Supporting Friends Who Are Writers

I have a Swedish friend who I met by chance through Twitter.  While promoting my book, David Sandum somehow found and followed me.  We kept in touch over the summer, through the fall and on throughout this past winter.  He is an amazing artist.    His art was born of the need to break free of the bondage of anxiety and depression.  It was his path to survival to pick up a paint brush and put his angst and emotion on an empty canvass. And more amazingly, it was self taught.

Following David’s Tweets were a delight as he shared snippets of his ongoing work, the events of his day and reflections of his struggle with debilitating depression and anxiety.  He had studied in the United States and moved his wife and two young boys back to Norway to begin his career.  Despite his strong work ethic, excellent grades and planned interviews, his plans were not realized and he ended up in a career path which was demanding and unsuitable for his strengths.  Multiple stresses weighed heavily upon him and he began a descent into a dark abysmal world of mental illness.

While David did not share his experience in depth over social media, he was simultaneously finishing up his memoir after years of work and struggles to keep his family financially sound.  When he began to prepare for his book launch, he encouraged me to pre-order a copy and I complied with some reservation.  I didn’t want to read about this type of struggle at this time in my life when there were many of us struggling as well.

When my copy finally arrived in the mail, I opened the book and read it straight through.  His writing was remarkable as he drew me into his world and kept my attention throughout his memoir.  When I finished the book, I wrote to him that I wanted to read more and encouraged him to write another book.

David is a successful artist and his book has been well received by all.  His work is so moving that I offered to write a short piece in my blog to invite others to experience the world of David Sandum.  You can find and follow him on Twitter @DavidSandum.