Author Spotlight: Robyn Derksen Olfert
We are pleased to introduce Robyn Derksen Olfert. Her book, Invisibly Ill and Living with Hope was on our Non-fiction shortlist for our 2024 Braun Book Awards. Now available through the Word Alive Press Bookstore, and available everywhere fine Christian books are sold. We asked Robyn to share a little bit about her book and her writing. But first, a little bit about her.
About
Robyn Derksen Olfert was born and raised in Winnipeg, Canada and has continued to make her home there. She graduated from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Education and enjoyed five and a half years as a middle school teacher. Her career was interrupted when she and her husband, Kevin, joyfully welcomed their daughter, Claire. Claire’s arrival also coincided with Robyn’s “big diagnosis,” which became a life-altering event in her family’s life. Profound fatigue and subsequent disability hindered Robyn’s return to full-time teaching. As the years progressed, she “collected” a total of four significant invisible illnesses along with various less impacting ones.
While in university and managing the first of these illnesses, Robyn completed her Level 10 Piano with the Royal Conservatory of Music, achieving a high standing. This has been one of her greatest accomplishments, and she has joyfully opened her home and heart to students of all ages and abilities in her small private piano studio. Teaching piano has been an ideal blend of her skills.
Robyn and her family have been members of a local church for years, and they have relished their support and community. She enjoys keeping her close extended family and loving circle of friends connected and laughing.
Q&A
Q: How can others show love, care, and support to people living with chronic illness or disability?
A: Focus on the person and not their disease or disability. There is so much more to people than the challenges they face, and few people want to be defined by their trials. Be positive, upbeat, and hopeful, but that doesn’t mean you should pretend that an illness or disability isn’t a reality for your friend. Regardless of health or ability, people are interesting and have interests, so be curious about other aspects of their lives. Ask questions, so you can understand what is helpful for them. I wouldn’t pepper your friend with all of these at once, but the following are just some ideas of what you could say and ask: I’m excited that you’ll be joining us at [certain event]. It’s always good to see you. Would it make it easier for you if we turned the lights down lower and turned the music off? What is your pain level right now? Is [specific date] a good date to bring you a meal? Do you have any dietary restrictions? When is your next treatment? Would you like me to come with you and keep you company? How do you want me to be praying for you? Do you want distractions in the form of memes or jokes sent to you?
Q: How have you learned to live with a healthy perspective amidst your health hiccups?
A: Looking back over the years, it is evident that God has been at work in my life. Remembering the way he’s taken care of me in the past gives me hope when I look to the future. It can be easy to become discouraged when I face the reality that I can no longer enjoy an activity I once did—like going for a long walk with a friend. It’s been important for me to acknowledge and grieve a loss like that and take time to learn to let go of it. I seem to constantly need to relearn how negative it is for me to compare myself to others or to a past version of myself. Focusing on what I can do or have done and not on what I can’t do or failed to get done is helpful. Something I heard in a sermon a couple years ago is to shift our perspectives from “if only” to “even if.” I’ll be happy if only [perceived negative circumstances] versus God will take care of me even if [perceived negative circumstances].
Q: Explain why Job 1:21b is an important verse for you. It says: "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised" (NIV).
A: This might be considered a peculiar verse to have as a “life verse,” but it has been meaningful to me. Others might look at my life and challenges and assume that I relate to this verse because of all that’s been taken away from me. However, I see the flip side—I’ve been given so much more than what’s been taken; indeed, I have been blessed beyond measure! I also don’t see God as the one who has taken aspects of my health and ability from me. In his sovereignty, he allowed these things to happen. I am blessed that I’ve been able to share my story with others and hopefully offer comfort and hope to those going through similar circumstances.
Q: I hear you like to laugh. What role has laughter played in your story of invisible illness and disability?
A: I do love to laugh. I enjoy a good laugh with a good friend, a corny joke with a play on words, a clean comedian who can bring humour out of simple circumstances in life, and I even like to laugh at my illnesses and disability. I think I make some people uncomfortable at times when I crack a joke at my disease’s expense. The important thing about joking about these topics is to laugh at problems and with, but not at people. When explaining the foot drop I have in my right leg from MS, I’ll often tell people, “My right foot doesn’t believe in itself. The brace I wear helps it out.” If I start to lose my balance, I try to turn my recovery maneuvers into a silly dance. There’s an Instagram account dedicated to finding humour in chronic illness, and it’s been refreshing for me to see that other people are comfortable laughing through the challenges.
Q: Have you taken any writing courses?
A: I haven’t taken any formal writing courses outside of English class in school while I was growing up. I had a grade eight teacher who put an emphasis on grammar and was instrumental in me acquiring an appreciation for the structure and mechanics of writing. When I started my first job as a classroom teacher, I was in a school that also emphasized grammar. The students had workbooks, and I walked them through many topics. I was learning and relearning as I prepared the lessons, and the grammar lessons taught to those middle years students continue to live “rent-free” in my brain. I think it’s made me a better writer, bringing clarity to my message. I am known in my circles as a “grammar nerd” and have given advice to a few people close to me as they worked on university papers. Writing Invisibly Ill and Living with Hope has been a challenge as I quickly became aware that writing is about so much more than grammar. When it came to organizing and presenting the material, I went a lot with my instincts. I also had my husband and daughter read excerpts often to let me know if I was on track. At the time I was preparing my manuscript for my editor, I met a woman who is a professional writer and editor who gave me timely advice on bringing more focus to my writing.
Q: Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
A: This is my first foray into the official author life, so I don’t know how qualified I am to be giving writing advice. But I can share about what my process has been, what worked, and about the lessons I needed to learn.
I started with a lot of brainstorming. I kept a note of ideas in my phone before I ever started writing. My next step was to look at those notes and plan out the topics for each chapter. The first part of my book organized itself naturally into chapters dedicated to each of my chronic illnesses. The second part was organized into themes that were informed by the note I had in my phone.
And then I just started writing. And writing. And writing. The first half of the book saw me just give a pretty drab and tedious medical history that eventually needed to be massaged to be more palatable. It was somewhat therapeutic to work through everything from the beginning, though.
Given my love for grammar and my teacher mentality, it was hard to resist editing as I wrote. But looking back, I think I’d advise to separate the two tasks. Stopping to edit can interrupt the flow of the writing. Apparently, the perfectionist in me couldn’t stop myself, though.
When I started writing, I didn’t even consider that there’d be contests into which I could enter my manuscript. However, a timely connection with an old friend made me aware of the Braun Book Awards and Word Alive Press. I pushed through a terrible migraine week to get my manuscript ready for the deadline, and I’m so glad I did because I ended up being shortlisted and found a great publisher in the process.
After you get all your words out, be prepared to take a step back and let some of them go. Take time to think about each sentence on each page—does each one contribute to the message of the chapter and the book as a whole? It broke my heart, but some of the places I thought were the funniest and most endearing really didn’t serve the purpose of the book. I think I read them to my husband and daughter, removed them from the manuscript, and kept a copy of them archived. Maybe they will find an avenue somewhere else. Maybe not. But I didn’t want to hurt their feelings (and mine–lol) by deleting them permanently. It’s important to remember who your audience is and that you’re not writing just for yourself or your two biggest fans.
Accept that you will need professional help. As amazing as you think your manuscript might be, you’re too close to it to truly be objective. Even grammar nerds need editors. After I got the first round of edits back, I said, “Maybe I do need a governess—I mean editor!”
Connecting Points
Find and follow Robyn here:
Website
Facebook
Instagram
YouTube
And, check out her book, here: Invisibly Ill and Living with Hope.