Platform Magazine featuring Jess Hymus-Gant

My life doesn’t measure uP TO a lot of what’s out there

Matt Bird founder of PublishU, talks with Jessica Hymus-Gant - a mum of a large family and author of Moments in Mummydom..

Matt: Tell us a little about you?

Jess: I was born in Austria and lived in Germany, Mexico and Spain, as well as travelling to a lot of other places too, before I moved to North Wales. I’ve been married for 20 years and have 9 children! Only 5 are at home the other 4 are all grown up.

Matt: That’s a lot of travelling and a lot of kids!

Jess: My childhood was very nomadic. That’s where my interest in writing came from because my family travelled during school term time so my homework was always to keep a journal about my experiences.

Matt: With 9 children you must have a lot of funny stories.

Jess: Yes, some days its organised chaos and other days its just chaos! I remember being pregnant and then school holidays started and I had 4 children home. One day I ask the boys to deliver a letter to our neighbour which had accidentally been included in our post. Next thing I knew there was noise from the roof! The boys had climbed onto the flat roof at the back of our house and were making a paper aeroplane out of the letter to deliver it!

Matt: Oh my goodness! So when did you decide to write a book?

Jess: When the children were young I used to be up with them during the night. I found myself posting funny stories on my social media and with friends living around the world in different time zones I’d always get a response. Then one day a long standing friend contacted me to say I should write these stories down.

Matt: So what happened next?

Jess: Well 15 years later a friend told me she had done the PublishU ‘Writing My Book’ course and how it had helped her write and publish her book. I thought that is just what I need. The course really helped me structure my time, it kept me accountable and most importantly gave me a community of peers to talk things through with.

Matt: So now you are the globally published author of ’Moments in Mummydom’, what is it about?

Jess: It’s the story of one mum and what she has gone through during the last year. The good, the bad, the ugly and the in between. There are the funny things, stressy things and hard things. It is a real snapshot of family life. I kept her as ‘mummy’ because when you

become a parent you lose a part of yourself and gain a whole side too. For example my kids parents are in my phone as Alfie’s mum or Sharon’s. So I’ve kept this mum as ‘mummy’ and not given her a name so that everyone can relate to her.

Matt: So your readers are going to laugh, cry, roll their eyes and roll on the floor laughing but what is your highest hope for your book?

Jess: It’s easy to look at social media and get in the comparison game and that can really get you down. I don’t know about you but my life doesn’t measure up with a lot of what’s out there. This kind of airbrushed family thing. It is not like that a lot of the time. So I want it to be a snapshot of real, of just refreshingly real. Also a chance for people to just realise I'm not the only one and that's good to know.

EVERYONE HAS A BOOK IN THEM

Do you have a story or a message that you are passionate about communicating?

One of the single most powerful ways you can do that is by writing a book.

You may feel that what you want to write about has been written beforetrust me it has not. You have a unique upbringing, family, education, work and life experiences which gives you a unique voice much like the uniqueness of your finger print.

Who will read your book? Many of the people you know will buy and read your book because someone they know has become a globally published author. Beyond the people who know you is a world of people who can be inspired about your book.

So is there something you feel is holding you back from writing your book? Maybe a negative voice that says, ‘I’m not good enough’, ‘I’m not sure’, ‘I’m too busy’, ‘I’m not ready’ or ‘I can’t afford it’. It’s time to put these selflimiting believes on mute and declare, ‘Yes, I Can’.

A recent graduate said, “I never thought I would write a book, let alone in 100-days. Now I’m asking what else have I told myself I cannot do that I actually can.”

Another graduate said, “My children have seen me write and publish a book and are now growing up fully expecting to become published authors too!”

Writing a book will have a transformative impact on you and the people around you. So how do you get started?

I would like to offer you a free gift…

‘My Book Idea’ is a workbook that will enable you to develop your book ideas and choose which of them to use for your book. CLICK HERE

Then enrol in one of our upcoming ‘Writing My Book’ programmes to enable you to write your book within 100-days. CLICK HERE

I very much look forward to being your book coach!

By Matt Bird, Author of twenty books and Founder of PublishU