Today we’d like to introduce you to Lacey Impellizeri.
Hi Lacey, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My love for stories started pretty much from birth. At night, after my dad went to work, my mom and I would crawl up on the big chair in the living room and read an entire wicker basket filled with story books. I started telling stories when I started reading on my own, and started writing after author Sarah Pennypacker gave an inspirational speech to my fourth grade classroom. Storytelling became something I loved, and it gave me a way to connect with my community. I soon found myself connecting with other authors, sitting at the Southern California Writers’ Conference at fourteen years old, and making lifelong friends. In college, I worked for the incredible Acorn Publishing, where I was able to use my education to help other authors achieve their own dreams of publishing their own stories. At this time, I’d published a guided journal, Your Words Count, to further assist other authors who were struggling with completing their own books. Pretty soon after publication, my Journal made its way as a #1 Amazon.com bestseller, which was one of the most exciting moments of my life. After an unexpected illness, I was forced to step back and focus on my own health and recovery and shelve my own writing. After some time away from my writing, a break from social media, and a “becoming yourself” era, I have grown into somebody who I would want to have met in my fourth grade classroom. Now, I live in a beautiful home with a husband that not only matches every single ounce of silly-ness I throw at him, but supports me in every crazy endeavor I decide to pursue.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I have had plenty of struggles along the path to where I am currently. I, like millions of Americans, have struggled with mental health. I have been diagnosed with OCD and anxiety and because, at times, they seemed manageable I had assumed that they were things that I should live with.
During the 2020 lockdown, I had contracted the COVID-19 virus and, as a result, suffered brain and permanent nerve damage. Not only did these things have a severe impact on my body, but it had devastating effects on my mental health. Because of the brain damage I had issues with memory loss and retention, I couldn’t remember the day of the week, conversations I had just had, or information I had just been given. I began journaling to keep hold of memories that felt like they were running straight through my fingers. The journaling soon became meticulous records of everything I would do in fear that I would forget myself or who I was. Slowly, this would consume my entire day, and out of such an intense fear of forgetting what I was doing in the middle of doing it, I had retired to the idea that doing nothing was better than failing at something. On top of the nerve damage effecting both of my legs, my anxiety began to have a physical effect on my body and I would become physically ill whenever I’d be faced with my own reality. It was only after seeing a neurologist that I was able to get a prescription that effectively lessened my nerve pain, and pretty soon after, once my pain had mostly subsided, I realized I had more energy to tackle my mental health. I reached out to a therapist and I did the one thing I’d been too scared to do the entire process, I’d asked for help. It was a long road, but we had worked together to find solutions for the problems I was facing, and once I’d returned to work, I was forced to use my brain every day. It was difficult, and it was a long road, but slowly (very slowly) I began to exercise my brain back to where it was. It took almost six years, but my brain is healthier than ever before. I have reenrolled in college for another degree, I have been on the Deans list for the past three semesters, and I have found my “sparkle” enough to finish another book filled with powerful women with similar struggles.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My passion is the art of writing and storytelling. In 2019, I used my knowledge in the literary industry to create and publish a guided journal, Your Words Count: A Writing and Editing Planner to Help You Finish Your Book. I published it on my Dad’s birthday, and shortly after, it became a #1 Amazon.com bestseller in its category.
While I’m known for author marketing and support, I know it’s time for me to focus on myself and the art that I love. Which is why I’ve recently finished my second book, “The Beautiful Things We Bury”, a story of grief, identity, and murder. In this story, we follow Juli Moreno as she navigates motherhood after the loss of her husband to a long battle with lung cancer. This new way of life is interrupted when her next door neighbor dies under suspicious circumstances. Juli’s new focus on protecting her daughter becomes an obsession when she starts her own investigation to predict who’s next.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
The most important lesson I’ve learned in my journey is that perseverance in your own path is not inhibited by asking for help. Strength is not determined by quiet suffering, it is determined by the recognition of your limit and the ability to appreciate it. The world is filled with good people who know more than you, asking for help is just as important as giving it.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @littletinylacey
