Amy Benjamin has been writing all her life, but until four years ago she never felt she had enough material for a book. That was when the rollercoaster ride began for the real estate broker and WNY native. She moved back to Buffalo, her marriage fell apart leaving her a single mother of four, and she was diagnosed with breast cancer. That turmoil and the lessons that came out of it provided all the material Benjamin needed to write her first book, The Waking Dance: The Struggle to Unleash a Free Spirit.

The new memoir covers the last four chaotic years of Benjamin’s life, but she says it’s not a sad and sorry cancer book. “This really isn’t just a book about cancer or divorce or any of that,” Benjamin recently told AV. “What I hope it’s about is learning to tap into a different set of skills to solve problems. It’s uplifting.”

In the end, Benjamin’s book is about living for one’s self as much as for others, about waking up to the dark realities that we ordinarily deny in our daily lives and tackling them with a clear and open mind.

This Thursday, July 20, Benjamin will be signing copies of The Waking Dance at The Coffee House from 5:30–7:30pm.

The Coffee House, 5005 Sheridan Dr., Williamsville.