I appreciate this author’s courageous journey in sharing her story. I also appreciate the variety of work that’s collected in this book.

Mateja shares her journey of losing her career and the pain and hardships that followed through a variety of writings including short stories and poems. I am grateful for Mateja's vulnerability and sharing such honest thoughts and how writing is helping her to heal. This book is a good read for anyone going through a difficult time who needs encouragement of how to deal with the pain and to know they are not alone. Thank you to Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book has my kind of stories, the stories that I know all too well, simply because I too got into writing to numb my pain, but along the way, I learned that writing helped me embrace my pain, fears, and ultimately, it led me to a world of new possibilities. This is what this book is about, real life struggles and I love how the different stories are framed in words and styles that are not so foreign, but rather simple and conversational, it felt like someone started a conversation with "hey, have you ever...?"
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.

Interesting book and read. There are also a variety of stories. Thank you to both NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for my eARC.

Writing to Heal the Pain: Stories & Poems by Mateja Klaric is a collection of mostly essays and some poems. It takes the reader along on the author’s attempts to find healing after having her career stolen away from her in a way that left her with anxiety and PTSD.

The author explains that writing was the tool she used to survive a killer curve cannonball that shattered her career in TV, radio, and journalism. All of a sudden, she was fired without justification. She chose to go public, which resulted in her being blacklisted across her industry. She went to court and after 2 1/2 years she won, but in the end found herself still without income and close to bankruptcy.

She experienced thoughts of suicide, but support came from unexpected sources. In “How to Sack Properly – The Smart Manager’s Guide”, she writes: “Some of the targets might commit suicide. Think of this as collateral damage and brush it off. Never forget, targets are inferior and thus less than humans. You owe them nothing.”

After the implosion of her career, she was left with nothing. “Who are you when you don’t have a job, a purpose, a calling, a means to make a living? You turn into nobody and you are being treated accordingly.”

When she began sending out job applications, she was ignored or received nasty remarks. Friends weren’t helpful either, and she was met with remarks suggesting that she’d be just fine. She faced classic victim-blaming, as many people ended up blaming her for her situation. She was also ghosted and shunned.

The author writes about how difficult it was looking for a job when she was over 45 and had no references from her work that lasted more than a decade.

She struggled with the loss of her established identity as well as the loss of income. She writes: “I’ve lost my identity six years ago, and I still haven’t found it. This wouldn’t bother me much if it weren’t for the world that we live in. And this world demands identities. It has to be clear for each and every one of us who we are and what we do.”

She explains that writing was an important step in cleaning out the initial wounds. It was also a way to try to seek out an income. She has tried strategies that many bloggers will have some familiarity with, such as a donation button on her website, Patreon, Medium, and self-publishing.

In one of the poems, she writes:

“As if there was a hole
where my chest used to be,
that’s how it feels.”

The author’s pain oozes out of the book. Many of the essays were first published a few years ago, and there is a rawness to them.

I felt a connection with this book immediately. While I wasn’t fired, I faced workplace bullying and subsequent blacklisting. A lot of the hurt and damage the author described were things that I experienced to some extent myself. Her story shows how hard it is to rebuild after having so much stripped away. This is a poignant example of just how hard it can be for writers to try to support themselves online through their writing.

It saddens me that people are faced with challenges like this. While she pursued a court challenge and won, it changed nothing in a material sense. People deserve better than this.

Writing to Heal the Pain
Stories & Poems (Transformation Book 1)

by Mateja Klaric


BooksGoSocial

Biographies & Memoirs , Self-Help

Pub Date 24 Jun 2019


I am reviewing a copy of Writing to Heak the Pain through BooksGoSocial and Netgalley:


In this book it is pointed out that Social Exclusion is painful for us as human beings. We need to be heard and have our existence acknowledged. Some of us find our voices through the written world.



Writing to Heal the Pain is a memoir that focuses on transforming emotional pain into something that allows us to grow and to come to a deeper understanding. It is also a call to action for social change.


I give Writing to Heal the Pain Four our of five stars!


Happy Reading!

This book made me reflect on so many things I thought I was already done with. Mateja reminds you that nothing is immortal, that things change, and sometimes not for the best, but also shows herself as an example that writing can heal any wound, and I think that's what most of us (and I'm including myself) forget more often than not.