If there’s one thing Patti Clark wants people to take away from her new book: “it’s that feeling of hope”.
The Ngarimu Bay-based author is set to celebrate the launch of her new fictional book Recovery Road Trip at Carson’s Bookshop in Thames from 1pm on October 13.
Even though the book’s publication date was October 2, through her United States-based publisher, the launch at Carson’s would be like an exhibition opening, with nibbles, and a reading from the author.
Patti told The Profile she had “so many feelings”.
“It was eight years to get this done, a lot of research, a lot of interviews.”
“I feel really proud of myself,” she said.
The first half of the story is about a woman who drives across the United States while in recovery from addiction.
“And so she’s driving across country and she’s exploring a lot about herself.”
But the second half of the book was 12 weeks of journaling, she said, which followed a similar template from the author’s first book This Way Up.
“So what you’re doing is you’re following the protagonist’s journey.”
The 66-year-old writer said there was “so much shame” around addiction, recovery and relapse. “People don’t want to talk about it.”
Bringing the topic “into the light” was a “real motivation” for Patti.
Even though she was now retired, Patti used to run workshops for women that encouraged using creativity as a tool for self exploration and expression.
While Recovery Road Trip was a fictional story, it was based on some of the women Patti had spoken to who said “they felt stuck in their journey”, she said.
“And so hopefully what this will do will bring some of that into the light.
“And then especially with the 12-week workbook, people will find a way to do some of the practical work.”
Patti spoke to a lot of women in recovery, who said they felt small while in their addiction.
“They feel stuck. They’re in that small self,” she said.
The “secret ingredient”, according to Patti, was creativity.
There was a whole chapter about creativity in the book, which Patti said was “one of the most important ingredients in anything we’re doing”.
“For me, that’s accessing an energy greater than myself.”
When she was in that “flow” or connected space, that was when she practiced creativity, Patti said.
“And that’s when I write”.
But the things Patti wanted people to take from the story was hope and inspiration.
“If you’re in active addiction of any kind, it’s lonely. It’s shame-filled. It’s scary.”
“And finding something that gives that feeling of hope, that feeling of, ‘oh, wait a minute, somebody else went through this’ is huge,” she said.
The journaling side in the second part of the book was where Patti said people might find inspiration.
“It’s a very pragmatic and practical thing to do.”
There was a YouTube page linked to meditations and visualisations that matched each chapter, she said.
For people who wanted to express themselves through writing, Patti said “just do it”.
“Write for yourself. Don’t write for others.”
And “check your motivation” and write regardless of anybody reading it, she said.
“Allow that flame to stay lit and just write for you, for nobody else.
“If you’re feeling that calling – if you can feel it in your heart. Nurture that flame.”
DETAILS: Recovery Road Trip book launch at Carson’s Bookshop, Thames, on October 13 at 1pm. To stay up to date with Patti Clark, visit her website: patticlark.org.
