Beyond Fear ...
A New Beginning
In April 2008 , I recall getting out of my car on the west side of DuSable Museum of African American History . My office , on the campus of the University of Chicago Medical Center , was on the third floor of a brownstone at 56th and South Maryland . A warm spring rain , the kind that brings May flowers , splashed my windows , and caressed my face . I grabbed my shoulder bag , hoisted my umbrella and began my walk . Today was different , I no longer braced myself for the grinding bone-on-bone pain that had plagued me for several years , and gone was the slight limp that a friend had respectfully dubbed my “ pimp walk ”. Reflecting upon that morning , I walked with a sense of awe , the magnitude of my blessing gripped me in waves . As I strolled , I welled up with tears and under the cover of the light rain audibly repeated the mantra Thank you , God ! Thank you , God ! Without pain , I could refocus my energy .
Shortly after the 2008 presidential inauguration , I pivoted and finally faced my fear of undergoing surgery and had my ravaged right hip joint replaced . The post hip replacement drugs were potent , and I felt no pain . This liberated me to freely rehab my replaced joint , focus on sets of leg raises , leg rotations , balancing exercises and the gait training necessary to recover and learn to retrain my body to bear my weight evenly .
As the film of pain over my life was lifted , I refocused on polishing my memoir , Sweet Liberia , Lessons from the Coal Pot , so that it could be published . I had no idea how I would publish my book , but my gut told me it would be published .
I have always been a writer . I began as a little girl , writing stories in my head even before I had the temerity to put pen to paper . I was anxious to resume writing for pleasure and to publish the slew of short stories about my family ’ s life in Liberia , West Africa , that had morphed into my memoir . My family ’ s saga was stewing on my laptop , like a well-seasoned pot of gumbo while the pain that had been a barrier to almost
Susan D . Peters
everything other than eating and making a living reigned .
I had tried to find a publisher . I had mailed dozens of proposals to agents and received a folder full of rejection letters . My sister and I had flown to New York in 2007 to attend BookExpo America , and I had almost snagged a New York agent , when , through a cruel twist of fate , that opportunity disappeared . Had her interest been a mirage ? When the offer was rescinded , I was discouraged and filled with self-doubt . Maybe my book wasn ’ t any good .
Having lived in Liberia for 11 years during , I had fed , housed , educated and clothed five children in a country that was , unbeknown to us , spiraling towards a civil war . The faith and optimism that had been battle tested in Liberia reemerged .
In early 2010 , I became reacquainted with national bestselling author , editor , and self-publishing Guru Lissa Woodson ( Naleighna Kai ). Ironically , we had initially met in the African American Author ’ s area at BookExpo America . But it was her cocky presentation on the merits of self-publishing at the Carter G . Woodson Library that would set me on a rapid-fire course to self-publish .
By May of 2010 , Lissa had edited my book , led 54 | NKLC Magazine