HILLSDALE—Shane Svorec, a lifelong writer who resides in Hillsdale with her husband, three children, rescue dogs, and chickens, has a message that she’s delighted to share with readers — and they, in turn, are showing they’re eager to take the ride with her.
In “Broken Little Believer: Finding Purpose in All the Pretty Painful Places,” which released on June 29 and shot to the No. 1 spot in its category on Kindle, Svorec shares “pieces” of her life that “are both pretty and painful while beautifully illustrating how they all connect to create purpose.”
It’s a true story — names are changed where appropriate, she says — told largely from the back seat of her family’s Volkswagen bus.
The book’s cover shows that bus — and a little girl, clutching a suitcase and teddy bear, approaching both it and unknown American vistas beyond, the mood perhaps meant to evoke Dorothy and the Yellow Brick Road of Oz.
Certainly there is the sense of a threshold, with limitlessness above and the generous heartland of America wide and ahead.
Svorec says the book weaves life lessons with great music and is “like going on a road trip with your best friend.”
“Broken Little Believer” is a journey we can all relate to — “the excitement, the challenges, the acceptance of reality vs. expectation, and finding the beauty in it all,” she tells Pascack Press.
Svorec grew into a good place to tell this story. Her bio notes she’s highly involved in her community, an active member of her church, a staunch public servant, a member of the (Hillsdale) Board of Education, a mental health and crisis intervention worker, and “a perpetual peacemaker and kindness spreader.”
She says best known as someone who searches for light in dark times and made her life’s mission to advocate for those without a voice.
She’s had the delight of seeing her book on display at the Paramus Barnes & Noble, under Personal Growth, and from Hillsdale her book tour, by RV, is taking her far and wide: recently Virginia and Arkansas, and next Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, Ohio, and Florida.
She’s locking down other appearances in New Jersey and New York, as elsewhere, and invites readers to join her along the way on social media at #brokenlittlebeliever.
In addition to the story, which she says is for all ages and backgrounds, Svorec’s self publisher, Author Academy Elite, says the book “features reasons to believe in the underdog while showcasing how false perceptions, widely held beliefs, and initial impressions are not only misleading but often wrong.”
She says it “provides a positive pathway to introduce, renew, and stretch that which we believe to be possible” and “creates a mindset of possibilities within readers as they learn to recognize blessings in disguise…”
Svorec says she grew up “unconventionally,” and here she chooses her words most carefully, so as not to give away too much of the book’s details.
“That was my family Volkswagen bus, and we lived in that Volkswagen bus and I saw the world from a very different perspective a young girl living all over the country, traveling all across the United States, and not knowing what the future — even the next day — was going to bring,” she says. “There were a lot of circumstances that brought us to that point.”
Those formative years led her to yet more travel, and quite a lot of writerly people-watching and personal reflection, amid a career in global sales and marketing. The book took shape over the past 10 years or so, in the States, in Hong Kong and other Asian places, and all over Europe, in planes, trains, and automobiles.
It came together organically, she says.
Asked whether the book has a religious message — both the title, and a promotional photo of Svorec wearing a cross invite the question — she says although she was raised into Catholic traditions she defines herself simply, and powerfully, as spiritual.
“Throughout my life I have attended Baptist church, Methodist church, I have been to temple with friends, I have Jehovah’s Witness friends, Buddhist friends. So ‘Believer,’ I think there’s not a religion in here that is, ‘Oh, this is one of those bible-beating books.’ It is not that at all.”
She says, “It is about believing in goodness, and you can find spirituality and faith in many different religions, so it’s definitely not a pigeonhole Christianity book. It’s got a little bit of everything in it.”
Of getting her ideas into print, she tells Pascack Press, “I’m sure I’m not alone when I liken the process to giving birth: You put all this time and love and effort towards this baby and then you release it to the world, and you hope and pray that everyone else loves it — and that everything that you put into it… that they can feel it, and appreciate and respect it. It’s quite the journey.”
She says, “It’s about being really excited about the journey,” and then at the end of the long road trip, with all of its ups and downs, disappointments and surprises, “you’ve learned a lot about people that you never would have known.”
She’s framed the book like her life. “There are a lot of tough times and beautiful moments; after each chapter there are reflection points, and it’s almost like rest stops. So after each chapter, the driver and the passenger get out and switch places — you say, ‘Who’s gonna drive’ — you stretch your legs and you reflect on the journey to that point.”
She says “It’s my story but readers are kind of comparing their own journey and their own life to what they’re reading. And there’s great music — there’s a playlist — and it sets the whole road trip for a journey.”
Here’s where she says the book’s subtitle, “Finding Purpose in All the Pretty Painful Places,” comes in:
“If you look back on the journey as a whole you hardly ever regret going on it. It might not have been everything you expected but it got you to where you’re supposed to be,” she says.
For more information and to place a book order, visit https://brokenlittlebeliever.com.