My work as a writer in English (Japanese is my first language) began when I moved to Hawaii and decided to advance my undergraduate education in dance at Thomas Edison State University (then Thomas Edison State College). It took my quite a few years to adjust to college English and the American style of critical thinking; however, I worked hard at the academic side of competitive dancesport while pursuing lessons with Mr. Albert Franz, my current competition coach. During this process, I also pursued medical massage therapy at the Hawaii College of Health Sciences, finally acquiring my state license and opening my practice to include sports, especially dancesport competitor massage. I received my Bachelor of Arts Degree in Dance.
It was during my dance, massage therapy and undergraduate training that I first thought of pursuing a Master's Degree in Dance Movement Therapy (DMT); however, the more Iooked into DMT, the more I wondered if there was a more all-encompassing approach, and came across the idea of pursuing a Master's Degree in Somatic Therapy. The problem was that most programs in somatic therapy seemed more like a prelude to psychotherapy and true body-oriented therapy. That was the start of my "Search for Somatic Therapy." I eventually chose an international university that allowed me to develop my own program of study focused specifically on somatic therapy, and the result was the summative manuscript appropriately entitled "In Search of Somatic Therapy."
My master's program required me to produce a master's thesis, or to have my thesis published by a major publisher. I was somewhat surprised when I submitted my manuscript to Savant Books and Publications to find strong interest in the work and topic. I've been working through editing, peer-reviewing, and am currently engaged in final polishing of the book in preparation for publication in late 2016 or early 2017.
It's been quite a journey, not only in my topic area, but in terms of moving from a writer to a real author. Add to that, that English is my second language, and you can imagine what a challenge it has been.
As a new Savant author, I'll be keeping everyone informed of my progress IN SEARCH OF SOMATIC THERAPY (Savant, in publication).