Q1. Hello, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.
Iām Georgie, until the lockdown I was a holistic health practitioner, exercise and lifestyle coach, I also did crystal and energy healing. I had taken that path and all its different facets in a bid to help myself manage a condition I was born with called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome Type 3, a condition that affects the connective tissues and can be very debilitating, Iād spent a lifetime in and out of hospital with multiple problems until I adopted a holistic lifestyle. Remedial exercise and diet had helped me greatly, but there was a noticeable change in my health, I was no longer managing my predictable symptoms, my symptoms were lessening substantially, and my quality of life had vastly improved, especially from a pain and vitality point of view.
I built my career around my own physical needs and did many different classes all around health and wellbeing. On the Sunday evening that Boris announced āNo groupsā I had a full week, and by the Monday morning Iād lost 95% of my business, I always struggled with technology and so, missed the āzoomā gravy boat.
Since then, Iāve had to move and was unable to establish myself in the area I moved to, nobody was doing very well and not taking any freelancers on. Iād made the mistake of investing a chunk of money in a crypto scheme called āHyperverseā who suddenly stopped paying out my money (which was covering my rent nicely) and Iāve never been able to get through to them since, thieving *****, I had $42,000 in there, so now I āve ended up living in a van!
Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing your book “The Fateful Text”?
I have ADD and had spelling difficulties at school, for years, right back when I was in my twenties, I wanted to write short romances, like Mills and Boon because I was always making up romantic scenarios in my head, I was a hopeless romantic, but I knew my English was very poor and just didnāt have the confidence to do it.
Iāve completely rewritten this novel last year after a lovely lady offered to tutor me with my English.
Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?
I donāt really have a favourite author or influence, I mostly used to read educational books to do with my learning path rather than fiction to be honest.
Q4. Whatās your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?
I have many favoured places; we are blessed with a beautiful country. Now Iām looking forward to seeing more of it and finding new āfavouriteā places, which is the upside of living in a van, every cloud has a silver lining.
Q5. Is there lots to do before you dive in and start writing a book?
I was challenged to write it! I was with a good friend, chatting and I canāt remember the exact conversation but `I can remember saying, āOh, I could write a lovely book you know, itās all up hereā, tapping my head, to which she replied, āyouāve been telling me for the last 14 years you could write a lovely book, why donāt you go and write it?ā The book wasnāt hard to do at all, it was just getting the confidence to do it.
Q6. How long did it take you to write your book ‘The Fateful Text’?
I started writing The Fateful Text eight years ago. Only it was called āThe Retreatā then. I wrote the basic love story and showed it to a client who was an English teacher, she had no encouragement for it what-so-ever, so it went in a draw for years until the lockdown. While I was under house arrest, as I had nothing to do, I got it out, read it, and decided to start working on it again. I really enjoyed revisiting it and added some chapters. I then had some help with my English and spent most of last summer rewriting it, so itās been a long time in the making.
Q7. On what platforms can readers buy your book?
The Fateful Text is available from the BalboaPress website page http://www.fatefultext.com, also from the same website via my Facebook and Instagram pages āThe Fateful Textā, on Amazon and available to order in most large stores.
Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘The Fateful Text’?
I changed both the title and cover just before I had it published. Originally it was called āThe Retreatā and the cover was a painting of the two main characters in an embrace out in the country hills, then, out of the blue I changed my mind and decided that, as the text was the catalyst in all of it, Iād centre the title around the text message.Then the painting didnāt go with the title, so I looked through lots and lots of photos until I came up with the couple in an embrace and then text on the phone.
Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?
This is my first book, and I wrote it with an āintentionā. I was so passionate about my journey to health and just how much of a difference it had made to my life, I was bursting with it, I wanted it āout thereā. Iām also very passionate about cleaning up our planet, getting our soil healthy and living in harmony with Mother Earth. I never had any trouble writing it, because there was just so much, I wanted to put in. I had the idea to write it into a love story as a lighter, more entertaining way of getting it across, so I was writing about my favourite things, love and romance and health and wellbeing. It was a friend who had read it that suggested I write the appendix with the recipes. I loved the idea of this because I love cooking and now regularly put recipes and health tips on my social media.
Q10. Are there any secrets from the book (that arenāt in the blurb), you can share with your readers?
None of the novel was written from experience! Thatās why itās called a fantasy novel! It was my intention to start a healthy craze and draw awareness of our plight if we donāt learn to live in harmony with mother nature. I figured, if Fifty Shades could exhaust sales of nipple clamps and butt plugs, then thereās no reason why āThe Fateful Textā couldnāt have people wanting to look after themselves, practicing positive self-talk, mindfulness and meditation, exercising, eating healthily, reducing their personal exposure to chemicals, they could even start making Despatchos and start sending their positive intentions out to the collective, imagine that ā¤
I just wanted to try do something positive and at the same time bring a bit of joy in whatās been a pretty harsh world for some lately.
Buy The Fateful Text on Amazon , BalboaPress, www.fatefultext.com