Spirited Author Hopes to Inspire with Her Book, Willful Evolution

By: Janice Beetle

I know a book is a good fit for my mind when I can’t put it down, and I read everything from the prologue to the acknowledgments to anything on the back jacket. And then I use Google to learn more about the author, or the topic.

When a book is a good fit for my spirit, I can’t turn my brain off while I’m reading. I get lost in my own thoughts and inspirations, spend time emailing messages to myself as I read—and then have to reread what I was daydreaming through.

I’m a writer and editor who lives in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts and also in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, and I have a new book out that I think excites the mind and the spirit. It’s a memoir called Willful Evolution: Because Healing the Heart Takes Strength.

Willful Evolution is a sequel

In 2010, I was laid off from my full-time job as a communications specialist in a hospital while I was on a family medical leave, taking care of my husband in his last days. I heard my boss tell me my position had been eliminated as I stood on my front steps; Ed lay in a hospital bed in my living room just inside the door. He died four days later. I had no income. No partner, and two teenaged children to raise.

I told the story of that devastating loss in my first memoir, Divine Renovations, which was published in 2011. My new book, Willful Evolution, is a sequel, and it is poignant, inspiring, and at turns, downright funny. The book shows how I reinvented myself, building not one but two successful businesses and otherwise turning vulnerability into strength.

First memoir

When Ed died, it felt I had lost everything, but I soon recognized that what I had left were the things I needed most—my daughters, Sally and Molly, and my grandson Eli. Yet, I was weak, rudderless, and needy.

I did not know one redeeming thing about myself. I had a huge home and doubted I could care for it by myself. I had no income to support my children and Eli. And I was consumed with fear about being alone.

Divine Renovations ends on an up note, though, as I came to realize that what was also left for me was me. Readers experiencing a grief journey found that my book gave them hope.

About Willful Evolution

My new book, Willful Evolution, tells the story of the last decade.

It holds stories of my travels to far-away places, the wacky men I met while online dating, and how I used yoga, exercise, and adventure to gain physical and emotional strength.

My book is about wrestling fear, building relationships, and finally growing up—in my mid-fifties. Think Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle, and Daring Greatly by Brené Brown. My book is as inspiring, amusing, and powerful as these.

Willful Evolution will make you laugh and empower your soul.

We can all fix what’s broken

My hope is that people who read my book will find new strength in their own lives, take risks, set new goals, and reinvent themselves!

As I began to heal, I was a lost soul. I was in a relationship that didn’t work, and I didn’t know it. My relationship with my older daughter was broken, and I was largely at fault, and I didn’t know that either. My workout routine was unsustainable, and I did know it, yet I kept doing it.

Very quietly, and repeatedly, a little voice in my head told me I would be okay without my boyfriend, and very slowly, I started to listen. I figured out how to make myself financially secure. I changed my workout routine, and I got stronger—inside and out.

Only then was I able to repair relationships I’d damaged with friends—and most importantly, strengthen the bond with my daughter.

Then, I met a man and fell in love with him almost instantly. Yet, I knew I didn’t need a man anymore.

I believe we all have broken places in our lives and in our relationships. And I hope reading my book helps other women see themselves through me and learn how to turn their own vulnerability into strength.

I hope women of all ages start to listen to that persistent, whispering voice, and turn up the volume.

I hope they become inspired to be adventurous, take risks, travel.

And I hope they discover what it means to empathize.

So, who the heck am I?

I graduated from Westfield State College in 1985 with a degree in English and a minor in journalism, and I began a 15-year career as a journalist. I wrote for The Republican in Springfield, Massachusetts, then called the Springfield Morning Union, and I later wrote for the Daily Hampshire Gazette in Northampton.

I interviewed mayors and police chiefs for my work as a beat reporter. I wrote feature stories about things like laser surgery—and passed out while attending one. I interviewed Bill Cosby when he came to speak at his alma mater, the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. And then I became a full-time editor.

In 1998, I asked for two weeks off without pay, and I was denied. I realized I wanted more than two weeks off each year with my daughters, who were 9 and 11 at the time. So, I gave my notice, and I started a PR business called Beetle Press. I help business and organization leaders craft messaging, and I write things like press releases, blogs, annual reports, and articles for alumni magazines.

I’ve always wanted to be an author, but there was always something else to do—something more pressing than writing. Then, in 2019, while listening to my tiny-inside-my-head voice, I launched a new book development business called Janice Beetle Books; through it, I help people bring their book idea to the bookshelf—and the bookstore.

I also write my own works. My mind is full of book ideas, and I work to bring them to life as I am able. I have my first work of fiction in first draft form, along with a children’s book.

I live life to the fullest. I take time to travel and spend time in warm places in the winter months. I boat and kayak in the summer, and play with my grandchildren, enjoy my daughters, value friendships, and read and relax all year long.

And who are you?

I write a regular blog at JaniceBeetleBooks.com, and I’d love to have you visit, read some posts and comment.

I’m also on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Consider following me. I’d like to hear from you.

When I started listening to myself—the solid, strong part of me—I called that year my Year of Strength. My hope is that 2021 will be yours.

If someone rubs you the wrong way, tell them.

If you want to do something that frightens you, figure out the first baby steps, and take them.

If you’re unhappy in your work—or if COVID-19 cost you your job—think about what you could do to ignite your passion, then do some research. Inch forward a bit in making the idea seem like a possibility. Once you can see it, you can make it real.

Consider reading Willful Evolution to see how I got from grief to great.

Pin it!