Have you ever read a book that changed your life?

Please give a huge welcome to Hilary Grossman. (Waits for clapping to subside) Hilary is the Spotlight Author for Rave Reviews Book Club. She has joined us today to tell us how a single book can motivate you in ways you may never expect.

Thank you for stopping by today, Hilary. Please tell us how you came to write your story.

Have you ever read a book that changed your life?  I did….

Five years ago I was scrolling through Facebook and stumbled upon a post written by a girl that I went to high school with.  She was asking for recommendations for books to read.  Another high school friend suggested Bitter Is The New Black by Jen Lancaster.  Also in the market for a good read, I immediately downloaded the book to my Kindle and started reading.

I didn’t know anything about the book or the author. If I recall correctly I didn’t even read the blurb on Amazon.  I just trusted the recommendation and started reading…

As I read Jen’s first memoir my eyes were opened to a new world.  I am embarrassed to admit that before reading this book I didn’t know what a blog or a memoir was.  But that soon changed.

Motivated by her writing, I decided it was time to stop dreaming of one day sharing my story about my attempt to convert the ultimate commitment phobic man into a husband!  My first step in transforming my dream into reality was launching my blog, Feeling Beachie, as a form of practice to see if I had the wherewithal to write regularly and to determine if anyone would be interested in what I had to say.  Slowly but surely, I developed a loyal following, and my confidence grew.  After attending a BlogHer conference in New York I took the plunge and began writing my story….

Oddly enough, initially writing it was easy. After all, I have told it hundreds of times over the years.  I am the type of person who can share my life story with the person in line in front of  me at the grocery store. I couldn’t wait for the weekend to come so that I could park myself in front of my laptop and pound out my story.  But after my first draft was completed I hired a professional editor to review the manuscript.  When she returned the pages to me over and over she wrote the same word… WHY?

And that is when things changed and the writing got hard.  She forced me to look deep inside and        contemplate and share the experiences and the emotions that made me who I am.  It was like going through intense therapy.  So many times I was unable to see my monitor through my tears as I relived painful events of my past such as my father’s death when I was fourteen.   But I also relieved many wonderful times, times that made me smile and laugh out loud.

So in the end a book not only prompted me to accomplish my dream it also resulted in me understanding myself better.  My biggest hope for Dangled Carat is that it can have a possitive affect on someone’s life. There are so many people who experience what I did, dating a commitment-phobe. I want them to feel like they aren’t alone, and I want them to feel confident that they can trust their hearts instead of their friends and families well intended advice.

I’m certain Hilary’s book, Dangled Carat, will also help those who read it.

Dangled Carat is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble

For every girl who wondered if she should love him or dump him…..

For every girl who listened to her heart instead of her friends advice….

For every girl who l wondered if she was wasting her time dating that guy….

meet Hilary….

Hilary Grossman dated a guy so commitment-phobic  that she was able to write a book about their relationship. She is currently the CFO of a beverage alcohol importer and lives on Long Island.

You can connect with Hilary on her blog Feeling Beachie on Twitter or on Facebook