Blooming Into Life by Kristie Booker

Please welcome Kristie Booker author of Blooming Into Life

Kristie will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Blooming into Life

by Kristie Booker

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GENRE: Women’s Fiction

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INTERVIEW:

1. What or who inspired you to start writing? After my dad passed away, I became obsessed with visiting psychics. One after the other told me to write, which I loved because it was all I ever wanted to. After one exceptionally gifted spiritual medium told me to get going with it, I finally listened and began writing Blooming Into Life the next day. The created the character Rachel from the woman that inspired me to get on with my writing.

2. What elements are necessary components for this genre? Female characters that readers can relate to, and a life journey that many women go through are both important components to women’s fiction. I think most women will find a piece of themselves in Colleen. Most women have gone through a situation where they have felt like they didn’t belong or fit in. Almost all women need to love and accept themselves more. I hope my stories always include components that help my readers develop coping strategies to overcome their struggles.

3. How did you come up with your idea for your novel? As a wellness coach working primarily with women, I began noticing how many women measure their self-worth to the number on the scales, the price tag on their clothes and the social status of the groups they belong to. I realized they were all doing of this in the name of acceptance. So I decided I wanted to write about a character searching for acceptance.

4. What expertise did you bring to your writing? I have worked with woman as a wellness coach for seven years. I used this expertise to create both my main character, Colleen, as well as her wellness coach, Kory. I had Colleen use the same detox diet that I have my clients use. I also used meditations and journaling exercises that I use with my clients.

5. As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans? I plan to continue using my writing as a means to coach and inspire women.

6. If you could be one of the characters from this book, who would it be and why? I would be Kory Stone. She is a beautiful soul that has gone through a lot in her life and uses her experiences to help guide and inspire others.

7. Can you give us a sneak peak into this book? Colleen Adler struggles to fit in and belong from an early age. She is a farm girl that is determined to leave her life on the farm for a life that involves cool friends, great clothes and cable TV. She grows up to marry a wealthy lawyer living in Chicago. Her weight issues and depression intensify her struggle to fit in with her narcissitic and pretentious mother-in-law and her social group. Faced with the possibility that her husband is having an affair, Colleen decides she has to make changes. She meets with wellness coach Kory Stone. Kory helps her understand that in order for her to overcome her struggles she has to find the courage to be vulnerable and has to develop enough empathy and compassion for herself in order to begin loving and accepting who she is.

8. Do you belong to a critique group? If so how does this help or hinder your writing? I do not belong to a critique group. I have participated in writing workshops and have taken a few classes where we critique each other’s work. I have found my time working with other writers to be distracting and leaving me full of anxiety. I prefer to work alone until I finish a draft and then enlist the help of a developmental editor for guidance on where I need to improve.

9. When did you first decide to submit your work? Please tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step? I always knew that I would someday submit my work but I had no idea when it would happen. I planned to work until I felt I had something worth submitting. After rewriting my story several times, I began working with a writing coach. She helped me take my writing to another level. She encouraged me to submit my writing.

10. What is the best and worst advice you ever received? (regarding writing or publishing) The best advice I ever received was in the first writing workshop I took. My instructor told me to just write without worrying about spelling or grammar. He said that’s why you hire an editor. I didn’t enjoy writing in high school or college because I was always caught up on the rules.

11. Do you outline your books or just start writing? I wish I had the brain capacity to outline my books. Outlining seems like such a civilized and organized way to put together a story. Kind of like how Martha Stewart organizes her calendar in her magazine every month. I always wanted a calendar like that, too. I’ve tried but it just doesn’t work. I need to just start writing. Things are a mess, I have to rearrange and rework things a lot but that is part of my process. The same goes for my life.

12. How do you maintain your creativity? I think by not being too organized. The more I plan, the more I shut down. I need to wake up everyday and go with the flow of what life offers me.

13. Are your plotting bunnies angels or demons? Definitely plotting bunnies and angels.

14. Anything else you might want to add? I hope Blooming Into Life entertains readers, warms their heart, leaves them thinking about where they can conform to society a little bit less and hopefully, find a little more peace and freedom in life.

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?

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EXCERPT:

Colleen tossed the other pieces of mail on the kitchen island between her freshly opened can of Diet Coke and the white-lidded paper cup that had contained a large vanilla latte. She tore through the heavy cardstock. White roses swirled up each side of the invitation.

Harborview Country Club cordially invites you to attend the Forty-Fourth Annual Spring Fashion Show — featuring Raina Rose. The event will be held on Friday, the first of April at noon. RSVP by the eighteenth of March. Spots are limited!

Today was March 17. Colleen dialed the club and was put on hold. While she waited, she thought of her doctor’s appointment scheduled on Friday, April 1. She would have to reschedule. She wasn’t missing the fashion show for the second year in a row.

The club receptionist finally returned to the line. “I’m sorry. Mrs. Adler, but the event is full.”

“Were the invitations mailed late?” Colleen said.

“I sent them three weeks ago,” the woman said. “Would you like me to add you to the waiting list?”

“But I just got mine,” Colleen said. “Who’s in charge this year?” She already knew the answer to that question — her mother-in-law, Dinah, and her porcelain-faced lackeys, Ashley Barr and Victoria Heller.

The same thing had happened last year, and Colleen had given the three women the benefit of the doubt. She believed them when they blamed the post office for the delay. This year, however, Colleen knew her invitation was sent late on purpose.

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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. 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079T5LMYV?ref_=pe_2427780_160035660

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https://www.facebook.com/Kristie-Booker-151006384978340/

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

Kristie will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f2606