Before leaving on her first deployment to Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan, Ryaja Johnson Rhone was flooded with requests from friends, family and coworkers to stay in touch and send pictures throughout the five months.

She knew there was no way she'd be able to keep in contact with each person individually.

So Johnson Rhone, who worked in the contracting office at Manas, decided to start writing a daily journal - for the first time in her life - of what went on throughout her day. She sent it out in a daily e-mail entitled "What's Happening Now."

The Airman didn't know it at the time, but the journal entries kick-started her life as an author. Johnson Rhone, who separated from the Air Force in 2007 as a captain, recently put the collection of journal entries into a book entitled "Chronicles of an Airman: Discovering Purpose 6,500 Miles from Home."

"I had no desire to write a book when I was writing the entries," said Johnson Rhone, a Berkeley, Calif. native who's married to the commander of the 62nd Contracting Squadron at McChord Field.

The 33-year-old DuPont resident was inspired to do the book due to all the positive feedback she got from everyone that was receiving her daily journal via e-mail.

"The feedback was so amazing (throughout the deployment)," Johnson Rhone said. "It kept me going. It was an amazing way to connect with people. By the end of the deployment people were forwarding the e-mails to their friends and family."

While the many recipients of her e-mails enjoyed reading about daily life on a military base in a combat zone and her experiences, the 126 journal entries had perhaps a greater impact on Johnson Rhone herself.

"(Writing the entries) turned into a journey of professional, personal and spiritual growth," she said.

She writes often in her entries about her faith, her spiritual journey and the effect the deployment had on her relationship with her husband of just a year at the time.

"It was definitely a time of spiritual growth," said Johnson Rhone, who was even baptized while she was deployed. "I felt I was in an environment where I could connect with God on my spiritual walk."

Johnson Rhone said she's happy with how the book turned out.

"People will appreciate the authenticity of it," she said. " People who have nothing to do with the military have read it and enjoyed it. It appeals to a broader audience than I anticipated."

Johnson Rhone will host book signings Friday through this weekend (April 1-3) at the McChord Field BX and the Lewis Main PX April 15-17. She has also set up a Facebook fan page, which can be accessed by typing the book's title in the Facebook search box.