{"id":2481,"date":"2016-02-15T17:07:10","date_gmt":"2016-02-16T01:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/?p=2481"},"modified":"2019-04-27T09:55:40","modified_gmt":"2019-04-27T16:55:40","slug":"2481","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2016\/writing\/2481\/","title":{"rendered":"My Novel’s Labour Pains"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"my<\/a>My second novel, THE RUBBER FENCE<\/a><\/span>,<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0general fiction, will be published on March 3rd<\/sup>.\u00a0 It\u2019s the baby who didn\u2019t want to come out for the longest time. My novel’s labour pains were hard and went on too long. I initially wrote the story as a screenplay back in the 1990s, had agents for it, but though it had a fair amount of interest, it was not picked up.<\/p>\n

Inspired By My Work<\/h3>\n

How many of you have stories that won\u2019t let go? THE RUBBER FENCE<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/em>\u00a0is one of these. Perhaps mine took a while because it was a little personal. It was inspired by my work as a social worker on a psychiatric ward at the Winnipeg General Hospital in 1972, a time when feminism<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0was just rearing its lovely head.<\/p>\n

I had just graduated with a Master of Social Work and was gung ho to put into practice what I had studied. I had been fortunate to have as my \u2018guru\u2019 on campus, Dr. Gerry Erickson, who had come to the University of Manitoba from a Wisconsin mental health centre, where he had been a family therapist for ten years. With him as my mentor, I read every article and book published on family communication at that time. I watched videotapes of well-known therapists interviewing families and conducted a number on my own in front of a one-way mirror.<\/p>\n

A Joe Job<\/h3>\n

I showed up for my first day of work on the psych. ward, eager to do family therapy but na\u00efve. I hadn\u2019t understood that I\u2019d been hired to replace a social worker who had acted as more or less a grunt (someone who has no formal training or skills and does joe jobs). The psychiatric team expected me to arrange taxis for patients who were leaving or needed help with placement in the community. These are valuable and necessary tasks but I had been trained to work with families on the emotional problems they presented. The day hadn’t yet come when a social worker’s training was valued.<\/p>\n

ECT, Alive and Well<\/h3>\n

\"LabourAlso, I didn\u2019t know that electro-convulsive therapy, ECT, was still being practiced on this psychiatric ward. I\u2019d seen One Flew Over The Cuckoo\u2019s Nest<\/strong><\/em>, I’d even read the book<\/span><\/strong>. And the whole idea of ECT horrified me, just as it had the author, Ken Kesey.<\/p>\n

The psychiatric ward at the Winnipeg General Hospital was run by psychiatrists who knew that the faster you got patients out, the more money you saved. So, shock treatment and drugs were the favoured treatments. Quick fixes that sometimes made sense, but for the most part didn’t. Family therapy was non-existent. Shrinks did not have the luxury of time, nor did they seem interested. At least, not in the beginning.<\/p>\n

So you can imagine I was not a happy employee in my first job as a professional social worker. But I wasn’t about to put my education to waste, so I pushed and prodded and got to do some family therapy, and in the end, even helped a few psychiatric interns learn some techniques. I did some co-therapy but it was at some personal cost.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not easy working in a setting where you\u2019re going against the grain. I cared deeply about the patients I met, to the point where it affected my sleep and home life. At the time, we had two small children. My youngest daughter came home one day from kindergarten with a drawing of Mommy. She had depicted me surrounded by people in hospital beds. At that time, I\u2019d only been working at the hospital for nine months, but I realized it was time to leave. I couldn\u2019t do things half-measure either at home or at work.<\/p>\n

My Protagonist<\/h3>\n

My protagonist in THE RUBBER FENCE<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/em>\u00a0is not a social worker, nor is she \u2018me.\u2019\u00a0 As a writer, of course, you put yourself into each of the characters you write, some modelled on your beliefs more than others. Dr. Joanna Bereza<\/strong> is a psychiatric intern who is passionate about her work. In that way, we are similar; otherwise, she is quite different. She has more guts than I do. As for the patients, all are fictitious. Still, the story reflects my experience at that time, both the highs and lows of working in a setting full of troubled people, who have little hope in their future.<\/p>\n

Unexplored Territory<\/h3>\n

What I still find fascinating today, after more than twenty-five years of working in various therapeutic settings, is that the brain remains the most unexplored part of our being. Doctors and scientists are still trying to figure out how it works and what causes mental illness. Just recently, I saw an interview on BBC with a neuro-surgeon, Dr. Henry Marsh<\/a><\/span><\/strong>,\u00a0who basically admitted that there was much he didn’t know about the brain and that at times, he was at a loss as to what to do.<\/p>\n

And it seems, the debate about ECT continues. A recent article in The Age<\/a><\/span>\u00a0, an Australian newspaper,\u00a0<\/strong>brings up the problem of shock treatment being done again without a patient’s informed consent.<\/p>\n

As a writer, I also find it interesting that I’ve chosen to write about unexplored territory again. My debut novel<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0had much to do with the unexplored ocean, an area we know less about than outer space, and my second novel has to do with ourselves, what makes us tick and how we navigate blindly the rocky road of emotions.<\/p>\n

