Simple Is Better – Coming Soon . . . My Grief Book!

Psalm 119:28: My spirit sags because of grief. Now raise me up according to your promise!

Gratitude Day 956

My life has turned out so differently than I expected. As a young girl, dreams of my future life did not include becoming a pastor, walking with people on their spiritual journeys or seeing myself as one would preside over funerals, weddings and baptisms. Often, God has a sense of humor and we find ourselves in a much different place in life than expected.

Another aspect of my life that I never anticipated? Becoming a writer. More specifically, an author. While I have written for decades, the thought that I would actually publish a book with MY NAME on the cover? Not ever on my bucket list.

Yet, it happened. The fall of 2019, I published my first book, The Mary Experiment: When Doing and Being Collide. The topic of this book was placed squarely on my heart by God. I stepped back from full-time pastoral ministry to write it. When those first books arrived at my house and I opened the box, it was quite emotional. My name. On a book cover. My words. Written inside. I could hardly believe it.

Interestingly, the topic for a potential second book was birthed during the process of writing my first book. My dear friend Jo participated in a focus group for The Mary Experiment where a group of women shared background information for the book. When the focus group concluded, Jo pulled me aside. She said that after I wrote this first book, I needed to write a layperson’s book about grief.

Grief. Seriously? Talk about a word that can quiet a room fast. When mentioned, everyone speaks in hushed tones because who wants to admit that grief is part of their lives? It’s the emotions and feelings we keep carefully sequestered because admitting we struggle with hurt and disappointment is, well, just too hard.

Grief. There are plenty other books about grief. Why me? What do I have to say about this challenging topic? Months later, I asked Jo this very question. I hadn’t fully convinced myself this should be my next book project. It was during the COVID pandemic when everyone experienced some form of grief. Jo and I talked about it. I prayed over it. Slowly, I warmed up to the idea. It took months before I started formulating a possible outline. I read tons of grief books. I wrote some words and an outline. I shared these with a few friends and wondered aloud if this made sense.

Honestly? Pulling together the words in this book has taken a long time. Years. Way longer than I expected. Why? Because writing an honest book about grief meant looking inside of myself and coming to grips about where I have experienced grief. How it affected my life, changed my life path and altered the lens through which I view life. I’ve rewritten, edited, cut and rewrote so many chapters of this book that I lost count. Reading and listening to other people’s grief stories has changed me. Slowly, I see that sharing some of my stories and views on grief might be helpful to someone else. This is what spurred me to finish the book and what I pray will help those who read it.

Let me introduce you to Unraveling Together: Sharing the Threads of Grief. This book is written for people who have struggled with grief; all kinds of grief. Grief isn’t meant to be carried alone and encourages us to find people to journey with us through pain and disappointment. Grief doesn’t have to have the last word in our lives. Joy and pain can exist together. Sorrow and gratitude can be held together. I believe God meets us in all of our pain and weaves threads of healing into our story.

I also know that authors need a community of people to support, engage and be a part of their projects. This is where I’m asking for your help. It takes a community to share a book and I would love to have you be part of this!

Would You Join the Unraveling Grief: Sharing the Threads Together Community?

Self-published authors depend upon others to help them launch their book into the world. Here  are a few ways that I invite you to consider helping me as I prepare to launch this book:

• Become part of my Launch Team. If you feel the topic of this book speaks to you and you would like to help spread the news about this book, please join my Launch Team. Launch Team members are committed to reading the book before mid-October. An early copy of the book will be available to Launch Team members. When the book is launched, I will ask you to download a Kindle copy of the book from Amazon AND post a review of the book online. It is not necessary to own a Kindle to download the book. You can use a Kindle reader to access the book. Launch Team members will help promote the book in other ways. Most importantly, Launch Team members will help with the book BEFORE it is actually released. If you are interested in joining the Launch Team, please send me an e-mail at diannevielhuber@gmail.com. I will begin communicating directly with Launch Team members very soon.

• If you want to support my book but in a less involved role, please join the Pre-Release Team. I will personally let these team members know when the book is available online. The first few days, the Kindle version will be very cheap. I’ll keep you in the loop about when it is available and how you can get a copy. Providing a review would also be very helpful! Join the Pre-Release Team by emailing me at diannevielhuber@gmail.com.  

• Invite me to speak to a group that you are affiliated with. This could be at a church, with a book club, a small group or just a group of friends. I would love to share some of my story, encourage others to explore their grief stories and grow from this. A free journal/study guide will be available for groups to explore the book together. Please invite me to share within a group that you feel would benefit from my words.  

• Join one of my book launch events. These are still being planned. If you don’t follow me on social media, you can do so on Facebook at Dianne Deaton Vielhuber or Simple Words of Faith. On Instagram, I can be found at diannedeatonvielhuber. As launch events are determined, I’ll share on my social media when and where they will be.

If grief has been a part of your life, Unraveling Together: Sharing the Threads of Grief will help you. Yes, grief is a hard topic. I pray that the words in this book and the stories of so many who are woven into this book will resonate with others. This book is a compassionate companion for a journey through grief. We heal best when we heal together. May I invite you to be a part of the sharing of these words I pray can help so many.

Dear God – You know the grief stories that are a part of the person’s life who are reading these words. You know their pain and disappointments. Their challenges and their sorrow. Open up their heart to want to explore these difficult grief moments. May we see that unraveling our grief together can help us discover more about ourselves, faith and You. Amen.

Blessings –

Dianne

Loving God – Thank you for being the One True Vine that is the branch of life. May we remain connected to You and to those who are so important to us. May You unconditional love for us inspire how we love those we call special in our lives. Amen.

Looking for a bit of daily inspiration? Check out my daily affirmation posts on Facebook and Instagram (Dianne Deaton Vielhuber and Simple Words of Faith.)

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