What Inspired this Book?
'My New Best Frenemy' is the story of Natalie Tyler, a young woman with big dreams who has just been through a serious break up, and is attempting to get herself back on track towards her career goals.
One of the major plot points in this story is that Natalie battles a chronic illness called celiac disease. The disease, which is one of the chronic illnesses that I battle, is an immune disorder that is debilitating and downright annoying. If left untreated, it can lead to stomach cancer and death. Celiac, I've found, will insidiously affect nearly every aspect of your life- from what you can eat, to your mood, to your energy level, and to the way others perceive you. *If you have a weak stomach, please skip the next two paragraphs below. They're a little gross.* Early on in my diagnosis, I spent many nights vomiting repeatedly. Literally, the entire night was spent in the bathroom in this horrible condition. And since this would happen every single night, I couldn't take off from work or my other responsibilities. I'd still have to find a way to function the next day. |
There are a lot of foods that you can't eat when you have celiac. Though doctors generally tell celiac patients to avoid eating anything with even a drop of gluten in it, most people with celiac discover that they also have to avoid a number of other foods. If they don't, they find themselves with the world's worst cases of diarrhea and/or constipation. And I'm talking about bathroom problems that require taking a couple of days off work and a visit to the ER. This is usually accompanied by severe brain fog as well as unsightly and itchy rashes on the chest, stomach, and sometimes legs. Fortunately, the rashes go away quickly, but the bathroom problems are THE WORST.
**The gross, TMI paragraphs are over now.**
And the thing about celiac disease is that -except for the rashes on occasion- you can't really see any signs of it in a person's appearance.
One outward change that others may observe is that the celiac patient begins to lose a lot of weight- and this kind of weight loss is something that most cultures within America perceive as a "good" thing.
So, one thing that happened to me was when I was getting sicker and losing weight was that some of my friends were telling me I looked better than ever. One even implied that my illness was in my head, because I "looked fine," and then later implied that I had an eating disorder due my weight loss.
Many people with chronic illnesses (not just celiac) deal with these kinds of comments. They constantly face doubt and gaslighting from friends and family members who don't understand their condition and believe they're exaggerating their symptoms for attention or to cover up some sort of eating disorder.
After this happened to me to such a degree that it sort of threw my life of course for a bit, I decided to weave this element into Natalie Tyler's story.
In the book, Natalie is befriended by an older woman who outwardly appears to be very kind and generous but who has several deep-seated issues that trigger an intense hatred of Natalie. So, throughout the story, Natalie's new "friend" deliberately plants seeds of doubt in Natalie's mind. Questions like, "Are you really sick? Or is this all in your head?" and "Could you be exaggerating your symptoms?" are repeatedly insinuated.
When this continues, it creates a perfect storm that ends in a highly traumatic situation.
While this story is very close to my heart, because it comes from a very real place, I'll admit that the book has its flaws.
I must apologize to anyone who reads "My New Best Frenemy," because due to my financial situation, I wasn't able to hire an editor and after publishing the book, I found several glaring typos.
I'm so, terribly sorry about that and should my financial situation change, I will try and republish a typo-free version of "My New Best Frenemy."
Thank you for hanging in there with your nerdy (and kinda poor) author friend lol!
Best,
Paula
**The gross, TMI paragraphs are over now.**
And the thing about celiac disease is that -except for the rashes on occasion- you can't really see any signs of it in a person's appearance.
One outward change that others may observe is that the celiac patient begins to lose a lot of weight- and this kind of weight loss is something that most cultures within America perceive as a "good" thing.
So, one thing that happened to me was when I was getting sicker and losing weight was that some of my friends were telling me I looked better than ever. One even implied that my illness was in my head, because I "looked fine," and then later implied that I had an eating disorder due my weight loss.
Many people with chronic illnesses (not just celiac) deal with these kinds of comments. They constantly face doubt and gaslighting from friends and family members who don't understand their condition and believe they're exaggerating their symptoms for attention or to cover up some sort of eating disorder.
After this happened to me to such a degree that it sort of threw my life of course for a bit, I decided to weave this element into Natalie Tyler's story.
In the book, Natalie is befriended by an older woman who outwardly appears to be very kind and generous but who has several deep-seated issues that trigger an intense hatred of Natalie. So, throughout the story, Natalie's new "friend" deliberately plants seeds of doubt in Natalie's mind. Questions like, "Are you really sick? Or is this all in your head?" and "Could you be exaggerating your symptoms?" are repeatedly insinuated.
When this continues, it creates a perfect storm that ends in a highly traumatic situation.
While this story is very close to my heart, because it comes from a very real place, I'll admit that the book has its flaws.
I must apologize to anyone who reads "My New Best Frenemy," because due to my financial situation, I wasn't able to hire an editor and after publishing the book, I found several glaring typos.
I'm so, terribly sorry about that and should my financial situation change, I will try and republish a typo-free version of "My New Best Frenemy."
Thank you for hanging in there with your nerdy (and kinda poor) author friend lol!
Best,
Paula