THE RUBBER FENCE<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/em>\u00a0will be available on March 3rd<\/sup> as both a paperback and e-book. It is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.<\/p>\n

Do you have stories that are taking too long to write? Stories that you’ve suffered over for years? Ones that you want to put out in the world but you’re either unsure, or they’re too close to home? \u00a0Or maybe like me, you’re shocked that shock treatment is still going on and shows no sign of slowing down. Would love to hear from you.<\/h4>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My second novel, THE RUBBER FENCE,\u00a0general fiction, will be published on March 3rd.\u00a0 It\u2019s the baby who didn\u2019t want to come out for the longest time. My novel’s labour pains… <\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[744,86,4],"tags":[78,843,845,810,853,9,852,854,812,33],"class_list":["post-2481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-therapy-2","category-writing","tag-diana-stevan","tag-ect","tag-electro-convulsive-therapy","tag-family-therapy","tag-ken-kesey","tag-novel","tag-one-flew-over-the-cuckoos-nest","tag-shock-treatment","tag-the-rubber-fence","tag-writer"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Rubber-Fence-The-Diana-Stevan-2-e1449863267828.jpg?fit=300%2C450&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s1LuVB-2481","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2375,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2015\/therapy-2\/cover-reveal-for-the-rubber-fence\/","url_meta":{"origin":2481,"position":0},"title":"Cover Reveal for THE RUBBER FENCE","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"26 \u041b\u0438\u0441\u0442\u043e\u043f\u0430\u0434\u0430, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm very excited to announce the cover reveal for The Rubber Fence, my second novel.\u00a0The cover was designed by Ares Jun. The story, which largely takes place on a psychiatric ward in 1972, was inspired by my work on such a hospital ward in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I had just graduated\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"cover reveal of THE RUBBER FENCE","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Rubber-Fence-The-Diana-Stevan-2-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2519,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2016\/therapy-2\/book-launch-of-the-rubber-fence\/","url_meta":{"origin":2481,"position":1},"title":"Book Launch of THE RUBBER FENCE","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"3 \u0411\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0437\u043d\u044f, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"It's official! The day has arrived for my book launch of \u00a0THE RUBBER FENCE\u00a0online. It's\u00a0now on sale on Amazon and will be available at other booksellers in time.\u00a0 Inspired by my work on a psychiatric ward in 1972, it covers a time when feminism was being born, shock treatment was\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Therapy"","block_context":{"text":"Therapy","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/therapy-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Book Launch THE RUBBER FENCE","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/150-rubber-fence-ebook-cover.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2597,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2016\/writing\/book-cover-wins-gold-star\/","url_meta":{"origin":2481,"position":2},"title":"Book Cover Wins Gold Star","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"23 \u041a\u0432\u0456\u0442\u043d\u044f, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Winning Cover I'm thrilled that the book\u00a0cover for THE RUBBER FENCE has won a\u00a0\u00a0Gold Star from Joel Friedlander of the BOOK DESIGNER. When I submitted the cover for their monthly contest, I wrote, \u00a0\u201cAs this story takes place largely on a psychiatric ward, I thought that Jun Ares\u2019s book\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"writing world","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/TRF-OLD-POSTER.jpg?fit=417%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2446,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2016\/film-2\/changing-the-world-step-by-step\/","url_meta":{"origin":2481,"position":3},"title":"CHANGING THE WORLD STEP BY STEP","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"3 \u0421\u0456\u0447\u043d\u044f, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"What better way to start 2016 than by watching\u00a0HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD\u00a0(2015),a documentary about a group of people who wanted to make a difference? They set about changing the world step by step. GREENPEACE It's an astonishing film on the founding of Greenpeace\u2014what it tried to do, where it\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Environment"","block_context":{"text":"Environment","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/environment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"changing the world step by step","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/stop-global-warming-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4474,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2023\/writing\/the-mad-among-us\/","url_meta":{"origin":2481,"position":4},"title":"The Mad Among Us","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"12 \u0421\u0456\u0447\u043d\u044f, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"For my first blog post of 2023, I thought I'd write about the mad among us. It seems fitting when I think about all the crazy stuff we read on the internet, all the distortions and lies, whether it's about covid and vaccinations or the unhinged views of some politicians.\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Rubber Fence","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/rubber-fence-revised3-high-resolution-Copy-scaled.jpg?fit=821%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/rubber-fence-revised3-high-resolution-Copy-scaled.jpg?fit=821%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/rubber-fence-revised3-high-resolution-Copy-scaled.jpg?fit=821%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/rubber-fence-revised3-high-resolution-Copy-scaled.jpg?fit=821%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6092,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2023\/writing\/a-writers-limbo\/","url_meta":{"origin":2481,"position":5},"title":"A Writer’s Limbo","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"25 \u041b\u044e\u0442\u043e\u0433\u043e, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"My book reading at the Local Book Fair in the Nanaimo Harbourfront Library went well, but now I find myself in writer's limbo. 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In October, I published Paper Roses on Stony Mountain, the sequel to Lilacs in the Dust Bowl, and the last book\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"writer's limbo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/book-reading.jpg?fit=465%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}