Dr. Lally Pia joins the Author Spotlight this week to discuss her memoir
Author Name: Lally Pia
Book Title: The Fortune Teller’s Prophecy: A Memoir of an Unlikely Doctor
Book Genre: Memoir
Release Date: April 30, 2024
Publisher: She Writes Press
Welcome, Lally! Please tell us a bit about your book.
I’m 32, and to get off welfare I’m working in a morgue in California, removing heads from dead humans. I wonder what that Sri Lankan fortune teller was smoking when he told my dad I’d become a doctor.
What drew you to write a memoir about this experience? What made you want to tell this particular story?
I had always trifled with the idea of relaying my story because of the unusual slants that my life took along the way. Some people have not lived in four continents and faced the strange circumstances I faced. I managed to navigate these boulders in my path. I hope to instill in my readers a feeling that they too can avoid despairing, because my book is like a beacon of hope to my target audience.
What was your research process like for The Fortune Teller’s Prophecy: A Memoir of an Unlikely Doctor?
Reflecting on my personal experience and sifting through many years of diary entries and letters. I kept a diary from age 14 to age 22.
From your perspective, what do you love most about writing?
My grandfather, mother and I are teachers. I love the power of the written word. The first moment when I am sitting, fingers poised to strike the keys with a blank Word file in front of me are the most enchanting. I love that I can just type away with whatever grabs my fancy. I also see myself as an entertainer. When I am putting ideas down, I wonder what I can do that will jolt other people and keep them reading. I want to take them away from their humdrum lives. It is exhilarating to be given a chance to show my readers a place only I have walked, to give them a few minutes in my shoes and I encounter stresses. To give them hope where only despair may have landed.
Any new writing projects in the works?
I am working on three novel projects. One is close to completion (psychiatrist in a jail; psychological suspense), another is a mystery that involves a female mortician who encounters suspicious circumstances while working her embalming job (barely started). I’ve also cooked up the story of young girl who receives a strange letter from a relative. I’m not sure exactly where it is going, but that is where I have the most fun!
What was the last book you read? What did you think of it?
I read “Redeemed: A Memoir of a Stolen Childhood” by Penny Lane. She is another She Writes Press author. I read the entire book in eight hours. It gripped me from the start. Given that I work with traumatized children her narrative resonated with me. It gave me such hope that people can actually pick themselves out of their trauma and go on to make such a satisfying life for themselves. She has a natural ability to set you in her place. There was also great cultural information about Hungary.
Where can readers find you?
Thank you, Lally! The Fortune Teller’s Prophecy is out today.
The Fortune Teller’s Prophecy
When a military coup in Ghana leads to the abrupt closure of Lally Pia’s medical school, she is left stranded there, thousands of miles away from her family in California, with no educational prospects or money. Adding to her turmoil is her discovery that her American Green Card has been botched, which means she has no country to call home. But a Sri Lankan priest told Lally that she would one day become a “Doctor of Doctors” –and she is intent on proving him right.
This sizzling multicultural roller coaster illustrates the power of self-determination as Lally, a young immigrant with a drive to succeed, takes on obstacle after obstacle–an abusive relationship, the welfare state, and a gruesome job where she has to dismember human bodies–in order to fulfill her dreams. A story that will resonate with anyone who has faced cultural and immigration hardships, The Fortune Teller’s Prophecy is a nail-biting journey across continents, through hardships, and into ultimate triumph.
Advanced Praise:
“Lally’s memoir is a testament to both the intense work it takes to achieve [the American Dream] and the sacrifices she made that would be unthinkable to the average American fortunate enough to be born into that dream. The writing is clean and concise and reads like a conversation rather than a series of events . . . Excellent, excellent work. Very highly recommended.” —Readers’ Favorite, 5-star review
“Lally Pia is an extraordinary writer who has led many extraordinary lives and has written an extraordinary book about several of them. An exile, immigrant, friend to cadavers, and a doctor of doctors, this extraordinary human’s story is full of light, dark, inspiration, and love. You must read it.” —David Henry Sterry, author of Chicken
“Resilience at its best. From the first sentence I was hooked! The Fortune Teller’s Prophecy is written in the most beautiful and deep way. I believe everyone will resonate with something in this memoir that will make them look at their own life in a new way. This masterpiece is so raw and captivating, I could not put it down. Lally is resilient and strong, vulnerable and human. She is a true inspiration! This is a must-read for everyone. Period.” —Ingrid Christine Abild-Pedersen, certified professional coach, speaker, and author of Unmasked: A Triumphant Memoir of Recovery from Childhood Trauma, Eating Disorder, and PTSD
Author bio:
Lally Pia was born in Sri Lanka, grew up in Ghana, and made it halfway through medical school before political turmoil closed down her university and she learned that her American Green Card had been bungled. She went on to work as a church organist, teacher, and ice cream decorator, as well as a scientist in a molecular biology lab. Her next stint was as the director of UC Davis’s Body Donation Program, where she embalmed cadavers and maintained a freezer full of human specimens (a thankless job that she was glad to leave after three years). Lally is a mother, grandmother, and child psychiatrist who lives in Davis, California, with her husband, Tim.