Happy Birthday Chasing Ghosts

When I published Always Forward in September of 2021 with a cliff hanger, I knew readers would want, no, demand Chasing Ghosts as soon as possible! Fortunately, I was one step ahead and had Chasing Ghosts ready to publish by February 2022.

Having written a total of five novellas, sometimes Chasing Ghosts gets lost in the mix when I talk about the series. In some ways, Chasing Ghosts is the middle child of the Always Forward family. Sandwiched between the intensity and rawness of Always Forward and the closure that comes with Carry On. Chasing Ghosts holds some of the darkest moments of the series for Emily.

Over the last several months, as I’ve worked on the Fifth Anniversary Edition, I have reread Chasing Ghosts several times. In fact, as I write this blog, I’m working on the final edits to it with my editor.

As I have reread and made edits to the second novella, I’ve been reminded of how powerful this part of Emily’s story was, and continues to be for the series. And as I reflect on my own mental health journey, I am reminded how far I’ve come since writing this book.

Without giving away any spoilers for those that haven’t read the series yet (hint, hint, READ THE SERIES!), Chasing Ghosts gives the readers a glimpse of what it’s like to live with post-traumatic stress.

When I wrote this book, I had to dig deep into my own wartime trauma. I went to some dark places after the explosion that left me wounded on May 25, 2004. Times when I would wake up in the middle of the night to the explosion going off again. Or when I had returned home and would hear small arms fire outside my bedroom window, and my husband would find me on the floor with my back propped up against the wall, thinking we were under attack.

I don’t share these snippets of my past for pity, but only to shed light on the realities of living with PTSD. For many of us, we get up every day, go to work, raise our kids, volunteer in our communities, all while being chased by our ghosts from war.

It’s not easy to balance civilian life after combat. When I wrote Chasing Ghosts, I wanted the reader to feel this struggle. Even if you have never experienced anything traumatic, I wanted you, the reader, to feel, on some level, what Emily was feeling.

And for those who have been through a traumatic event, I wanted you to feel seen. To know that you are not alone and that healing isn’t linear.

As I look back on the last four years since releasing Chasing Ghosts, I can attest to how much healing isn’t linear, and that it’s okay to not be okay.