Today I’m taking part in the blog tour for Transition by Jo Huey, I have an author interview further down but first here’s a little about the book.
About the book
An autobiography of Jo’s life from the trauma and unpredictability of living in an alcoholic home, through self-development transformation to the more content, happy and successful business woman she is today.
Jo shares her many insights into alcoholism and the effects on the family. An honest and brutal account of Jo’s experience with her father’s addiction to alcohol, she shares the highs and lows of life with an absent father and busy mother.
After life hit an all-time low in adulthood she decided to turn her life around and start a journey of self-discovery. Jo transformed herself through therapy, self-help books, groups, events and more which she shares in the book.
If you have experienced the challenges of living with someone’s drinking, then you’ll relate to Jo’s experience and feel the connection with her story.
If you are interested in an inspirational and motivational story, then you won’t be disappointed. Within the book, Jo shares several techniques you’ll be able to learn and use in your life if you really want the change you seek.
Jo Huey is an inspirational & motivational speaker, coach and author.
Jo gets up every morning wanting to help those with experiences like hers, those affected by someone’s drinking. She connects the dots to form a new picture using practical tools & techniques with the aim that they would genuinely feel better about themselves and live a calmer and chaos free life.
Author Interview
Did your writing skills come natural or did you have to attend courses to help you develop that creative side?
I didn’t even think about being a writer as such I just thought I want to write a book and I know the topic well so it was a case of translating what I knew to paper. It wasn’t until I started writing and getting feedback I realised it was a lot harder than I first thought. Thinking about the structure and how I could make it engaging and informative. How to keep the reader entertained wasn’t something I thought a lot about but from the help I received it made it easier.
What books/authors inspired your writing journey?
Heal your life by Louise Hay and also Feel the fear and do it anyway by Susan Jeffers are two key books that spring to mind. I like how Louise shared her very personal story as did Susan. I liked how they did it, it was very warm and reassuring and it felt right to me.
How does it feel to know that your books inspire others? Whether readers with a response to the content or other aspiring authors?
It’s amazing to think that my book helps others, I remember when I received my first review and I felt so fulfilled and the more and more people that read it were genuinely making me feel humble. A lot of friends read it and had a much deeper insight into what I had been through, others that don’t know me found it very insightful and either learnt more about living in that environment or were connected because they could relate to my experiences. One lady said to me that it made her look at her own relationship with alcohol and it reminded her that she lived with an aunt that was a drinker and hadn’t really appreciated that it may have impacted her more than she thought. That was it, right there I’d done my job. It was making a difference, a tangible difference to someone’s life.
Do you have any writing rituals? What are they?
When I’m writing I tend to sit for up to 6 hours at a time and churn it out, for my book ‘Transition’ because I knew the content so well because it was about my life it was easier. I didn’t have to think creatively about characters and things like that. I tend to just sit on my sofa with a cup of tea and crack on, other times I chipped away at it when I was in the mood.
Within your genre, is there a subject that you would never write about? What? Why?
I would never write about what happened to my family members directly because that is their story and personal to them. I wouldn’t write about things I hadn’t directly experienced or tried myself, I am open to all topics as I think openness in this context has been half the problem so it needs more talking about not less.
A huge thanks to Jo for answering the questions. If you’d like to purchase Transition then you can do so on this link – Amazon UK
Jo is an inspirational speaker, coach and author. She is also an adult child of an alcoholic and shares her personal story of living with an alcoholic father for 16 years and how that has impacted her adult life.
Jo is brutally honest about her experience, explaining how she coped as a child in an alcoholic home and the self-development journey she took in her twenties to overcome the trauma.
If you’ve experienced the impact of living with a heavy drinker, someone’s addiction or mental health problem you’ll relate to Jo’s story. For those of you that haven’t experienced what an alcoholic home brings it will give you an insight into the damage it causes to the family.
Jo shares her story for two reasons, the first is to connect with those that have been affected so they know they aren’t alone and the second to educate and inform others about this very hidden problem.
Thanks to Emma Mitchell for inviting me to be a part of the blog tour.
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