When The Apple Is Ripe, It Will Fall

A blog on sensitivities and ethics in Geraldine Lavelle's forthcoming book on Living with a Spinal Injury, 'When The Apple Is Ripe It Will Fall'. (ShadowScript Publications, 2025).

Editing and ghostwriting any book requires a fine balance of skill, empathy, and professionalism. Still, the stakes are even higher when the subject involves deeply personal experiences—such as living with a spinal injury. Recently, we had the privilege of contributing to Geraldine Lavelle’s forthcoming book, a powerful exploration of her life and resilience after sustaining a spinal injury. This journey has taught us invaluable lessons about navigating the delicate responsibilities of assisting in telling someone else's story.

From the outset, it was clear that Geraldine's book is more than just a memoir—it’s a message of hope, awareness, and advocacy. It aims to educate readers about the realities of living with a spinal injury while breaking down stereotypes and fostering empathy. This dual purpose set the tone for how we approached our role with Geraldine, ensuring that her voice remained authentic and her experiences were treated with dignity and respect.

One of the core principles of ghostwriting is to let the author’s voice shine through, and this is particularly important when dealing with sensitive topics. Every person’s journey with disability is unique, and we took great care to ensure that Geraldine’s perspective wasn’t filtered or diluted. Whether describing the physical challenges of her injury or the emotional highs and lows of her ongoing recovery, our task was to amplify her voice, not overshadow it with ours.

We worked closely with Geraldine to capture the nuances of her tone, word choice, and storytelling style. This collaboration allowed us to translate her spoken words into text that felt natural, maintaining the honesty and emotion central to her narrative. Writing about trauma requires a delicate touch. On one hand, it’s essential to be truthful and transparent about the challenges faced by the author. On the other, the writing must avoid sensationalism or an overly clinical tone. Geraldine’s experiences were often harrowing, and we had to find ways to help in presenting these moments with the gravity they deserved while also celebrating her resilience and the support systems that helped her along the way.

In crafting the narrative, we kept the potential audience in mind: including individuals with spinal injuries, their loved ones, medical and health professionals, and anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the subject. By balancing honesty with hope, the book seeks to inspire without trivialising the difficulties involved.

As a team who do not live with a spinal injury, we were acutely aware of the risk of projecting assumptions or biases onto the story and my edits. This meant asking questions and writing notes in the margins rather than making assumptions and prioritising Geraldine’s lived reality.

Helping someone unpack their life story—particularly one marked by trauma—requires emotional intelligence. There were moments during the writing when Geraldine revisited painful memories. The role of the review team was to provide a safe space for these reflections, to listen without judgment, and to pause the writing process when it became overwhelming for her. The writing timeline remained flexible, ensuring her well-being was prioritised over deadlines. This is important when working with any author, and in this case we pushed out the deadline by a couple of months to allow for a period of reflection.

One of Geraldine’s goals for the book was to create a narrative that would resonate not only with people who share similar experiences but also with a broader audience. This meant focusing on universal themes such as resilience, self-discovery, and the power of community, while also diving into the specific challenges of living with a spinal injury. By blending her personal anecdotes with insights about accessibility, mental health, and societal attitudes toward disability, the book aims to bridge the gap between lived experience and public understanding.

Working on this book has been both humbling and rewarding. It has underscored the importance of listening, learning, and respecting someone else’s story. Geraldine’s courage, candour, and humour shine through in every chapter, making this not just a book about spinal injuries, but a testament to human strength and adaptability.

Editing Geraldine Lavelle’s book has been a reminder of the transformative power of storytelling. It’s a story that needs to be told, not just for Geraldine, but for everyone navigating life with a spinal injury and for those who wish to better understand their journey. The experience has reinforced our team's belief that ethical storytelling, especially when dealing with sensitive subjects, can foster connection, empathy, and change.