Author
Books
In the End: A practical guide to dying
Jackey Coyle (Fernlea Community Care 2022)
Dying is an important part of living. Yet too often we push aside conversations about dying as being scary or confronting. This isn’t helped by popular culture – since ancient times, it has shown death as the enemy, as something to be defeated or cheated.
Yet it’s going to happen someday – being born and dying are the two events that will happen to all of us.
Fernlea is a day-respite centre in Melbourne’s eastern hills, set up to support people with life-limiting illnesses and their carers. When the team invited me to prepare an outline of a book to help kick off discussions about dying, I was immediately interested in the idea.
Fernlea’s philosophy is based on looking after the whole person, and that inspired me to think about dying through what I see as the five parts of the self. We start off with our body, mind and soul, and we build onto these – by forming our relationships with the people around us and acquiring the possessions we surround ourselves with – to make up the tapestry of our lives.
In the End is not just for people with a life-limiting illness; it is for families, carers, friends, health professionals, counsellors, and those who just want to be well prepared.
All proceeds from the sale of In the End will go towards helping Fernlea continue its important work supporting people with life-limiting illness.
E-book is available here and print book via the BUY HERE button below the reviews.
Read more here.
Reviews
This book is a perfect resource for families, carers, health professionals and support workers. It will be very useful to anyone who is dealing with all aspects of end-of-life experiences.
Cancer Treatment Breakthroughs:
Milestones, lessons and inspiration for patients, family and survivors
Tim Ladhams and Jackey Coyle (Wilkinson Publishing 2022)
Cancer is the world’s biggest health problem, manifesting at an ever-increasing rate, and alongside the human cost is an enormous economic impact. With so much information available this detailed guide demystifies cancer treatment and highlights the rate of progress the scientific and medical communities are making in their understanding of cancer and, therefore, how best to treat it.
Cancer Treatment Breakthroughs gives the reader an overview of the disease – how and why people develop cancer – and how treatment has evolved throughout history. It covers recent treatment breakthroughs including early diagnosis and testing through to surgical techniques, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, combination treatments, personalised medicine, clinical trials, and psychosocial oncology.
Each chapter contains a detailed case study that shares someone’s experience with that treatment, as well as interviews with internationally recognised experts in their fields.
We also explore living with cancer and how to build resilience after cancer treatment, with evidence-based tips for exercising, eating well, complementary treatments, sleeping better, and simple recipes and ideas for maximising nutrition during this time. Families and friends will find ways to support someone with cancer and improve quality of life with palliative care.
Reviews
The only book that truly makes sense of the complexities of cancer. Informative, jargon-free and practical.
Cancer Treatment Breakthroughs is a book that I would love to have had 20 years ago when I was diagnosed with cancer and felt so overwhelmed and underprepared.
Tim Ladhams and Jackey Coyle have created a wonderful book that intelligently melds science, psychology and personal narratives to create a comprehensive overview of the current state of cancer research, medical treatments and management strategies. The manner in which the personal stories are woven throughout the book provides invaluable insights into the lived experiences of cancer sufferers and survivors.
This book does not set out to be an encyclopaedia of cancer but it is, in some ways, encyclopaedic.
While warning that there are many kinds of cancer, the opening chapter lists the most well-known and most feared. Each subsequent chapter begins with a well-written story of a cancer sufferer’s journey.
This book strikes a remarkable balance, with the medical procedures – surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and combination of treatments – incorporating a personal introductive narrative, but then moving into analytical and professor-based details of treatment.
This is followed by the question of living life to the full, and the authors have added the need to eat wisely, supported by a large collection of very easy recipes and recommendations.
