The boxes sat outside her door for two days, as untouched and anonymous as the brown leaves off a tree in the fall. You know they are there, and probably need addressed. But sometimes, you just don’t want to deal with them.
The boxes contained something very near and dear to Megan Davidhizar’s heart. It was what she was holding near her heart that put the hesitation on the unboxing.
“I was actually afraid I was going to be very unemotional when holding my physical book for the first time,” started Davidhizar. “Then one night, after my kids went to bed, I spent thirty minutes reading over my journals from the last seven years, journals where I poured out my fears, doubts, and faith about this publishing journey. Seeing the faithfulness in that journey brought real tears to my eyes.”
The courage to face her fear as an author allowed her to finally take pride in her published book, ‘Silent Sister’, not her first literary work, but a major milestone as an author with a new book deal. The premise of the story, a young adult mystery about two girls who disappear from their class trip, takes readers through not only the challenge of solving the primary of question of ‘what happened?’ but also a introspective on self-hope.
Davidhizar, an english teacher at Fairfield Jr/Sr High School, has watched countless students go through a similar process of self-identity and awareness, and flowed those observations into her book.
“When writing my characters, especially Maddy, I drew from my own experiences as a teen, but also ones I see on a daily basis,” offered Davidhizar. “It’s typical for teens to feel isolated or excluded. Several side characters have smaller problems in the story that I have seen students struggle with over the years as well, which is also why counseling and therapy are featured in the book. It’s important to remove the stigma of getting help.”
While her experiences in the classroom as a teacher helped create the virtual storyboard, her husband, Andy, may be responsible for the nudge Megan needed. Andy picked up a laptop for Megan to use for her writing, offered the secondary support along the journey, and even wore a T-shirt with the message “My wife is my favorite author.” Bonus points for him!
“Before I had a book deal, he bought me a laptop and presented it to me in front of the kids, telling them how proud he was of me pursuing a dream and overcoming challenges,” Megan shared. “Andy has been a wonderful cheerleader.”
Megan Davidhizar had the full circle moment of being a published book author this past summer when she did a book signing and speaking engagement at Fables in Goshen. Addressing nearly 100 in attendance, it was a humbling experience for her, but showed her inklings to put together ‘Silent Sister’ was worthwhile.
“Colleagues at Fairfield have asked me to sign their copies of the book,” noted Davidhizar. “It’s been humbling and a lot of fun at the same time. I hope my students will believe me when I say I wasn’t a writer; I never considered it or thought I was talented. I practiced and learned right alongside my students, which is how I know each of them can become a great writer, too.”
‘Silent Sister’ is available online wherever books are sold, and available at Barnes and Noble. However, you can also support a local bookstore and purchase from Fables in downtown Goshen.