1. What inspired you to write this book? For the longest time I have felt that people suffering from mental illness have been throttled and inhibited from freely and openly expressing their essential selves due to the shame and stigma that surrounds the entire subject. They have, in effect, been forced into hiding, to living in the shadows. But this really hit home when I lost my dearly beloved brother to this affliction. The tragedy sparked a sense of urgency in me which insisted that it was time for fellow sufferers to come out of the closet at last and tell their stories.
2. What exactly is it about — and who is it written for? Put simply, it is the story of my life as a sufferer and survivor of severe clinical depression and anxiety disorder, forms of mental illness, and offers an intimate, graphic, close-up view of what it feels like to live with the condition on a day to day basis. It is written for anyone who is a fellow survivor, has a loved one who is, or who is simply curious about what life looks like and feels like for someone who is forced to live within the grip of mental illness.
3. What do you hope readers will get out of reading your book? For those who are fellow sufferers or have family or friends who have struggled with mental illness I hope it will bring them a sense of recognition, acceptance, visibility, and the understanding that they are not all alone. For other curious readers I hope it will give them an unforgettable glimpse of a very special kind of hell.
4. How did you decide on your book’s title and cover design? I have always been intrigued by the idea of a "misbegotten life," a life that was somehow never meant to be, for in my struggles with my illness I have often felt that my whole life was a mistake. The cover design depicts a despairing individual gazing out of a grimy, broken window at a desolate and cheerless landscape. Because that is exactly how life appears to a person experiencing severe depression and anxiety.
5. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers – other than run!? My advice to fellow writers who are dealing with this subject is to simply say out loud: "to hell with the shame, the mortification, the cringe-inducing embarrassment, I don't care anymore!!" and then just pour yourself out on paper, unapologetically, exactly as you are. The time to run and hide is over.
6. Were there experiences in your personal life or career that came in handy when writing this book? The fact that I was a diligent keeper of diaries, journals and letters gave me a rich source of material full of vivid, granular detail that I believe enhanced the sense of authenticity and realness of the writing.
7. How would you describe your writing style? Which writers or books is your writing similar to? I think my writing style is very direct and immediate. It is almost a reportorial style. I want the reader to grasp the what, when, and where of the situation, to be immersed in the details, so that their imagination instantly conjures up the scene and experiences it vividly in real time. I am not aware of any particular writers whom I would say my writing is "similar to," but if there are any they would more likely be reporters or journalists than writers of fiction.
8. How do you feel your book compares to others in your genre? To be quite frank, I have not read many other memoirs dealing with the subject of mental illness and so would not know how my work compares to theirs.
9. What challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book? The main challenge was simply getting it finished. Because it was often painful to relive those memories and recollections there was a tendency to put the manuscript aside for weeks, sometimes months, at a time. There was a feeling of just not wanting to "go there." For years I thought I might well never finish it, but the death of my brother gave me a jolt that forced me to make the determination to complete what I had started.
10. If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours? Maybe it shouldn't. My book is not for everyone. The reader must have a deep and abiding interest in the subject of mental illness or at the very least a strong curiosity and desire to learn about a dark and unfamiliar but fascinating subject.
About The Author: The thrill of getting her first transistor radio, flipping baseball cards
with the boys on the block, chalking up the sidewalk to play hopscotch with the
girls, watching I Love Lucy and Leave It to Beaver on a black and
white TV. Just some of the fond recollections prized by a child of
1950s-era New York City. Victoria Maiden was raised in a solid working-class
neighborhood in the Bronx, at a time when America's future looked so innocent,
so full of possibilities. The first member of her family to attend college, she
looked forward to a career in publishing, law, or academia. But Fate had other
plans, as painstakingly revealed in the pages of this unusual memoir. For more
info, lease see: https://youtu.be/QzHqqyi-log?si=SPEPzG1kj1HPdNJw
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About Brian Feinblum
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For
the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He
formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the
head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the
director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many
first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with
best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen,
Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard,
Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C.
Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.
His
writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s
The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).
He
hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and
has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah
Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association,
Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and
Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the
2024 IBPA Book Awards.
His
letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal,
USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester)
and The Washington Post. His first published book was The
Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook. It
was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.
Born
and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids,
and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.
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