My Book: When Fragments Make a Whole

I’d like to make an official announcement: my book When Fragments Make a Whole: A Personal Journey Through Healing Stories in the Bible will be published by Floris Books in February, 2024! Click on the title to learn more.

From the publisher’s description:

In this candid and courageous book, Lory Widmer Hess describes her experience of inner transformation through her exploration of the healing stories in the gospels. In a unique blend of poetry, commentary and autobiography, she describes how she engaged with and drew inspiration from these stories. Her approach will inspire readers on their own journey of spiritual growth.

Writing the book was a long and many-layered journey, and the path to publication has turned out to be one as well. I’m nervous about turning an account of my own healing process over to the world, to be possibly judged and criticized. It’s a very vulnerable place to be in, but I remind myself that we have to “dare greatly” and make ourselves vulnerable in order to grow. Given sufficient support from our community, those daring moments are what bring us all forward.

I am glad that I chose to work with a traditional publisher, rather than self-publish, even though the process was not always easy. The title, for example, was not my first choice, although I came to appreciate it. The cover design went through some birthing pains, too, and having my words edited was not always comfortable. But since this is such a personal project, sometimes I needed another, external point of view to help me see what was unnecessary, distracting, or phrased in a misleading way.

In the end, I think all the discussion and different perspectives helped me create a better book, and that’s the important thing. I am also glad to have confirmation that other people find my message important to convey to the world, enough to put their own time and resources behind the effort. Their reputation is on the line with this book, not just mine. That reassures me that I’m not just indulging some personal need for expression.

Now it’s time to think about publicity, and I’d like to ask for your help. If you are a book blogger who would be interested in a review copy, please let me know, and I”ll do my best to get one to you.

If you are a reader who would consider buying the book and sharing a review on Goodreads, Amazon, StoryGraph, etc., I would be most grateful. I’ll be posting sales venues when they are available. The UK publication date is February 29, including the ebook version; print copies will be available for US distribution in early April.

You can already pre-order through Bookshop.org — I’ve added a widget in the sidebar that links to my affiliate account. Here is an affiliate link for the UK Bookshop version. Those so inclined can also pre-order from Amazon (print or Kindle version).

If you’d like to stay connected with updates on my writing life, the best way is to join the Enchanted Circle newsletter list below.

Thank you all for being a part of this journey! I look forward to sharing more with you.