This month I had a chat with Amanda McKinlay who is not only an author, but also a wellbeing and creativity coach in Paisley, Scotland.
Tell me about your book
My book is called How I became a Butterfly - creative tools for coping with life and chronic illness. It is a book that is a combination of my life story and a self help book. I share my own health journey following a diagnosis of fibromyalgia in May 2009 as well as sharing some of the helpful tools I discovered along the way.
Why did you write your book?
It actually started life as a spur of the moment thing during a friend’s vision board event.
I then pitched the idea to a well known publishing company who didn't hate it, but felt it wasn’t for them.
Then it went through a few years of being picked up, adding a few scribbles and being put down again. Then struggling to find a natural finishing point. Throughout the whole process was a sprinkling of impostor syndrome for good measure!
How long did it eventually take you to write your book?
It actually took six years, although as you can see from my previous answer, I was not constantly working on it.
When did you publish your book?
After the rejection from the publishing company I decided to self publish and on the 14th of February 2024 my book was published on Amazon.
I decided to also have a grand book launch and knew the perfect location. launch. On the 27th of February 2024 there I was, stood in my favourite local coffee shop with a chai latte in hand, surrounded by family and friends. It felt so surreal but also SO lovely to give the book a proper launch.
On the launch day and since then, I have received such lovely feedback from people. Both from people who are going to implement the tools themselves or who are gifting the book to others because they feel it is inspiring.
I even managed to get a picture of Theo Paphitis holding my book at the annual #SBSEvent2024
What are your next plans?
I hope to share the book and its tools with more people. I have already had a recent online session and I have plans for an event in my local library. The library event is on the 11th of May, which is the day before Fibromyalgia Awareness Day.
I'm hoping to expand my work on supporting people's wellbeing this year by sharing my story and the tools that helped me on more platforms, and I'm working hard right now to make that happen.
To contact Amanda for more information:
Email:
Website:
https://thebutterflyroom7.wixsite.com/thebutterflyroom-1
Book on Amazon:
How I became a Butterfly