Grief is a profound and universal experience, a natural response to the loss of someone or something deeply cherished. Yet, for many, the journey through grief is made even more difficult by a lack of personal understanding and a society rife with misconceptions about what it means to grieve. This widespread misunderstanding has contributed to a mental health pandemic, leaving countless individuals feeling isolated, overwhelmed, and without the tools to heal.
I am pleased to welcome author Doug Lawrence to The Writing Desk:
Tell us about your latest book
Grief the Silent Pandemic offers a guiding light in the darkness of loss. Drawing from decades of experience as a grief mentor and the deeply personal pain of losing my beloved wife, My aim is to provide a compassionate and insightful exploration of the grieving process. With raw honesty and profound empathy, I delve into the complexities of grief, shedding light on the emotional, psychological, and societal challenges it presents.
Through heartfelt storytelling, practical advice, and actionable solutions, I hope to empower readers to navigate their own grief journeys. I challenges the stigma and misinformation surrounding grief, offering a roadmap to healing that is rooted in understanding, connection, and hope.
What is your preferred writing routine?
I prefer to write in the morning when I am fresh and motivated to tell my story. I have experienced writers block a couple of times and have struggled to get back on track. I resorted to taking a sabbatical from writing and went away on a trip to see if that would work. It didn’t.
What advice do you have for new writers?
What purpose are you trying to achieve with your writing? Will your target audience recognize themselves in the beginning of your story? Focus and set aside dedicated time for writing. If you don’t then you will wander aimlessly trying to find yourself and who you are writing for.
What have you found to be the best way to raise awareness of your books?
I have donated a lot of books to various people and groups and would end up getting a referral. The work that my publicist does has also raised awareness. I have done over 200 podcasts and I share my story about mental health, grief and mentoring and I talk about my book. LinkedIn has been a good way to promote as well. I would like to do some speaking engagements (face to face – in person). For me, it is raising awareness of the book but also my story.
Tell us something unexpected you discovered during your research
This has been a tough journey as the more I researched the deeper I went. My story became a part of someone else’s story. Their story became an extension of mine.
What was the hardest scene you remember writing?
As my book is based on lived experiences, they were not scenes that I was exposed to but actual real-life experiences – lived experiences. One that stands out and has a profound effect on me was when my wife Debra had become really ill from the Cancer and went to her family doctor. She was sent immediately to the Emergency Department.
As we sat in an examination room in the ER waiting for the doctor, I began to assume the worst that something really bad was going to happen. Up to that point it was only my assumption as to what might be happening. The doctor attempted as best he could to keep us positive but based on the tests he had done and his comments I knew that my Debra was going to die and there was nothing that I could do. Every time I speak about this or write about it I relive that time over and over.
What are you planning to write next?
I started to write on mentoring, mental health and spirituality and kept being pulled towards the topic of grief and spirituality as that has a strong message for me.I have to decide how deep I want to go with the sub-topic of spirituality or does it become a main topic. I am not there yet,
Yet within this spiritual disorientation lies potential for transformation. Grief can open space for a more authentic spirituality—one that allows questions without judgment and honors presence over platitudes. It invites connection not through explanation, but through compassion, ritual, memory, and meaning-making. Spirituality becomes less about belief systems and more about how one lives with loss, love, and hope.
Yet within this spiritual disorientation lies potential for transformation. Grief can open space for a more authentic spirituality—one that allows questions without judgment and honors presence over platitudes. It invites connection not through explanation, but through compassion, ritual, memory, and meaning-making. Spirituality becomes less about belief systems and more about how one lives with loss, love, and hope.
Doug Lawrence
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About the Author
