The Journey
The terrible Tuesday began in therapy, when Judy suggested I write down the events of that day, as I found it so difficult to speak about them and was unsure If I could speak about them in court. So I bought a journal and began writing part one, The Act. I cried throughout the first draft, which was full of swear words and spelling mistakes and looked incredible messy on paper and so I decided to transfer it to my laptop and type from here on in. I worked on part one for about a year, while going to see Judy a couple of times a week, never reading over what I had written and promising myself never to go back and change the essence of what was there as it reflected how I truly felt about it all in the beginning.
I had a bit of a writing break after the trial, but in my second year of recovery, took to writing part two, The Trial. I found it extremely helpful in processing the trial as a whole, which was an undeniably stressful time despite the positive outcome, not just for me, but for everyone involved in the process which is reflected nicely in this part of the book. I was really struggling with my recovery at this time and continued to see Judy but kept my writing to myself and wouldn’t let anyone read it.
Once finished part two, I went back to the beginning to edit (Draft two) and was fairly happy with it as a personal project and decided to leave the writing and focus on my recovery. I met my partner, had my first baby and stopped going to see Judy for a couple of years. Once my daughter was born and I was exhausted of trying to make it on my own, I high-tailed it back to see Judy and commenced the writing, once again.
I began writing part three, The Recovery, five years after the terrible Tuesday and despite being back in therapy, this was my favourite part to write. I started calling it “The Manuscript” and realised that the relationship I had with Judy had become a loose theme throughout all three parts and that my road to recovery might be worth sharing with other people who found themselves in a similar situation to myself.
I shared my writing with Judy and we discussed it in detail and it was a joy to come to the end of part three, which I thought at that time, was the end of the story. This took me into my seventh year of recovery and I was incredibly proud of having finished it at all. I half thought of having it published at that time, but decided to go through it all again from the beginning- (Draft 3).
Once the seventh anniversary had come and gone and draft three became draft four and then draft five and Judy and I parted ways for the last time, a printed copy of the manuscript gathered dust on my bookshelf as I looked into the publishing process which scared the life out of me. Charlie Brown’s departure and having to move out of my cottage propelled me into writing part four, which couldn’t be completed until after my trip to London at the tenth anniversary of the terrible Tuesday. It was ready bar the last chapter for almost a year and whilst I decided on Balboa Press for a supportive self publishing package.
Draft five became draft 6 and after an editorial assessment draft six became draft seven and I totally despaired at ever being finished with it and able to see it as an actual book and not a work in progress. Once final editing was completed it took very little time in production and I had the artwork for the front cover commissioned and was almost ready to go.
Judy had never read part four and it was with extreme joy that I booked myself in to see her to give her a copy of The Terrible Tuesday in print.. an actual book.. yippee..