Guest author: Amy Willoughby

Sharing her journey as a self-published author is the gorgeous Amy of Be & Bloom!
Connect with her on Instagram @beandbloom

Book(s) you have written:
♡ Be & Bloom - Our nature within

What inspired you to write your book?
I wanted to write a book I wish I had when I was a child, to help heal my hurts growing up and to produce a book others could relate to, especially my own children.

Do you have a method/process when writing the text?
I normally gather the key ideas over a few days or weeks, then once I’ve got the concept, I put pen to paper and let the words flow from there. I find it a very cathartic process writing this way, I then type it out and edit out from there, once I have the story down.

Was there anything you struggled with?
My perfectionism when it came to the publishing process! I had a very set idea of how I wanted the book to look, but I quickly learnt my limitations and eventually surrendered to the outcome in order to complete the process - after all it’s all learning right?!

What were the biggest highlights?
Definitely working with Bec, feeding off each other's energy, getting excited through the process and seeing all our hard work coming to fruition, collaboratively.

Did you have any formal training? Courses or books you may have used?
I had no formal training, I did do a book writing course facilitated by Sally Rigby and Amanda Ashby, who are both published authors.

Do you have any tips for other aspiring authors?
Definitely collaborate with an artist that compliments your vision, talk to people that have gone through the process themselves and do your own research to find out the best approach, whether self publishing or not.

Anything extra:
I’d just like to thank Bec for helping bring my vision to life so beautifully! Bec is a dream to work with, definitely goes on the book publishing journey with you and ends up being one of your greatest cheerleaders!! Magic was definitely created collaboratively and not only was our beautiful book born, but a lovely friendship blossomed as a result too! I’m very grateful for the whole process and for Bec agreeing to do the gorgeous illustrations too! Thank you!