I write speculative fiction but Shanning Brand is also the publisher for The Avah Rivers Biographies. Shanning Brand compiles the journals, poetry, and writings written by Avah (not her real name for privacy reasons) and creates non-fiction books that take the reader through the struggles and triumphs of life that one with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) handle on a daily basis.

Dissociative Identity Disorder can result when one faces consistent trauma and dissociation becomes the chosen method for escape from what is happening.

Avah comes from a past where trauma led her to create alternate identities to survive. She used to number near a thousand fractured parts but miraculously she believes she now lives with less than three hundred.

Her journey is inspiring. Hopeful. And interesting. I have learned that most people with this particular disorder find it very difficult to share about their journey, typically because of programming that “telling” secrets would end in a negative result. For Avah, taking back her voice was a powerful part of her healing and writing it down and putting it out there for the world to read, was terrifying. However, she now claims sharing her story to be an integral part of her healing process.

Her hope for her courageous move was to find others who struggle with DID and encourage them to not give up hope, and that healing is possible. Avah says she believed so many lies and that they ruled her life. She thought she was crazy, that the things parading through her head were made up (she was told this as part of her programming), and that nothing would ever get better for her. All lies.

The books dive into those personal spaces in her head and the cacophony of voices on the pages sucks you into the emotions and confusion of her daily life and bounces you around in your own emotional roller coaster as empathy blooms for survivors of consistent trauma.

Though Avah continues to write and provide offerings to bring awareness to DID and reach out through words to other survivors, she intends to remain anonymous for her own protection from any drama or threat and admits that her belief in negative consequences may be her own personal perspective and that no drama or threat might ever occur.

Her newest endeavor is a companion workbook to go along with the biographies, highlighting tips and skills that were useful for her own journey. Using soft colors, pretty accents and fun fonts, Avah is intentionally trying to create a guided journal that will soften the heaviness of the words in her books and provide a space for other DID individuals to jot down their own thoughts and reflect on their own journey, in the hopes that they too can find some healing or a new skill to help them continue down their own path.

So what is next for Avah Rivers? She is working on a poetry compilation (poetry is featured in all of her biographies) and at the present time has no plan for a fourth book. She is playing around with some t-shirt designs, using the tagline “If you can laugh at it, you can heal from it!” to highlight places she can now find humor in her disorder. She isn’t sure there’s a market for such a thing, but is having fun being creative.

If you’d like to read about her journey, you can find her works here: https://www.amazon.com/Avah-Rivers/e/B081S4BZTF?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1633447297&sr=8-1

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