I’d like to first apologise that I’ve not been posting on Recovery Voices for some time now. [I started back on Friday posting about Michael Scott’s 48-Year Recovery Birthday.] I’ve been busing writing two books during the time I’ve been away.
The main part of my writing has been a book entitled Transforming Pain Into Power: The Story of North Wales Recovery Communities. The project has been quite a journey, not only involving the writing but also multiple interviews over Zoom with various people at NWRC (located in Bangor) and some at Eternal Media, the inspiring recovery initiative based in Wrexham, North Wales. The book is a long one, totalling over 145,000 words, excluding the Index.
The book is being self-published by New Generation Publishing in the UK and the process is funded by the NWRC Charity. As it is self-published, I also had to act as editor and laboriously go through the typist manuscript on multiple occasions. I should find out soon when the book will be printed and released. I’ll keep you updated.
In the meantime, here is a summary of the book as described on the back cover. NB.I have broken the cover outline into separate paragraphs:
‘In this inspirational book, a series of personal stories are interwoven into chapters focusing on how the exciting initiative North Wales Recovery Communities (NWRC), which is based in Bangor, is helping people recover from serious substance use problems and related issues. The impressive success of NWRC rests on the foundation of people in recovery helping others overcome their addiction. The book highlights the importance of a variety of factors in facilitating recovery, in particular the role of connection and relationships. It shows how NWRC members have impacted positively on their wider local community, including feeding local residents in need of help during the Covid epidemic when government bodies were unable to do so. The author covers a wide range of topics, including factors that facilitate recovery, the role of trauma and disconnection in the development of addiction, and brain mechanisms underlying the healing process. He emphasises that society can learn a great deal from recovery communities like NWRC, and from people who have transformed their Pain Into Power.’
I’ll get back to regular blogging after my forthcoming holiday ends at the end of the month. I’ll start posting sections of the book as we start promoting the Transforming Pain Into Power book.