As a member of the Global Sisterhood, I have been privileged this year to meet so many inspiring women who are changing the world for the better. One of these women is Kristie Knights, the vice president of the Sisterhood, who is a psychotherapist in the Pittsburgh area, as well as a new author with her first book to be released on December 14.

Her writing journey is based on her passion, so I wanted to share it with you, especially the coaches, experts, and those with inspiring stories who want to write a book. The impetus for her book—and the resulting nonprofit—was unusual. It began with a Facebook post.

When Kristie read a post by Lisa Mack-Finn, she felt compelled to take action. Lisa had chronic pain resulting from a concussion, and she was thinking about taking her own life. She saw a bottle of pills on her bedroom table, but when she heard her children playing downstairs, she walked past the pills and then posted about why she didn’t take them.

Ten minutes after reading this post, Kristie responded. Because Lisa’s post had been so powerful—invoking feelings of empowerment and inspiration—Kristie posted on Facebook, asking if anyone who has experienced suicidal thoughts or attempted suicide but survived would like to tell the story of how they overcame this dark point in their lives and went on to thrive.

Forty-eight people responded to Kristie’s post.

Although she had a huge list of eager participants for the book, she first had to address funding and a contract for the safety and wellbeing of the authors, as well as to protect Kristie from any liability. Around the time that Kristie first announced her intention to write the book, she fortuitously met attorney Victoria Cush, who encouraged her to set up the iRise non-profit for suicide prevention, which also made Kristie’s book eligible for pro bono work. Two weeks later, she applied to Victoria’s office and they went on to develop a contract that would protect both domestic and international authors, for no fee.

Kristie’s experience in therapy told her that she must include another piece to the process: a psychological screening for authors who were being interviewed for their story. She wanted to protect the participants and ensure that retelling their stories didn’t trigger post-traumatic trauma. Kristie was compelled to do all the interviews herself, despite other therapists sitting on the board who could have stepped in to help; she didn’t want another therapist to be affected by secondary post-trauma by hearing the stories, though.

For interviewing the authors, Kristie developed a set of questions that would make it easy to tease out their stories for the book. They move from general information about the author to the story of their darkest time, to recovery, to support for others, to inspiration. It’s an arc of mood, which pulls the reader close to the author immediately by hearing their difficulties and then lifts them up by reading about the triumph and what they can do to help others. The power in this style of storytelling is tangible. Here are Kristie’s questions.

• Share with us about you.  Just some background information.
• What makes it important to share your story now, rather than another time in the past?
• When did you first recognize the change in your mood?
• Did you reach out for support or help?  If so, to whom?
• At this time, how often did you have thoughts of suicide or harming yourself?
• Have you attempted suicide? If yes, ask next question. If no, skip next question.
• Please share what led to the decision to attempt suicide.
• If there are additional details you would like to share about your attempt, you may.  Please do not feel pressured.
• Share with us the steps you have found most successful to recover.
• Share with us your journey to triumph.
• What do you want people to know about those who feel suicide is their only choice?
• If you could speak directly to someone who is in the place you were, what would you say?
• What would you say to those who have not struggled?
• Share a favorite quote, bible verse, or mantra that you have used.

The tools she used were fairly simple and inexpensive for the entire interview process. An online scheduling program made scheduling more convenient for participants world-wide. With a reliable computer, she could use Zoom for interviews with either audio or audio and video. Next, with inexpensive headphones and a microphone, she used Transcribe.com—a free resource with 98% accuracy—to transcribe the interviews. (They only charge $20 per year for a license, if you want to use their paid version.)

From the initial field of 48 participants, 34 of their stories were included in the book. Through the psychological assessment, Kristie discovered that, although the authors were stronger than at the darkest time in their lives, they still needed help on their journeys to wellness. Because they were willing to share their story, though, Kristie was able to find them the extra help they need. She has invited all those who weren’t able to participate in this initial book to submit their chapter to a future publication, when they are ready. She plans to focus on specific demographics in upcoming works, including the military, teens, moms, and more, to create awareness around their mental health.

