Hi Dianne, it took me years to write my book. Here's a part of the prologue to answer your quesiton of what compelled me: "My desire to share a message of healing from trauma became too strong to ignore; the book became a mission. I left the corporate environment to write my story about personal yet universal emotional issues. Although journal writing was a cathartic experience, the book was written with the courage to face my fears, with compassion for myself and others, and a conviction to tell the truth." The heart felt urging to write this book became greater than all the reasons my mind could conjure up NOT to write it. I'd say that it took me 5 years to write after thinking about it for 20 years. I had journals, poems, and prayers to help me. Sometimes I would write obsessively for 12 hours a day; other times I was so emotionally drained I had to stop writing for a month, or two. But the internal urgings always prevailed, until I realized this was a job that had to be done. It was hard emotional work, and sometimes what I was writing sent me back to therapy for a refresher course in coping! Even after I thought the book was "finished" I did not pursue publishing for a year because I was so concerned about "what would others think" including my family. Then, the need to publish the book to help others became greater than the need to protect my family. I attribute the book to a Higher Power that guided me to completion and publishing. I have wondered why I was not instructed to do a romance novel! I pray that there will be peace enough in our families that books like ours will no longer be lived, then shared!