Anxious Kid Makes Pretty Good is a candid, often wry collection of essays tracing one woman’s life with high anxiety, ADHD, and recurring depression—and the winding, determined path that eventually leads to a vocation as writer and editor. After years of earnest but unfulfilling jobs, she discovers that the very traits that once felt burdensome have become part of her creative engine. Told in two parts, the first offers a memoir—“All Day Long I Wondered”—chronicling the author’s struggles, stumbles, and small triumphs. The second, “Messy Process Does Not Mean Messy Result,” gathers hard-won reflections on writing and the writing life, delivered with clarity, empathy, and humour. Both writers and non-writers alike will find insight, encouragement, and recognition in these pages.