A Conversation with Anita DuJardin Hockers

Anita DuJardin Hockers, author of "Breastless But Still Breathing", was kind enough to do an email interview with me. I was really curious about her writing experience.

So here is the interview, with Anita's answers in italics:



When did you start writing your book? Right after radiation treatments, 8 months after diagnosis.

How long did it take you? Crazy...but it only took about 6 months to have a book ready to be published. My editor/publisher was fabulous and I guess I had a hidden talent for writing.

Did you have journals to help you remember details? I did not journal. Hard to believe. I did keep a calendar of all my appointments. When I decided to write it all down, I opened up the calendar and tried to remember everything about every appointment I had had.

I'd imagine that going through the writing process would invoke a range of emotions. What was that like for you? Very emotional. The truth...I hated reliving it. I did it because I wanted to remember and to have something concrete for my daughter. I also wanted to help the Ribbon of Hope foundation.

Toward the end of the book, Anita wrote that "I never thought I would say this, but I recommend that anyone going through a rough time in life should write about it. Writing this book made me aware that we as humans have to let go of things in order to move on." I asked her to elaborate:

I was never a believer in writing things down. Never journaled. But after I put it all on paper, I realized that it can only help someone else going through this and after all, isn't that what it is all about.

Writing a book was not the goal to me. The goal was to help other women in my shoes understand that they can beat this. They can move on.




Thanks, Anita. I hope this blog post inspires someone to get busy writing!


Links:

Breastless But Still Breathing,

Ribbon of Hope