Broken: An Autobiography by A.R. Grosjean
Last month we introduced author, A.R. Grosjean, a fiction writer who has turned her hand to nonfiction in her reveal-all autobiography, Broken.
🎉 Today is release day for her enigmatic story 🎉
Let’s hear from Amber as she answers our questions below:
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I have posed four questions for A.R. Grosjean which she has answered in her signature refreshingly honest style of writing.
Author Questions
1. How did you manage your mental health while writing this emotive story?
I was told that telling my story would help me heal. I’ve been in therapy off and on my entire life and it did help sometimes to talk through things.
As I told my story, I kept telling myself that it was going to help me get through the pain from my past.
I do feel a little more relieved getting things off my chest. I can say the name the kids called me without crying, which kind of did surprise me, but my husband already helped me cross that bridge when we first met. This helped my mind process it in a different way that I didn’t know was possible for me.
I was always afraid of anger since I’d seen my father have it so easily. I still don’t like being that angry but I think it helped me move past it. I also put myself in other people’s shoes quite easily. I felt like it was someone else telling me my story at times. I think that may have helped. Being able to walk away after giving a piece of my story also helped.
I wrote this story in small pieces over the year so as I read it to myself, I was able to go deeper into the memory without as much pain. It is still there but with the help of my husband it’s not as bad.
2. Do
you feel that you benefitted in any way from the route your life took?
Being able to look back into my past, with mature eyes, I am able to see why things happened and why I reacted in the way I did. Knowing what I know now, I can tell it was needed.
It has made me a little more sympathetic toward others, understanding, forgiving, open minded, forgiving, less judgemental, etc. It gave me all the qualities a writer needs to tell a good story.
I believe it also strengthened my imagination.
So, did I benefit? I think so, yes. I’m just glad the suicide didn’t work when I was 10 because I would have missed out on all of the good things that happened in my life—my husband, my children, my grandchildren, and all the books I’ve written and will write.
3. Are you continuing your memoirs?
Yes. I will be writing my journey about homelessness.
I learned a lot and witnessed a lot. I couldn’t believe how many people reacted in negative ways towards the homeless. It made me feel disgusted about people.
But then someone would surprise me and give me a little goodness back into my heart. When someone told me to write about my experiences with homelessness, I began keeping records and took pictures when I could. Of course, I’ve lost all of that, but it isn’t going to stop me from telling my story. I may have to find other areas in my life to share lol.
4. To
what do you contribute your strength through the trials you underwent?
My husband is the biggest contributor. I was really lucky to find him. It is true laughter is the best medicine. Though I still suffer from depression, he made it a little more tolerable and manageable. Some of him even rubbed off on to me lol.
Writing also helps because I’ve been able to escape into my worlds. Sometimes I get a little carried away and get a little too focused on them. But I love all of my characters. They are an extension of who I am. Instead of bottling things up, I can put my fears and angers in them and release some of my emotions through them.
I am also a work-in-progress. I will never be perfect, so sometimes I do break down.
Sometimes, I still run away from things. I’m learning not to do that.
I don’t work because of that. I don’t consider cleaning rooms a real job lol. It’s just something to do and I do enjoy it because I am told I am needed—something everyone needs to hear now and then.
Other contributors include my grandchildren. I can be silly and they don’t judge me. They love me and don’t care about my past. I can start fresh with them. And they make me laugh just as my husband does, in a cuter way.
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A.R. Grosjean
Thank you A.R. Grosjean for these revealing insights into your work and yourself. I feel your readers have a special window into your world which forms the backstory to your autobiography, Broken.
Congratulations on release day!
For more information and where to buy A.R. Grosjean’s autobiography, Broken, follow the links below: