Healing, Class, and Coming Home with Leigh Shalloway
“The story came out of me when it was supposed to come out of me—after living a whole life.” – Leigh Shalloway
In this episode of Uncorking a Story, Mike Carlon sits down with novelist and holistic care practitioner Leigh Shalloway to explore the long, winding journey behind her debut novel, Journey Back to You. From a third‑grade writing setback to decades of professional work in psychology, hospice care, and healing touch, Leigh shares how lived experience, perseverance, and compassion shaped both her voice as a writer and the emotional depth of her story. Together, they discuss class divides, family systems, grief, love, and what it truly means to come home to yourself.
Key Takeaways:
- Stories sometimes wait for us to be ready. Leigh’s novel emerged decades after its first seed was planted—only after life experience gave her the depth it required.
- Resilience is one of a writer’s greatest characteristics. From harsh editorial feedback to vision loss and countless rewrites, perseverance made publication possible.
- Fiction and psychology are deeply intertwined. Leigh’s background in counseling and school psychology informs her nuanced portrayal of family systems, trauma, and growth.
- Class divides still shape American communities. Journey Back to You uses a Pennsylvania steel town to explore “haves” and “have-nots” with empathy and realism.
- Hospice work teaches us how to live. Bearing witness at the end of life deepened Leigh’s understanding of humanity, grief, and connection.
- Publishing doesn’t have one right path. Leigh chose a hybrid publishing model to get her story into the world—and keep writing the next ones.
- Healing is both personal and communal. The novel’s central journey mirrors Leigh’s belief that growth happens through relationships, not in isolation.
Buy Journey Back to You
Amazon: https://amzn.to/4rJ6sMr
Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/54587/9798897470181
Connect with Leigh
Website: https://www.hilltownseries.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leighshalloway/
Connect with Mike
Website: https://uncorkingastory.com/
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