Writer Christy Warren joins me today to talk about her memoir, Flash Point: A Firefighter’s Journey Through PTSD.
Bio:
Christy Warren is a retired fire captain from the Berkeley Fire Department in California. She has twenty-five years of service as a professional paramedic and eighteen years as a professional firefighter/paramedic. After being diagnosed with PTSD in 2014, she retired from the fire service; since then, she has become a triathlete, completed the Escape from Alcatraz swim five times, and earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Washington State University. She is a volunteer Peer at the West Coast Post-trauma Retreat and hosts the podcast The Firefighter Deconstructed. She lives in Pleasant Hill, CA with her wife, Lisa, and dog, Harriet.
Please tell us about your current release.
This book is a memoir of my journey of being a firefighter/paramedic for twenty-five years in the San Francisco Bay area. I loved and excelled at my job until I began developing symptoms of PTSD. While being too overwhelmed with shame and confusion as to what and why this was happening to me, I was too afraid to ask for help. When I finally did ask for help, my journey of recovering from this physiological injury began. This memoir tells the story of developing PTSD and my recovery.
What inspired you to write this book?
I really didn’t set out to write a book. I found myself writing about specific calls that were haunting me and I just kept writing. When I began to struggle with PTSD, I burned a hole in google, searching for information on what was happening to me. I spent hours on Amazon looking for a book written by someone like me. I found only one book about Clint Malarchuk, a former All-Star NHL goalie who had his neck sliced open from a hockey skate and almost died. From this and his difficult childhood he got PTSD and later wrote a book about it. Reading his story was the first time I didn’t feel alone, like I wasn’t the only ‘tough person’ going through this. I realized I needed to turn my writing into a book and make it available so others that are struggling wouldn’t feel so alone.
What exciting project are you working on next?
I had a great deal of respect and admiration for my mother-in-law. She suffered from a major stroke in her forty’s and had to learn how to walk and talk again. She overcame this and was in a marriage she was not happy in but was unable to leave due to the effects of the stroke. With low self-esteem and never knowing when the next stroke would hit, because she began having more smaller strokes, she carved out a life for herself. Her and I became close and took a trip to Italy together. The book will be about her life, her resiliency and our relationship told through our time in Italy. Some pretty funny and a few difficult things happened while we were there.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
A small explosion of joy happened when my creative writing teacher in high school encouraged me to be more descriptive in a short story I wrote. The story was about receiving some bad news and I had written, “I walked up the stairs.” I changed it to, “I plodded up the stairs.” For some reason that one small change put a smile on my face and I was hooked. In terms of calling myself a writer? I know I should call myself a writer, but I struggle with that. It’s like having imposter syndrome.
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I am retired so I have the time to write as much as I want but seem to let my brain tell me my writing isn’t good enough, so I often struggle to make time to write. My personality thrives on structure, which is hard to come by when retired.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
My favorite place to write is in a busy coffee shop with good, overhead music playing. It’s like being surrounded by delicious blanket that helps me focus. I also am a huge fan of coffee.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
As a kid I watched a lot of baseball as my dad and grandpa were avid San Francisco Giants fans. So at age six I started playing real baseball (in the boys league) and loved it. I totally planned to be the first woman baseball player in the major leagues.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I love my nutty dog, Harriet. She is an English Cream Golden Retriever and just as mischievous and sassy as me.