Firstly I would like to express my gratitude towards Elizabeth and Readers Magnet/Author’s Lounge in enabling my voice to be heard, providing me with the support, and who are willing to promote the works of yet to be discovered authors. My dream is to one day to see my books out there and share them with the world. Mental Health is still a relatively taboo subject, expressing one’s emotions is seen as weak or people don’t think it will happen to them. COVID has helped bring it to the fore. My aim is to spread hope with anyone who has been going through depression, that where there is darkness there will be light. It just takes time.

I am originally from the UK and transplanted myself into New Zealand in 2007, I am well travelled, some say well educated. I love words and their meanings. I enjoy all the nerdy parts of travel which include baggage tag and airplane spotting.

I’ve been a Mental Health Nurse for nearly 30 years. I do love my job, most of the time. I’ve been in the same place well since I’ve been in NZ. It’s had it’s ups and it certainly has had its downs. The best part of my job is seeing someone going home looking completely different and flourishing in the community.

My discovery into writing is fairly recent.

I’m going to share a briefly how it began and where I am today.

In late 2013 a patient I was looking after committed suicide (this is the abridged version), this event led to me slowly withdrawing from the world, basically I was unable to function as a nurse, or as a human being. Fast forward to 2016 I had to appear in court to explain these events and my actions. I knew court was going to happen, I just didn’t know when. The waiting obviously had an impact, the word depression was thrown around and did I think I was depressed? well obviously I didn’t think I was. I had been for 2.5 years.

Depression isn’t just about feeling sad, 

In January 2017 I woke up one day thinking I needed to answer the darkness within me. I continued to write almost daily and started to gain a collection, a counsellor I was seeing at the time suggested I publish, I gave this some thought and had no ideas of how to progress. A patient I was looking after, and I were sharing these poems she suggested a company she had used. So I did some research and contacted a few publishers, got my book together and here began my journey, no one expressed much interest. In the meantime I was thinking I really want my work to heard and if I can build momentum I could change people’s perspectives. I still do, so I’ve been looking around for a company who believes in me.

Waiting For Spring, the title speaks for itself really. It’s my second book. Spring is the new beginning of life and quite often Spring has a lot of false starts the weather being one of them, like recovering from depression. My book gives a very raw and realistic perspective on what it is like to have depression and how it had a staggeringly negative effects on my relationships and my (at the time), distaste for my job and how I perceived the world around me (at the time). At some stage I was suicidal and there are a couple poems saying my goodbyes. This book is also about unresolved grief and forgiveness. I had carried all these emotions for 3 years with no outlet.

Waiting for Spring book cover was taken in Hong Kong in 2018, I went to school there back in the 1970’s and I have really fond memories.

The age group I’m primarily focusing on are young adult +. I believe in my work and it’s importance.

I have written a few poems for other people and I have written one for a committee looking into suicides.

Currently I’m fully functional, I have forgiven myself, forgiveness happens in stages as I have learnt too. I’m a more empathetic Nurse and love inspiring student nurses that mental health nursing could be for them.

Writing is my therapy. 

In the meantime Waiting for Spring is out there on Amazon.

You can find me when I’m not at work on:

Facebook: Zoë Hickerson author

Twitter: @zhickersonadhb1

I’m in the middle of developing my website