The monologues featured five distinct human portraits revealing deep and diverse slices of life. Recently on The View, Whoopi explained that she kept those characters in her head and drew inspiration from people she saw. There was something about the way she said it that caught my attention.

In so many ways, I was fortunate; I didn't die, and I knew there was something I needed to learn. My body was speaking loudly and clearly, showing me that my internal environment needed tending. At any minute, how are we feeling and thinking? How does our body feel? Does anything register within us? It should.

Despite many edits, I just didn't know how to write yet, so didn't avoid common pitfalls that befall first-time writers: wordiness, "telling" not "showing", character head hopping, misuse of dialogue tags, misplaced modifiers, forgetting the timeline (or bouncing around in time), and the dreaded passive voice. They let me know what I needed to do to get my book back on track. I am truly indebted to them for their time and expertise.