LANCASTER, Pa. — The FOX43 Book Club highlights the works of local authors with ties to Central Pennsylvania.
September's pick, "Invincible: Finding the Light Beyond the Darkness of Chronic Illness," is the brainchild of Anne Schober and Mollie Ayers. The Lancaster County women were inspired to create a novel where chronic illness warriors could share their stories.
"Invincible" came to be when Schober took to social media to share her story of living with a so-called "invisible" illness and the toll it took on her everyday life.
Originally born in Alabama, Schober moved around a bit before her family settled in Lancaster County, where she's stayed ever since. After graduating with a medical assistant degree, she worked as an autopsy assistant for a while before getting married and becoming a stay-at-home mom.
Schober went back to school once her kids grew up to get an English degree and become a teacher. She was one of the first Freedom Writers chosen to contribute to "Teaching Hope" and has authored or co-authored several other books before "Invincible."
The writer's journey with chronic illness started about seven years ago, but Schober says her disease had been rearing its head long before she realized what was going on with her body. After finally finding a practice and physician she trusted, she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.
"[That doctor] is an angel in disguise, because I just felt like I was losing my mind," Schober said. "Like you can't see it, nobody can tell that any of this is going on, but I knew something was wrong."
After trying at least 15 medications, Schober finally found a treatment that works to manage her pain.
"You will hear that—and maybe you read it in the book too—if a person has one autoimmune disease, you typically get two, three, four, five more," the creator said. "It's never just one diagnosis with autoimmune diseases."
"It's rough, and people don't... they don't know," Schober shared. "And you hide a lot. Like I don't want my kids to see me in pain, so you hide a lot. Like the pictures I sent you guys, you see me smiling, you see me standing."
Schober first began considering writing another book after a New Year's Eve conversation with friends about their future plans.
"So they asked me what my goal was, and I honestly had no idea," the author said. "So a month passed, and I was like, 'you know what, I think I have another book to write.'"
Schober reached out to her publisher, and with his blessing, began the first stages of creating "Invincible."
"So I put a big thing out on Facebook," Schober said. "I made it public. It's me in a wheelchair, saying, like, 'this is the real me.' I post tons of pictures of my grandchildren because they are the best in the world. You will see pictures of me having fun and smiling. That's not who I am. So putting myself out there and asking for other people who are also fighting chronic, invisible illnesses to come forward, that was tough. But I did it."
After making the post, Schober closed her computer and headed off to enjoy her time with her friends. When she returned to Facebook, she found over 500 messages from other chronic illness warriors waiting for her to read.
"So I got busy," Schober said. "And the very first person that sent me a private email was Mollie. And she said, 'I'm here to help you, I see all the messages, if you think you could use the help—I'm here for you.'"
Ayers suffers from her own invisible illness, and she reached out to Schober with a desire to help bring their stories to life.
"I, along with Anne, hoped that this could be an inspiration to those that are suffering and a way for others to understand," Ayers said in an email. "As a young person with chronic illness, I've spent a lot of my life being misunderstood or pushed aside because I’m 'too young to be sick.' This book gave me the freedom to share my story and help others share theirs too."
"When Anne asked me to be a part of this book as a co-author, I was honored and nervous," Ayers said. "I didn’t know know what writing a book looked like, but she did, and this was a topic I was immensely passionate about, so I was excited! I felt that this was finally a way for all people who feel invisible because of their injuries to finally feel seen and heard! I was excited to help them see the healing side of living with an illness."
The women teamed up and instantly gelled together.
"It has been an amazing friendship," Schober said. "And I think Mollie is more than a friend, she's family—as her whole family is. And it has been so much fun doing this with her and having somebody to understand. Because I have my own disease, Mollie has hers. Everybody else has theirs. So having two different diseases being the creators, I think was really beneficial."
When Schober's publisher decided against printing "Invincible," the creators weren't deterred. Instead, they published the book on their own.
Each story in the collection is anonymous, and each tells the tale of the daily struggles and triumphs of someone battling an unseen disease.
"Invisible illnesses, you don't see. So I love the fact that every story is not labeled as to who wrote it," Schober said.
They also had the idea to use the stages of grief as guides for the chapters. In all, there are nine chapters: denial, acceptance, anger, joy, obstacles, triumphs, loss, hope and gratitude.
"Our idea to use the stages of grief as a general outline of the book I think was the perfect framework, as many of us grieve many of the things that we have lost or will never have," Ayers said. "It also gave me the chance to honor my family and friends who have always been by my side."
Through hospitalizations, the death of one of the contributors and other setbacks, Schober and Ayers persevered. Sixteen months after they started their journey, "Invincible" was officially a published book.
Schober talks more about her chronic illness journey, previous books, future ideas for "Invincible" and plans to launch a podcast in the full interview below.
"It sucks sometimes, but you gotta keep going," Schober declared.
Anyone interested in joining the FOX43 Book Club's discussion of "Invincible: Finding the Light Beyond the Darkness of Chronic Illness" can join the Facebook Live at 10 a.m. on Sept. 26 on the FOX43 Book Club Facebook group.