Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nadia Bruce-Rawlings. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Nadia, thanks for joining us today. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

This is a difficult question for sure! Thirty years ago I would have thought my legacy would be just sorrow over a wasted life, an addict and alcoholic’s failures. Now, with 25 years sober, I like to think my legacy would be one of good deeds and helping others. I try to sponsor people in my 12-step program and to help people that have addiction problems overcome those issues. I hope that my books have touched people’s lives in some way. I know that when Lois Berg and I did our performance of “Battered but not Broken” at the Dark Horse Theater in Nashville, audience members came up to me after and said that I had inspired them to try to change their lives too. People who have read my books have told me that they could relate so well to some of my stories, and that it gave them hope. I love being of service to others.

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?

So I used to work in the film industry, in Business Affairs for foreign distribution. But in my heart I always wanted to be a writer, to write short stories in particular. Prior to working in film, I had a bad run with drugs and alcohol – I was always an alcoholic, but I eventually became addicted to crack cocaine and spent four years in my late twenties smoking crack and shoplifting to support my habit. It was a very, very bad time. I became homeless, I spent a lot of time in jail, ending up with two felonies for commercial burglary. I finally agreed to go to Rehab – I went to Alcoholism Center for Women in Los Angeles, where I lived for 6 months rebuilding my life. It was a life-saving program for me. I got out, got pregnant two weeks later, and became a single mother working full time in the film biz. I went to 12-step meetings, worked and took care of my lovely daughter.

In my spare time, I wrote short stories. One day I took a chance and sent one of them to Iris Berry, co-owner of Punk Hostage Press. It took six months but she eventually got back to me and told me she wanted to publish a book of my stories! I was blown away, to say the least. I gathered together all my writing, and together we worked on it and within a few months Punk Hostage Press published my first book, SCARS. It was my dream come true. I even got fan mail! About four years later they published my second book, DRIVING IN THE RAIN.

My writing has primarily been memoir, short stories and poems. The work is very personal and vulnerable. I was scared as to how my neighbors might judge me after SCARS was first published – once they learned my secrets, so to speak. However, although many people said the work was intense, pretty much everyone was positive about it. I have received fan mail, I have received great reviews. I hope that my work inspires others to fight their abuse and addictions, to know that there is a way out, there is a way to change one’s life.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I think getting sober and becoming a single mom best illustrates my resilience. I had a good life/career/home prior to discovering crack, but I was definitely a chaotic alcoholic. Once I discovered crack, my life plummeted to hell. I went from having a decent career in the film distribution industry and a lovely apartment and car, to being a homeless, out-of-work felon with no belongings whatsoever. No one from my past would speak to me. I weighed 95lbs (and I was 5’8″). I was a disaster.

I agreed to go to rehab, though I thought I would only stay a week or so and then get on with my life. I ended up staying for the duration of the 6-month residential program. It saved my life. I then moved into a sober-living home, and started working again in film, but this time as a file clerk, a far fall from my previous life as a Director of International Sales.

Two weeks after graduating from Rehab, I got pregnant by a man whom I had known for 14 years, but who left as soon as the pregnancy test showed positive. I became a single mom at the about 18 months sober, to a beautiful little girl who is now 24. When I came back from my five whole weeks of maternity leave, my boss promoted me to Vice-President of Business Affairs! My life was changing rapidly for the better, all due to being sober. I worked hard, I was a single mom with no real family to help with my daughter, I was going to 12-step meetings, I was working 10 hour days and raising my daughter as well.

And I did it. I stayed sober, I stayed employed, and I raised a wonderful human being. I’m very proud of myself.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I have always wanted to be a writer. I had a high school English teacher, Joel Chace, who really encouraged my writing, and I’ve never forgotten him. I couldn’t figure out how to make a living writing weird short stories though, and so I went into the film industry and became a business affairs professional. How boring – writing and editing contracts all day. I was good at it and very detail-oriented, but I was stressed and bored.

When my daughter was about 5, she asked me what I had always wanted to be when I grew up. I said, “a writer.” She, very sincerely, said, “Mommy, it’s not too late!!” But I still couldn’t figure out how to do it. Eventually, however, the arthritis in my spine became too much, and I had to have a serious surgery. The company I was consulting with at the time let me go (my lawyer had some things to say about that!), and I suddenly had a lot of time to write. Eventually I had about 10 surgeries on my spine and a few on my hips, and had to go on Disability. I now had time to write and to be creative.

My life obviously changed a great deal over those years – I faced a tremendous amount of pain and also a great loss in income. My husband (who I married when my daughter was about 12) has been an amazing help in all ways possible. But this enabled me to become a creative – and this has been so rewarding. My writing has touched others, I have received notes that people have been given so much hope from my writing, that they’ve found sobriety, etc. And I have time to spend with my family now. I am no longer stressed and bored from negotiating contracts all day. And the writing has been cathartic and therapeutic. All in all, it’s been extremely rewarding.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.nadiabrucerawlings.com
• Instagram: @nadiabrucerawlings
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadiabruce

Image Credits
Denise Cordner