Late in 1990, I began writing a book about my cancer experience five years before. My mother had died a few months earlier, and I had sought solace in my writing. I joined a mentored writing group, and my first draft poured out. I’d often dreamed of writing for magazines, but I had been encouraged by the group to write my first full-length book. The process of writing preoccupied my mind and kept me from succumbing to my grief.
The draft, a raw, naive, poorly-constructed biography, left a lot to be desired by the publishing community. However, as the rejections began coming in—(60 all told)—the majority of their comments did not focus on my amateurish writing; rather, they most often rejected the account by saying it did not align with the beliefs of the publisher. Being a bible-reading, evangelical Christian at the time, I didn’t understand how it might not be credible to "hear messages from God," see visions, or be guided by signs and wonders. This led me to reevaluate my beliefs.
Here I was, up against a real test of my faith. Did I believe in the visions I saw? Or were they a farce? Were my intentions honorable? Or cursed? Through a series of self-devised experiments, I sought proof of my faith and beliefs and came to believe they were righteous and true—at least for me, despite what some others might believe.
Still deeply immersed in prayer, many family members and friends would ask me to pray for them and their life situations. However, this too, soon became a question for me. I’d gleaned a greater understanding of how our trials shape us for the better, and I started to feel as if I might be playing God when I prayed. So for a time, I stopped praying and stopped asking God to "fix" everything.
I suffered from severe depression and perhaps a lingering grief over the loss of my mother. (My father had died years before.) It all seemed to flood my emotions. For a period of forty-five days, I could not write anything. A prolific journal and letter writer, it suddenly felt foreign and painful to pick up a pen. All I could do was sit in a chair and do as little as possible.
I remember asking God to let me die. . . but. . .
Of course, I didn’t. At the end of this burning of my inner self, a new me began to emerge. During this period, I devoured books on a wide variety of philosophical and spiritual topics. I consider this the time of my awakening.
I joined a program at my sons’ school helping kids write stories. I wrote and sold two books, one on a type of pottery we collected, and another about the school writing program. A friend introduced me to a state-wide writer’s organization. I joined and volunteered to help out in any way I could.
Rubbing shoulders with well-published authors and prominent editors, my writing improved. I learned many of the ins and outs of publishing. I continued writing (countless) new drafts of my healing story. Yet none ever felt right. I befriended a NYC editor and asked him, "Will I know when it is good enough?" He said, "Yes." This made me feel sad because I knew, as yet, it wasn’t.
Self-publishing had just started to creep onto the scene. According to the writing community where I now sat on the board, doing so was not only against their "published" rules, but they also considered it an amateurish sacrilege.
I did it anyway.
In line to serve as the next president, I resigned. I couldn’t serve where my actions were not in alignment with the organization’s bylaws.
Over the subsequent years, I not only had finally written a draft I felt confident in, I had gone into business helping others to publish their own. It paid well, and I discovered that I was very good at it. People appreciated my knowledge and my expertise in bringing their rough manuscripts to life in printed form. In later years, diagnosed with breast cancer and thinking I would die, looking at those many books on my bookshelf gave me a sense of self-worth. They were my starfish. Helping those authors had mattered to them and to me.
I'd give talks or participate in group activities. The book, published now and called, Transformational Healing, sold when I did, and they could better understand what it was about.
People who followed the guidelines found their lives improved immensely. My favorite testimonial is the story of a woman who met her second husband by deciding to step into one of her dream hobbies.
To be honest, I only dabbled in promoting my book during that period. It became like a red-headed stepchild, always taking second place to my efforts in helping others. Even though I participated in a variety of public endeavors (podcasts, teleseminars, blog shares, interviews, groups, and more), they were always in the small spaces of time I had left and never a dedicated effort. Transformational Healing languished.
I decided I needed more credentials for greater credibility. In 2007, a friend took me to a seminar in Lily Dale, a gated community of mediums and healers established in Victorian times. Lily Dale opened new doors of understanding to me.
I had a reading with Rev. Elaine Thomas and subsequently enrolled in a two-year course at her Fellowships of the Spirit school, where I discovered many of the supernatural things I’d experienced throughout my life were not uncommon. I also took additional courses with Donna Eden, Lisa Williams, and many other healers and spiritually-minded teachers. I graduated with a double certification, both as a metaphysician and spiritual counselor. 
