Tales from a Bruised Mind

The time has almost come.

On Saturday, the 23rd of March, 2024, my first-ever book, A Ballad from a Bruised Brain, will go out to family, friends and colleagues, which is for me, an exciting by daunting endeavor.

Let’s take a quick recap to when I started the book, what’s it all about and why I wrote it in the first place.

The very beginning

My book started off as just a dream. I never, ever thought that my story would become a book, or that it was really a story worth telling.

When I first started writing, I was still pretty unwell, which ultimately led me to rewrite a lot of it.

The reason for this is because, at the time, I was very delusional and struggling to cope with what was real and what was not.

I didn’t want to mislead readers by telling them a story about something that simply wasn’t true, so I scrapped a lot of the first chapters.

Yes, true, there were things I simply imagined, but other things were clear-as-day real.

I spent a lot of time looking back at the facts and researching my medical records. I waited until I was well again to give the book another go, with 110 percent commitment.

When I hit my second and third mental episodes, I was only inspired more to tell this crazy story to others. It felt so surreal, but I knew it would help others.

There are many young Australians that have experienced exactly what I have, but not everyone has the power to tell that story to others in such a broad spectrum.

As a media professional and journalist, I fully believe that it’s my job to tell these stories and let our greater community know what’s truly going on. This book is a call for help and an inspiring tale of what to expect from the worst bits of mental health.

The core messages and themes of my book

There are several messages and themes of my book, including:

• Courage
• Bravery
• Strength and resilience
• Building yourself up after a mental episode
• Mental health awareness
• Seeking professional guidance and help
• Working on relapse prevention
• Doing what you can with your experience to help others
• Never, ever giving up
• Telling your story to others and supporting those people

This book is, oddly, not about me. Although it’s specifically my story, the themes and messages are a lot broader. The book is about helping and guiding others on their mental health journeys and doing your bit to step in when times get tough.

It’s about recognising early warning signs and seeking professional attention if needed.

It’s about recognising what works and doesn’t work for you with your brain, and seeking attention if things aren’t right.

The book is about dealing with depression, anxiety and a whole load of mental issues that affect a lot of society.

It’s about making change and being real, and speaking up for yourself and others.

Why I wrote my ballad from a bruised brain

At the start, I must admit I wasn’t ultimately writing it for others. If anything, I was writing it to get me through the very hard days and be open and honest. It was almost like a professional diary of sorts. It was therapeutic.

As tough as it was to write, ABFABB is an accurate portrayal of how I felt at the time and how I feel now and into the future. It’s not blowing things out of proportion, or adding Hollywood exaggeration. It’s there to guide people and understand how bipolar works.

We are inspired by many, many things in our life, like music, movies and books.

I could have chosen to write a fiction book heavily based off of my life, like a Boy Swallows Universe situation, but I felt that saying right here and now that I did these things and experienced it all puts my book as more of an autobiography than anything else.

It’s all true and has had deep impacts on my life, a lot of which you will learn about on this blog.

Why my book isn’t perfect

My book has not been published by a fancy Australian publishing house like Allen & Unwin, or Penguin Books Australia, or even Harper Collins.

I submitted this book to a lot of publishers in Australia and ultimately was told, on multiple occasions, that my story wasn’t very topical. Mental health not topical.. mm.. interesting.

Because my book was not published by the above publishers, I did it all myself, instead.

I wrote the words, installed (and paid the hefty subscription for) Adobe InDesign, downloaded Photoshop and then carved away at the process myself. It was an incredibly tough and draining experience. All book design, including cover and the individual page designs were done by yours truly.

I also edited the book, however I also gained valuable feedback through the first two versions of the book from family and friends.

The book you will read is version three, which includes almost everything I had hoped to put in. 

If you were wondering, I used the publishing company Blurb for my book. They did a pretty good job and I could definitely refer to them again in the future.

If you don’t end up purchasing a book from me directly, please get in touch and I may be able to post one to you.

Or, if you prefer a digital PDF copy, that can also work!

Until the next book,

Love,

Zak