It is my pleasure to share a guest post by author Kristie Booker, who shares her answer to my question...
ELF: What was the most difficult thing to overcome on your path to becoming a published author and how did you conquer it?
KB: The most
difficult thing I had to overcome on my path to becoming a published author was
to get over my own self-limiting thoughts. I spent most of my life thinking
that I wasn’t good enough to call myself a writer let alone be a published one.
I didn’t think anyone would want to read something that I had written and I
thought once someone did, they would laugh at my attempt to tell a story. The
conquering of such thinking was hard. I had to do a lot of personal work in
order to find the courage to share my writing. Ugly thoughts continue to creep
into my life. I’ve learned to accept the fact that I will always be a work in
progress.
The process
of developing self-love and self-acceptance took several years but I finally
got to a place where I began to care a little less about how the outside world
saw me. I still have periods when I find myself dependent on the opinion of
others. When this happens, I get quiet and remove myself from the world.
Whether it’s a long walk in nature, time meditating or even a long drive
listening to great music, I’ve learned I need to journey inward to reset my
thoughts and reconnect with myself.
I wasn’t
able to accept myself as a writer until I found the courage to allow my best be
good enough and was able to love and appreciate what that looked like for me. I
had to learn that the things that make me different make me unique. The history
and experiences in my life help me craft the stories that I tell and make me as
worthy as anyone else that calls themselves a writer.
**************************
by Kristie Booker
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Women’s Fiction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Growing up
on a farm in Brockville, Illinois, did not prepare Colleen O’Brien Adler to be
the wife of a wealthy entertainment lawyer living in Chicago. It certainly
didn’t prepare her to be Dinah Adler’s daughter-in-law. The stay-at-home mother
of two has more than she’s ever wanted—a personal stylist, a prestigious
country club membership, a multimillion-dollar home—but she finds herself not
only struggling with depression and body image but also failing as a parent and
fearing for her marriage. Her life is about to change when an invitation to a
wellness meeting arrives in her inbox. With some coaxing from personal coach
Kory Stone, she commits to a new beginning. But will she be able to overcome
the things that are holding her back?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT
“How
many of you are here to lose weight?” Kory asked.
Colleen
raised her hand along with every other woman in the room. Noticing how skinny
over half the room was, Colleen wondered why they were raising their hand.
“While
your goal is weight loss, my goal is to help you find yourself, your true
self,” Kory said.
“What
if our true self just needs to lose weight?” Beth said.
The
women around the table laughed. Kory smiled at her. “I want to help you see
beyond your physical body and dig deep into what makes your heart happy.”
Beth’s
smile faded as she considered Kory’s words. Colleen had no idea what made her
heart happy. She loved the girls and Jay. They made her happy. They also made
her exhausted. Besides her bed, a vanilla latte and a bottle of wine, she
couldn’t put her finger on anything that truly made her happy.
“The
hardest part about finding out what makes you happy is being truthful about
what isn’t making you happy,” Kory said. “In order to lose weight and keep it
off, you have to commit to working hard to overcome the things that are holding
you back.”
Colleen
wasn’t sure she could commit to doing whatever work Kory was talking about.
Some things in her life were too difficult to overcome.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Kristie
Booker is the author of Blooming Into Life, a blogger and a Wellness Coach. She
enjoys coaching and inspiring women through her writing as well as in person.
Kristie is a wife and mother of two sons. She grew up in rural Illinois, but
now lives in Chicago. *************************
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