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Leave the Little Light On
With Sonia Palleck
by Samantha Skelton
Sonia Palleck returned to her childhood instincts as a writer long after the initial pull of writing tugged on her heart.
While still working full time as a busy orthodontist, Sonia embarked on a healing journey that not only opened up her eyes, but her heart too.
Leave the Little Light On, Book One: Windsor is a beautiful exploration of love, healing, and mustering up the courage to find the light within us and follow it.
Sonia herself is inspiration for this notion, following her passion and purpose even after the many twists and turns of life.
Can you tell us about where you grew up? Were you always involved in creative things like writing when you were younger, or is that something that came later in life?
I was born and raised in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, which is across the border from Detroit. So, it had a bit of an American influence. I was always very creative in terms of writing. I think I wrote a lot of poetry as a child, and during the night I wrote short stories. I wrote a short children's book that I got copyrighted, I think, when I was fourteen.
I had aspirations to be a writer. But as fate would have it, I did an aptitude test when I was 18 that was equal for dentists and journalist, and the dentist made more money. We didn't have a lot of money growing up. So, I made what was a very practical decision and I thought, well, I can always write on the side.
What about your parents? Were they in the arts at all?
No, my father was an accountant, and my mother was a receptionist. They were very big on education. They had this the idea very early on that all their children would be university educated and encouraged us to do our best in school.
How did your book, Leave the Little Light On, Book One: Windsor, come to be?
I was lying in bed at 4 a.m., and a man's voice said in my ear, “It’s time to write.” I jumped out of bed, thinking there was someone in my house. I looked around, and when I found there wasn't, I just sort of went with it and trusted it.
I got a journal from the shelf, held my pen over the page, and wrote Leave the Little Light On. The words poured out for about an hour. And then the next day it happened again. And it just kept happening.
I had some resistance to writing it because I realized early into it that it was based on my life, and I didn't really want to share all that I did in it with the world. But if I resisted the writing, it would just be piling up in my head. I had to write it out. So, I committed to doing it, and I did it every single day for 15 months until it was done.
That's when I realized that I had actually written about four books, because there was so much material!
How would you describe the twists and turns that led you back to writing?
I had never thought about writing anything for years. But after 22 years of marriage, I ended up in a divorce. My parents passed away kind of close to each other. I lost everything. I was rebuilding my life. A couple of years later, after a lot of soul searching, meditation and just healing, this voice came to me in March 2020.
Did you feel unfulfilled in the years you weren’t writing? Or was this about entering a new, exciting chapter in your life?
I was always searching for love and peace and not finding it in the places that I thought I should have. And when I did feel that peace in myself, what I prayed for was just a way to share that with people.
I think that humans learn best from stories and I think that’s what my book’s purpose is. My story of Athena, who is the hero in the book, is a new kind of love story.
I would love to go into your book in more detail. What’s the story? How much of it was inspired from your life or is it purely fictional?
It’s a fictional memoir because it is based on my life, but it is also a story I created. It deals with themes of alcoholism, family conflicts, physical trauma, and abuse, and all of the ways that we struggle as children to make sense of the world that we're seeing.
The protagonist is a very resilient and resourceful child. She has a spark in her, a little light, and always has guiding courage to never give up. The world needs a rewrite to the princess story.
Athena wants to live happily ever after. She tries very hard to be the perfect princess, the good girl. But the version of love that she is taught is based on conditions. That’s not love. Real love is unconditional. It’s a direct reflection of how we all struggle and realize the ways that we're searching for that feeling of belonging.
This is the first book of four. In book one we follow her development from the age of 3 until she's 18.
What’s the one takeaway you want people to have after reading book one?
To shake what your trauma gave you. Shake it off! You have to keep moving forward even if it is only one baby step at a time. But also shake a tail feather - what happens to us makes us interesting as humans.
We’re not damaged under all the pain and anguish that we've suffered; we’re actually perfect. Our job is about going within to find that little light that will guide us.
You designed and painted all of the book covers, and then you also went on to self-publish it. What was that experience like and what inspired you to be the creator in every single step in the process?
Yes, the creative process has been a grand work of learning about the whole industry: publishing, how books are made, how to design the covers - it was painstaking and super time consuming. I had to be very persistent and dedicated.
People really aren't interested in publishing your work if you’re not a pre-existing or well-known writer. I had to believe passionately in myself, and in the fact that I want the whole world to read this book.
That this is the message of healing and love. I was willing to gamble on myself.
What’s coming up for you the rest of the year?
The rest of the other three books in this series will be coming out this year, in 2023!
There isn't a person who couldn't relate to this young girl's struggles. It's worth the read!
Where can people read more information about you and get your book?
You can find the book on Amazon and you can find out more about me on my author website: www.SoniaPalleck.com.
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