A Note From…

One of the best things about the book community being what it is today is that we build relationships with fellow authors, readers, bloggers, all around bad-ass individuals who help us learn and grow and become not only better authors from their incredible advice but also simply better people.

Each of the contributing authors have been touched by one special person in a way that has changed our lives for the better. Jill Sava is as beautiful as she is brave. Her character, her personality and sense of humor, her very presence is greater than anyone we know. She is the kind of friend that encourages us to do better, that celebrates the good and sits with us in times of darkness.

Many of you may know her. If you do, I imagine you’re nodding your head as you read this. If you know her, then you know why we wanted to come together for this anthology to honor one of our greatest friends. 

This foreword is Jill. Her story in her words. 

This has been hard for me to write. I don’t have a hard time talking about, well, much. But the one thing I do have a tough time with is when it comes to talking about me… it makes me a bit squirmy. But I believe strongly in being open about my disease, there is nothing to be ashamed about having an illness. No matter how chronic, how devastating, or how much it may sometimes affect your life, and certainly not out of fear of how people will treat you. And there WILL be people who treat you differently. It will open your eyes to the world around you… the good, the bad, the ugly, and the absolute beautifulness that people possess inside them.

I have a couple of chronic illnesses (which is common when you get to be as sick as I am) but the one that is most serious and the one that we are concentrating for this ROCKIN’ Anthology on is Gastroparesis. Gastroparesis is a disease that affects the GI system — literally meaning a paralyzed stomach. There is no easy way to explain what it is like to live with Gastroparesis — it is an awful disease… the best I have for you is this: close your eyes and think back to the last time you had the stomach flu. You felt nauseous and achy and everything hurt. Everything took extra energy to get done and the thought of food was revolting. Maybe you could keep the food down, but maybe you couldn’t and you were vomiting non-stop. Now picture having that 24/7. That is Gastroparesis (well at least for those that can STILL manage any food). For many, it can be controlled by diet and meds, but for others, it gets so serious they must be on a feeding tube. I was on one for over 4 years. Then for some, like me, even that stops working and they need to go on TPN (intravenous feedings). Like ANY disease this too runs the spectrum. And I have been from one end to the other!

I will say that I have met people that have handled my illness awfully and told me how pretty I USED to be when I weighed more, and couldn’t I just eat a cupcake so I could gain more weight — trust me I would LOVE to! I LOVE cupcakes!!! Food just doesn’t love me!!! And I have also met amazing people like the men and women who put together this anthology. They did this without saying a word to me and SURPRISED me. They ended up telling me earlier then they meant to when I came home from the doctor’s this summer and was told some particularly horrifying news. I tend to be very optimistic about everything going on… but when the doctor tells you your body is shutting down… it gets hard. And my authors… MY authors saw this and shocked me! They showed me this GORGEOUS cover for a project they put together to honor me and raise awareness for a disease that too many people don’t know about. It was the greatest gift anyone could ever give me. And along the way people who didn’t even know me jumped on board to help with the cover to raise awareness for Gastroparesis!

One of the reasons this anthology is so very important to me is that when I was diagnosed, I didn’t know anyone else who had Gastroparesis and so, as a result, my first few years I was given shitty advice and treated completely incorrectly! Since then, I have spoken about my disease in this Romance Book Community over the last few years, and I have been able to connect with numerous people who have been newly diagnosed with Gastroparesis. Hopefully, they don’t feel quite as alone as I did 15 years ago. My hope is that with this anthology we can not only raise money for G-Pact and not only raise awareness for Gastroparesis, but also connect some of those people WITH Gastroparesis so they don’t have to be alone.

Xoxo,

Jill Sava

Starving for a Cure

But Books Feed the Soul

For more information on Gastroparesis and the non-profit that all of the proceeds from this anthology are going to visit G-Pact please visit

If you have Gastroparesis and love romance books or are a caregiver for someone with Gastroparesis and love romance books ploease join our facebook group !