​There is a flip side to living with exclamation points. I have long said that it is precisely my greatest strength that holds my greatest weakness. When you have a big heart and live out loud, unfortunately the reverse is also true. The heart that is open to love deeply is also open to great pain.
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I pride myself on being tough. Staying strong in tough times is just what I do. Usually. You see, even the heartiest of souls have times when no matter how hard they try there is no strength. In my case that usually means there are long held in tears that stream down uncontrollably. At as is often tends to happen with me, it is usually at times when it is rather inconvenient. Tonight was one of those times.

I had the privilege to be interviewed about a month ago by a classmate in my blog writing class. You can find his blog at donaldhuffman.com. It was a really neat experience and he asked questions that really made me think about the answers. I am so happy to have had this opportunity. He has recently posted this interview to his blog and it is my pleasure to share it with you. 

​This week I have another interview for you.  I write a lot on this site about overcoming the internal resistance that a writer faces and Kristen Elisabeth Steele exemplifies this to the utmost degree. In the later part of 2016 she was diagnosed with transverse myelitis, multiple sclerosis, and optic neuritis all within a few short months of each other. Faced with despair and the very stripping of her own identity, she poured her pain and her triumphs into a blog she started called Hope4Life180.com. Deeply personal, self-effacing,and funny, her blog is a raw look into the world of a mother, a teacher, a writer, and a person living with a debilitating condition. On top of the blog, she is also a published author of several childrens’ books which you can find on Amazon and createspace.com. You can find the links to buy her books at the end of this article. This article has been transcribed to text from a telephone interview.