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Interview with
Jamie Blyth
Before going on The Bachelorette, Jamie was a professional basketball player in Sweden, and prior to that, he was a high-tech salesman. He lives in Chicago... oh yes, and he's still single. What made you decide to write a book? I wrote this book because I am extremely committed to reaching out to those
who are suffering with anxiety, or know someone who is. I was profoundly
shaken and altered because of the experiences I went through, and I came to
realize that even though I felt so alone and "crazy," my problems
weren't unique-- lots of people were going through their own struggles with
anxiety and thinking they were alone, too. After I talked about it on
television, people came up to me and wanted to know how I got past it. I wanted
to give them more than a one-minute summary, so I started writing down all my
thoughts in the hopes that a publisher would help me get my story out to the
people who needed to hear it. I went on Oprah, Diane Sawyer... I had amazing responses from people about struggle and triumph, which inspired me even more to share my story. I acquired an agent, who turned out to be the wrong one. It was tough because I was trying to figure out the business on the run, against a small window of opportunity. After being rejected for 9 months and about to pack it in, I made one more last ditch effort. I called upon agents, publishers, and writers on my own and landed interest from a few different publishers. Then I called you after reading your book Conquering Panic and Anxiety Disorders. I was evaluating a few authors and we just hit it off right away... we had parallel lives, similar stories. It worked out really well. The writing process was a blast, and my favorite part. I always dreamed of writing a book and I was inspired because this one could help people... I could use my 15 minutes of fame in a positive way. I had worked in sales and management, as pro basketball player, and now as a writer. I woke up every morning trying to create. I really enjoyed the creative process. Was there anything that surprised you about the publication process? The publication process can be difficult. It is a lengthy process... kind of like television filming: hurry up and work and then wait forever for everything to happen. Many new writers, I think, assume that the title they choose will be the one that appears on the book cover. Tell us about the process of getting to a final title for this book. Our title went through several
incarnations. I am not good with titles. I was going to pick "Stepping into
the Fire" because Oprah had mentioned that phrase on the show I was on and
I liked it because it conveyed my experience. After suggesting about 40 titles to the publisher, all of which were decided against for various reasons, I almost came to that point again. They wanted to get certain key words into the title, so they weren't looking for an "arty" title. They have a marketing team whose job it is to study successful titles on similar topics, to figure out what works for that market-- straightforward or abstract, long or short, funny or serious. It took a couple of months of back-and-forth discussions where each of us suggested titles and tried to find one we could all agree on. I know that you're an avid reader and that you read
a lot of books for inspiration while you were going through the worst of your
anxiety disorder. Tell me about the kinds of books you read and how they helped. Your book was just published, and you've already gotten your first "fan" letter from it. How did that feel? The first fan letter felt great... all that work and frustration in getting this thing done has come to fruition. The book really helped this guy. He said he no longer felt alone and that he felt confident he could overcome his condition. That was very gratifying, kind of surreal even. It's been a long time running but well worth the wait. I know that's not the first time you've gotten fan mail... after The Bachelorette, and especially after you spoke about your anxiety disorder on the Oprah Winfrey show and Good Morning America, many people wrote to you to tell you how you'd inspired them. Of course that's a great thing, but did it make you feel any sort of pressure to become the "poster boy" for anxiety disorders? I did feel a bit of pressure being a poster boy for anxiety, so to speak. I was really nervous before Oprah, but I knew I had to do well and conduct myself as a positive example. If I failed, I felt like I would let people down. I wonder if people know what a big step it was for
you to come out publicly to talk about this. Before the show, even most of
your close friends didn't know you had suffered so badly with panic attacks and
social anxiety. What made you decide to talk about it in front of millions
of people after you'd been hiding it so long? It was cathartic. I pored through all of my old dramas and heartache. Sometimes
we get so focused on moving ahead that we forget where we came from... the last
couple of years have been a whirlwind for me, but in the end, it all began with
my first panic attack. I thought my life was over, but that is where it all
started. I have done a lot of public speaking and will continue to do so. I've spoken
at psychological conventions, at colleges, and to women's groups, and now I can
bring copies of my book with me. I'll also do book signings, radio interviews,
and television appearances. McGraw-Hill plans to do a direct mail campaign,
bookstore promotions, and an Amazon campaign. I've recently hired a publicist to
help me find appropriate book reviewers and help me draw interest from
television producers. I keep in touch with Bill Rancic (The Apprentice), Bob Guiney, Charlie, Ryan, Trista, Jen Schefft, Eric Neis (The Real World), and a few more. If readers learn just one thing from Fear Is No Longer My Reality, what is it that you want them to learn? I want readers to learn that there is hope beyond the struggle, that they are not alone or defective in an way because of anxiety. In fact, I want people to walk away inspired and full of possibility and dreams. I want them to find the courage and strength that resides within. I want to reach out with my story and then I want to give people the arsenal to win this war with a solid, proven plan of attack, created by some of the world's top psychologists, to learn that there is something to be gained from despair and struggle. Sometimes we hit rock bottom and feel lost and hopeless. These are the times that ask the most of ourselves. When we choose to fight, we gain something, we discover things about ourselves that we never would have known. We grow. Jenna Glatzer is the editor-in-chief of www.absolutewrite.com and the author of more than a dozen books, which you can read about at www.jennaglatzer.com. |
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Jamie
Blyth was the first person to step out of the limousine to meet Trista on the
first season of ABC's The Bachelorette. At the time, no one knew what kind of
struggle it took for Jamie to get there-- he had spent the last several years
tormented by panic attacks and social anxiety disorder, and it took all his
strength to fight his way through his disorder and reclaim his life. Going on
the show was a final "test" for Jamie: He wanted to prove to himself
that he could face anything. Now, McGraw-Hill has just released his book, Fear
Is No Longer My Reality, which I co-wrote. Getting to know Jamie and to work
with him on this book has been a real treat, and I figured it was about time I
introduced him to the Absolute Write readers!
