I have been writing seriously since 1995/6 when I became ill with ME/CFS and had to resign from my job as learning support assistant in a mainstream high school. I had always had an idea I wanted to write a memoir since losing my mother to breast cancer two days before my 13th birthday, such a traumatic experience which has never left me but it felt cathartic to write about it. 
Just before I became ill I was divorced and had two sons aged 14 and 11 so it was quite a difficult time bringing children up alone whilst being ill but we managed the three of us and now I am a nana too and it is wonderful.
Writing has kept me sane through the isolation brought on by illness, so much time is spent alone. My normal life is non existent so it is good to remember what it was like through the lives of my characters.