This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The Literary Lobbyist will be awarding one $25 and one $50 Amazon or B/N GC to randomly drawn winners via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
Award-winning freelance journalist Javacia Harris Bowser is convinced that writing is a superpower. She sees her life as proof of it since writing has helped her navigate marriage, crisis of faith and body image issues. It also helped her to beat cancer.
As a Black woman from the South, Javacia has used the written word to explore issues of gender and race as well as religion. Find Your Way Back is a collection of essays that demonstrate how Javacia has used writing to achieve some of her wildest dreams such as being a public speaker, having her own column, and being her own boss. The book also explores how writing, self-love, and faith helped her overcome her worst nightmare: a cancer diagnosis in 2020. Javacia’s goal is to show readers how writing can transform their lives as well. The book includes prompts throughout to help readers start their own writing journey.
This book is for the woman who has wanted to write since she was a girl but struggles to find the time or the courage to put her words on paper. Find Your Way Back, shows that instead of putting writing on the back burner when life gets turned upside down, we should turn to it to help life make sense again.
Enjoy an Excerpt
– from “How Does a Feminist Fight Cancer?
I was in my early twenties when I started calling myself a feminist—long before Beyonce’s song “***Flawless” made feminism cool. It was in my early twenties that I finally learned that—despite popular opinion—feminism had nothing to do with hating makeup, marriage, or men.
In the song “***Flawless” from Queen Bey’s 2013 self-titled album, we’re given a clear-cut definition of what being a feminist means courtesy of a snippet from Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED Talk, “We Should All Be Feminists.”1 Feminist: the person who believes in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes. Merriam-Webster also defines feminism as “organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests.”2
But for me, those definitions only scratch the surface. Yes, I call myself a feminist because I believe in women’s rights and the equality of the sexes. But I also call myself a feminist because simply put, I’m obsessed with women, and I’m obsessed with being a woman. That’s why as a freelance journalist, I mostly write stories for and about women. That’s why in 2011, I started a website and online community for women who write and blog called See Jane Write. And that’s why I believe in sisterhood—for real.
I feel an inexplicable kinship to nearly every woman on the planet, regardless of her age, race, or religion. It doesn’t matter if she’s a CEO of a company on the Fortune 500 list or a cashier at my local supermarket struggling to make ends meet. Whether she’s a princess or a pole dancer, in my mind, we are inextricably linked.
But after being diagnosed with breast cancer in January of 2020, I found myself wondering if being a woman was as wonderful as I’d always thought it to be. My oncologist told me early on that after chemotherapy and radiation treatments, I would have to take the drug Tamoxifen for five to ten years. The tumor found in and removed from my left breast turned out to be “ER-positive.” That means the cancer cells grow in response to the hormone estrogen.
When explaining why I needed medication that would essentially push me into early menopause, my doctor said, “Estrogen tried to kill you.” Those words stunned me more than, “You have cancer.”
Learning that the thing that makes me a woman—biologically, at least— was the very thing threatening to end my life caused the earth beneath me to shift. As an ally to the trans community, I understand intellectually that gender is much more than biology. But emotionally, I felt betrayed by my body and by my womanhood.
Despite the sexism that women can face at work, home, church, and even while walking down the street, I have never seen being a woman as a cross to bear. Of course, I was aware of the horrific oppression faced by women and girls in some countries—including the United States. But these stories and statistics only made me more fiercely feminist. I wanted every woman to feel like womanhood was a blessing. But now, all of a sudden, it felt like a curse.
For months I tried to keep my diagnosis a secret, only telling a few close family members and friends about the lumpectomy I had in February of 2020. But as I got closer to my first day of chemotherapy, I knew I’d soon have to share the news with more people because soon I’d be bald.
There was no chance I’d run into friends at a networking event or at my favorite restaurant or wine bar. The COVID-19 pandemic had us all confined to our homes. But because of See Jane Write, I do live broadcasts on Facebook, and I post pictures and videos to Instagram often. I knew eyebrows would raise once people noticed I no longer had any. I knew I would have to go public with this fight against cancer, and I knew I would have to fight like a feminist.
But how does a feminist fight cancer? First, she makes a playlist because every battle needs a fight song. Of course, Destiny Child’s “Survivor” is at the top of my list.
But just as there’s no one way to be a woman, there’s no single way to be a feminist. And likewise, every cancer warrior must fight in their own way. Being a writer, I decided I would fight with words. As a friend of mine, who’s also a writer, once said, “I fight with my fingertips.” That mindset shifted how I approached every aspect of my battle with cancer.
During cancer treatments, I wrote from my body and for my body. I wrote as if the sentences could replace the locks of hair that fell into the shower after my curls became a casualty of chemo. I wrote as if the syllables could dry my tear- stained face. I wrote and pretended the dark spots on my tongue, fingernails, palms, and the bottoms of my feet were splotches of ink.
I wrote as if adjectives could restore my taste buds, allow me to know spicy, savory, and sweet once again. I wrote as if vowels and consonants could calm my constantly queasy belly. I wrote even when hand-foot syndrome made it nearly impossible to hold a pen or touch my fingertips to a keyboard.
When facing a disease like cancer, fighting for your life isn’t simply about fighting to stay alive. You’re not only trying to keep your heart beating from one day to the next. When you feel like cancer is taking away every goal and every dream, you’re fighting to remember who you are.
So, I write. With Beyoncé’s “Find Your Way Back” playing in my ears, I write in journals, essays, poetry, blog posts, and even in the Notes app of my phone.
I write my way back to myself, and I share my words with my sisters so that they—no matter what battle they’re fighting—can write their way home too.
