My Journey with The Girl with Special Knees'

One of my highlights of 2022 was launching my first book, ‘The Girl with Special Knees’ last November. I had doubts it would ever see the light of day. When you are writing you find it hard to believe that someone else will pick up your story and spend many hours of their precious time reading it. You ask yourself, why would they? And what if they don’t like it or don’t rate it? And what if no one buys it . . .? We’re told to ‘Go for it!’ and to ‘Create your goal and make it happen!’

Fine words but . . . what if? What if it just doesn’t work out or maybe you don’t have the smarts to see it through?

And yet there was I during Covid, writing a sequel – the next steps in a story that had yet to be published. Fact is, I was enjoying the story myself; I was enjoying the characters and where they might go next and I wanted to keep writing, creating new adventures and challenges for the family. So, it was curiosity rather than confidence that kept me writing and finishing book two.

But, you know, I’m so glad I did pursue the dream. It wasn’t all a piece of cake. I had many disappointments along the way, doubts, setbacks, second thoughts. But, I had to follow my heart, focus on the end goal and move on, step by step. And it paid off. I got the book (with the help of wonderful people) written, edited, proofed, published, printed and promoted and it’s been a great experience as well as a steep learning curve. It’s something I’d wanted to do since my childhood so there’s great satisfaction in having the book out there now.

To others who have goals and dreams of their own I would say three things:

1. Go for it. Yes, you CAN do it if you really want to, take one step at a time, and make it happen. Do not give up.
2. When your heart really wants to achieve something, you will find the kindest, most generous and supportive people spring from nowhere to help you along the journey – as if by magic.
3. When you have reached your goal you will see your capabilities in a more positive light and you will be able to take on new goals and new dreams more easily.

So much can hold us back but remember we have – if we’re lucky – about 1000 months here on planet Earth so I would say, ‘What have you to lose? Give it your best shot – you owe it to yourself.’