Over the next few years, I published a few more books, worked with several coaches, and participated in some intensive bootcamp-type self-promotion courses. Still, I never seemed to give Transformational Healing its just due.
In 2017, laid up from chemotherapy and not being able to do much else, I decided to re-read the nearly 400 pages to decide if I should pull it from publication or re-dedicate myself to its promotion. To my surprise, I felt the book still had merit. I had it newly copyedited, revised one or two sections to add new material, and reissued it.
I delved again into promotions, taking two more intensive courses in 2019 and 2020 that changed my marketing perspective. I decided that in order for people to understand what the book was about—not really a biography about an unknown gal who got better, but rather a path to deeper life enrichment, spirituality, faith, and achievement—I needed to make additional changes, including a cover and title change. I renamed it Stop Getting Sick—Start Living Well. To my delight, I sold more books that year than I had in all the years before. . . until. . .
I’d learned how to sell using ads on the largest bookseller in the world. "The Zon" we liked to call it. But they kept stopping my ads. They said I couldn’t advertise a book promising "cures." I would explain the book wasn’t about that; rather, it taught how to create a life that mattered. They would check, then reinstate my ads, and a few weeks later. . . bam. . . they would stop them again. I got tired of pleading my case. I decided to change the title again.
In an ironic twist of fate, working with a coach and showing her my new cover and title, she laughed at me. She insinuated that she and another coach had mocked it behind my back. 
That really hurt. (Maybe it was the Ugly Duckling (swan) on the back cover. If you don't get it, you haven't read it.)
To make matters worse, she tried to put me in a box with another client of hers—to be honest—because it saved her time from doing the work she was paid to do. It was much easier for her to use the same work on me rather than put in any extra effort. I tried to explain that my book wasn't even in the same category, but she wouldn't listen.
She then suggested the funniest thing of all. She suggested I use a soft blue cover, hinting at meditation, and maybe an iconic image, (butterfly, perhaps). Proving she hadn’t looked at my books at all, I suggested she pull up Transformational Healing. There, all bright and beautiful, was exactly what she had described. When I told her it never sold well, she had no comment. (Yeah, hun, been there done that.)
My work with her was done. I kept my new title and new cover. Did I make the right decision? Only time will tell. While working with that coach, I realized I needed to rely more deeply on myself and my intuition. After all, I had been in the writing and publishing business for over 30 years. I’d helped countless other authors. Surely, I must know something? It was time for me to follow my heart.
I had begun writing and publishing a series of spin-off books that expanded upon topics I’d written about in my first book, now renamed Hatch - A Change Your Life Guide. The small spin-offs sold well, while Hatch languished. I knew it would sell well with its middle-period name (nicknamed "Get Well"), but being often blocked, I decided to just let Hatch ride. Being a larger book, I felt its price often held it back. Interested readers would look at Hatch, see my other, more focused books for less than half the price, and buy those.
This month, I decided to give Hatch - A Change Your Life Guide, a chance to measure up to its little sisters. I am going to be lowering the ebook down to only 99¢ for a period of one week. After that, I plan to return it to its regular price and let it ride the waves of history. I will focus on other projects. This will likely be the only time I do this. I have too many other works in progress. I will be satisfied that I finally gave it the attention it deserved and can move on to whatever comes next.
For a limited time this week, you can capture and read this miraculous journey of mine, written from the perspective of how you can create a better life for yourself. It’s not just a story of I did this or did that. It’s a how-to guide on the steps you can take to turn your life toward its highest purpose and—like it did for me—make it an amazing, magical journey. Heck, I never dreamed I’d meet the people I’ve met, help the wondrous individuals I have, or experience all the many places I did. . . and it continues even still.
Healing your life and creating positive change doesn’t have to be hard. Yes, it takes resilience and determination. But the life-changing skills you need are already within you as part of your DNA. You just need to activate them.
Hatch - A Change Your Life Guide explains how to use the messages sent from your mind-body-spirit, to unlock the necessary knowledge for achieving goals, overcoming obstacles, and empowering your life to a higher and faster level of success.
If you visit this link between October 27 through the 31st, you can get the ebook for just 99¢. I hope you will take a look and give your own life a chance to Hatch.