We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cheryl Battle-Freeman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Cheryl thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
Becoming a published author has been a rewarding, learning experience. There have of course been obstacles. When I started my journey to become a published author, the passion and purpose were in place, but I had no idea how much time, money, effort, and patience would be required to see my vision come to fruition. I initially had to decide which route I wanted to pursue. While being a traditionally published author sounded wonderful, and while I was given hope that such a path might be possible because of the nature of my story, the one thing that I did not want was for the essence of my story to be changed, which I was told could happen. After not giving much thought to pursuing being picked up by a traditional publishing house, I decided to pursue self-publishing for my book. That’s when the work really began. Once I finally had a completed manuscript, I moved forward with having my work edited, type-set, and formatted. Much more than I imagined was required to take my work from manuscript to book form. For example, I then needed to hire a graphic artist for the front, back, and spine cover design. In need of a website for marketing my book, I also needed to research, find, and hire a website builder. Again- time, money, effort, and patience were needed for the next 12 months. While the process was not smooth from beginning to end, it was definitely worth the effort! I revised my manuscript several times, changed graphic artists/designers more than once, and had to rethink the look, design, and functionality of my website several times, going back and forth with my website builder who lived out of the country. In the end, however, the finished product for my first book was more than I hoped for, and my website was finally what I envisioned. I could not have completed my project without, first and foremost, God and secondly, without the help of wonderful, gifted professionals, including other self-published authors, who selflessly gave of their time and energy to help bring my dream to pass. Since self-publishing my first book, I’ve also felt the charge to assist others considering, or actually following, the same path. It has been very rewarding ‘paying it forward’ out of my gratitude for those who’ve poured into my life.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Hello everyone, my name is Cheryl Battle-Freeman. I’m a recently published author, and the title of my book is “No Ordinary Sunday…Based on a True Story”. Born in Texas, I am a native Houstonian. I initially resided on the north side of Houston and eventually moved to the south side of town, where I’ve lived for almost 50 years. I share my home with three beautiful daughters, ages 23, 21, and 16. I graduated from the University of Houston where I majored in Biology, and minored in Psychology. After receiving a B.S. in Biology, I served the residents of Harris County for over 27 years as a public health professional, with my primary role revolving around laboratory work and leadership. I retired from that gratifying career to pursue my lifelong dream of publishing my book, which took me more than 17 years to write.
My book, “No Ordinary Sunday…Based on a True Story” was released on January 27, 2024, and is now one of the greatest driving forces behind my passion to spread mental health awareness as I share my personal story. In my book, I’m very transparent as I relay a horrific tragedy that occurred in my family. On August 26, 1973, life for my family and me changed forever. My mother, who struggled with mental illness for many years, became hopeless and devised a plan to take not only her life, but also the lives of everyone in our family, which included my dad, me (I was 6 years old at the time), and my brothers, who were 9 and 5 years old. Sadly, my 9-year-old brother George’s life was taken. Being one of the first ones on the scene after my mother ended my brother’s life, I carried the heart-wrenching details of that day for many years not knowing how to process what happened.
After becoming aware of and addressing my mental health challenges because of adverse childhood experiences, I’m on a mission to open more dialogue about mental health to ‘SILENCE THE STIGMA AND ADDRESS THE UNADDRESSED’. According to USA Today/State of Mental Health in America Report, statistics for mental illness in the U.S. for 2024 are as follows: “Over 20% of American adults (more than 50 million) experience some sort of mental illness every year. More than half of U.S. adults with a mental illness (55%) are not getting treatment. 1 in 6 kids ages six to 17 in the U.S. experience a mental health disorder. Suicide remains the second-leading cause of death among all U.S. children ages 10 to 14.” Many reasons are given for people not seeking help for mental health disorders and issues. In our family, because of shame and a lack of knowledge about mental illness, we didn’t openly talk about what happened to the point of healthy processing. Now having taken personal steps to address the things that have impacted my mental health, in addition to my book, I openly and candidly share the details of our family tragedy from various platforms, including radio interviews, podcasts, and in-person speaking engagements. My mother sought help from close friends, sharing with them what she planned to do that fateful Sunday; however, her friends did not know what to do with what my mother had shared, or how to help her. I hope to help and guide anyone who needs mental health resources in similar situations.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
While sharing my story is a vital part of my mission of putting more private, as well as public focus on mental health awareness, I also envision establishing an organization that would offer webinars, workshops, conferences, etc. to provide valuable mental health resources and education for individuals, families, and students, including early education, high school, and college students. The statistics given at the beginning of this interview regarding mental health statistics in the U.S. are alarming and we must address them with greater intentionality and purpose, making help more readily available for those in need of mental health services. With intention and purpose, I desire to be part of such a move.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
As a woman of faith, the encouragement and help that I’m able to offer others, and the overwhelming responses to my book, interviews, and speaking engagements that I receive are the most rewarding aspects of being an author and speaker. I’ve received comments from family, friends, and strangers alike, expressing how my story has helped, inspired, and encouraged them, especially when it comes to there being hope for those struggling with mental health challenges. A few of such comments, a couple of which are online reviews, are as follows:
“This book share{s} the story of a mentally ill woman who took the life of her son. The book will provide you an insight on dealing with and accepting mental illness. It tells how she {the author} forgave and grow stronger in her faith. Its a must read to understand how her family dealt with such a tragic event without hurting and blaming one another.” (Amazon.com)
“I am in the process of reading your book NO ORDINARY SUNDAY. I must stop here and say THANK YOU, THANK YOU FOR TELLING YOUR STORY, THANK YOU FOR LETTING GOD USE YOU IN A WAY THAT MANY OF US CAN RELATE TO. I PRAY THAT GOD CONTINUE TO BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.”
“Very powerful and uplifting”
“Inspirational and Healing” (Walmart.com)
The above words, and many others shared with me continue to fuel my desire to touch the world with my purpose and story. By far, one of my proudest moments regarding this endeavor was when my book was finally complete and listed on Amazon and Barnes and Noble for purchase. I not only want my story to stimulate dialogue about mental health on a local level, but on national, and global levels as well.
Contact Info:
- Website: HTTPS://Noordinarysunday.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cherylbattlefreeman?igsh=MW92ajNvYTRydTE0MQ==
Image Credits
Raise The Praise 100, FIYAH with HOST YIELDED