WHERE THE BRIDGE BEGINS: WHY?

 So. Why did I bother writing Where the Bridge Begins, featuring a chronically-ill main character?

Avery has a twofold problem: first, she was born with a Chiari malformation. It can cause balance issues, migraines, vestibular issues, and other more severe struggles, but it can be (sometimes) treated with surgery. Secondly, she struggles with Lyme disease--something that's an absolute powerhouse that can destroy someone with a myriad of symptoms. In the book, she struggles with a resurgence of symptoms, trying to find doctors who will treat her and listen to her problems instead of writing them off, and then the issue of experiencing uncomfortable symptoms as the Lyme disease is treated. The ups-and-downs of chronic illness are very real, and they don't go away with medicine or drinking more water or just powering through it. And a lot of times, people just don't understand or accept that. 

I wrote this for the years family members have struggled to be heard, understood, and treated by rural hospitals and doctors that are either ignorant or uncaring. 

I wrote this for friends who duke it out daily with chronic illness and still continue to live and shine a light for others.

It's for everyone who has been affected by Lyme disease, which is sweeping across my state and others through ticks--with no prevention, it's easy to catch and hard to get rid of. 

Before I was healed? I wrote this for the moment a pastor looked at me and said, "I'm sorry you missed out over just a little bit of a headache," when I spent the prior two days curled in the fetal position with the worst migraine of my life.

I wrote this in honor of everyone who knows an individual with chronic illness, who is a caregiver or a friend or family member, who genuinely care. 

It's a topic I'd like to shine more light on in the future, since chronic illness is rapidly becoming mainstream in the U.S. and while I wish it wasn't a topic we have to talk about--it is, and it's something I wish others knew more about. So if you're in the same boat as I am, it's releasing February 11th--a little "heart" story, so to speak. And while everyone's chronic illness story is different, I hope Avery and her friends shed some light and hope on the subject for someone.