Amy Herrig’s novel ‘No More Dodging Bullets: A Memoir about Faith, Love, Lessons and Growth,’ roared onto the bestseller list on Amazon last week, and frankly it was not a surprise. This groundbreaking book, which tells Herrig’s real life story of self-realization and actualization, not only keeps readers enthralled from beginning to end it offers an amazing dose of inspiration. These days that is needed more than ever before.
Herrig had battled heroin addiction as a teenager, and overcame it, yet years later after building a successful business with her father in Dallas, she was on the verge of losing it all, but instead she found herself. We are so very glad she did, her story and her book, left us wanting to know more about this amazing writer, and we were glad that she agreed to answer some of our questions.
Fighting drug abuse is no small task, what is one piece of advice that you can offer those who might be going through a similar situation in their life?
The key to changing anything is first realizing you want to change and then committing to that change. That doesn’t mean it’s always going to go smoothly or that there won’t be setbacks along the way, but believing that you want to change and you can change is essential. Then you have to learn to love and accept yourself – the good, the bad and the ugly – and embrace it all and evaluate what you like and what you don’t like and how you are going to use that to work toward betterment. And then probably most importantly on top of all that is surrounding yourself with people who will be loving and supportive but not enabling.
Growing up in Dallas, what was it like working with your father in the Gas Pipe business in Texas, talk to us about the experience, the moments and the times that resonate with you the most?
My father taught me so much about work and work ethic. He’s one of the hardest working individuals I know. He’s always doing something and creating something new. He built his business from scratch with nothing but his savings from the war (Vietnam). He is the epitome of the American dream, and to have someone work that hard and make so much out of so little is inspiring but also daunting. To know that he trusts me enough to carry on what he created is flattering but humbling. I didn’t have to create anything from the ground up, but I have had the privilege of helping it grow and foster what he created. My father has always treated his employees like family. It’s always been very important to him that everyone feel appreciated and valued and that culture has transcended over 50 years of business, and I think that’s the most important thing I’ve learned from him – it matters how we treat people – anywhere in life – but especially when you work together because it’s important you can trust and depend on one another. I’ve sat at a desk next to my father in our office for 14 years, and then last year he left for prison. I never realized how many times during a day I would look up and ask him a question or bounce an idea off of him, and there is a huge void in my life not being able to do that and I look forward to the day I can do so again.
Your International Bestselling book, ‘No More Dodging Bullets: A Memoir about Faith, Love, Lessons and Growth,’ touches up the core of what it is to be human in a world that is in constant change. Above all how has life lessons shaped you into the person that you are today?
Well the crux of my story is how we learn and grow from life lessons and how sometimes those lessons are just thrown upon us due to no fault of our own and other times they are lessons we brought on ourselves due to poor choices and decisions and I have a lot of lessons to share. My life lessons have taught me to have determination and perseverance, but at the same time they have taught me humility and acceptance. It’s sort of a “yin yang” situation where we learn to find a balance on how we handle situations. We have to be focused and motivated to achieve things or overcome things but we have to also at the same time be patient and willing to recognize when we only have so much control over what is happening and we may have to step back a bit and let our faith and higher power take over.
Life is all about the comeback, fighting for what is right in a world that is so easy to get lost in. What successes are you currently experiencing and what is next for you as an author?
I think the biggest success I’m currently experiencing is an intrinsic one – I have peace and contentment. That doesn’t mean I don’t have bad days. I’m human, and the recent weeks consumed with the pandemic were a huge curve ball for me and brought a great deal of stress into my life, as it did for everyone. But I think I was able to handle it differently than I would have 6 years ago. I haven’t handled myself perfectly, but it’s a vast improvement from how I would have handled things prior to the challenges I faced from 2014 to 2019. I’ve learned that happiness is a feeling that can fleetingly come and go, and anger and sadness are the same way. But being at peace and having contentment are a state of being, and discovering that state as well as true unconditional love for others and myself (which required a lot of inner work and acknowledgement of things I didn’t want to acknowledge) is a gift and something I consider a great success in my life. While my story had an “ending” with the culmination of our legal battle in 2019, I’m sure I will have more stories to tell and I believe we never stop growing because that is our purpose for being here, so my growth and my “story” will continue and hopefully I’ll be in a position to share it with those who are interested.
What are your top three places to avoid writers block?
I’ve done all of my writing either at my kitchen bar on my laptop or in my home office. However, that’s not where I typically get my ideas for writing. I like to be in nature and the outdoors, and it’s often there that ideas will come to me and I’ll make a mental note or even put something in my “notes” on my phone so I can remember it for later. I often have thoughts and ideas too in the car – I spend a lot of time driving.
To find out more about Amy Herrig and her book head on over to her website.