Inverloch debut novelist Terry Guilford When sitting at her desk got too much, debut novelist Terry Guilford set off on a 10-day pilgrimage. Julie Statkus reports on the miraculous aftermath.
By Julie Statkus
IMAGINE a woman sitting in the dark twisting her wedding ring and waiting for her husband to come home to tell her he is leaving her.
That was the inspiration for Terry Guilford's first novel, The Dandelion. After that image appeared to her, she knew she had to write about it.
The Dandelion is a story about a woman's emotional journey from despair to exhilaration, written in the format of a love letter from the woman to her husband.
It took Terry, who lives in Inverloch, 14 months from inspiration to signing the publishing contract with Balboa Press late last month.
Writing this book didn't come easily. Terry, a qualified psychologist, originally started writing a tract on psychotherapy but found it wasn't working.
She thought that was the end of her writing dream until one day she was swimming in the warm, turquoise sea in Mexico and a voice told her to write in the first person. She jumped out of the water and spent the next five days in her hotel room writing.
But when she got back home Terry found the discipline of writing difficult. She took the only action possible and headed back overseas. This time she went to to Spain and spent 10 days on the El Camino Pilgrimage walk, speaking into a Dictaphone recorder as she walked.
Terry said she got a few funny looks as people turned to see this 60ish, grey-haired woman seemingly talking to herself along the track.
This isn't the first time Terry has reinvented herself. “When my daughter left home as a teenager she gave me 24 hours’ notice. I looked at my empty house and said what now?”
Since that time, she’s recorded relaxation and weight loss CDs, studied as a life coach and aerobic instructor and maintains her psychology practice.
She reckons this is the best time of her life because she has memories to reflect on, enjoys what she is doing now and feels optimistic for her future.
Terry was told early on that she would be unable to conceive so she says having a baby unexpectedly at the age of 40 was the highlight of her life.
Giving birth to this book comes a close second.
She says she writes for any woman who wants to feel more joy in her life even when it seems impossible.
IMAGINE a woman sitting in the dark twisting her wedding ring and waiting for her husband to come home to tell her he is leaving her.
That was the inspiration for Terry Guilford's first novel, The Dandelion. After that image appeared to her, she knew she had to write about it.
The Dandelion is a story about a woman's emotional journey from despair to exhilaration, written in the format of a love letter from the woman to her husband.
It took Terry, who lives in Inverloch, 14 months from inspiration to signing the publishing contract with Balboa Press late last month.
Writing this book didn't come easily. Terry, a qualified psychologist, originally started writing a tract on psychotherapy but found it wasn't working.
She thought that was the end of her writing dream until one day she was swimming in the warm, turquoise sea in Mexico and a voice told her to write in the first person. She jumped out of the water and spent the next five days in her hotel room writing.
But when she got back home Terry found the discipline of writing difficult. She took the only action possible and headed back overseas. This time she went to to Spain and spent 10 days on the El Camino Pilgrimage walk, speaking into a Dictaphone recorder as she walked.
Terry said she got a few funny looks as people turned to see this 60ish, grey-haired woman seemingly talking to herself along the track.
This isn't the first time Terry has reinvented herself. “When my daughter left home as a teenager she gave me 24 hours’ notice. I looked at my empty house and said what now?”
Since that time, she’s recorded relaxation and weight loss CDs, studied as a life coach and aerobic instructor and maintains her psychology practice.
She reckons this is the best time of her life because she has memories to reflect on, enjoys what she is doing now and feels optimistic for her future.
Terry was told early on that she would be unable to conceive so she says having a baby unexpectedly at the age of 40 was the highlight of her life.
Giving birth to this book comes a close second.
She says she writes for any woman who wants to feel more joy in her life even when it seems impossible.
Terry Guilford on the El Camino Pilgrimage, where she "wrote" much of her first novel. Visit terryguilford.com to read the first chapter of The Dandelion.
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