Author Q&A With Sarah May

Sarah May is an author and healing guide. Her greatest passion is supporting women on their journeys of healing, embodiment, and transformation. From the yoga studio to one-on-one sessions and women’s circles, Sarah believes that personal healing is the greatest gift we can give ourselves and, in turn, the world around us. Her own experiences have informed her work from growing up in a dysfunctional family impacted by addiction, a first marriage of trauma and betrayal, and her challenges: codependency, mental health, and divorce. She is now happily remarried, living full-time on the road in a self-built campervan, and promoting her upcoming debut memoir, She Journeys. Meet Sarah:

You are an author, but is it your day job? I’m an author and a healing guide. While my upcoming memoir is undoubtedly the focus at the moment, I am also an intuitive reader and Reiki practitioner. I work 1:1 with clients to support their journeys of healing, embodiment, and transformation. My husband is also a recently published author (Now Is the Time, Andrew Singer), and we are currently on the road in our campervan promoting both of our books. We’ve been nomadic full-time in the van for the past five years exploring the American West, writing our respective books, and now doing our best to get them on shelves! 

Did you always want to be an author? I’ve loved writing ever since I learned to write. I started keeping a daily journal as a teenager, and writing became my way of processing life, reflecting on it, and making sense of it. I was (and am) an avid reader, so the world of books has always been sacred to me. It wasn’t until 2020, when I left my job, sold most of my belongings, and moved into a van, that I finally had the time and space to write my first book. But yes, I’ve dreamed of being an author for many years now, and this season of life is that dream come true! 

How do you hope your book uplifts those who read it? It can be deeply validating to see ourselves in the stories of others. To think “me too”, to know that we are not alone. Pain can be isolating, lonely, it can feel like we’re walking a path no one else has ever walked. But the truth is that suffering is universal, and not only do we not have to walk alone, there have been so many brave, bold trailblazers ahead of us. Stories can help us find our way, speak to our hearts, and be medicine for our wounds. My deepest prayer and hope is that my book can be that for someone. 

What are you most excited about with this book? I am most excited (and grateful) for the opportunity to connect with women who have had to rebuild their lives or are in the process of rebuilding. To share the healing path with others is my most profound passion. Meaningful connection is at the heart of a life well-lived for me, and I believe that the deep, brave conversations that can be had about becoming is one of the most beautiful things in the world. 

How do you handle setbacks and criticism? Penning this for my own posterity since my book will be released in September! I hope that I remember my book is not meant for everyone, and that others’ opinions have no bearing on my value or the importance of my story. I hope I remember that I initially wrote this for myself—for my healing, my becoming—and that I’ve already done something to be incredibly proud of. I had the discipline, commitment, and bravery to share something incredibly vulnerable with the world, and at the end of the day, if it’s enough for me, it’s enough. I’ve been reading The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins and have been inspired by her message. I believe it’s so powerful to show up, do our work, and walk our respective paths. While some criticism can be helpful, we must use discernment about where it’s coming from, gauge the intent, and practice not taking things too personally (easier said than done). 

Being an author today is like running a business. How do you manage all your publicity and social media, and keep your engagement up with readers? My husband and I have become business partners this last year, with both of us publishing our books and going on this Van Life Book Tour. For both of us, it has become a full-time job. From emailing indie bookstores about visits, to social media, promotion, forging relationships, keeping track of inventory, accounting, driving to the next city, planning events, follow-ups, etc. It’s a lot, and to be honest, I enjoyed the creative writing part so much more. I had no idea the engagement required to get a book off the ground, and it can be exhausting. As indie authors, it feels critical because we don’t have the marketing prowess of a traditional publishing house or huge platforms. The book’s success is up to us. I’ve spent four years writing and countless more doing the healing work required to write this book; so, it deserves my best effort to be shared with the world. 

How do you hold yourself accountable and achieve the goals that you set forth? For me, writing a book was a huge goal that took an incredible amount of discipline and commitment. Consistency was key. Just keep writing. Write on when it’s shit. Write on when it flows. Write on when it doesn’t. Just write. I had a lot of trouble knowing where even to start my book, but once I got that first draft out, it became a process of refining over and over. When I was working a full-time job before the pandemic, I didn’t have the creative energy or time. It took leaving my job, leaving my community, and living on the road for a year before I found the space to write. I was so privileged to have that time, but the most important thing was to just start.  

How do you structure your day and make time for writing? Living in the van can be challenging when it comes to keeping a consistent routine. Some days we have to wake up and drive, and some days we’re in a Walmart parking lot. But the perfect days of van life are the ones where we’re camped out somewhere beautiful in nature, and I have the flexibility to structure my day however I like. My perfect morning would consist of a pour-over, setting up my camp chair, and journaling. I get all my personal processing out on paper, meditate for a few minutes, then get to work on editing, writing, posting, etc.

What book uplifts you? I love reading and am usually bouncing between several books at a time. I gravitate towards inspiring memoirs, personal growth, and self-help. Stories of resilience, overcoming challenges, and vulnerability uplift me the most. Some of my favorites are: Untamed by Glennon Doyle, The Choice by Edith Eger, The Pivot Year by Brianna Wiest, Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed, anything by Brené Brown, and Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents by Lindsay Gibson. 

Meet Sarah May and learn more about her author’s journey and book via her publisher.

Images Courtesy of Books Forward PR and She Writes Press.