There is life after being married to a narcissist

 Sheryl Lee

Letters to Myself, the latest book by the Australian indie author Sheryl Lee, has already touched the lives of women around the world. With a brand-new cover and a special free promotion on Amazon (hurry up, it ends on the 28th of  January), the writer hopes her book will become well-know so that it benefits other women as well.  The story of Cassie, the main character continues on Sheryl’s blog, where the author posts every Monday a brand new episode. Proof that there is life after  being married to a narcisist. I talked to Sheryl about Cassie, the birth of and the creative process behind Letters to Myself, and how Egypt shaped her writing.

You’ve got a great cover!
I chose that because it is a closer representation to what the main character in the story has to go through. Cause she is voiceless in a particular way for a good portion of the book and she needs to learn to like herself and to find her way  into becoming an individual again.

What’s the story of this book?
I don’t outline fiction, ever. I just write. I had this idea from reading a post about how the author of “Eat, Pray,Love” (Elizabeth Gilbert) wrote letters to herself. She wrote letters to herself saying how much she hated herself and then she replied to herseld in a positive wa, saying how wonderful she was. She used this tool to build a higher self esteem. And I thought at the time that it would make a good book. Six months later, I got pushed to write this book. It ended up being about a character living with a narcissistic husband and she had no voice and she was in therapy. Her therapist encouraged her to write letters to herslef. That’s one of the tools she used to gain strength and learn more about herself. So, the idea for the story and the actual story that I wrote weren’t the same.

I would like to know more about Cassie, your main character. I’m wondering if I might identify myself with her or parts of her…
Possibly not (laughter)! She’s a very nice person. She’s been oppressed within her marriage and treated very badly in a lot of different ways. But the protagonist isn’t a bad person as such. He’s a person who is struggling with mental disorders and I tried to make that clear throughout the book. There are passages in the book which are quiet raw which is another reason why I chose an edgy cover.

How much time did spend writing the book?
You don’t wanna hear this! Three weeks. Actually, 22 days. I wrote every day. All of us have different writing styles. I write and then the next day before I write, I edit. Even though you are not supposed to, I do. That puts me into the mindset so that when I start writing, basically I pick where I left the day before. I keep writing until I realize I have nothing else to say that day. It’s been an outpouring and I ended up with a story I honestly had no idea I was going to write.

I confess I can’t wait to read your book. I think it deserves an adaptation for the big screen!
This is very important to lots of women who’ve been in the same situation and I’ve had feedback from women who red it and thanked me for making them feel less alone. What I want for this book is to be well-know so that other women can benefit. Now I realize this was my main motivation for writing the book: helping women who are in the same situation.

How did living in Egypt shape your writing?
Egypt made it stronger in a lot of ways. That’s a country that strips away all the extra-unimportant things. When you are writing you find you are accessing deeper emotions. Sometimes you get caught up in small things that cloud the most important things. Egypt takes the unecessary away.

How did end up living in Egypt?
Letters to Myself  was written from a certain amount of experience. I left Australia because this is what I had to do at the time. I went to Egypt because, for reasons I don’t always, fully understand, I’ve always been drawn there and it seemed logical at the time to go there. I based myself there, I worked my way through a lot of issues and sorted myself out emotionally a great deal.

Listen to the full interview on SoundCloud: