A Man Devoured by His Body,Food & Work Book Tour

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.

Interview:

What inspired you to become a writer?

Initially, my writing was solely on physical training, especially bodybuilding. I was motivated by my desire to challenge mainstream training instruction, to help others avoid the mistakes I’d 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.

What are your main hobbies?

The longest-lasting one has been reading. Ever since I was a boy I’ve loved books, especially non-fiction, and particularly how-to and self-help books. One of the subjects I’ve studied extensively is physical training. That has been my major passion and hobby since I was 15 years old, which I later turned into my career as a writer, author and publisher.

Since 2016, I’ve been learning to play the Greek bouzouki. Although I’m English, I live in Cyprus, an island-country in the Eastern Mediterranean where Greek music is popular. I live there because my wife is Cypriot.

What did you do before you became a published author? 

I was a schoolteacher in Cyprus for nine years, in my twenties and early thirties. I became a published author after seven of those years. But I had to continue as a schoolteacher for a further two years—part-time—as I transitioned into being a full-time writer, author and publisher as from summer 1993. That was a period of tremendous physical and mental stress because the total workload was huge and on top of the demands of parenthood and married life.

How long have you been writing for?

Since 1981, when I had my first magazine article published. I was 22 years old at the time and at college. My article writing output gradually increased until 1989 when I started my own magazine, whereupon my writing 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 was published this year. 

What's your writing style like?

All my articles and books were founded on my life experiences. And over those four decades of writing I earned a reputation for providing honest, thorough, non-commercialized and trustworthy information that often runs counter to conventional understanding.

What's your favorite genre to write/read in and why?

For my first 35 years of writing, my favorite genre to write in has been physical training. Over the last few years, though, as I worked on my latest book—A MAN DEVOURED BY HIS BODY, FOOD & WORK—the genre of mental health has become another great passion of mine. 

In late 2015, I started to keep notes on my initial research into my mental health problems. And in 2016, my progress from personal therapy motivated me to become more and more involved with my self-care. Then I thought I may eventually have a story that other people would appreciate. So I wrote an account of my journey. It includes my therapy sessions and my investigation into other aspects of my self-inquiry and healing. 

My eventual success with my mental health justified putting my story in book form—my latest work. I used the same criteria of honesty, painstaking effort, and so forth that I applied when I wrote my other books. My latest book’s topics are much more complex, though.

Some writers have something playing in the background. Do you, and what?

Not now. While I write, I’ve often tried having music playing in the background—of different genres. But I always found it a distraction that hampered the quality of my work and my speed. So, for many years now, I’ve always worked in silence.

What advice would you give any newbie author or anyone that wants to pick up writing?

To write about a subject for which you have a longstanding and intense passion, and an exceptional level of knowledge. It’s much better to be a master of one subject than a jack of many.

Then study how to write, write a lot, re-write a lot, learn the craft, get feedback from people who are experts in your subject, listen to constructive criticism, and learn how to edit your work. Writing well is a solitary, demanding activity. 

Then when you think your manuscript is finished, GET IT PROFESSIONALLY EDITED. That editing will probably shock you the first time around because of the number of errors it will reveal. But it will transform your manuscript for the better. That editing may also be an eye-opener for most professional writers, no matter how much experience they have.

It may require years of on-and-off work to finish a book manuscript ready for publication.

Even though I’ve been writing as a source of income since 1981, my latest book took me four years to complete. Two of my other books took five years each. 

Finding a mainstream publisher is nigh on impossible for unpublished authors, so self-publishing is probably the only way most newbie writers will get their books published. 

But getting published is only half the job. If you want your book to sell, you must market it successfully. That’s the other half of the job. And marketing is another mountain to climb.

To persist through all of that requires extraordinary motivation, ability, knowledge and indomitable persistence. But even then there’s no guarantee of commercial success. 

If commercial success isn’t a necessity, it’s never been easier to get published. Anyone can self-publish on a website, and self-publish in eBook format. 

Do you have any pets? 

I’ve lived with pets most of my life. My parents had a rough collie when I was born, but she died when I was very young. I have hardly any memories of Lady. A few years later we adopted another rough collie—a mature one with only a few years of life to go. I have special memories of Rocky. 

Then we got a Great Dane puppy—Gypsy. I was about 15 years old at the time. I remember being in the living room of the breeder, with my sisters and parents. We were bowled over when the puppy’s parents rushed in to greet us. They were massive, but friendly. Gypsy was a joy to take care of. For her early months I kept a weekly record of her weight, height, and neck and chest girths. Her rate of growth was astonishing. She was a gentle giant.

Gypsy died at nine years old. Great Danes aren’t long-lived. After I’d left the UK, my parents got another Great Dane puppy—Kailif. He became another gentle giant and also died at age nine.

In Cyprus I’ve cared for two dogs and many cats, mostly rescues. Currently, I care for a terrier cross and three cats.

END

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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