Living the Story: Under the Cover
We’re continuing to look back at the Zimmerman Podcast miniseries, Sleeping with a Stranger: Under the Cover. In the few weeks that led up up to the release of my memoir, Sleeping with a Stranger, we’ll be taking a look “under the cover” as I share insider information about the story and process behind my memoir, Sleeping with a Stranger, which is available now.
In this episode, Rachel and I discuss how and when I knew I’d write a book, the moment I knew I’d lived the ending, and when I actually began writing. I’ve kept this process quiet, but I can’t wait to let you into what it was like to live the story!
The story I was meant to share
From 2015 through early 2019, I was in a dark time. While I worked to survive that tough time, I was comforted by knowing that this story would be used some day to help people. I just had a peace about that, and more recently, I felt assured that I’d share this story as a book. One night early in this journey, I was journaling in bed when I wrote the words, “sleeping with a stranger.” As soon as I wrote them, I knew that they would be the title of my book.
When I look back over the past five years, I can see small moments pointing to this book. For three years, I knew I was going to write this book, but I sat on that knowledge, knowing that the time to write hadn’t come yet. As each year passed, I felt the book building and building inside of me. As soon as I lived the final chapter, I was ready to sit down and write.
The final chapter
Just as I knew I was supposed to write this book, I knew I needed to wait until I had lived the ending to write it. Following a specific event, there was resolution, forgiveness, healing. While so much remained and continues to remain unknown, I had a peace that that part of the story was over.Once that moment of assurance had passed, I knew it was time to write the book. We were in the middle of a course launch, but each day, I felt my mind pulled to the subject of the book. One day, two weeks after our course launch, I got a phone call….
I can’t wait to share with you next week the phone call that changed everything! It was the moment my personal life and my work life intersected and everything made sense, from the moment my sister died, to the day I got that call. I’ve never had such an overwhelming feeling of peace and joy and assurance of being exactly where I’m supposed to be doing exactly what I’m supposed to be doing. You won’t want to miss it!If you’re curious about how this book came to be, then this mini-episode is for you!