Cobourg author publishes a specially inspired book

By Cecilia Nasmith

When authors say that a book idea just came to them, we call it inspiration.
But what would you call it in the case of Cobourg author Helen Slade, who claims the entire first book she has just published came to her? For lack of a better term, she describes it as taking dictation. And the result is Hailee's Awakening.

At 33, Hailee is one of those women who seems to have everything.
“What society would deem as what everyone would want – family, excessive wealth, that sort of thing,” the author said.

“The whole story, I guess, is born from the idea that there is something much deeper that's important, more important than all the things we tend to think of as important.”

A crucial change happens to Hailee right on the first page in the first paragraph, when she is involved in a car accident.

Amid the crunch of metal and the reek of gasoline, she must face the possibility of death. And she literally does die for a bit, but comes back. Undergoing the flat-line experience changes how she carries on with her life from that point on.

The jumping around that Slade dislikes in some books is absent in Hailee's story. It begins with the life-changing trauma of her near-death, then the back story brings you up to speed leading up to the accident, then there's the story of her life beyond the accident.

The book came to her – literally came to her – during a trip out west in 2020 to help with a family emergency. Because of her husband's eye issues, she was the sole driver, running down the miles as they listened to audiobooks. And the thought occurred to her - “if I ever wrote a book, I would just grab people right in the first paragraph.”

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Cobourg author Helen Slade

At that point, the first paragraph just came to her as if it were being dictated inside her head.

“I thought, 'I better write this down before it fades away,' so as soon as we stopped, I pulled out my laptop and wrote what came into my mind,” she recalled.

Thereafter, the words kept coming, like dictation, and she kept writing them down – even though her analytic mind kept nagging her about things like formats, plot lines, character development, an appropriate ending.

“I said, 'Let's see what occurs when I let this thing flow through me.'

“Whenever we stopped, when we got out west, I just let it flow. And when I got home, it kept flowing. Things would occur over my morning coffee, and I would tell my husband, 'You won't believe what just happened in the book!'

“I let go completely of needing to control this process and let it flow.”

Then, once it was complete, Slade researched how to get it published. She took a few on-line workshops and started months and months of sending query letters – and endured months and months of replies that all essentially said, “Thank you, it's lovely but it's not what we're looking for.”

She had heard somewhere that getting 100 rejection letters is nothing. She had racked up about 35 when she discovered something new beyond the typical first-time author's self-publishing or hybrid-publishing – a Fortune 500 publishing company called Mindstir Media, offering package deals to would-be published writers.

“You get to pick from these different bundles which allow you various levels of access to their team – editing team, marketing team, PR team. They work with me, but I get to call the shots. And in return, I'm getting a much higher royalty percentage,” she said.

Their packages run from $1,500 to $12,000 US (“where famous celebrities are promoting your book”), and she chose somewhere in the middle.

“They already have the strategic alliances with Amazon and on-line book outlets,” Slade said, pointing out that Hailee's Awakening is available on Amazon.

For the creative artist, the business side of things can be difficult.

“I didn't have the faculty or capacity to be the publisher as well. This was the perfect answer,” she said.

Slade reflected that her professional credentials are far removed from the business world.

“For years I ran a yoga studio in town, did a lot of life coaching, sharing insightful methods with people to help navigate life, feel much more at ease and empowered, and that's woven into the story,” she said.

“I imagined in the past I would write a book that's more nonfiction. I wasn't expecting this. It was literally dictated to me, so I took dictation.”

Slade ended up transcribing a story with spiritual tones, “infused with moments of adventure, suspense and ecstasy. It's quite inspiring, especially considering all the turbulence in the world right now.”

While these inspirational philosophies are woven into the story, she added, it's in a playful way, with all the typical plot devices – sex, twists and turns – that would be in one's favourite novel.

“It keeps you going as you read,” she said.

“It takes the reader by the hand and pulls him into Hailee's experiences.”

At 300 pages, she said, “it's a beautiful summer read.”

And it's an experience she wants to repeat, as she has begun a sequel.

“I want to keep writing – I don't want it to end,” she declared.

Rather than tackle a new book, she loves the familiarity of Hailee's world and is at work on the story of what happens in the years beyond where Hailee's Awakening leaves off.

Keep your eyes peeled for Hailee's Becoming, which Slade is busy working on now.