DID YOU FIND THAT WRITING THE BOOK WAS THERAPEUTIC?
The answer is both ‘Yes’ and ‘No’. ‘No’ in the sense that it did not provide an avenue for the grieving process. Because there was a gap of twenty years between Matthew’s death and writing the book, I had already worked my way through the mourning process. I didn’t write the book from that perspective. However, what I did find therapeutic was the prospect of fulfilling the last promise I ever made to my son moments before the undertakers took his precious body away.
‘I told him that just as I had loved him in life, so would love him in death and on through eternity. I promised him his life would not be in vain and that while I had breath his story would be told. I had told him that he had been born for a reason far greater than the four years he had ever lived, and that one day that reason would be obvious to all who ever knew him’. (Extract from ‘Harvest from Heartache’ by Gail Chamberlain)
(Published by Kingsway - Copyright 2006)
ARE YOU GOING TO WRITE ANYMORE BOOKS?
I never dreamt of being an author, let alone a published one! However, I have always loved telling stories and communicating with people, so in a sense it must have always been there, albeit lying dormant. ‘Harvest from Heartache’ was my debut book and I was surprised how easily the words flowed onto the page; having said that, the subject matter was hard to handle at times. I never kept a diary; it was all stored in my mind, and more so, in my heart. I did not write the story and then tout around publishers; Kingsway heard of my story from Roy Castle’s widow, Fiona, and commissioned me to write it.
There are probably two other books in the pipeline and Kingsway have first refusal of publication rights. Hopefully they will be released in the next few years. The first will be the sequel to ‘Harvest from Heartache’ and the second will be the prequel – my story.