How This ‘Poster Child’ Published a Book

I had been writing a self-help book for 25 years and two years ago, I published it. What began for me as a young child writing letters to relatives, culminated in a self-published book about self-healing. Publishing a book is a lot like giving birth. You create, nurture and grow something and finally bring it into the world. To accomplish this takes work, dedication and discipline. Read more about this ‘poster child’s’ winding self-publishing path, and about what this project means for your own self-healing.

the untrained author

I always claim to be the ’poster child’ of various things because I’ve unexpectedly accomplished things that I thought I wasn’t capable of. I typically explain to my Reiki clients that I am the ‘poster child’ of self-healing. My early journey exploring this area was fraught with an inability to feel or sense anything going on in my body, mind and spirit. However, as I continued to work with a self-healing mentor, my ability to sense and know things on physical, mental, emotional and spiritual levels expanded greatly.

In the case of this book, I consider myself to be the ‘poster child of writing– without knowing how to write.’ I’ve always written from my heart, but had limited education about the rules of writing. By owning this, I hope to inspire others to accomplish things outside their comfort zone.

Did I learn anything in school?

For some reason, my Catholic education in Lincoln, Nebraska in the 60s and 70s, never emphasized studying the English language. I’m not sure which education fad was dominant at that point. I couldn’t tell you if I ever had any English classes in college. The one writing class that I did take was in 2004. Advanced Composition was taught by the most brilliant Dean of the Shepherd University English department, Mike Austin. In this one semester course, I suffered baptism by fire and also learned a huge amount about writing. I even managed to get an ‘A’ on my midterm grade by writing an extra credit Ironic Argument piece, entitled: “In Praise of Speed Traps” which was published by the local paper.

Best laid plans

Fast forward to 2 years ago, and I had a newly-published book that I couldn’t wait to share with people who could benefit from it, I even envisioned taking a road trip with my husband all over the United States to promote it. And I planned to visit friends scattered across the US while sharing my self-healing book along the way. Unfortunately, a few months after I published my book, the pandemic started, and the trip was no longer possible. However, I was able to create a new normal, salvaging my Reiki practice by offering remote sessions. I got to teach numerous Reiki classes over the Internet or on my back deck. As much as I enjoyed this direction, the two-year anniversary of my book being published is rapidly approaching and I feel the need to share, Restore Your Self  with more of the people it was created for.

Journaling my way into a book

As a young mother, I began journaling as I explored healing my wounded self. My journal provided a way to work towards understanding myself. These writings turned into essays about various stuck emotions and how I was able to release them. Through this journaling, I processed various negative beliefs that I was holding on to, and worked to transform them. Experiences with clients and their self-healing became another focus of my writing and an integral part of the book. Never underestimate the power of writing down what you are experiencing, it has the potential to open the doors to the mystery that is you.

If you want to learn to write, then write!

Flash forward 25 years and I took all the writing strands from my journals, and gathered them to create this book. The last couple years before publishing were filled with intensive writing and editing. Although there is always room for improvement, I noticed how practice really did improve my writing skills! And how I was able to take all the learnings from my journaling practice to create a book with actionable steps for self-healing.

Breathe in Light, breathe out stuck emotions

Diving deeply into my own wounds helped me to create a simple, yet effective, self-healing technique. My commitment to sharing what I learned with others became the focus and purpose of the book. I now embrace sharing my Breathe in Light technique with you. Soon, I’ll offer opportunities to experience this technique via Facebook and Instagram, so follow me there so you’ll be first to know when these events happen. This restorative self-healing technique has been life-changing for me; I look forward to sharing it and seeing how it works for you.