One Way or an Author...: Cut the Strings.

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PREVIOUSLY ON 'ONE WAY OR AN AUTHOR...'

Allan is having a lousy year, when suddenly he receives a message: 'Can We Join Forces.'

I wrote back. It turned out that Lynn Grocott was someone I had known quite well through both school and church, but hadn't seen for over thirty years.

Lynn had written a book called 'Cut the Strings.' I was shocked to discover that it was about, amongst other things, the horrific abuse she suffered as a child. I was shocked because I remembered this bright, happy go lucky girl in her early teens, and never suspected that her tears at the end of Church camp were not only because a good time was ending, but because she now had to return to a house of horrors.

I thought that writing my book and trying to get it published had been a difficult task. Lynn's apprenticeship as an author had been a life of suffering.

But that wasn't her only reason for writing. Despite all of the cards being stacked against her (her parents committed suicide, she contracted MS,) she is now one of the most positive and life-affirming people you could ever meet.

Lynn's life was turned around through confidence coaching. Now I have always maintained a fair share of cynicism regarding this sort of system, but I was suddenly confronted by someone I knew, someone who had been through so much, but who was positive, hopeful, and could still experience joy in abundance.

We started to exchange regular emails, catching up and reminiscing about our shared background. For weeks I either forgot to mention that I had written a novel, or when I did think to say I felt guilty that I had originally accepted the contact because I thought it might further my ambitions.

Then came the day that I did mention it, and Lynn asked if she could be of any help. From that point my approach to getting my novel out there has taken me in so many new and interesting directions. These will be the subject of my next blogs.