Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have come to the end of a 20+ year stay-at-home mom career–with my two college aged daughters. I have written unpublished books throughout that time. I aspired to be a published writer but my mom gig took precedence. While the mom career had a clear expiration date, I knew that writing did not and I could pursue it “one day.”
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Chemo P!ssed Me Off is not the book I thought I’d write when I finally go the chance to write full-time. But it became the story I had to tell. It almost wrote itself. After undergoing a double mastectomy for widespread pre-cancer, I wasn’t even supposed to get cancer. Nine years later, I was diagnosed with invasive cancer in a smalll amount of breast tissue the doctors left behind. And so, Chemo P!ssed Me Off was born.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I tend to write conversationally. My narrative voice is quite raw and at times irreverent. That style and those kinds of stories resonate with me. They feel more real. I also use humor to deal with dark things. I might be my coping technique.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
BrenĂ© Brown’s Braving the Wilderness
Louise Hay’s You can Heal Your Life
Chris Wark’s Chris Beat Cancer
What are you working on now?
I am considering publishing the children’s books I’ve written over the years while raising my daughters. Of course, I’m also open to writing on a topic that may come up and NEED to be written–as with Chemo P!ssed Me Off.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
As this is my first experience with publishing and promoting, I’m still learning. I may need to get back to you on that one. đŸ˜‰
Do you have any advice for new authors?
I love mind mapping. I really works to begin a blueprint of what you want to say. I am also a fan of not editing while you write the rough draft. I tended to do that in the past and it always got me “stuck.” This time around, I just wrote until I ran out of things to say. Then I went back and made it “pretty.”
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Flex to the feedback. Be willing to be edited. Let it be fun. ~Ellaine Ursuy
What are you reading now?
The Gifts of Imperfection, Brené Brown
The Blue Zones Solutions, Dan Buettner
What’s next for you as a writer?
Promoting and delivering the message of Chemo P!ssed Me Off. I would love to see and help be the change in our approach to cancer and wellness.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Bible
Boundaries for Your Soul, Allison Cook/Kimberly Miller
You Can Heal Your Life, Louise Hay
Twilight or Fifty Shades Trilogies