Emily Johnson

About Emily Johnson

I was born in Aspen, Colorado and enjoy skiing, playing golf and spending time outdoors. At the age of 13, I moved to Pinehurst, North Carolina. I played competitive golf and was a member of the Nike All-American Junior Team. I attended UNC-Chapel Hill and graduated with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication with a concentration in Public Relations. From a young age, I was fascinated by Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius, which led to an intensive study of Mediterranean Archeology while at UNC.

After graduation, I began my professional career in the Marketing Department at the PGA TOUR before moving on to agency work. Eventually I moved back to North Carolina and began writing grants for a professional ballet company before starting a freelance marketing and consulting business. But enough about me. Let's get to the real story of how I became an unintentionally published author and the lessons I learned along the way.

When I was 13, my mom was diagnosed with advanced stage Ovarian Cancer. Statistically, she had very little time left. Shortly after, she began writing a novel, Bird of Paradise. I would discover much later that from the beginning she intended this to be a life gift for me.

For years she lost herself in a world of her creation, never letting anyone read what she'd written. Sadly in December of 2012, after years of recurrences, setbacks, surgeries, and rounds of chemotherapy, she passed away. She was 63 - a lifetime lived long past the prognosis she had been given. Bird of Paradise was left unfinished.

Shortly after her passing, I found a letter from her, with a copy of the unfinished manuscript and one request - that I finish the story for her.

"...I know now that this is where my story ends, so I hope you will begin where I left off..."
- Forever and Beyond, Mom

It took me 8 years to complete. Combining our very different writing styles and completing the story arch of characters that I didn't create was a gargantuan task. Along the way, I found my strength. My passion and the ability to get through the difficult period of grieving and now (an amazing side-effect of it all) has afforded me the opportunity to pass on the lessons I learned along the way, connecting with those who have recently gone through or are going through something similar. It is in sharing my mom's story (both of them) that her has been continued on.