As some of you know, most of my stories have a mental health theme. Even under the guise of my usual paranormal, fantasy, or genre fiction, Witch Way (my YA) is about bereavement, and my Legacy Series follows a protagonist with PTSD and addiction. What makes my perspective unique is my dual background. I have my MFA in writing, and I’m also a licensed mental health counselor (shh, it’s a secret). Weaving mental health into my stories is so natural for me as I’ve experienced a lot of it both personally and professionally. Today, I’ve asked one of my friends and author, Katherine Dering, to write a little bit about “Why We Write” and the process of writing her memoir. Katherine is a fierce advocate for proper care for people with mental illness. Her book is wonderful and I encourage you all to read it.

Cheers,

Max

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Why We Write

by Katherine Dering

Author of Shot In the Head: A sister’s memoir, a brother’s struggle

Best wishes on the launch of your newest book, Max. Writing has led me through quite a zigzag course; I hope your journey is a good one.

If someone had told me twenty years ago that I would retire early and be writing a paranormal mystery when I was almost 70, I would have laughed in their face. I was the chief financial officer at a community bank, a position I���d attained after a hard fought battle against the sexist nonsense that was so common in the 70���s and 80���s. But almost on a whim, I signed up for an introductory creative writing class at SUNY Purchase the semester after my youngest child went off to college, and I���ve been writing ever since.

It took a long time to get out my first book. First I was trying to write part time, evenings. I found it very difficult to sustain the mood of a piece for the amount of time it takes to put together a long story. I managed to get some poetry published, and a couple of essays, but my writing life was sputtering.

Eventually I decided to retire early, and thought, Now I���ll write my book.

But family obligations derailed my memoir about my travails in the business world. Eventually, I gave up on that project, turning to the obligations that were taking up my time. Two years later a small press ��� Bridgeross Communications – agreed to publish Shot in the Head, a Sister���s Memoir, a Brother���s Struggle, my book about caring for my younger brother who suffered from treatment resistant schizophrenia and then lung cancer.

I cannot say enough about what I went through, first as I took care of Paul, and then as I wrote about the experience. It was transforming, not only for the introspection and reflection I went through, but I was totally unprepared for how I would feel about the response from readers. Every time someone reads Shot in the Head, they feel like they have to hug me or write to me and tell me how much they came to love my brother and my family, that they cried when they read it, yet wished it would not end. All of which has tended to push me back into the experience of losing my brother – not just once, or twice ��� first via his mental illness and then his physical death of lung cancer – but then again and again as I have received readers��� condolences.

It���s been an exhausting journey, both spiritually and physically, one which I could never have predicted when I was embroiled in fighting for my place in executive management.

Which leads me to my paranormal mystery. You’ve been working in this genre for some time now, while I was doing the memoir thing. And now I find myself drawn to the genre, too, perhaps sensing in the un-lives of the mysterious enemy a way to place a face on my worst fears, pouring my sorrows into the hapless victims of those unexplainable, unpredictable horrors. And because it���s fiction, I get to decide how it will end this time.

So again, best wishes on the launch of your newest book, I���m sure it will be a fabulous ride!

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For more information about mental illness, visit: National Alliance on Mental Illness

If you or anyone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, call 1-800-273-TALK or visit http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/.