Writing
The writing portfolio:
- books – health, self-help and memoir
- magazine features – travel, health, business, lifestyle and music
- media releases and profiles
- ghostwritten career and business books
Writing clients:
- businesses – web copy, newsletters, media releases, brochures, menus
- magazine publishers – features, profiles, columns, articles, reviews
- book publishers – ghostwriting, short stories, essays, poetry
- musicians – media releases, liner notes
- professionals – biographies, résumés, obituaries
- artists & art centres – artist and painting stories, web copy, media releases, obituaries
These articles for Keypath Education explore counsellor versus psychologist roles, and the growing field of working with elders:
Working as a counsellor in Australia
Working with the elderly to support mental health
Employable – 7 attributes to assure your working future
Roxanne Calder (Major Street Publishing, 2021)
As an early member of this book’s team, I designed the chapter layout and combined a substantial amount of ghostwriting with structural editing. The effort paid off – the book won the Money Magazine Book of the Month in August 2021.
Good to Great CX – Customer experience strategy to execution
Isabella Villani (Major Street Publishing, September 2016)
Co-ghostwriting and editing this ground-breaking book, we worked on putting the practical advice, case studies and templates of an industry leader into long form with industry data and insights to show new approaches that will transform organisations’ CX from good to great.
‘But can I start a sentence with “But”?’
Book review, Newsletter (Editors Victoria, June 2016)
One of the best reads for people who love words is the Chicago Manual of Style’s long-running Q&A forum. The editors have honed a world-weary and entertaining style that’s perfect to escape into when you’re tangled up in a dense editing job. Read the review here.
‘Looking after the music’
Profile feature, Inside Small Business, issue 11 (Octomedia, Summer 2016)
Melbourne saxophonist-singer-arranger-bandleader Paul Williamson has played with the greats of Australian and international music. He shared his philosophy and the secrets of how he’s built a name, raised a family and bought houses on the erratic income of a musician who works mostly in Australia. Read the full article here.
‘Message from the President’
Newsletter (Editors Victoria, monthly from 2014)
Editors Victoria’s executive committee heads up subcommittees looking after events, freelance affairs, professional development, communications and budget, as well as admin staff. Over the past decade EV has been instrumental in managing a transition to a national body, which finally happened in July 2016 and changed our status from an independent association to a branch. In our newsletter, published 11 times a year, my quick wrap leads into reports from each portfolio.
‘Glowing embers’ and ‘The tall house’
Poem and essay, Wand’ring Steps, ed. Brian Edwards (Mattoid/Grange, 2015)
Two pieces: a poem about mother and daughter, death and love, and an essay about living in the Kimberley managing an Aboriginal art centre, excerpted for this anthology from my coming book, Black-headed Snake.
‘Grahamvale, Shepparton, summer 1960’
Short story, Tamba: A selection of poetry and prose (Goulburn Valley Writers’ Group, Winter 2015)
Mischief on a country orchard in Victoria, Australia in a scorching 1960s summer featured in this anthology. Two cousins – one from the city, one local – rekindle a rapport built over previous summers.
‘On the same page – a baking & writing collaboration’
Profile feature, Inside Small Business magazine (Summit Publishing, Spring 2014)
Australian baker and businesswoman Phillippa Grogan recently collaborated with another food guru, writer Richard Cornish, on Phillippa’s Home Baking (Penguin). My feature explores their use of branding in the concept and the idea of coming together and collaborating on a project.
‘Back to the burbs’
Poem, That Untraveled World, ed. Brian Edwards (Mattoid/Grange, 2014)
In 2013–14 I added poetry to my creative-writing practice, and got to read my very first poem, ‘Twenty-twelve radio playlist’, on Radio National. ‘Back to the burbs’ is a 45-line poem that was published as part of an annual anthology series; Professor RR Wilson said of this edition: ‘… very impressive collection of writings…the variety is intriguing, continuing evidence of DLS Literary Society’s fine work.’
‘Soak it up’ feature
Columns & book reviews, Inside Small Business magazine (Summit Publishing, Spring 2014)
As part of our quarterly professional-development feature, between 2012 and 2016 we wrote up to a dozen book reviews per issue on the best new thinking relevant to micro and small business, as well as covering selected courses and software. The theme for this issue centred on soaking up the knowledge.