Ask the Author: Jason R. Sullivan
Answered Questions (8)
Jason R. Sullivan
I feel that most of my life has been one transition after the other. I have traveled a lot and have spent time in many cultures. My home will always be Orlando, but I have lived abroad (Kuwait) for 12 years. During those travels I have had wonderful experiences and sometimes scary ones. There was one time while returning from Kenya that I was delayed in Ethiopia. I was transported to a hotel in Addis Ababa. The next day while exploring the city I saw a market off of the main road. I decided it looked interesting and walked toward the multiple tents set up along the way. When I was midway across the street from the market, someone grabbed me by the arm. He was a local man named Jacob ( I didn't know this at the time). I turned not knowing what to expect and he met me with a kind smile. I've been in a lot of situations where kind unknown people aren't always as they appear. I was definitely skeptical. He continued to smile and said to me, "my friend it is not safe for you there. If you go you will not return". Still skeptical I pulled my arm out of his hand and asked why. He said, "there is nothing but trouble there, you are a white tourist and you have a target on your face." He asked me if he could walk with me to my hotel. Still skeptical, I agreed and we began to walk. I thought of walking to another hotel but as I was only there for a few more hours I chose to walk with him to the hotel in which I was staying. We arrived and I expected that he would ask for money, still distrustful. He smiled again and said, "thank you but no. I am only interested in your safe return." I walked towards the hotel lobby and turned to thank him once again and he was, just gone. The road was wide and I would have seen him walking away as it had only been a couple of seconds. It was if he just disappeared.
Jason R. Sullivan
The best thing about being a writer is that writing sometimes functions as the canvas for the artist. Not everyone likes all art and in the same way not everyone likes all writers or genres. I don't necessarily just write for others to read. I write because it's what I love to do. Those ideas that bounce around my head for days or months seem to work their way out when I sit in front of a blank screen and begin to type.
Jason R. Sullivan
I have an Anxiety Disorder and am also a Therapist. I have read so many books over the years as both a therapist and an anxious soul. Many offer simple fixes or three easy steps and that just hasn't been my experience. I wanted to talk about the journey and what it's like to have those nights that sleep won't visit, or those moments when you've made the worst choices out of fear; and from there what it means to engage those times and grow. There's a tremendous difference between living and surviving and I feel that many books gloss over this. I wanted to provide something that gives a glimpse of living not just surviving a disorder.
Jason R. Sullivan
I write where I see blank spaces. There are so many books on so many topics including anxiety, but very few tackle it from the perspective of Therapist and fellow struggler. Music inspires me as well, it really moves me when I hear great quality music. You can tell when someone loves their art because you can hear their passion in their voice or instrument. That is what I hope to give to those who read my writings.
Jason R. Sullivan
Right now I am working on another manuscript and a Doctorate. So I am doing a lot of writing. I'm also hosting a podcast, "The Quiet Chaos Podcast". That has been a blast and has allowed me to sit with a lot of great Therapists and Professionals. Truly a learning experience for me.
Jason R. Sullivan
Prepare for rejection and let it encourage you to press on. Submitting proposals is exhausting and receiving rejections, and sometimes not even that, is part of the norm. Publishers, agents, even your own thoughts will reject you at times, but that comes with the territory. Keep writing, keep pressing and eventually you'll get there!
Jason R. Sullivan
Writer's block, for me at least, usually involves a concept or truth that have not come to terms with and must let it simmer for a while in my mind. If I'm not careful it the concept can be really haunting and consuming. I usually do something else for a while. Fishing, music, other people's words these things tend to fall into a metaphorical picture of the concept I am missing and they lead me back to the keyboard.
Jason R. Sullivan
Decoding the Ethics Code: A Practical Guide for Psychologists, A History of Modern Psychology: The Quest for a Science of the Mind, Personality Theory and Research, The Body Keeps the Score, Anxious by Joseph LeDoux,
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