Here we are again. Another milestone reached with another chapter that I’m proud to publish. This marks the first conversation I’ve shared during the process of writing this book, which begins to take us into the purpose of exploring my story in this way.

I’ve mentioned before that I never wanted this book to be the same as my presentations or my film, so it’s important to commit to a structure and a format that reveal a side of my experience that neither you nor I have encountered yet. I’ll be honest, I find it intimidating to ask people to contribute in this way, especially when they are people I don’t know. Luckily, in this case, Matt Davidson, who you will hear from in the chapter, was more than happy to share his experience and be involved.

He has a wealth of knowledge in the field of cognitive neuroscience, and I thought it would be an interesting conversation to pursue, given how little we know about how humans process death and traumatic events.

I’ve always been fascinated by the similarities between my story and those of other shark attack survivors, with some near-identical details that seem to recur. Beyond that, I’ve learned that these details aren’t always specific to shark attacks, so my curiosity has led me to wonder whether the human brain has some sort of mechanism to deal with these situations.

Like anything requiring an understanding of the human brain, I’ve come to learn that there aren’t always answers that help us rationalise how the human brain works, which often leads to more and more questions, as you’ll find out.

This conversation happened nearly 2 years ago, and it was a driver in how I’ve approached this book with an open mind and a willingness to have my beliefs, views, and opinions challenged.

I hope that, after reading this, you’ll understand the angle this book takes on challenging not only me but also readers and the way we approach people, things and topics we might not agree with.

I hope you enjoy it, and as always, please leave a comment with some feedback that I’d love to use to make this the best it can be.

Hi there!

Another week that I’m proud to be sharing a new chapter with you. I will say, it feels great to be making some more noticeable progress on the book right now, especially when I consider how long I’ve been slowly chipping away at things.

What you’ve read so far and what you will read today are chapters that I have written over the past 18 months so it’s been interesting to take a step back in time like this. A reflection of a reflection if you will.

What you haven’t seen are the new chapters that I’ve been writing as I’ve put a bit of structure around my weeks with the hopes of getting most of this done over the next 6 months. The new stuff I’ve been writing has been a lot of fun but this chapter you’re about to read is maybe my favourite in terms of the how the emotions and almost existential view of the attack are portrayed.

This is something that comes with over a decade of thinking about, and reliving the attack which might sound like it was an emotionally challenging process but it’s exercises like this that I believe have given me a healthy relationship with my trauma.

To me, this is a strong reinforcement of why I’ve taken so long to write this book. I think if I’d rushed it, the clarity in what I want represented from my experience may not be as impactful. The scary thing about writing a book is the knowledge that the words will live on forever (hopefully) in libraries and book stores all across the world. We’ve got a long time before we get to that point so let’s just take it one chapter at a time.

Chapter 3 is all about the moment of impact. The single point in time where everything in my life changed forever. It’s a short chapter but one that holds a lot of weight in setting up the rest of the book.

I hope you enjoy, and as always, if you have any feedback, leave a comment below.

Part I, Chapter 3 – The Attack

Memory Lane

Hello once again! Thanks for coming back to check out the second chapter of my book, ‘Beneath The Surface’.

The response to Chapter 1 has been overwhelmingly positive, which is obviously lovely in a world of self-gratification, but I do think it’s worth reiterating that I am also looking for feedback and constructive criticism, if applicable.

As I write this, I see that only a few journal posts ago I published a piece about a book I didn’t finish because I simply didn’t gel with the writing style and the way the book was structured. The irony of an unpublished author being critical of someone who’s sold millions of copies is not lost on me, so it’s just a gentle reminder that I’m a fraud if I don’t look for and take your feedback seriously.

Now let’s talk about this chapter quickly. This is probably the most fun I’ve had writing a chapter so far purely because it was a delight getting to relive some of my favourite memories growing up. I actually got carried away and had to cut 3-4 stories from this section because it was too long, and after doing that, it’s still probably too long.

So my question for you is whether I should break it into 2 chapters. My overall flow for the book is planned to alternate between my story/experience of the attack and the broader view of how we perceive these experiences. Breaking this into 2 chapters means it won’t be a perfect alternation, so is the pursuit of perfection in this case foolish?

In any case, I hope you enjoy the trip down memory lane as you learn what made me fall in love with surfing and what stage my career was at just before my entire life was turned upside down.

Welcome! I have a bit of an idea of what I’m doing here, but there’s a good chance all of this will change. I wanted to start out with a quick dump of thoughts and emotions before I leave you to jump into my story which I’m grateful if you’ve taken the time to dive into.

On the date of my 10 year biteaversiary, I wrote a piece where I shared a reflection on how this last decade of my life has impacted me and my outlook towards a number of different things. One of the items I mentioned is a desire to get to a point where I’ve ‘completely’ shared my story and the book is the final piece of that puzzle, which I’ve taken far too long to complete. Perhaps part of that this a fear of what happens after I finish, maybe it’s laziness, or maybe it’s just really bloody difficult to write a book. The truth is it’s probably a mix of all 3 things to various degrees.

Here’s my perspective: I’ve done difficult things before, I can’t predict the future, so for now, I’m telling myself to stop being lazy and to just share the story as I write it. There’s so much status and pride I originally tied up into publishing a book the traditional way and since that hasn’t worked up until now, I’ve made the call that it’s more important to finish, than it is to be precious about the process.

This is not a foreign proposition to me at all as we produced an entire documentary on my story without any backing. What I learned from that is if I didn’t take the leap, and if I didn’t get the help of some incredible people around me, there’s a good chance it would still just be an idea in the back of my head.

I’ll admit that I’m not a writer. What I lack in technical application, I hopefully make up for in the fact that what you’re reading are thoughts and experiences that I’m passionate about and love to share.

So, I do ask for feedback. I want this book to be a cumulative effort, so please share your thoughts; none of it will be unwelcome.

My promise to you is that I’ll continue sharing at least one new chapter per month (although I’m aiming for more) and even just a few words of encouragement is all I’ll need to keep showing up and bringing more of my experience. I’m excited to share this journey with you and hope you can come along for the ride.

This first chapter is all about setting the scene by sharing a little-known detail from the day of the attack. If only I’d known what was coming, maybe I should have taken this event as a bad omen. We then go through what the book is hoping to cover so hopefully by reading this you’ll have a clear idea of what to expect. There’s a comment section down the bottom, I’d love to hear what you think.

Brett

Part I, Chapter 1 – Day Of The Attack

In this episode, I sit down with Dave Pearson. The guy who actually started The Bite Club (the real one, not just the podcast).

Dave created the support group after surviving his own shark attack, and what began as a way to connect with others has turned into something much bigger. We talk about why he started the club, what it’s meant to him personally, and some of the incredible stories that have come from it.

This one’s more of a catch-up than a formal interview which, to me, is what The Bite Club is all about.

Want to learn more or get in touch?

🔗 Visit my website www.brettconnellan.com

📬 Reach out with your own thoughts/perspectives: [email protected]

📖 View and share my publishing pitch: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UxofWBJB5VlO6AiSaKVv3N0vUKqm3G2-/edit?usp=share_link&ouid=108581164659224670822&rtpof=true&sd=true

Brett Connellan - The Day That Changed Everything: My Shark Attack Story

In this first episode, I share the full story of the day I was attacked by a shark from the moment it happened, to the early aftermath, until the start of my recovery. I also talk about the process that has led me to ask deeper questions about fear, healing, nature, and connection which has become the inspiration for my book, 'Beneath The Surface'.

This episode exists so I don’t have to retell this story in every conversation, but more importantly, it’s here to provide context for the voices and perspectives you’ll hear throughout The Bite Club.

If you’re listening, thanks for being part of the journey.

Want to learn more or get in touch?

🔗 Visit my website www.brettconnellan.com

📬 Reach out with your own thoughts/perspectives: [email protected]

📖 View and share my publishing pitch: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UxofWBJB5VlO6AiSaKVv3N0vUKqm3G2-/edit?usp=share_link&ouid=108581164659224670822&rtpof=true&sd=true