Nancy Illman On Books And Writing

For my latest author interview, I turned to Nancy Illman; she wears a lot of hats, including as an artist and a hypnotherapist.

Illman is author of the memoir “Instigator of Joy.” She resides in Takoma Park.

This interview has been edited lightly.

Would you tell me a little bit about your new book?

My book is both the result of my personal growth and the story of my inner journey, tracing how I allowed myself to be cut off from joy and from my own personal power and how I found my way back to both.

It is intended to inspire others to heal, to grow, to connect with their highest self, to find their “True North,” to prioritize joy and possibly, even to write their own memoir. I was urged to write it for many years, by my spiritual advisor, Miriam, who passed away before it was published. Miriam told me that while it might be a lot of work, if it helped one person change their life, it would be worth all my trouble, and I believe that to be true.

How long did it take to write? Do you have a writing routine?

After trying to host a friend for a writing retreat at my house I figured out two big things: writing is solitary and I need to be truly alone to get a lot of work done and also, I need to get away from my house and its many distractions.

So, I got myself invited to one-person writing retreats–first, in my friend’s guest room in Boston for two weeks, then a year later, three weeks in my friend’s apartment in East Harlem where I cared for her three cats while she traveled.

I wrote an entire draft during each of these retreats. I worked about eight hours a day, sometimes more. I took breaks for walks and did very little else. I was massively productive, basically obsessed.

After each retreat, this was my weekday routine, back at home:

Get up early, tend to the other creatures in my home (usually just my husband, cat and dog, sometimes an adult kid or two), go the gym for an early workout (on alternating days), then either paint a mural or do a mosaic or lead a spiritual hypnosis for a client, until midday.

Then, I would shower, have lunch and get to work on the book for one, two, two and a half or even three hours.

The shower, I find, is the best place to reset my brain.

There were also long breaks, during which my editor would read what I had sent her, and then I would just dream about the writing, or think about it (somewhere between casually and obsessively) without actually writing.

I also devoted some hypnosis sessions to questions I had about the book. During other sessions, I received messages that affected the process. For example, I was led, by a series of hypnosis sessions, to investigate my ancestry and made a huge DNA discovery that sparked some more healing and a shift in my self-concept.

So the book took about two years to write, but I had begun it 17 years earlier, and workshopped it at Antioch in Yellow Springs, Ohio, as well as at Women Writing for (a) Change in Cincinnati, Ohio, after which I put it away for years to focus on personal growth and bringing up my kids. So, I resumed writing the book in earnest the same week that my youngest child started college.

How did you go about getting the book published?

I never sent my manuscript to an agent or publisher or whatever it is that people do when they want someone else to publish their book. I just published it myself, meaning that I hired an editor, then a proofreader, a graphic designer for the covers, an interior designer and finally, an audio engineer. It is published in paperback, ebook and audiobook formats.

Any new writing projects in the works?

My new writing project in the works is a book currently called “Astral Playdates; Messages Received During Spiritual Hypnosis.”

I am working on the book together with my hypnosis colleague who is also a trauma therapist and energy medicine practitioner and lives in Pennsylvania.

We hear so many messages from our hypnosis clients–and from each other, when we exchange sessions–that resonate powerfully for us and which we feel would be valuable to so many. So when this happens, we have started asking clients if they would mind if we share some of the wisdom that comes up in their session.