I gave a brief interview about starting over (after Hurricane Katrina) and it was posted here along with a number of other highly uplifting stories. Here's mine:

Elayne Angel
I had a successful business in the French Quarter of New Orleans
for over 12 years. Unfortunately, it closed in the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina. My husband and I spent a modest sum and moved
into a home in the Yucatan of Mexico. In this new, quiet environment I
applied myself to writing a book “The Piercing Bible” on my area of
expertise. The book has been published (by Ten Speed/Random
House) and now my job is promoting it online and via book signings
around the US. I networked with everyone I knew to let them know
that I was writing a book and I got lucky: I have a friend whose
brother works in publishing. He heard about my project and took an
interest in it. He was instrumental in getting my proposal and sample
chapters to a few major publishers. Without his assistance, I'm not
sure how long it might have taken to get published.
http://piercingbible.com

To give credit where credit is due, my friend mentioned above is Caitlin McDiarmid, the Administrator for the Association of Professional Piercers. And the instrumental help was given to me by her brother, Mark. Here's to the McDiarmids for all of their amazing support!