I've often heard the phrase, "write what you know," and in this particular case, for my first novel, This Time, that's exactly what I did. See, the main character, Charlie Blake, and I have something in common. Endometriosis. It affects so many women in the world yet it isn't often discussed.
Simply put, it's a disease in which tissue, similar to the lining of the uterus, grows outside of the uterus. It's estimated that more than 740,000 Australian women suffer from endometriosis at some point in their life.
It can cause many problems including severe pelvic pain and fertility damage. Although it usually affects the reproductive organs, it can spread to the bowel and bladder.
There is no cure for endometriosis. The alternatives to ease this debilitating disease are laparoscopic surgery or hysterectomies - ridding the body of this dangerous, extra tissue.
A few years ago I had a laparoscopy which was booked in immediately after having an ultrasound which showed I had endometriosis. Fortunately the operation was successful. And although there was much more tissue than my gynaecologist originally suspected, she was able to destroy all of the endometrium. There's always the high possibility of the tissue growing back, however it's been a few years now and I'm still feeling the improvement.
I feel grateful that with the publication of my book I was able to shed a little light on it and spread some awareness.
If you, or someone you know, suffers from this disease, there are support groups and pages out there: