TOWNSHEND — Publishing a book is no easy task, and one that is autobiographical can be even more difficult.
For Judith Dickerman-Nelson, the challenge was deciding how to tell the story of her unplanned pregnancy at age 17. Over the years, she kept revisiting this experience and struggled with how to tell the story.
“I was a teen mom, and I was a writer already,” said Dickerman-Nelson. “I'd always been writing stories and poems. I kept a journal during that time about what I was experiencing. I think I knew I wanted to write about the experience in terms of time. I was so afraid that being a teen mom would change my whole future.”
She continued: “I had some people telling me it was going to ruin my life, and it didn't. It certainly changed the direction of my life in many ways, so as I later pursued my education and my writing, I kept coming back to the story in different ways-[for example] I attempted to write it as fiction. At one time, a writing teacher said to me, 'It's your story; you should be writing from your perspective.'”
This is the experience that informs Dickerman-Nelson's new young adult book, Believe in Me: A Teen Mom's Story.
The plot traces the journey of Judith, a 17-year-old cheerleader and honors student at a Catholic girls' school in Massachusetts. Her boyfriend Kevin, also 17, gives her a diamond ring before their senior year and both are looking forward to a wonderful future.
Then Judith gets pregnant, and everything changes. Kevin doesn't want to start a family yet, and Kevin's mother wants Judith to get an abortion. As both a Catholic and an adopted child, she is conflicted about what to do. That conflict drives the narrative.
Dickerman-Nelson says that her goal is to send a meaningful message to her readers.
“I really wanted to convey a message of hope,” she said. “It's a love story, too, so I wanted to tell some truth that I hoped would touch people who had experienced young love.”
Dickerman-Nelson was already a serious writer when she became a student at Emerson College.
“I wrote a column for the school newspaper and founded a literary journal. I earned my MFA from Emerson College in 1993 and began sending out poems to literary journals. I go to conferences and I'm an assistant director of a writers' program.”
More recently, Dickerman-Nelson worked with adolescent students at the now-closed Valley Ridge Student Center in Jamaica, and spent several years working with the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association (CMAA) in Lowell, Mass.
“I worked there for a long time. It was a great experience,” she said of her work for CMAA. “I loved working with teen parents in a Cambodian community. I learned about the culture and went to Cambodia. I learned so much. I tend to gravitate toward jobs where there are people needing assistance and guidance. I like working with people and figuring out their goals and needs.”
Dickerman-Nelson also has several writing projects lined up, with a book of poetry being her most recent publication.
“I have a new book of poetry called Spirits Dancing into Light. I also have a short story being published in an anthology called Mill City Stories: Tales of Lowell and the Merrimack Valley. It's called Bohpa, about a young girl. My next new project will be a series of short stories that work together and are interrelated.”
Regarding the final message of Believe in Me, Dickerman-Nelson has this to say to her readers: “Life isn't always going to give us what we were expecting. Sometimes it's going to be really difficult. There's strength in faith, family and friends-most importantly faith. The word 'believe' has many layers in the story. Don't give up on your dreams, and believe in yourself.”