Phillipa Mitchell | Four In The Morning

Kim Hunter
Aug 24, 2017
3 min read

Approximate Reading Time: 4 minutes

Photographs from the event on Facebook

Four in the Morning by Phillipa Mitchell

Based on a true story, Four in the Morning is a story of love, tragedy, forgiveness and redemption. It is a powerful personal documentation of unshared truths, dedicated to a family whose lives were left shattered in the aftermath of events that will never be fully understood.

Donna McCallum from Fairy Godmother Inc had a chat with this magical author. These are some of the comments made by Ms Mitchell during the chat:

The story started as a series of diary entries which were written as I was trying to heal from my life experiences.
Due to the nature of the story, I decided not to write this as a memoir, but rather to write it as fiction.
I experienced many turbulent emotions during the writing of this story, but it has been a very healing process for me.
This story was originally posted in a group as a chapter by chapter serial. Followers commented and I was able to answer questions as they were posed. This was beneficial to the writing of the story. If a writer is unsure of how their story will be received by the public, this is a great way to go.
Four in the Morning was originally published to Amazon in July 2015. It is only recently that I decided to print and launch the book. There has been quite a bit of editing done since the original story was published.
This is a story about real life and highlights the reality that relationships are messy.
I was worried about being judged when I published the book, but I have nothing to hide and there are many people who have, or are, experiencing similar events to those in the book. We cannot escape death.
The response to the book has been astonishing. Unexpectedly, much of the feedback about the story has been from men and much of this has been in a positive vein, expressing thanks for helping them to heal.
I was asked by a family member not to launch the book, but with all the positive feedback and encouragement I have received, I decided to go ahead.
From this has come new possibilities! I have been approached by many people asking me to write their stories for them – known as ghost-writing. A new career is blossoming from this book and for that I am very grateful.
I interview the person for whom I am going to write, get all the details and this can be very emotional – and not only for the person who is telling me their story. However, I like writing ‘to hell and back’ stories – stories of things few have experienced. Objectivity comes when I am putting the story onto paper.
I can only write one story at a time - I don’t want to confuse stories!
If you know you have a story in you, you have no excuse. There are plenty of tools available to you including using a ghost-writer.

Philippa Mitchell is a lovely lady who has experienced hardship. However, as she says ‘I have nothing to hide and if you can heal through my story, I will be happy’.

A delightful and entertaining launch filled with emotion yet finished with joy!

Watch the event: