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Dear Energy Healing & Wellness Friends,
Titles. Crazy, captivating, elusive titles. Do you know how many people I know who already have great titles for books they have not written? Tons. To say I have been envious of rock star titles of books is an understatement.
More than four year
s ago, I felt a nudging to begin writing a book on intuitive parenting.
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Whimsical
...is having many "writing dates" with myself to finish a long time coming project!
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Those of you who have been long time subscribers of my newsletter might remember when I took a month off to write and I lived in a house in Cascade, Colorado. That was when this whole journey I'm about to share began. I got back to Fort Collins after that whimsical, dream-life time away and my busy life seemed to hijack my writing time. (Hang with me, here; I'll eventually get back to the "title" subject I started with!)
Fast forward to November 2016. I found myself with an airline ticket I was not going to use, due to a major life change that happened on a dime. Thanks to Southwest Airlines being flexible, I was able to change the ticket to instead go to Las Vegas for a Hay House Writer's Workshop that was happening in April. I'd had that workshop in the back of my mind for a while but I kept vetoing it due to time, finances, etc. There I was with airline credit and I had to pick somewhere to go. That workshop was calling my name!
When you attend a Hay House Writer's Workshop, you have the opportunity to submit a book proposal without having an agent. It's the only time you can submit a proposal to them without having an agent.
The submission is for a contest and the winner receives a $10,000 advance and a Hay House publishing contract. This was an opportunity I couldn't pass up so, s
tarting that weekend, it was game on for me!
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Whimsical
...is having a "date" with a great friend to attend a cooking class in a magical outdoor kitchen, then running into my recently retired midwife there, who made us all laugh so hard our ribs hurt! I think that counts as whimsical "dating!"
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In August I planned a five-day writing retreat for myself at a dog-friendly Airbnb and during that time, I got the rough draft of my book proposal written. If you have never written a book proposal, let me just tell you it's not for sissies! It is a major project! I naively thought I was so close to done when I left there with my rough draft. That shows how green I am in the world of writing! Editing was crazy time consuming and intense. I spent all my spare time the past two months in non-stop edit mode (Thank you so much Lindsey, Eli, and Arianne! Your editing skills are stellar!) Nine days before the contest deadline, everything was going great except for one thing. I could not think of a title. Actually, I could think of billions of dud titles, but not one single title that resonated with me.
Six days before I submitted my book proposal to Hay House Publishing, I was sitting in my hot tub having an out loud, "Come to Jesus" talk with God about the title. It went something like this:
Me: Dude, I've been totally following your lead on this whole idea for this book. But now it's time to turn it in. My deadline is looming. Here it is- a book about inner wisdom and intuition- but you are SO holding out on me with the title. I feel nothing intuitively coming through. I only know what titles DON'T feel right.
God: What- you don't think I have a game plan here? Well, I do. If I had given you your title along with the nudge to do this project, you would have already shared it with others too much and it would have dissipated the energy for this project too soon. The writing needed to germinate first. Without a title you couldn't talk about it, so you kept the creative energy for writing strong and focused. Now is the time to share it so now is when you get the title.
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Whimsical.
..is a blue sky, fall day with crisp air, my sweet pup and my son, who makes me laugh hard with his irreverently reverent sense of humor!
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The title intuitively "downloaded" right then, and so did the subtitle. My book proposal for
Inner Wisdom Journaling for Parents: 52 Stories & Journal Prompts to Inspire Conscious Parenting
has now been submitted to Hay House Publishing! (See book description below) On November 9, the winners will be announced. This is the month of waiting! In the meantime, I'm continuing to manifest time in the mountains to write- creating a life that so inspires me.
Speaking of winners, if you haven't already started to follow me on my business Facebook page and Instagram, I'd be immensely grateful for your support in doing so. In this day and age, publishers are looking to be sure authors have a well developed social media platform as much as they are evaluating the content of your book. So the more likes and comments on my social media sites, the better! Thank you for your support in that way! My intention is for social media to feel more cozy and comfortable for me and to feel like it is a way for us to genuinely connect with each other so please know that your comments are appreciated more than you know. If you know others who you think would be interested in my newsletter, please encourage them to subscribe.
When I sat down to write this newsletter, I had no game plan of what I was going to write, I just knew I was way overdue to get one written, since all of my writing time has been spent on my book and book proposal. The rhyming title of Writing, Waiting, & Whimsical Dating, in all it's alliteration glory, popped into my mind, like a funny joke from the Universe right when I sat down to write. Kind of like, "Now that you are done agonizing over not having a title for your book, we'll just give you a fun sounding title for your newsletter right off the bat and then YOU can figure out what to write to match the title." I guess that's the universe's whimsical sense of humor. Quite frankly, I like the idea of broadening my definition of dating (see captions under the photos!) This kind of "dating" rocks!
In this rather tumultuous time in our world, I pray for us all to find our way to bring in more love and more compassion to the planet, in open-minded ways. My hope for my book is to support a generation of parents raising the kind of kids who live an examined life, with deep caring and respect for all beings, and the confidence to serve humanity with their unique, creative gifts. I want that for all of us.
With deep love and appreciation for each of you,
Lauri
Inner Wisdom Journaling for Parents:
52 Stories & Journal Prompts to Inspire Conscious Parenting.
Children don't come out of the womb with a "how to" manual, but developing your intuition as a parent is the next best thing.
Inner Wisdom Journaling for Parents: 52 Stories & Journal Prompts to Inspire Conscious Parenting will connect you with the pure and personalized guidance of your own inner wisdom. You will learn a simple technique to attune with the individual spirit of each of your children in order to break free from one-size-fits-all parenting. The real, raw, humorous and inspiring stories of intuitively parenting my own two children, combined with poignant journaling prompts, will awaken within you a stream of wisdom for nurturing kids who are confident, compassionate, and spiritually awake.
Note: After Nov. 9, I will know more of the timeline for when my book will be available because then I know exactly which route I will be taking for publishing. I'll keep you posted!
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