Our newest author believes positivity rules in life

[dropcap]S[/dropcap]ally-Anne Hurley says getting things you want the hard way means you appreciate them even more.

This is just one of the positive bits of advice she offers in her book, How to Love the Sh*t Out of Life.

Born and bred in Campbelltown, Ms Hurley was always destined to become an author.

“I’ve always been writing, whether it was journals as a kid, little short stories – I loved English at school,’’ she says.

“I think it was quite evident early on that I would be doing it in some shape or form.’’

Born in 1988, Ms Hurley grew up in Macquarie Fields and went to James Meehan High School.

And while she may now be an author of a book, she still calls Campbelltown home; she lives in Leumeah and works in a media and communications role in the Macarthur region.

How to Love the Sh*t Out of Life is about enjoying life and being positive in every situation we find ourselves.

Ms Hurley draws on her personal experiences over the past 30 years, as well as observations of people around here, to declare that by and large positivity rules.

It does help that Ms Hurley is generally a positive person, a glass half full type.

“I had a fun childhood; my brother and I were allowed to be kids, to scrape our knees, we were outside a lot, we read – we were loved and encouraged to be kids and be happy,’’ she says.

“My school reflected that as well, and although high school can be a bit of a struggle I had a great group of girlfriends in particular, a friendship group that made that experience really positive.

“I think that since I left school, when I interacted with other people in workplaces, they’ve been shocked that someone had a positive high school experience.

“So I felt that this was something I could put out there, a positive experience.’’

Another life experience she employs in the book to show we should always try to be positive was a time when she was out of work.

“I had left a job and didn’t have any work, so I reflected a lot about myself and the people around me, analysing where I was at and what I wanted to do,’’ Ms Hurley says.

[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“I was a little bit scared, a little nervous about what was next but I knew that it would all work out and I just focused on that.[/social_quote]

“I would say that was like an epiphany moment which meant the last three years have been the happiest of my life.

“I think that’s the kind of advice anyone could use, no matter what age you are – it’s applicable to everybody.’’

The process of publishing a book for a first time author also proved to be a massive challenge for her.

All up it took four years from the first time Ms Hurley started writing How to Love the Sh*t Out of Life and its release by Brolga Publishing in July.

It included several rejection letters from other publishers before Brolga agreed to offer Ms Hurley a deal.

“The publishing process took a lot of research and understanding how different publishing agencies work, how it’s changing, the whole dynamic of traditional publishing versus self-publishing – that was a side project to writing the book,’’ she explains.

“Once I finished the draft of the book and what I thought was the final product to an extent, it took another year to get a publishing deal.

“Yes, it’s been a little bit of a process but I’m happy with the fact that it took a little while – I think it makes you appreciate it more; it makes you a little more grateful,’’ Ms Hurley says in another nod to positivity.

Apart from a brief period when she flirted with magazines, books have always been part of Sally-Anne Hurley’s life.

“When I was a kid I really loved the Goosebumps series, I also liked a lot of Roald Dahl when I was in primary school; when I got to my teenage years I started reading autobiographies of sport stars or celebrities I liked,’’ she says.

“I’d say the Goosebumps series was my favourite, which is pretty funny, but they were good, very entertaining.’’

It’s no surprise to learn both her parents were book readers.

“Mum was a really big reader, she read a lot of old biographies and historical books, while my dad is a really big fan of sport history, he’s a huge rugby league nut, so yes, I was encouraged by both my parents – and my brother is also a big reader.

“It was normal for us to be reading in the house or going down to the library to borrow a bunch of books together.’’

After completing high school, Ms Hurley studied journalism at Macleay College, something she now credits as the stepping stone to writing her book.

Following a couple of internships with local papers she got her first journalism job at Drum Media, where she was a digital editor for nearly three years.

[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“I loved it, you know, going to a lot of free music gigs, interviewing bands and singers was a lot of fun,’’ she says.[/social_quote]

In 2014 Ms Hurley started writing what were log entries on a website, discussing the concept of positivity.

After a break she went back and looked at the entries.

“I suddenly thought: these could be chapters,’’ she explains.

“Of course I’ve always wanted to write something substantial, a book, so when I looked at it and thought ‘this could be a book’ I just went with it because something inside told me this could be a really good thing.’’

So what’s next for Campbelltown’s newest author?

“I’d love to create a bit of a series out of the book, maybe even a kids version,’’ Ms Hurley says.

She would also like to do podcasts at some stage, and, further down the track, life coaching and mentoring are also on her radar

“Whatever I do I would like to focus on this area, South West Sydney and particularly Campbelltown, because it’s where my roots are and I have a lot of passion helping people in this community and I hope this book can lead in to more of that,’’ says Ms Hurley.

How to Love the Sh*t Out of Life (Brolga Publishing) is available in-store and online through all major bookstores.