Becoming Free by Christy Monson~Author Interview

Becoming Free

 

I see you have another book coming out for electronic book format. How is writing for eBook different from a regular "paper" book?

Writing an eBook is the same as writing a paper book. In fact, I didn't know that Becoming Free would be an eBook at first. But I'm excited for the new experience. I'm looking forward to promoting it.

 

What gave you the idea for this women's self-help book?

My clients were the ones who inspired me to write Becoming Free. I learned so much from them and was so impressed by their hard work in therapy, I wanted to share their stories and their healing process with everyone.
 
How do you envision women use this book?

 

Understanding the concepts in this book can benefit all of us. The discussion on motivation and work ethic (First Section) is something I think we all need to review often. The chapters on understanding of self and communication (Second and Third Sections) are skills everyone uses daily. I love the last part (Fourth Section) on healing techniques. It a compilation of the most effective concepts and procedures I have gathered together over the years--methods that will lead us all to live a life full of peace and positive energy.

You can read the book straight through, but it's really designed to create change by being used slowly over time to alter your habits and establish positive thinking skills. Enjoy! Happy Reading!

Here is the link to purchase from Amazon
Here is the link to purchase from Barnes and Noble

Christy Monson ~ Please join me in an interview with the author.

Love, Hugs and Hope

How did you meet Lori? How did your collaboration work?

Lori Nawyn did the art and I wrote the script for this picture book, Love Hugs and Hope, and we are both very happy about it. However, we didn't start out to work together. Lori and I knew each other from a couple of SCBWI Conferences. We had formed a picture book critique group that met each month so we were friends. But it was the publisher that teamed us up. Lori is a darling, and I love her art. We never collaborated on the book at all. I turned in the manuscript and Lori and the publishers did the rest.

How long have you been writing?

I have been writing about 7 years and loving every minute of it.

Do you have children? If so, did you draw on your own experience as a mother in writing this book?

My experience as a mom has really helped me in writing this book. Children just need to talk things out a lot of times. They want love and reassurance.

You're a retired family counselor. How did your training and/or years of practice help you with this book?

I kind of had a sense about how to process with kids from being a mom, but my training as a therapist really gave me the knowledge I needed to help children heal. In my practice I saw a lot of kids that were dealing with tragedy of some kind or another. Talk therapy is good for kids, but art is a wonderful way for them to release feelings.

How long did this book take to create?

It took me about a week to write the first draft of this manuscript. I felt so sad for those who had experienced loss in the school shooting at Sandy Hook. Shortly after that a gunman shot up the Clackamas Towne Center in Oregon. Our daughter, son-in-law, and two granddaughters live about three miles from the center. The parents monitored the events carefully, but turned off all media to protect the kids from knowing about it. However, the next day at school the children were all talking about it, so you can't protect children from knowing about tragedies like this.
As I thought about these two catastrophes, I felt something needed to be written to help parents and children look at disasters like these, be able to share their feelings, and find hope in the world around them.

Do you have other book ideas along the lines of children's self-help/picture books?

I love writing picture books. I have many other book ideas I'm thinking about, but right now I'm focused on a series about children's feelings.

How did you find a publisher for the book?

I am so fortunate to have found my publisher, Christopher Robbins, and Familius. At LDS Storymakers Boot Camp, Rick Walton was conducting our picture book section. He began talking about Familius and what a great new company it was. When he found out I was a retired therapist, he suggested I contact Familius, and I'm so happy I did.

Christy's Love, Hugs and Hope Blog

Available for purchase at Familius 

eBook available at Amazon

Love Hugs and Hope by Christy Monson & Lori Nawyn

There are scary things that happen to all of us-young and old. I love the way that Lori's illustrations bring added insight to Christy's words. When we express our feelings with words and art, it helps us learn to deal with the hard times we go through. By focusing on the love, hugs and hope we can feel peace that we can be happy again. 

Join me tomorrow for an interview with the author - Christy Monson!

Published on Mormon Mommy Blogs

Exciting news! My article To Be? Or Not To Be? That Is The Question was published on Mormon Mommy Blogs August 20, 2013. Read it here

The Right Words

Exciting!
Awesome!
Oh, No!
It's a Girl!
It's a Boy!
That's creepy....
Congratulations!
I got the job!
We regret to inform you...

Some words are wonderful, stirring and meaningful to hear. Others are terrible, sad, and scary. We use different words throughout the day to describe what we are feeling, tasks that need to be accomplished, small and large personal triumphs, frustrations, and communicating with family, friends and co-workers. They can be used to describe our character, our skills and our talents. We speak them, write them, read them, listen to them on the radio and CD, and we occasionally misuse them. None of us are perfect, but there are words that are better left unsaid, unwritten and unread and unheard.

“Put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.”

~Colossians 3:8

“And see that there is no iniquity in the church, neither hardness with each other, neither lying, backbiting, nor evil speaking.” ~Doctrine and Covenants 20:54

 

Let us choose carefully the words we use. You never know who may be listening. The words we think, say, hear, listen to, write and read can have an impact on our future choices and the people we interact with.

 

William Edward Norris said:

“If your lips can keep from slips,

Five things observe with care:

To whom you speak; of whom you speak;

And how, and when, and where."

 

"How forcible are right words." ~Job 6:25

Awakening - The Dragon Valley by Nadja Spath

Book Review 

Awakening—The Dragon Valley by Nadja Spath

The Awakening is full of adventure, magic, elves, dragons, visions, time travel and a hero/heroine combination that you’d never expect! Kathy and Aaronn didn't plan on running into each other at the Sci-Fi and Fantasy convention. In fact, they’d met only one time before and she knew that he definitely didn't remember her. Becoming separated from her friends she wandered around the booths. One of them in particular sparked her interest. The banner above said that there was an artifact on display. As she made her way through the crowd, she heard a man describing an artifact made of an unknown piece of bone. Looking up to see what he was talking about, she was surprised to see Aaronn.  He was listening to the man and holding the artifact.  Then Aaronn noticed Kathy standing there looking at him. When she realized he was looking at her she tried to back up. The man behind her pushed her forward and into Aaronn. Touching the artifact with her outstretched arms was the least of her worries as they were suddenly transported to another place in time—another world. Danger, supernatural abilities, and finding out they were brought to this strange place to save it were not things they had anticipated. All they wanted to do was find a way back home. When that didn't happen they decided to immerse themselves in their quest. Fighting evil, deception, help from unexpected allies, and finding out who they could trust kept me engaged as a reader. I loved it!

John Wayne and the Pledge of Allegiance - presented by William J. Elling...

I am thankful for all the people throughout the history of America that made it possible for me to have the freedoms that I have today. But most I am thankful to God for all of the blessings that I enjoy because I am free to choose.