Let me first start off by introducing myself, my name is Kimberly Thacker Webb, and I am the author of Degrees of Deception. I wrote this novel ten years ago about college students who were pursuing their degrees while balancing the varying deceptions that lie within.

I’m republishing Degrees of Deception in 2025 with an added chapter and a sneak peek of the first chapter of the sequel, which will be available Spring 2025.

I’ve been asked by many, what made you write Degrees of Deception? Well, my original reason for writing the book was to illuminate the many societal ills I saw in the world. However, I knew no one would read a book about my opinions on drug dealing, alcoholism, suicide, domestic violence, etc. So, I created characters and a story line to address these issues. I wanted to send readers on a rollercoaster ride, full of quick turns, sudden drops and short stops that made them gasp as they turned the page. More than that I wanted to probe their mindset and have them perform a self-examination of their own social consciousness while I tugged at their moral compass. Now, I realize this sounds a bit deceptive, but this was my goal.

It’s normal for people to hide things about their personal life. We all have stuff that we don’t want anybody to know about. Little did I know that this concept would be true for me as well. Towards the end of the fourth quarter of 2023, I began reviewing every aspect of my life. At this time, my body was giving me warning signs that were concerning, so I went to my doctor. She sent me to a neurologist.

The neurologist said, “Well, we’ve run all of the tests that we can run, and we found that you have one disease.”

I held my breath as she talked.

She said, “And that is stress. Your body’s like a car. It’s needs oil, gas and other items to function. It’s like you refuse to give it any of these essential functions to make it run better and more efficiently.”

I sat in silence as she scolded me.

She observed my demeanor and said, “How many hours a week do you work?”

I hesitated when anyone asked me this question. I finally answered and said, “Between sixty – sixty-five hours, sometimes more.”

“So, you’re working ten-hour days and weekends?”

“Yes, sometimes more than ten hours. I typically work eight hours on a Saturday and maybe four on a Sunday.”

She shrugged her shoulders and frown, “Is there anything else you could be doing with your life outside of Corporate America?”

And it was like a bright light shone in the room and I could hear my thoughts speaking to me, You can’t do this anymore. You’re harming yourself.

After a moment, I finally said, “Well, I was an author.”

After the words left my mouth, I was kicking myself, why did I tell my doctor that I was an author? Degrees of Deception is 300+ page novel, I am an author.

Despite my private reprimand to myself, she said, “Well what does that mean?’

I said, “Well I wrote this book ten years ago and I even had a launch party and everything, but it was the same year that my father died so afterwards, I did very little with the book and went back to Corporate America.”

She said, “Do you like writing?”

I said, “Of course I love writing! It’s my literary playground. It’s where I go inside my mind, to relax and breathe!”

She said without hesitation, “Then do that.”

Side note: I made a choice early in my career to push myself as hard as I could to work hard, climb the corporate ladder and be in leadership. That consequence landed me with a trip to the ER and a diagnosis of a minor heart attack. So, I knew that I didn’t want to repeat that choice or that consequence again.

I had to make the decision to leave the company, which meant leaving my job title, my salary and my staff. This was one of the hardest decisions that I had to make. But after working for twenty-five years at high pace jobs with unrealistic demands and never-ending travel, I had to prioritize my health. Somehow, I thought my body adapted to the stress. But my doctor warned me that if I didn’t make some changes immediately, my health was going to take a drastic turn downward. I agonized over this decision. I toyed with trying to continue to work, but the more I delayed, the more I could feel the symptoms in my body increasing. So, after two and half months, I did it, I quit my job.

It was liberating at the beginning. For the first time in years, I could sit in silence and just think. I didn’t have to travel, answer any questions, or meet any deadlines. I only had time to sit with myself. But then the reality of not having a job set in. It took me about six months or so to recognize that I didn’t know who I was anymore.

Who was I if I didn’t work for a Fortune 100 company?

Who was I without my title?

Who was I without a staff?

Who was I without my nice salary?

That’s when I realized it. I had deceived myself and I didn’t even know it. Somehow over all the years of working, I got it mixed up. I let my identity be tied to my job title, my salary and my position within the company. Deception is tricky. It’s particularly mind blowing when you are unaware that it’s taking place. For months, I was shocked that this was my reality.

I had been deceiving myself for twenty-five years, what an eye opening and revelatory experience. And now I have to reset, reassess and redirect energies to finding myself.

So don’t get me wrong I loved corporate America. I loved my corporate career. I loved the title. I love the money. I loved my staff members. I loved the work. But I was giving 150% of myself to the company, to the job, to the staff, to the work, and I was giving nothing to myself. And I was giving very little to my family.

And even though I knew tying my identity to my job was wrong. I remember hearing a speech by Thasunda Duckett, President and CEO of TIAA where she said, “You rent your title, you don’t own it.” And I knew that to be true, but I didn’t do that. I made the choice of giving my whole self to every company. And as employees we should be present, be dependable and do a good job, but we shouldn’t do at the expense of our health and sanity. But there had to be balance and for me I never understood that until the end of 2023. In 2024, God showed me balance as he began to strip away jobs, people and things that were no longer necessary for my full destiny. As a part of the stripping came recognition of my true self.

My identity was not only tied to these things, but it had become my whole identity. Deception can plant seeds so deep and cultivate them into a harvest with rewards and recognition that you don’t know anything else. The fact that I could not separate Kim, the corporate person from Kim, the personal person was both scary and intimidating. I’d run into a fork in the road. And I really believe this fork in the road was from God. I believe that he allowed me to work for twenty-five years realizing that I was digging myself deeper into the fallacy that the definition of my being was work. I know intrinsically that I am defined by God and God alone, but at this point that wasn’t my reality.

So shortly after I quit that job, I rested and meandered for a couple of months and slowly I went back to what I knew well.

Maybe I’ll find another job maybe it won’t be as stressful.

Maybe I’ll be an individual contributor.

My husband said, “Before you apply for any jobs, please see a therapist.”

I showed him companies that were messaging me asking me to interview. The interesting thing was I didn’t change my profile; no one really knew that I left the company. But companies were contacting me and dangling carrots in the form of salaries. Despite my inclination to entertain some of the calls, I listened to my husband and found a therapist. In our first session, she began to peel back the layers of my deception. As we talked, she diagnosed me with productivity addiction which I’ve never heard of and wasn’t sure that it was a real thing, but she convinced me that it was.

So, I’m working on myself, while I develop my career as a full-time author and occasionally take a corporate contract gig to continue to fund my author adventure. I have to be realistic; the contract and part time jobs fund my dreams until my dreams can fund themselves. The deception that lay dormant in me has now been awaken. The greatest gift that 2024 has taught me is to examine all the varying degrees to which I have deceived myself.

When I titled my novel, Degrees of Deception, I had no idea that the title would be applicable to me as well as to the characters. My plan was to focus on the internal and external deceptions of each character. But God has a sense of humor when it comes to moving us forward to his created destiny. I’m learning more and more everyday about different aspects of me. Me without all the responsibilities, without all the pressures, and without all the deadlines, just being me a girl from Oak Cliff, Texas trying to find her way in this world is all that He requires.

For those struggling with stress and balance, find ways to take care of yourself. Self-care is just as important as any other care. If needed find a therapist, but don’t suffer in silence. You may think you are okay, but if you are pushing your mind and body too hard, it will show up in physical ailments. Be good to yourself.

So, make good choices because every choice

you make has a consequence that is either positive or negative.

My Choices:

I am choosing God’s plan over my own plan

I am choosing to prioritize me and my self-care

I am choosing peace over stress

I am choosing to be a full-time author