Tomorrow Seemed Impossible
Self-help - Memoirs
Date Published: 10-25-2022
Publisher: Rope Swing Publishing
From childhood well into her adult life, Keeley Brooks struggled quietly with trauma and the very dangerous effects it took on her physical, mental, and emotional health. In her late teens, Keeley was diagnosed with four mental health challenges and an eating disorder after suffering extreme panic and anxiety at a young age.
Struggling with crippling feelings of isolation, unworthiness, desperation, and fear, as well as the inherent urge to heal, she turned to writing. Now offering her human truths and personal experiences on how she navigated them, survived them, then healed and has grown from them, Keeley shares in graphic detail her deeply personal perspective on trauma, mental health, and side effects while bravely giving readers an intimate peek behind the curtain at the functioning of a mind rooted in trauma and riddled with fear, anxiety, panic, depression, shame, and silence.
What was your main drive to write this book?
Without a doubt, my main
drives to write this book were the opportunities to help other women and to
help myself. I wrote this book with the intention of reaching others struggling
with life, with being an adult, and fighting with emotional pain. I know I’m
not the only woman who has survived trauma and mental health issues, and I
wanted to break this stigma of not talking about it. So I went all in on
talking about it, and in doing just that, I also allowed myself to heal and
evolve, which has deepened my understanding of who I truly am and why I am
here.
What do you hope readers will learn by reading this book?
I hope readers will learn they aren’t alone in their
struggles, there’s always a way forward, someone does care and understand, and
that mental health affects every single one of us. Some more so than other, but
it affects us all. Like addiction, mental health doesn’t discriminate. I want
people to know it is okay to battle these issues, to talk about them, and to
seek the best kind of help that resonates with them. I also hope they’ll learn
the importance of self-care, communication, and mental health awareness, which
are necessary to enhance quality of life. And lastly, I hope they’ll learn that
healing and growth are possible. Always possible.
Did you do much research when planning this book?
It’s creative non-fiction and details some of my darkest
days and struggles, so no, not really. I did research some specific definitions
related to mental health diagnoses, but more so I rooted myself in my trauma to
convey my very raw, very real thoughts and emotions I had in those moments and
to iterate how they affected and shaped the course of my life. The book
absolutely was not planned at all. I sat down to write a short story about a
bullying experience, and this is what happened. I’d held it all in for three
decades; it literally oozed out of my soul.
Did you have any main people who helped you in the
process of this book or influenced you
to write it?
Many encouraged me to continue writing this book, from
family to friends to my publisher, but I don’t think anyone was expecting the
content to be as full of depth as it is. The idea that there are plenty of
other women out there in the world struggling in some way influenced me to be
brave in staying vulnerable and sharing my truth from that exact place. This
book was a chance to reach people in a way I never could before, so I ran with
it.
How long did this book take you to write from initial
thought to hitting publish?
I’d say I wrote for a total of four, five weeks
altogether. I sat with it and edited and re-edited numerous times over the
course several months, then I submitted to the publisher in August 2021; the
book published October 2022. So, the entire process took about two years, give
or take.
Do you have plans to write more about this topic or new
topics?
I absolutely do and already am! I love writing, mostly
about my own struggles in an organic way that puts the reader smack dab in the
middle of the moment, so they don’t ever have to wonder what I must’ve been
thinking or feeling in a particular situation. I write to give people something
to relate to, so they don’t feel so alone. I don’t limit myself just to just non-fiction,
though there is more of it in the works. In May 2022, I released a non-fiction
poetry collection, and I am working on another collection. I’m also currently
collaborating on two on-going fiction projects: a fiction thriller novel with
three other authors and a horror short story with a horror author. I will also
have a handful of short stories appearing in another women’s support book, so there
are several other projects on the board—some started, some waiting to be
started. I plan to always write, though. Always.
Keeley Brooks is an author, writer, poet, and editor. She's a contributing author to the #1 bestseller My Labor Pains Were Worse Than Yours and in May 2022 released her first poetry collection Poetry from an Isolated Soul. With a decade's experience in entertainment journalism, she currently writes health & lifestyle articles for Modern Grace Magazine and is an arts & entertainment writer and managing editor at Mixed Alternative Magazine.
Keeley has just published her first creative nonfiction book, which details her deeply personal struggle with trauma and mental illness, as well as their effects on her mind, body, and spirit. She also offers an intimate peek behind the curtain at the functioning of a mind riddled with fear, anxiety, panic, and depression, then she shares how she has healed and grown from it all and has found the balance needed to reclaim her life.
Keeley is currently focused on several literary projects, including a collaborative fiction novel with three additional authors and a women's self-care book with her integrative health practitioner.
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1 Comments
Thank you so much for the interview! I greatly appreciate it.
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