Cherie Kephart's title "A Few Minor Adjustments: A Memoir of Healing" came in at number 10 in the Best Indie Books Title of 2017.
Website: www.CherieKephart.com
Bio Cherie Kephart is a writer, editor, and poet, holds an M.A. in Medical and Cultural Anthropology from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, a B.A. in Communications from UCSD, and has worked for many years as a scientific and technical writer. A Few Minor Adjustments is the winner of both a 2017 San Diego Book Award and a Bookvana Award. It was also featured in the San Diego Annual Memoir Showcase and performed onstage at the Horton Grand Theater. Cherie’s essays, stories, and poems have appeared in publications and events such as: The San Diego Poetry Annual, The San Diego Writers Ink Anthology, Oceanside Literary Art Walk, Wild Lemon Project, Magee Park Poets Anthology, and in the Transform Your Life classes. Cherie lives in San Diego and has been celebrated for her holistic approach to healing, and her willingness to examine her life lessons in her writing.
Book Titles A Few Minor Adjustments: A Memoir of Healing
"The Interview" What is the one thing you want to tell your readers? We all have pain and suffering, but we all have joy and beauty. It’s really about perspective and choosing each day to show up in a positive way and to have more compassion for each other, and for ourselves. If we don’t understand something, like an undiagnosed illness, then it is our duty as human beings not to turn away, or reject the unknown, but offer compassion, even if it is something we don’t understand. Especially if it’s something we don’t understand. And also to never give up. No matter how dark life gets, there is always light. If I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t have survived.
What advice can you give to other authors? It’s an arduous road, but it’s paved with beauty. You have to be prepared for a metamorphous when you write, especially writing a memoir. It’s not an overnight deal. It takes grit, determination, passion, and love for the written word to make it to the end. And you’ve got to have a real reason to write, a message that you absolutely must share. It needs to be big. It needs to sustain you and the project through the journey. The rewards are there, but most of them cannot be seen, they can only be felt.
Final thoughts about anything. If I never finished the book, I would be just fine and move on with my life. And even If I died from all my health challenges, I would be okay too. I know it sounds a bit extreme, but that is how healing works. When I gave up attachments, I was freed. I consistently have to work on this now, since attachments are always creeping in—darn ego. But that’s okay, it reminds me of my humanity. I feel grateful to have the perspective.
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