Kristie is pleasantly surprised to see the affect that this book has already had on those involved. Aside from her own joy from bringing attention to such a difficult subject, she has also witnessed empowerment among the writers. She has a Facebook group that the authors participate in where they can connect and lift each other up, and some of them have approached her about writing their own books about their experience. The process of telling their story for her book in just 1500 words was cathartic and liberating. “It gave the authors a level of value that they didn’t feel before.” For people who may suffer from lingering or oscillating depression, that is incredibly powerful.

When I asked Kristie about challenges with developing the book, she immediately mentioned financial hurdles. To publish your book professionally, you must invest in formatting, editing, graphic design for the cover, etc. Kristie launched a Kickstarter campaign which gained some momentum but couldn’t cover all the expenses. This is when Kate Gardner, publisher and owner of The Missing Piece Magazine, stepped in. She donated $10,000 in services to see the project to completion. Kate is another member of the Global Sisterhood, which just shows the power of connection among these amazing women.

Another challenge Kristie mentioned was something that many of us don’t think about when we are knee-deep in a project we are passionate about: self-care. She had “entrepreneurial brain buzz” that kept her up at night and drew her focus exclusively to the book project. She had to make an extra effort to block off her time to work on the book so she could spend time with family and friends or make sure she took care of her other needs. Getting swept up in a project is common, but with the intensity of these stories combined with the speed of the publishing process, Kristie knew that she had to be cautious or the project would become emotionally draining.

For the next book, Kristie plans on starting more administratively organized, as well. Half-way through this book process, she had to develop a folder for each author with their stories, phone number, and other information. Having this from the beginning would have helped. She also plans to post documents like the legal agreement for authors and the interview questions on her website instead of in the Facebook group because of extra time spent resending them and tagging people. Another change she would make is to stick to firm deadlines. After Kate offered her assistance with this book, Kristie feel more comfortable reinforcing deadlines. She knew that if someone didn’t meet the deadline, she shouldn’t feel obligated to wait so they could be in the book.

Already, Kristie has seen changes in her career path due to working on this book. She has developed connections and collaborations she wasn’t expecting. She has also been invited to speaking engagements because working on this book reinforced her authority in suicide prevention. She recently spoke at the Bar Association in Pittsburgh and was then asked to apply for a speaking gig at the National Association of Mental Health conference. Also, a U.S. Air Force emergency medical physician approached Kristie about creating a screening to give veterans when they enter the hospital to determine who could be at risk for suicide. This collaboration led to another. “I was also able to connect them with Lisa, who had a concussion, because they were studying how concussions affect suicidal thoughts.”

The book will positively affect the community of authors, as well as those suffering from depression and suicidal thoughts, too. Therapists will be able to use this book with their clients, giving them hope that they can overcome. Through the iRise non-profit, sales of the book will go toward raising awareness of the effect of depression and how we can support those who are suffering. Kristie hopes to go part-time in her practice so she can support the non-profit.

Kristie said that she has been overwhelmed by the requests for future books and from authors who want to share their stories. Because it’s a compilation, the authors spread news about the initial book quickly, and they saw support not only from the iRise community but also from their friends and family. She is encouraged by this outpouring and hopes that the positive effects continue to ripple outward.

From a simple Facebook post, Kristie’s book is about to become a reality. She has already grown a community of authors to support one another and is starting a public group on Facebook, Unsung Heroes: Lives Affected by Mental Illness or Suicide, for others who want this same level of community, which will include any authors who want to participate. From adjustments to her business goals to new speaking engagements and connections, Kristie has seen huge change in the past few months because she decided to write a book.

For more information about iRise, visit http://www.iriseleadership.com/. Unsung Heroes: Deconstructing Suicide through Stories of Triumph will be available to purchase on Amazon.com.