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Author’s trek from struggle to success inspires

Kaylinn Gilstrap/Photographer Amanda Kyle Williams, author of "The Stranger You Seek."

ENLARGE PHOTO

Book cover "The Stranger You Seek" by author Amanda Kyle Williams.

ENLARGE PHOTO

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By Daryn Kagan, Contributing Writer 5:08 PM Friday, August 26, 2011

Amanda Kyle Williams is one of the special people. I met her a few years ago as my friend’s dog walker. Dog walkers like Amanda are the angels that let us busy people cram a ton into our long days while knowing your beloved dog is out on a midday adventure.

I could write just about that chapter of Amanda’s life. There are, however, two problems with that. One, it is by far not Amanda’s biggest story. And two, there was a time when Amanda wouldn’t have been able to read it.

See, like millions of Americans, Amanda was a functioning illiterate. School had been a disaster. “They told me I was stupid or lazy,” Amanda shared with me recently. “It was the only way they could explain why I couldn’t learn to read.” She dropped out as soon as she could.

By the time she was 22, low self-esteem brought her to seek a therapist’s help. The woman listened to her story and uttered a word she’d never heard before. “Dyslexia.”

“I actually believe we could teach you to read,” the woman told her, explaining that Amanda’s brain simply was wired to process information differently.

“That was the greatest day of my life,” Amanda remembers. Indeed, she learned to read tracing letters with her finger. It was slow going, but a love affair was born.

As she sat in her local public library devouring books, Amanda came to realize she not only loved reading, she love writing, as well. What would all those misguided teachers say if they knew “stupid, lazy” Amanda had found her purpose in life. She’s here to be a writer.

Of course, there’s a gift and a challenge to finding your purpose, as you realize you must do whatever you have to in order to fulfill it. That’s how Amanda came to be a dog walker, a house painter, a food server and whatever else it took to pay the bills and keep writing.

Amanda is an inspiration for anyone who is getting tired of working so hard and waiting for your dream to come true. That greatest day of her life? When she learned to read and declared herself a writer? That was 25 years ago! She’s been doing odd jobs, working on her craft, bouncing back from rejection for a quarter of century.

This week, Random House will publish “The Stranger You Seek.” It marks her debut as what they believe is the newest, hottest author of suspense thriller novels. Amanda’s book gives birth to Keye Street, a very flawed and very funny former FBI profiler. Amanda somehow manages to weave the terrifying hunt for a twisted serial killer with the humor of an engaging and funny main character.

She knows fear from all those years of being afraid of being found out. “I couldn’t celebrate with anyone when I learned to read,” Amanda remembers, “because I’d never told anyone I was illiterate. It was my dirty little secret.

As for humor, Amanda is laughing all the way to the bank. Twenty-five years after she started to write, Random House signed her to a three-book deal worth more than a million dollars.

Amanda believes her big break actually came three years ago. “That’s when I changed what I allowed my mouth to say to myself,” she shared. “When I was finally willing to try something new, as corny as it might sound, to only say positive things to myself. That’s when the change came. Life follows thoughts and mouth.”

These days she’s sharing her story. She wants others who struggle with reading to know there is hope. In that way, she’s still an angel. She’s showing the struggle to overcome might be a long walk — but one very much worth taking.

Daryn Kagan is the creator of DarynKagan.com, She is the author of “What’s Possible! 50 True Stories of People Who Dared To Dream They Could Make a Difference.”

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