Non-Fiction / Self-Help / Eating Disorders & Body Image
Date Published: January 15, 2020
Publisher: CS Publishing Ltd.
For 40-plus years the author battled with attitudes, beliefs and behaviors that are commonly labeled as symptoms of three psychological disorders: muscle dysmorphia, orthorexia, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD). The consequences were grave. This book explains Stuart’s struggles and self-inquiry, and then describes the five elements of his psychological healing. Each element helped him, but their synergism profoundly improved his mental health, his relationships, his physical health, and his overall life.
This book isn't targeted only at male bodybuilders and other exercise enthusiasts. The great difficulties Stuart dealt with are experienced by millions of men and women who struggle with their body-image and/or eating, and/or who are tormented by perfectionism or workaholism. His success story may inspire any of those people to start their own self-inquiries that lead to their own success stories.
This book isn't targeted only at male bodybuilders and other exercise enthusiasts. The great difficulties Stuart dealt with are experienced by millions of men and women who struggle with their body-image and/or eating, and/or who are tormented by perfectionism or workaholism. His success story may inspire any of those people to start their own self-inquiries that lead to their own success stories.
Interview
What is the hardest part of writing your books?
Getting the first-draft work
done. For me, re-writing and editing take way longer than the first-draft work,
but it’s the first-draft work that’s the hardest to do. I don’t write the first
draft in its entirety and then shift to re-writing and editing. I mix
first-draft work with re-writing, and I edit as I go along. So, I do all three
aspects of writing during each session of work. But I almost always start each
stint of work with editing or re-writing something from an earlier session.
What songs are most played on your iPod?
I don’t have an iPod or similar device.
I listened to music a lot when I was young, but not now. I’ve tried having
music playing in the background while I write, but I always found it hampered
the quality of my work and my speed. So, for many years now, I’ve always written
in silence.
Do you have critique partners or beta readers?
Critique partners. Rigorous critique
of my work by experts in my genres has been essential for improving my ability
to provide information that can help my readers.
What book are you reading now?
I usually read non-fiction and have several books on the go at any one
time. But when I read fiction, I set aside other books and focus on just the
novel.
I’m currently reading Sophie’s World: A Novel about the History of
Philosophy, which is more non-fiction than fiction. I’m also reading Nautilus: The Lost Empire of Arthur Jones
and a couple of titles on how to market a book.
How did you start your writing career?
Since I was 15 years old, I’ve been
passionate about physical training—especially bodybuilding. And ever since I
was a boy I’ve loved books, especially how-to and self-help books. One of the
subjects I’ve studied extensively is physical training. I turned my combined
passions for physical training and books into my career as a writer, author and
publisher.
Initially, I was motivated to write by
my desire to challenge mainstream physical-training instruction, to help others
avoid the mistakes I made with my own training. Since 1981, I’ve made a name
for myself as a voice of sanity in a training world infested with drugs, lies,
appalling training instruction, mental health problems, abuse of physical
health, and tons of commercial rip-offs. I had my first magazine article
published in 1981, when I was 22 years old. My article writing output gradually
increased until 1989 when I started my own magazine, whereupon my output
increased greatly—for other magazines and my own. Then in 1990 and 1991 I wrote
my first major book—BRAWN—which was published in late 1991. Thereafter I wrote
a great many magazine articles and several books. And I’m still writing now. My
latest book—A MAN DEVOURED BY HIS BODY, FOOD & WORK—was published this
year.
Tell us about your next release.
I have
another book in the works—a return to my usual subject of physical training,
although from a different perspective to that of my other books in that genre.
But I’ve suspended work on book writing while I focus on marketing my latest title.
But I plan to return to book writing at the start of next year and finish the
manuscript towards the end of 2021 ready for publication in early 2022.
About the Author
Stuart has had around 1,000 articles published in print magazines. He wrote a monthly column for the UK’s leading bodybuilding magazine for 22 consecutive years. He also authored several acclaimed books including BEYOND BRAWN and BUILD MUSCLE LOSE FAT LOOK GREAT, and published his own magazine for 15 years. But his success as a writer was born out of his efforts to survive the profound struggles he had because of his psychological challenges, which resulted in suffocating distress.
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