Why Now? A 20-Year Relaunch Story

Why I'm Re-releasing a 20-Year-Old Cancer Book (And Why It Matters More Now)

"Should I really do this again?"

That's the question I've been wrestling with as October 18th approaches—the launch date for the new edition of Revealing Grace.

Twenty years have passed since I first shared my cancer story. This includes twenty years of medical advances, changed treatments, and different protocols. 

When Denise Druce tells me about her recent cancer journey, the options available to her weren't even imagined when I was in treatment.

So why relaunch a book about an experience that happened in what feels like the medical Dark Ages?

Here's what I've discovered: while cancer treatment has evolved dramatically, the human experience of having your life interrupted hasn't changed at all.

The moment when normal disappears and you have to figure out how to do everything you've always done PLUS manage a health crisis—that's timeless.

The discovery of who shows up for you and how community becomes medicine—that's universal.

The choice between seeing your challenge as a tragedy or an adventure—that decision still has to be made by every person facing every difficult season.

But here's what's different now, and why this relaunch feels essential:

I'm no longer writing as someone in the middle of the storm. I'm writing as someone who made it through and spent twenty years discovering what the experience taught me. I'm writing as someone who became a yoga teacher because of what I learned about the body's wisdom. 

I am writing as someone who  became a Reiki practitioner because of what I discovered about energy and healing and I am writing as someone who dedicated her career to working with marginalized communities because cancer taught me something about resilience that I needed to pay forward.

The book isn't just a cancer story anymore. It's a story about how challenges—any challenges—can reveal grace we didn't know we possessed.

Twenty years ago, I was writing for cancer patients and their families. Today, I'm writing for anyone whose life has taken an unexpected turn. 

This includes  parents managing special needs children or for people navigating job loss, divorce, mental health struggles, aging parents, financial stress—all the interruptions that force us to become stronger than we thought possible.

I am also writing for anyone who needs to know that life can be interrupted without being destroyed.

The medical details may be dated, but the deeper truths are more relevant than ever. In a world that often feels fractured and uncertain, we need stories about how communities care for each other. We need examples of how to face hard things with grace. 

We need permission to call our challenges adventures instead of tragedies.

Most importantly, we need reminders that healing—real healing—happens not just in our bodies but in our relationships, our perspectives, and our capacity to help others on their journeys.

Revealing Grace was never really about cancer. It was about what gets revealed when life strips away everything non-essential and shows us who we really are, who really loves us, and what we're actually capable of.

Those revelations are timeless.

That's why now. That's why again. That's why this story still matters.

With deep gratitude for the journey we share,

Amy

P.S. - The new edition of Revealing Grace: A Story About a Cancer Adventure and a Community launches October 18th. It includes new reflections on two decades of growth, healing, and service. I can't wait to share it with you!