About the Author
Javacia Harris Bowser is an award-winning essayist and journalist and the founder of See Jane Write. A proud graduate of the journalism programs at the University of Alabama and the University of California at Berkeley, Javacia has written for USA Today, HerMoney.com, and Good Grit magazine. Named one of Birmingham’s Top 40 Under 40, she believes we can all write our way to the life of our dreams.
Buy the book at Amazon or See Jane Write.
The body wants to return to balance. It just needs the tools to do so. Heal Yourself ~ Body ~ Mind ~ Spirit ~ helps you discover the messages your body is sending, and it also shares the tools to aid your body in healing itself.
Sandie Gascon is a Health Coach who has helped guide hundreds of people from over twenty-five countries on their healing journey. After suffering severe side effects from medications during her twenty-year battle with chronic migraines, when she was diagnosed with Lupus she committed herself to healing naturally. Through her experiences, she developed a whole body, mind, and spirit approach that addresses the person in a truly holistic manner. She takes the guess work out of the equation by running functional lab work to see what the body needs. She healed herself of migraines, depression, lupus, interstitial cystitis, and cystic acne. Her purpose is to help educate others on the importance of shifting focus to rebuilding and rebalancing the body and removing internal and external stress so the body can heal itself. 
In her second book “Lessons Learned About Life and Love”, Vivianne shares some of the lessons she has learned from writers and thinkers such as Dr. Wayne Dyer and Dr. Viktor Frankl, weaving them into her own experiences in a compelling guide to living, loving and thriving in old age. Her insights offer proof that great wisdom is not gained only from the classroom or the lecture hall, and that one need not look far to understand the secrets to living well. From anecdotes about her everyday rituals to memories from her world travels, Vivianne captures the profound and often surprising moments of enlightenment that can be found right in front of us, if we only know where- and how-to look.
Born an illegitimate child in the wake of WWII in Berlin, Nazi Germany to a single mother, Vivianne Knebel’s options were limited and her future looked bleak. She experienced poverty, cold, and hunger, and was even driven to the point of committing suicide. To seek out a better life, Vivianne immigrated to Canada as a teenager, but her misfortunes did not end there. However, in response to a miraculous intervention, she decided to preserve her life and keep moving forward.
In The Write Balance, the companion book to the beloved bestseller, Room to Write, Bonni Goldberg demonstrates how to find fulfillment as a writer by embracing three key aspects of writing: 1) Percolation: what takes place before a first draft is written; 2) Revision: the writer’s role after the initial draft; and 3) Going Public: the writer’s mission once the writing is done. Filled with tools, examples and exercises, Bonni’s guide offers motives, choices, and encouragement for writers to appreciate and to be creative in the phases before and beyond a first draft. Whether you’re new to writing or a pro, become more passionate and balanced in your writing life. 
Bonni Goldberg is the author of The Write Balance: How to Embrace Percolation, Revision & Going Public, the companion book to the best-seller Room to Write: Daily Invitations to a Writer’s Life. Bonni is an award-winning poet and writer. She is the creator of the 2 Minute Journals™ series. Both traditionally and indie published, her books include non-fiction for adults and fiction and non-fiction for young readers. Her essays and blog posts can be found in numerous print and online publications.
David Amerland is a Chemical Engineer with an MSc. in quantum dynamics in laminar flow processes. He converted his knowledge of science and understanding of mathematics into a business writing career that’s helped him demystify, for his readers, the complexity of subjects such as search engine optimization (SEO), search marketing, social media, decision-making, communication and personal development. The diversity of the subjects is held together by the underlying fundamental of human behavior and the way this is expressed online and offline. Intentional: How to Live, Love, Work and Play Meaningfully is the latest addition to a thread that explores what to do in order to thrive. A lifelong martial arts practitioner, David Amerland is found punching and kicking sparring dummies and punch bags when he’s not behind his keyboard. 
As Daniel recovers from a psychotic episode and months long mental health civil commitment, he befriends a youthful quadriplegic named Samantha who is dealing with life-threatening health problems. When cohabitation becomes necessary for Sam, caregiver and client both move to downtown Minneapolis to begin a new life together. Before they can get settled in, Daniel is diagnosed with stage 3 cancer and must undergo multiple surgeries. The two navigate the American healthcare system and work towards Samantha’s eventual independence, however, their relationship becomes toxic when a global pandemic shakes the nation and George Floyd is murdered by Minneapolis police officers.
N. Daniel works as a medical caregiver in the greater Minneapolis/Saint Paul Metropolitan area in the Winter and as a landscape laborer for his father in Winona, MN in the Summer. His debut writing effort, “Corners Untouched by Madness: A Personal Journey of Overcoming Mental Illness,” has enjoyed modest success in certain writing circles. The Author lives with his wife and two dogs just outside of downtown Minneapolis.
The Light in the Darkness is a must-have companion for anyone living with a serious illness, or caring for a loved one with such an illness.
Jo St Leon is a musician and writer living in Hobart, Tasmania. Receiving a cancer diagnosis in 2016 prompted her to transition from being a full-time musician who loved to write to being a full-time writer who loves to sometimes play the viola. She shares her house with two very pampered felines. She loves reading, cooking, swimming and yoga.
Advance praise (payback) for Teresa Fischtner:
Teresa Fischtner is an “aqua entrepreneur.” After 25 years working in accounting, she changed careers and started teaching aquafit at her family pool. Customers come to “Over the Deep End” for full body workouts in deep water and they leave with a sense of community and friendship that Teresa has created, and all her mermaids and mermen continue to nurture.
‘A brilliant, supportive, challenging workbook, highly recommend.’ Jamie Sands
Mariëlle S. Smith is a writer, writing coach, and editor. She lives in Cyprus, where she organises private writer’s retreats, is inspired 24/7, and feeds more stray cats than she can count.
