Kate Navarra published her book A Lump in the Road: My Personal Journey with a Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS) Diagnosis with Modern Memoirs in 2021. She was referred to us by Bookflow, a cloud-based tool for writers. This Assisted Memoir took 6 months from the day Kate contacted us to the day books arrived on her doorstep, and eBook conversion was completed a month later. We asked Kate to reflect on her publication process and what it’s meant to share her books with others.
—Liz Sonnenberg
1. In the introduction to your book, you write, “Writing—shared or unshared—has always helped me better understand who I am.” How or why is that so?
Kate Navarra: I have been writing to share my feelings for as long as I can remember. In fact, when I was in middle and high school, I would journal all our family vacations, including all the sarcastic comments my teenaged self could come up with about traveling with my parents. During every trip I made to Alaska, either as a backpacker or later as an archaeologist with the National Park Service, I wrote daily, recording both what happened and my thoughts on what transpired.
I think I write more for myself than others, and this was true when I wrote my way through my journey with cancer. Sometimes writing made the worry disappear. Sometimes writing gave the things I was trying to say value and meaning.
2. You wrote a blog throughout your entire DCIS journey. What surprised you most about the difference between blog writing and memoir writing?
Kate Navarra: When I was first encouraged to blog, I opened a blank Word document and quickly typed everything from what I was feeling, to what I was making for dinner, including many swear words that came to mind. At that point, I was not sure I would make it public. But then I started thinking about how my words could potentially help someone dealing with the same questions and emotions I had. I subscribed to a website and started cutting and pasting what I had written into blog entries so I could share those immediate thoughts with people—and so my friends who were far away could be updated on what was going on with me.
When I started writing my memoir, I read and reread the blog and noticed that these snapshots or moments in time were not the whole story. I hadn’t had a chance to reflect on my journey. My thoughts needed to simmer. Writing a memoir was a chance to make those snapshots flow together and become more of a reflection on those initial thoughts and emotions.
3. In one of the blog entries that you share in your book, you reflect on the lyrics to the song “Rewrite the Story” from the TV show Smash. You describe it as “a song about renewal,” “about how someone can start over after feeling so lost.” In what way, if any, is your memoir a rewrite as opposed to a recording of your experience?
Kate Navarra: I think when you have a chance to reflect on what has happened to you, you can better understand your experience—and others’ experiences. When I wrote the blog I was recording things, but when I went back to look over what I had recorded, it gave me a chance to think about what others were going through along with me and to examine how others reacted to what was happening to me. I feel like every day we have a chance to start over, and for me “rewriting” my story is a rewrite of how I look back on it and what I gained from it. Cancer still happened to me, but writing about it gave me a new perspective and faith in the idea that I am stronger than I thought and I can do hard things.
4. You were encouraged by your support team to write this book as a resource for other women who need something “real,” “raw,” and “practical.” What sort of response have you gotten from readers?
Kate Navarra: I have had a few family members and close friends share that they had trouble sitting down to read the book because it was so hard to go through the first time and they felt like they were reliving the cancer journey over again. A few other friends have said they finished it in one sitting, and it was cathartic because they were able to see my journey in hindsight. One friend said, “It felt like you were right there beside me sharing your story. I know your book will help so many women!”
5. For you and others who have been through a cancer diagnosis, you write about “the inability to put into words how it has changed us.” You also say that through writing you found your voice, and through your voice you found strength. Have you encouraged other women who are on a similar journey to write, and has it helped them?
Kate Navarra: A friend of mine was diagnosed with an invasive DCIS six months ago and she has started a blog that discusses remarkably similar things that mine did, including procedures, what nurses discuss with her to distract her, etc. While I won’t say that her blogging is in response to mine, it seems like a very natural outlet to use to let people in while also keeping them at a distance to allow yourself to go through the journey and heal. Survivors have such huge support networks that it can be overwhelming to let everyone know how you are. A blog is a good place to update people in a safe space.
Interested in reading more? Readers can purchase Kate’s book at the link below: