Former radio personality and independent author Sharon Mallon was in Bonnyville over the Thanksgiving weekend to speak about her book, The Gift of Adultery.
Mallon visited the Bonnyville Municipal Library to talk with local fans about her book, along with some of the struggles of being an independent writer.
She was a radio personality at CFCW in Edmonton with her friend Danny Hooper. The two for them hosted the radio show together for nine years.
In March of 2014 she was handed some devastating news. Her husband who she had been with for 14 years had been in an affair for nine months.
The self-published book is about the struggles she has faced over the years since receiving the news of the affair.
The book was also used a tool to help teach others who might be going through a similar situation as Mallon.
“When I am asked was it cathartic when I wrote this I say ‘no it was not',” explained Mallon. “Now it's not painful to talk about, so I can talk about it without being sad. And I feel like I can apart some real wisdom, whereas before it was really hard.”
Mallon published the book herself and, with the help of an editor, she was able to get the book written in two weeks and released it in August 2015.
“I would just really encourage anyone to write a book, if someone would have said to me two-and-a-half years ago you'll write a book, I would have sounded out of reach. And it's really not. If its something that a person thinks they would like to do I would encourage people to try it. It's easier than one might think.”
Although expensive, the process to publish a book on your own is much easier than going through a publishing company.
“The process is really easy, and I just would encourage everyone who is interested in having something published to look at self publishing. It takes much less time and now you can Google anything to find out how to do it. You can Google how to self publish and find out how to do it, so it's easier than people think,” said Mallon.
Mallon said it cost her a total of $20,000, but she has one piece of advice for anyone interested in getting into self-publishing:
“It must be a true story that is important. A true story is better than any joke or fictional story any day of the week. A true story, to me, has unbelievable value.”
