Cheryl Strayed's memoir, Wild, takes readers on a journey so powerful, it was selected as the first book for Oprah's Book Club 2.0.  Still, Cheryl says her bestselling book almost never came to be. Read on to see what challenges Cheryl overcame in the writing process. Then, tune in or log on to watch the entire show simulcast on Oprah.com, Facebook.com/OWNTV and Facebook.com/SuperSoulSunday this Sunday at 11 a.m. ET/PT.

1. The Wrong Idea Persisted and Persisted
I write a lot of essays, and in 2008 I finally decided, "I'll do an essay about my hike." I kept saying to myself, "This is not a book." Even when the essay reached 60 pages, I still thought, "Well, maybe it's a part of a book. I'll write a collection of essays, and it will be the one really long essay."

2. A Rogue Flu Swept in and Took Over Her Life
While I was writing Wild, both my kids were in preschool. They were born 18 months apart, and we don't have anyone that takes our kids for free. My husband has his mother, but she really doesn't babysit, and I don't have parents.

Two months before the book was due to my editor, when I really was supposed to be diligently writing along, my husband had to go out of town. And— gulp—it just so happened that both my kids got the flu. There were two full weeks where they couldn't go to preschool, and I was freaking out, saying, "I have this book due! And my husband is out of the country! And here I am at home with two sick kids!" I was absolutely beside myself. I thought I could never finish.

4 more challenges Cheryl faced while writing Wild