Robert Carney didn’t plan to become an author. He planned to survive.
Growing up on the streets of New York, Carney’s early years were shaped by poverty, trauma, and choices that led him into addiction, crime, and eventually a maximum security prison. He dropped out of school in seventh grade. But while incarcerated, he earned his GED, enrolled in an associate degree program, and discovered something unexpected: he could write.
He kept those early short stories for years. It wasn’t until COVID lockdown, watching a respected sports figure speak openly about childhood trauma during a Zoom meeting, that Carney finally found the courage to tell his own story. Two years and four months later, he had a finished memoir.
Unscarred: An Epic Fight to Heal My Wounds From Addiction covers the full arc: childhood trauma, drug and alcohol addiction, incarceration, and the slow, daily discipline of building a life in recovery. Now 32 years sober, Carney lives in Delray Beach, Florida with his wife Diane, volunteers at hospitals and support groups, and advocates for others navigating the recovery journey.
He shared his writing process during a recent episode of Jolene’s Book & Writers Talk. Every morning at 5 a.m., before his wife was awake, Carney sat down to write—praying first, then setting his ego aside and writing as honestly as he could. “Write the book like no one was ever gonna read it,” he said. “That’s the only way to be helpful.”
He worked with a book coach through KN Literary Arts, rewriting his early chapters from third person to first person (a mistake many first-time memoir writers make), then refining dialogue, character description, and narrative pacing over five coaching sessions. He self-published the final manuscript and launched November 1st.
The response exceeded his expectations. Calls, texts, and emails from readers telling him the book helped them. That feedback, he said, is his only payoff.
His advice for first-time writers is direct: get help. Take a course. Find a coach. Join a writers organization. He’s a member of the Florida Writers Association and credits both community and structured guidance for helping him finish a book he was told for years he should write.
A second book is already in development. The working title: I’m Sober, Now What? It will focus on life after getting clean—the disorienting, often comic, always profound transformation of becoming someone new.
Unscarred is available on Amazon. Find Robert Carney and learn more about his recovery advocacy work below.
Connect with the Author
WEBSITE: https://www.robertcarney-author.com/
FACEBOOK: https://www.instagram.com/author.robertcarney/
https://www.facebook.com/p/Robert-Carney-Author-61565429511505/
INSTAGRAM: https://www.threads.com/@author.robertcarney
AMAZON AUTHOR PROFILE: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Robert-Carney/author/B0DJFTLPZX
View The Entire Video Interview With the Author
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