The book that took a thousand hours to write

Despite growing up as a proud “born and bred” Taranaki farm girl, Bethany Wilson didn’t picture herself in gumboots for life.

“Farming was never going to be a possible career choice for me,” says Bethany, who was diagnosed with neurodegenerative disorder Friedreich’s Ataxia when she was seven years old. She’s discovered her own career path, and she explores her proud family roots in her newly published autobiography This Broken Vessel. 

The book covers her family’s journey as both Bethany and her sister Lydia learn to live with Friedreich’s Ataxia.

Bethany interviewed her dad for the book, which was really eye-opening for her. “Especially because I hadn’t really understood his reactions as a seven-year-old,” she says.  

She shares stories from her experiences at school, in hospital and studying mathematics at Massey University.

She also explores her “faith crisis” throughout the chapters. “I’m a Christian and faith is a big part of my life,” she says. Having a personal belief in God has been “extremely comforting” for her as she navigates her disability journey. 

In writing This Broken Vessel, Bethany had to make the writing process work for her, which included using voice-to-text technology and the assistance of support workers. 

“To type a single sentence could take me about five minutes, so the whole book would’ve taken several hundred hours just to get a first draft,” she explains. 

She estimates the entire timeline to write the book still took more than 1000 hours.

“Editing took months of long evenings reading over the text and manually changing words and sentences with my own fingers on the keyboards… I am so fortunate to have had some amazing friends and family check over my manuscript as well, for anything I may have missed.” 

The process of writing the book itself was also cathartic for Bethany to reflect on her life. 

“I spent a lot of time holding back tears - and sometimes letting them spill out - as I remembered parts of my childhood I had never really cried through before.”

Bethany is now flatting in Palmerston North with a mixture of disabled and non-disabled flatmates. 

“It’s such a cool set up with two abled-bodied flatmates who treat us like normal human beings and are also more than willing to offer a helping hand,” she says.

Bethany hopes the book is as accessible, relatable and enjoyable for as many people as possible, regardless of their level of ability or faith perspective.

“I don’t believe you have to be a Christian to understand or enjoy my story, and I hope that readers will take away an understanding of a perspective they may not have had before.” 

This Broken Vessel is available to purchase via Bethany's author Facebook page.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The D*List Delivered!