Saturday, May 16, 2015

12 Chapters of LOVE

Today is the day that I break the silence and talk about my soon-to-be published second book. I didn't want to give too much away too soon, but I've been talking about it informally for quite some time and have since starting promoting it in the media. So no better time like the present. This blog is a long one, but soo worth the read :)

MY MIDNIGHT EPIPHANY

After doing research for months; last night, destiny brought me to this VERY cool blog I started to follow, which in turn led me to an even more fabulous e-book, which lit a FIRE UNDER me and INSIDE me. Thanks Marcie...you really came through for me! (If you want to learn more about these cool subject matter experts, drop me a line on the contact form on your right!)

So there I was...up at 3 o'clock this morning, trying to figure out how to blog about my book without letting the cat out the bag! Today I was out all day doing errands and conducting an interview for a human interest story for the local paper and can you believe this thought still lingered at the back of my mind! 

Then tonight I sought the advice from my marketing guru friend (who's helping me with my book launch and business strategy). I patiently await his email, but in the meantime and in-between time, I will give it a shot on my own. (He's probably exhausted from me pestering him all week with my workshop! lol.)

THE GENESIS

photo credit - C.K. Correia  ©  2014 All rights reserved. 
Fort King George, Tobago
For those of you who don't know me or haven't been following my blog, I've written a memoir about my professional journey over the last 6 years. This book was inspired by my Dad back in 2009. 

Words can't explain how glad I am that he got a chance to hear me read the first 8 chapters when in good spirits, long before he passed away last Christmas. 

I dedicated this second book and my first (Thinking out Loud) to him, even all those years ago when I thought he would have been around forever.

WHY SHE LAUGHED...

One of my former work colleagues told me today: "But your journey has just begun! How can you write a memoir on what you haven't experienced yet!?" She laughed. I laughed, but I thought hard about this question. My response was my usual elevator pitch, which I'm sure I need to work on for other media appearances.

MY ELEVATOR PITCH

This book is about my journey about finding myself and claiming what's mine. While writing it, my sister Wendy reminded me that this is a continuous journey. Last Tuesday on the Every Woman radio programme on Ebony 104.1 FM, (you can read about this here (http://inspirationescape.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-day-i-learnt-theres-no-such-thing.html), I shared that without knowing yourself, you can't really know or love anybody else and you can't know where you're going in life and put plans in place to get there. 

The thing is, once you know who you are and what you are about, no one can come along to shake your sense of worth or deter you from your goals. Even if in the moment, you stumble a little, you will always bounce back, because you stand on solid ground. It's also important to walk away or distance yourself from those situations and people that inhibit your progress or well-being.

THE BOOK

This memoir is about my professional and personal journey of growth and self-discovery. Chapter 3 begins with me describing how badly I wanted to enter the field of Journalism over the years, then one day making my breakthrough with one article and finally becoming a published writer, then author and how this made me feel. 

I also talk about working at jobs that made me feel empty inside and how not being able to share all of my talents, dimmed my spirit. I reveal how I coped with this in daily life and how much I craved change in my routine, not only at work. 

The discoveries I had while waiting is described in detail and I show readers how I used my time wisely and also exercised patience and faith until I got where I wanted to go. The reader is taken on a journey through time as I pleaded for years for my prayers to be answered. Again it vividly shows what happened the day my miracle came. 

The book reveals chapter after chapter how I made the various transitions that literally changed my life! Part 2 of the same book reveals more aha moments, challenges, rude awakenings, near-death experiences, grief, personal discoveries, chance encounters and what led me to entrepreneurship.

I HAVE YOU TO THANK

This book is so much more personal than anything I have every published before and I have my editor, who I like to call my book coach to thank for that. When she read the first draft last December and told me what I needed to do to make it better, at first I was kicking and screaming and told her I couldn't and wouldn't share so much! (I also talk about that in Chapter 12). 

Over the 7 year period and then more recently, several edits later, I can say I am truly proud, humbled and thankful for what this book has morphed into. I have so many people to thank for that, I can't even begin to name them all, but I THANK YOU ALL publicly from the bottom of my heart and soul...you know who you are.

Most of all, I give thanks and praise to the Most High God for granting me the inspiration and this gift of expression and of course leading me to all the situations and people necessary for my transformation and discoveries. 

I can't wait to see where this journey leads.

Peace & Blessed Love xo


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