The Rainbow in My Skye: The Book, the Journey and What Comes Next

There is something a little surreal about finally being able to talk openly about something that has been in the works for so long. I have spent a lot of time writing, editing, rewriting and thinking about whether I was really ready to put this story into the world. Now I can finally say it: my first memoir, The Rainbow in My Skye, is coming this November.

The book will be released during National Family Caregiver Awareness Month, which feels especially meaningful because caregivers are at the heart of this story. What started with my daughter's medical journey eventually became a story about motherhood, caregiving, medical trauma, advocacy, resilience and what happens to the person who spends years taking care of someone else.

Why I Wrote This Book

When Skye became seriously ill, I was simply trying to figure out how to help my daughter. I wasn't thinking about becoming a healthcare advocate, writing about health policy or eventually writing a memoir. I was a mother trying to understand what was happening to her child and make the best decisions I could with the information I had.

That meant learning a completely new world. I had to understand diagnoses, procedures, medications, specialists, insurance and all of the terminology that suddenly became part of our everyday lives. I learned how to ask questions, when to push back and how to advocate when something didn't seem right. Eventually, those experiences changed the direction of my life and became the foundation for much of the advocacy work I do today.

Writing the book gave me an opportunity to tell the story behind that advocacy. People often see the work I do now, but they don't necessarily know what led me there.

The Part of Caregiving We Don't Talk About Enough

One of the things I wanted to address honestly is the impact that caring for a medically complex child can have on the caregiver.

There is so much attention understandably placed on the child who is sick. The appointments, procedures, hospitalizations and medical decisions are visible. The caregiver's experience is often much less visible.

Parents can become incredibly knowledgeable about their child's care while dealing with exhaustion, fear, grief, financial pressure, changes in relationships, interruptions to careers and the loss of the life they thought they were going to have. You can be grateful for your child and still acknowledge that the experience has been incredibly difficult. Those things can exist at the same time.

The Rainbow in My Skye gives me an opportunity to talk about that part of the experience honestly and without pretending that caregiving is either entirely tragic or endlessly inspirational. Sometimes it is difficult. Sometimes it is meaningful. Most of the time, it is probably both.

What Readers Can Expect

This is a memoir, so the story is personal, but the issues surrounding it are much bigger than my family.

Readers will see what it can look like to navigate a child's medical diagnosis, hospitalizations, procedures and the healthcare system as a parent. The book also looks at the emotional side of that experience, including the grief that can come with watching your child's life take a very different path than you imagined.

The story eventually moves beyond the hospital room and into advocacy. My experiences as a mother shaped the way I began looking at healthcare access, insurance, policy and the larger challenges families face when they are caring for medically complex children.

Most importantly, I hope parents and caregivers see themselves somewhere in these pages.

The November Release

The Rainbow in My Skye is scheduled for release this November, during National Family Caregiver Awareness Month. I am intentionally not announcing the exact release date just yet because I want to make sure everything is finalized before putting a date out publicly.

There is something fitting about releasing this book during a month dedicated to recognizing caregivers. Caregivers deserve support and recognition throughout the entire year, but having an opportunity to use this moment to bring more attention to their experiences is meaningful to me.

I'll announce the official release date as soon as everything is finalized.

The Book Tour

The book tour will begin in Atlanta, with initial stops planned for Montgomery, Alabama; the Washington, D.C./DMV area; and Boston, Massachusetts. These are just the beginning, and I am working on additional cities as the tour develops.

I don't want the tour to simply be a series of book signings. I want it to be an opportunity to have real conversations with parents, caregivers, healthcare professionals, advocates and organizations that understand the realities of medically complex families.

Some events will focus on the memoir and the story behind it. Others may center around caregiving, healthcare advocacy, medical trauma and the emotional impact of caring for a child with complex medical needs.

I also want to hear from other families. My story is one experience, but there are so many other parents and caregivers who have their own stories that deserve to be heard.

Atlanta and the Private Launch Celebration

Atlanta will have a special place in this journey because it is home and because so much of my personal and professional life has taken place here.

Although the book will be released in November, I will celebrate the release with a private, invitation-only book launch celebration at The Buckhead Club in January 2027.

I actually like having some space between the release and the celebration. November is already a busy time of year, especially with Thanksgiving and the holidays approaching. January gives me an opportunity to slow down, celebrate properly and bring together the people who have supported me throughout this journey.

The Buckhead Club celebration will be intimate and private. It won't be a large public event. It will be an opportunity to celebrate the book, the journey behind it and the people who have been part of my life along the way.

The book tour will serve a different purpose. Those events will allow me to take the conversation beyond Atlanta and connect with families, caregivers and advocates who I hope will see themselves in this story.

The book comes out in November. The celebration comes in January.

Giving Books to Families

Another part of this launch that matters deeply to me is making sure the book reaches families who may not have the ability or desire to spend money on another book while they are dealing with a medical crisis.

At select hospital and community events, I plan to provide a limited number of complimentary copies for parents and caregivers.

I understand firsthand how quickly expenses can add up when you have a medically complex child. Between medical care, medications, transportation, missed work and everything else families are managing, purchasing a book may not be a priority.

If I can put a copy of The Rainbow in My Skye into the hands of a parent sitting in a hospital room and give them something that helps them feel understood, that means more to me than simply selling another copy.

Giving Back to the Community That Helped Me

There are also organizations and communities that played an important role in my own journey as a parent and advocate. I haven't forgotten that.

When Skye was diagnosed with IBD, finding other families who understood what we were experiencing made an enormous difference. Having a community where I didn't have to explain every part of our reality gave me strength during some very difficult years.

Part of what I hope to do with this book is give some of that support back. That includes working with organizations serving medically complex children and their families and finding meaningful ways to make the book available to those communities.

What I Hope Comes From This Book

I don't expect every reader to have the same experience I did. In fact, I know they won't.

What I hope is that the book creates understanding.

I hope someone who has never cared for a medically complex child comes away with a better understanding of what families are carrying. I hope a parent recognizes that feeling overwhelmed doesn't make them a bad parent. I hope a caregiver who has spent years putting everyone else first remembers that their own life matters, too.

I also hope the book opens the door to larger conversations about how we support the people who care for medically complex children. Healthcare doesn't stop with the patient. Families are part of the care experience, and caregivers need support as well.

What Comes Next

For me, this book represents the beginning of another chapter rather than the end of a story.

I will continue writing about healthcare advocacy, health equity, caregivers and the issues affecting medically complex families. I also hope the book tour gives me an opportunity to hear from other families and learn from their experiences.

I have spent years talking about these issues from the perspective of an advocate. Now I'm adding another perspective: that of a mother who lived through it.

The Rainbow in My Skye is coming November 2026.

The first book tour stops will be announced as they are confirmed, beginning with Atlanta, Montgomery, the DMV and Boston, with additional cities to follow.

The exact release date and tour dates will be announced as they are finalized.

I have spent four years writing this book and I can't wait to share it with you.

— Tomiyo Williams

Caregiver Advocate | Health Equity Champion | Parent of a Medically Complex Child