The Theme of Beyond Embarrassment is shed the shame and stand proud!

Questions & Answers Part 1 of 2

What was your inspiration for writing Beyond Embarrassment?

A. I was understandably upset when I first found out that I had a neurogenic bladder. I could not talk about my medical problem because I was too embarrassed. Two things happened as I began my research and living with my neurogenic bladder:

I could find nothing on how to cope with neurogenic bladder and bowel and that made me frustrated.

I started the blog and then the book to get people talking about neurogenic bladder and bowel and to offer useful life tips for living.
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Q. How long did it take to write this book?

A. About three and a half years.

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Q. Where did you get the information and Ideas for your book?

A. I read books, I looked things up on the internet, I kept a journal and I joined support groups.
I got some of most helpful ideas from support groups. As an educator I need to break daily lessons down for the students to understand. I found I was doing, so in my mind, as I tried to live my life and daily cope with this disability.  As I came up with solutions for myself to make my life easier I wrote them down in my blog.

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Q. What do you like to do when you are not writing?

A. I enjoy my family and friends. I like to hike, movies, and reading.

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Q. What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?

A. I was happily surprised by the wonderful people I met that share my disability of neurogenic bladder and bowel. I was also surprised by the fact that I went from sheer fear and dread and complete shame to becoming beyond embarrassment in living with this condition.

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 Do you have any suggestions to help me become a better writer? If so, what are they?

Brainstorm, edit and read, read, read.

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As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?

At a very early age I knew I wanted to teach. I also wanted to be an author. My father is a published author. He inspired me to write. As a high school student I remember looking up at the ceiling of the Library of Congress and promising myself that someday I would have a published book there someday.  By the way, my Library of Congress Number is 2015908628 if you want to look it up.

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Q. What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?

How persnickety some agents are… I am self-published because I could not sell my idea. Many were shocked by the topic which was surprising to me since toileting is a daily activity for everyone. The other surprise is how long I needed to work on this project by myself before I got others excited about the idea.

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If you could cast a character with neurogenic bladder and bowel in the Hollywood, who would play your character?

A. I have often thought that it would be cool if more authors would write in a character with neurogenic bladder and bowel. I have even offered on my Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn accounts to help other authors to develop a character with this disability. Now to answer your question. How about Reese Witherspoon in a Legally Blonde 3. After marrying her hunk husband she has a rough vaginal delivery and ends up with no bowel and bladder control. She is still adorable and completely with it as she learns to navigate her life with incontinence. Some light humor, but mostly inspiration.

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I will post the rest of the interview next week.