Member Spotlight: Christine Shields Corrigan
My writing career began twice. I started writing when I was in treatment for cancer as a teenager. I kept a journal about the experience and wrote a lot of terrible poetry as a teen and into college. After I started my career as a lawyer, I didn’t have a lot of time to write creatively, though I wrote a lot as an attorney. I left practice in 2004 and decided to run my own legal writing business and did marketing writing for law firms—articles, newsletters, and later, web content on legal developments.
I returned to creative writing following my breast cancer diagnosis in 2016. I spent a year in treatment and came to a crossroads as I turned fifty and had to figure out what I wanted to do when I grew up—whether I wanted to return to law or my legal marketing business, or whether I wanted to do something entirely different, like write a book. I decided to write what would become Again: Surviving Cancer Twice with Love and Lists. But, I knew that, before I could write a book, I had to take classes to learn to do that, and I did. I went to writing conferences and workshops. I read a lot of craft books. I joined a writing group, and over time, wrote and edited my way to a completed manuscript.
Ironically, 2020 was the most successful year of my renewed writing life. I signed the publication contract for Again: Surviving Cancer Twice with Love and Lists, right before we went into lockdown. And, my publisher and I were so optimistic that the pandemic would be long over by the planned publication date in October 2020. I have learned quite a bit about marketing a book through virtual events, podcasts, and interviews.
I also had the opportunity to participate in another project called: (Her)oics: Women’s Lived Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic, which will be published in March 2021 by Pact Press. The anthology draws together the stories of fifty-two women across the US during the pandemic, including Not Back To, But Forward, my essay about how my cancer experiences helped her cope with COVID-19.
One of the most satisfying aspects of writing is making connections with others. I wrote Again in the hope that it would resonate and help someone else in a similar experience. My word for 2021 is “Forward,” and I think it an apt one for these days. I write often about resilience and hope. We’ve all struggled over the past year, faced challenges, and suffered losses. What I’ve found repeatedly is that life’s suffering is never the real or the truest story; rather, how that suffering transformed us is. And, those transformations allow us to journey forward with hope.
I learned about The Co-Co from Nicole Smith when I attended the Room to Read Breakfast featuring Kara Richardson Whitely. In the few short months that I’ve been a member of The Co-Co, I’ve been overwhelmed by the connections I’ve made with savvy, smart, and motivated women. I’ve found the co-working time and the coffee conversations both fun and productive. I enjoyed being a guest on Deb Cummins Stellato’s Think Courageously podcast, which certainly raised awareness about Again with her listeners.
