Interview with Fascinating Authors.com
For those interested in the back story of writing this book and my writing process, I have included in my blog this interview with me by FascinatingAuthors.com
Fascinating Authors
Author Profile – Toni Galardi: The LifeQuake Phenomenon
Q: Why did you decide to write this book?
A: I wrote this book because I had gone through three near fatal experiences over the course of twenty years as a result of my fear of making big changes. I had conducted workshops and public speaking appearances and had observed that there was a viable roadmap for helping others negotiate change when cycles are over before they are forced to move due to crisis. This book, The LifeQuake Phenomenon is that seven stage body, mind, and spirit roadmap.
Q: Do you have any secret writing tips you’d like to share?
A: Find the time of day when you are most creative, stick to a schedule of writing every day, and then find an excellent editor to gvie you an objective perspective once you have finshed a first draft.
Q: Tell us a quirky or funny story about you!
A: In my public speaking appearances I give as an example how far we can go to avoid change in our irrational thinking and still, destiny will find us:
I had had a car accident, rear ended from behind pulling out of South Coast Plaza. Two days later, in a rental car, the brakes gave out on the 5-405 interchange in Orange County, my car went spinning like a top across 6 lanes of traffic and came to a standstill facing traffic. Miraculously, I was not hurt and did not cause any collisions despite being in the middle of Friday night traffic facing the wrong way.
Now, you would think this would give me pause to examine what might be going on in my life. Instead, I had family coming in from out of town two days later and when we ventured out in the rental car, I put my brother in charge of driving, I planted myself in the safest place in the car, between my mother and godmother in the middle of the back seat. As we ventured up the 405 together, five miles down the road, we were hit by a drunk driver and I re-injured my neck from the whiplash in the first accident. Upon arriving home, I called a colleague of mine whom I believed was very wise and asked him what he thought was going on. His response, although meant to be funny was right on – “God is pissed off.”
The truth in this was that when we ignore the signs it is time to change, our soul does whatever it needs to in order to get our attention, including magnetizing every car on the road to your back bumper to get you moving forward!
Q: Have you ever battled writer’s block? How do you deal with it?
A: Writer’s block comes to me mostly when I’m in burnout. I took the whole month of August off from writing because I was experiencing writer’s block. By taking time to fill the well back up again, I am able to return with the muse speaking to me quite easily now.
Q: What’s your favorite quote?
A: The man who looks for security, even in the mind, is like a man who would chop off his limbs in order to have artificial ones that will give him no pain or trouble. ~Henry Miller
The only difference between a rut and a grave is their dimensions. ~Ellen Glasgow
Q: Who inspires you the most?
A: Oprah Winfrey is my greatest living hero. A black woman who came from poverty, incest, and trauma and became not just the queen of the media but a wounded healer who shows us her struggle and her human-ness and continues to work with it while still giving her life to humanitarianism.