Dara Mayhoe wrote a book about her life and encourages other to do the same.
LANSING, MI — Dara Mayhoe’s book “A Wonderful Change” dives into her life that started in poverty and despair. She thought that it would be an opportunity for redemption and healing. Now in its third printing, she said that there is still work to be done but she was unaware of how many people’s lives it would touch.
It is hard to believe that a now mild mannered Mayhoe has lived through some of the most difficult circumstances that one could go through. Going from a habitual offender and using what she had to get what needed, to becoming a successful business owner and ministry leader, she is telling her story to inspire others.
Mayhoe says, “After overcoming so much adversity in my life, I knew I had to share how God turned my life around. I was also encouraged to write a book by people who were always inspired by my testimony. Every time I would tell my life story people would always say, “Oh, my goodness, you need to write a book!’”
The Writing Process
Mayhoe had a goal to publish her first book by her 40th birthday and she didn’t let anything stop her. She would write on her lunch break while sitting in her car. If she was not able to write with a pen in her composition book, she would speak into her audio recorder on the phone. After recording, she would spend endless hours transcribing. Being a mother and available to her husband Mark and children was of utmost importance.
Mayhoe laughed and said, “I would even record while cooking for my family. Most of the time, I would write in the evening with a candle burning, while reflecting on my journey with gratitude. They always say people make time for what they really want to do and because I really wanted to write my life story I made the time!”
The process in total took Mayhoe about six months. She spent five months editing and getting her thoughts in order. She spent one month publishing and she is on her third printing and working on her fourth.
Inspiration
A pivotal point for Mayhoe was watching the movie “Roxanne, Roxanne” on Netflix in 2017. It was the story about the rapper and hip hop artist, Roxanne Shante. It was awesome for her to see that they shared many commonalities.
Mayhoe says, “To see Roxanne Shante use her past adversity to help young people, inspired me.”
She added, “I would tell my younger self to use my gifts to help others. As a young person, my writings were pure entertainment and considering my immature perspective the things I wrote about didn’t necessarily encourage people or lead them in the right direction. I would encourage my younger self to be just as bold but to be bold with magnifying the power of God instead of my own frail abilities.”
Mayhoe said that the hardest part of writing a memoir was reliving the lowest point in parenting. She admitted that when you are writing about yourself it is hard to reconcile with the horrible choices that were made.
“It was hard to recollect the pain that I felt, pure agony and pain Until God saw That it was time to turn things around for my good and restore everything I lost with increase!,” says Mayhoe.
There has not been any negative feedback thus far regarding the content. Mayhoe expressed that “A Wonderful Life” is her true life story. It is hard enough to write about some of the things that she experienced and has done, but even more difficult to write about others.
Mayhoe says, “You have to mention how other people impacted your life negatively and positively I believe writing about the broken relationships I experienced in my life with family and romantic relationships helped usher in the healing process for myself and others.”
Advice to Others
Encouraging others to write about their experience is something that Mayhoe states is important even if the author is not ready to share it with the world. Even though her life has been through ups and downs, Mayhoe is now happily married, a successful business owner and a ministry worker.
Mayhoe says, “I am giving hope to future aspiring autobiography/memoir writers to absolutely go for it! Take your time! Don’t worry about writing chronologically, just write and put it all together later. Your story is your baby, protect it and make sure you have the right team helping to produce your masterpiece!”
You can find “A Wonderful Change” on Amazon. Also you may connect with Dara Mayhoe by email at goodreads@daramayhoe.com. Also log on to www.luvcovers.org.
