you to all of them? Wouldn’t you continue to find hope and inspiration because of their efforts? Would you then wish to be a beacon to others in need and extend what was was given to you? Would those efforts put giving up and quitting furthest from your mind? My story is not only about thanking them, but recognizing them and passing along how their hard work and efforts help me, so you might also find more direction in helping yourself.

5. What advice would you share with someone considering writing their own recovery/recuperation story?

First, there are so many beautiful stories out there waiting to be written and told, and you don’t need your hands to write. Next, I would obviously say butt-in-chair, but beyond that, your story needs to come from your heart and soul. You need to open up and put YOU on paper and tell your readers with details how to find within them their own resilience so they can accept a balance between healing and living. How did you persevere through your own challenges while helping others find happiness and peace, hope and inspiration, and most of all how to let go? If people can relate to you, then they will want to read your story.

For future insights, advice, and resources, I encourage you continue reading my blogs. I also hope you’ll consider preordering my book chronicling how adapting, adjusting, and thriving can lead to incredible results, Finding Forward:

https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Forward-Have-Will-Within/dp/1612544916