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Okay, I’ll tell my story
In King of the Sky, you share your story of addiction and recovery as you trace your life experiences, moving through painful terrain from hidden sexuality and a challenging marriage to your journey to sobriety through faith. Why was this an important book for you to write?
The moments when I felt truly clear during my experience really stayed with me, and I knew I’d share this story someday. Eventually, I found the courage to take on the problem myself, realizing that if I wanted to help others, I had to take care of myself first. I saw so many others struggling and knew that there was a way out. The turning point came when I let go, said, “Okay, I’ll tell my story,” and made that a promise to God. My goal is that others will see themselves or someone they know going through similar feelings and that they can share and learn from what I did.
Your relationship with your family, particularly your early upbringing, plays an important role in shaping your identity. How did revisiting those memories change your perspective on your own story?
For years, I remembered sugarcoating my childhood, especially how I often felt at school. Being called out as different and accused of being gay, which was my deepest secret and fear. When I went back and really looked, I noticed I had hidden who I was for so long that it had become my identity, which I carried into adulthood, but it was no longer protecting me; it was holding me back. That changed it from something that happened to me into something I could finally understand. I stopped seeing a victim and started seeing a kid doing what felt like the best strategy to stay safe and connected where he was. It was emotional at times because the feelings were real, and they came back, but this time with clarity. I came out of it with a sense of freedom to be myself.
Throughout the memoir, you describe the gap between outward success and inner peace. Was exploring that contrast one of your main goals in writing the book?
One of my favorite lessons from A Course in Miracles says, “I could see peace instead of this.” Even though my main goal in writing this book was to show readers that there’s always a way forward, no matter where they are in life, especially when dealing with addiction, I truly believe that this idea of choosing to see things differently is key to our success, no matter what challenge we’re facing. So many of us are caught in the ego’s trap of looking outside of ourselves for happiness. Knowing that it was inside us all along comes only through the experience of actually deciding to look there.
If you could sit down with the younger version of yourself living in that Miami high-rise, what would you most want him to hear?
You’ve got this, and you deserve all the good things you’ve already got and will get. In the book, I talked about how powerful the simple affirmation “I am strong” was for me. I would hope he could see himself differently, with inner strength, give himself the grace and space he needs, and go at his own pace. There’s no single right way to go, but finding joy in the journey and the path we’re on is the real gift that brings the most satisfaction.
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In King of the Sky, Greg shares his deeply personal story of recognizing and breaking free from the destructive power of limiting beliefs and the pain they inflict. He delves into the thoughts, perceptions, and events that drove him to seek escape through unhealthy means yet also offers a powerful message of hope. Through his exploration of intuition, the transformative power of hypnosis, and the strength found in community, Greg blends traditional and spiritual beliefs, revealing how life is filled with messages and synchronicities guiding us toward the fulfillment we seek.
King of the Sky is not just a memoir; it is a beacon for anyone grappling with their own battles, offering insights and encouragement to those ready to embark on their own journey of healing and self-discovery. Through this heartfelt story, readers will find the courage to listen to their inner voice and embrace the life they truly desire and deserve.
King of the Sky: Choosing to Listen to God as a Path to Sobriety, Happiness, and Purpose
King of the Sky is Gregory R. Gilmore’s candid account of addiction, identity, collapse, and spiritual recovery, tracing his path from a small-town Indiana childhood shaped by silence and conformity to a glittering but increasingly lonely life in Miami, then into the chaos of substance abuse and, finally, toward sobriety through faith, self-inquiry, and connection. The book moves through painful terrain with unusual openness: a hidden sexuality, a marriage that couldn’t survive the truth he was avoiding, professional success that never quite became peace, and the haunting image of a man living high above Miami while becoming more and more unreachable to himself. What begins in fog over Mobile Bay becomes a story about learning to listen, not only to God, but to the quieter, steadier voice beneath fear.
What stayed with me most was the book’s willingness to sit inside contradiction. Gilmore doesn’t present himself as neatly heroic, and that gives the memoir its pulse. He can be tender and self-protective, generous and enabling, spiritually hungry and still caught in the same destructive loops. I appreciated the way he lets certain images carry the emotional weight: the Rolex that has become less a symbol of achievement than a relic, the art room in high school that offers brief sanctuary, Sophie the dog as a small daily grace, the Miami condo that looks like success from the outside while becoming a kind of beautiful prison. The nickname “King of the Sky” is especially piercing because it sounds grand until you understand the loneliness beneath it. That tension gives the book its strongest emotional truth. It’s not only about addiction but about the ache of performing a life so convincingly that even you begin to confuse the costume for the self.
The writing is at its best when Gilmore trusts memory, scene, and vulnerability. His reflections on shame, belonging, and the hunger to be accepted feel deeply lived, and his voice has a plainspoken intimacy that makes the spiritual material feel personal rather than abstract. The book leans into explanation, especially when it turns toward teachings from A Course in Miracles, Abraham Hicks, Marisa Peer, and other sources of transformation. I found the ideas sincere and often moving. The central argument, that alignment with love and truth can become stronger than escape, could sound simple in another writer’s hands, but here it has been earned through humiliation, relapse, fear, and gradual repair. The book’s spirituality doesn’t erase the mess. It rises from it.
I came away from King of the Sky feeling that I had read the testimony of someone who had to lose nearly every false shelter before finding a real one. It’s reflective, emotionally naked, and sometimes raw in ways that made me pause before turning the page. The most convincing part of the book is not that Gilmore found answers, but that he kept learning how to ask better questions of his pain. This is a thoughtful and compassionate memoir for readers drawn to recovery stories, spiritual growth, LGBTQ+ self-acceptance, and books about rebuilding a life from the inside out.
Pages: 207 | ASIN : B0DM3FSZBY
