A book of short stories about women achieving success in the spite of adversity hit the digital bookshelves today and a woman from Lorette says she is grateful to be a co-author.

Lynne Roy says it is no accident that Pursuit 365 was released on International Women’s Day.

“It portrays relatable stories of hope, raw emotion, loss, heartbreak, and overcoming obstacles,” she describes. "It is a book authored by Canadian women who lead by example."

Roy is one of 365 women who penned the same number of stories about their experience pursuing happiness and success as a female. Roy’s contribution to the anthology discusses her 14-year long journey of trying to garner the funds and credit necessary to purchase a home as a single mom still dealing with the traumas of abuse. Initially, she says saw limited value in the story, but quickly recognized its merit within the larger project.

“After learning about the initiative and reflecting on what I've been through and overcome in my life I realized that I wanted to be a voice of inspiration for other women so it was a no-brainer for me to become involved.”

With the backing of other determined women, Roy had the confidence to publish her own experience.

“It definitely gave me more enthusiasm to want to share my story,” she remarks. “Having that support from 364 other women that are brave enough to tell their own stories… how empowering is that?"

As its title tends to imply, each entry in Pursuit 365 is roughly 365 words long. While that word count is nothing significant, Roy says condensing a life-defining story into only a handful of paragraphs required months of intermittent work that she refers to as “an emotional journey”.

While emboldened to publicize her story, Roy says she is still dealing with a level of nervousness. “Scary and exciting at the same time,” is how she puts it. To Roy, the vulnerable act of writing down the details of a personal matter to be read by people potentially all across the world is as daunting as it is honouring. Nevertheless, she hopes the stories included in Pursuit 365 will encourage women who find themselves in similar situations and inspire them to push forward by finding strength in themselves and the community around them.

Pursuit 365 can be found on Amazon this month while supplies last and hard copies will be made available in Chapters stores by early April.