Inspiration. Strategies. Support.
“Wild, Beautiful and Free” by Sophfronia Scott
#1 in African American Historical Fiction on Amazon
This stunning work of fiction by award-winning author and Women on Fire member, Sophfronia Scott tells the story of Jeanette, a mixed race, escaped slave as she searches for purpose, love, and her place in the Civil War-era world. An instant BEST SELLER!
Are you safeguarding your future? The second half of life offers different challenges than the first half, and you have be ready for them.
This month’s Books To Live By will give you the help you need to create plans and gain peace of mind.
I am so pleased to present our May selections:
What You Really Need to Know for the Second Half of Life and Protect Your Family: Don’t Write a Blank Check to the Nursing Home
One of our country’s top eldercare attorneys, Julie Steinbacher, who also is featured in the Women on Fire May membership package, was a co-author of the books.
She planned and organized the writing of this compilation book from a handpicked team of certified attorneys from across the nation who specialize in elder care law and estate planning.
The information is written in clear, direct language. It gives you the essential knowledge and best advice for planning for retirement, long-term-care options and end-of-life issues for yourself and your loved ones while protecting assets.
There is work to be done, but the groundwork is laid out for you here.
Topics include wills, senior living options and life care needs, business succession, Social Security, Medicaid, planning for an adult child with special needs, protecting seniors from financial exploitation, determining caregivers and decision-makers, and so much more.
You will learn about pitfalls, the documents you need and how to choose the best professionals to help you.
These books are filled with valuable information — real tools with real solutions.
You can be ready for whatever situations life throws at you!
Have you ever stepped from another’s shadow to stand in your own light? Now that is something to sing about!
In the April membership interview, “20 Feet from Stardom’: From Superstar Backup Singer to Solo Spotlight,” I spoke with songstress Lisa Fischer, who has spent three decades sharing the stage and studio with such superstar acts as the Rolling Stones, Luther Vandross, Sting and Tina Turner.
To celebrate this amazing woman, this month, instead of a book to inform and inspire you, I want to introduce you to music that will touch your heart and make your spirit soar.
I am so proud to announce that our April 2016 Songs To Live By selection is Lisa’s solo album:
So Intense by Lisa Fischer
In this incredible album, Lisa unleashes a superb range and thrilling, emotive delivery that will knock your socks off.
You may already know the monster-hit single “How Can I Ease the Pain?” — one of three songs on the album that Lisa co-wrote — which won the 1992 Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. The yearning in Lisa’s voice can bring you to tears.
From get-on-your-feet dance beats (“Save Me”) to soulful ballads (her cover of the classic “Wildflower,” produced here by Luther Vandross) to goosebump-inducing vocal acrobatics (“Chain of Broken Hearts”), So Intense is a stunning, soul-soothing, heart-pounding encounter. I cannot recommend it more highly!
And if you get the chance to hear Lisa in person — she is currently on tour — you simply must go! Lisa is a true gem.
How is your health? If you are anything like me, you are a work-in-progress, striving and desiring to feel your very best.
This month’s Books To Live By choice expands and deepens the discussion we began in our March membership interview, “Five Steps to Take Charge of Your Health Now!”
I am proud to announce that our March 2016 selection is:
The Mysterious Mind: How to Use Ancient Wisdom and Modern Science to Heal Your Headaches and Reclaim Your Health by Trupti Gokani, M.D.
In this remarkable book, our own Trupti Gokani, a board-certified neurologist with a medical degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and an expert in the ancient wisdom and traditions of Ayurvedic medicine, leads us through the wondrous mysteries of the mind-body connection so we can claim vital health and well-being.
Beyond her thriving medical practice in Chicago, Dr. Gokani has written and lectured extensively in the areas of neurology and psychiatry, and has generously shared her insights into such widespread modern-day ailments as migraines, insomnia, mood disorders, food allergies, autoimmune diseases, and digestive and hormonal issues.
In The Mysterious Mind, with clarity and compassion, she guides you to such discoveries as your true physical nature (your dosha), which holds the key to your health.
Her simple yet elegant diet and lifestyle choices will lead you through detoxification processes and help you to balance your hormones so you can finally feel your best.
This book has now replaced the more dated health book go-tos on my shelf. It’s a winner!
This month’s book choice was recommended to us from one of my favorite inspiring women.
Sheri Salata, the president of The Oprah Winfrey Network, was the subject of our featured interview in this month’s Women on Fire membership package.
If anyone knows the best and latest book to recommend, it’s Sheri, and she didn’t disappoint!
Our October Book To Live By selection is….
Find Me Unafraid: Love, Loss and Hope in an African Slum by Jessica Posner and Kennedy Odede is the true story of two young people from entirely different worlds who fall in love — and change the world.
Jessica Posner is a Wesleyan College graduate from Denver,and Kennedy Odede is a young man from Kibera, the largest slum in Africa.
Together, their work has changed the lives of many in Kibera’s most vulnerable population: girls.
They founded Kibera’s first tuition-free school for girls, a large, bright blue building, which stands as a bastion of hope in what once felt like a hopeless place.
There is intrigue and suspense in this book, and it’s impossible to read it without feeling uplifted for what is possible for the human spirit.
Mia Farrow called the book “an astounding story of love, hope, inspiration and triumph. It is a mesmerizing love story; two young people from very different cultures join forces to build a life together—and a new life filled with promise for others. I don’t think either of them understand the word ‘impossible.’ ”
Please order your copy today and let me know what you think. It’s a perfect book to curl up with this weekend.
Thank you, Sheri Salata. This book is such a winner!
Love,
P.S. Please join me in New York City on Tuesday, November 3 at 7:30PM for an intimate evening, workshop and discussion of the Women on Fire book series.
Sponsored by BookTheWriter at a private home, the evening promises to be fun and inspiring! All information to register is here. I hope to see you there!
This month’s Books To Live By selection was written by one of my all-time favorite authors — and maybe one of yours, too?
She is beloved in our Women on Fire circle, and I have a feeling you are going to love her latest novel.
Our September selection is….
I’m particularly delighted to introduce you to this latest adult novel by Judy Blume, who is often best known for her books for children and young adults.
(It’s hard to find a woman — or her daughter — who didn’t read Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret.)
She’s had a huge impact on my life, as I know she has had for many of you.
If you’ve been following along with us, you already know how near and dear Judy Blume is to our Women on Fire community. I interviewed her two summers ago for our monthly membership program.
These days I spend so much time reading non-fiction that it is a treat when I can luxuriate in a work of fiction. I read Judy’s In the Unlikely Event on vacation last week — and I was completely engaged by it.
You are instantly transported back to the early 1950s, in the familiar and nostalgic way that she describes so well.
There we meet 15-year-old Miri and an elaborate cast of characters that learn to live, love and cope during unimaginable loss after three plane crashes in three months upend their small town.
Remarkably, these were actual events that happened in Judy’s hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey. Although the book is not an autobiography, you can’t help but wonder if Miri’s character provides a window into what Judy experienced at the time.
Full of surprises and heartwarming nods to the past, In the Unlikely Event will steal your heart, as Judy Blume novels tend to do.
I hope you will read this book, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Love,
P.S. Want a chance to win your own copy of In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume?
Join me for our monthly member Live Chat Master Class on September 15 at 8 p.m. EST for your chance to win! I’ll be talking about how to recharge your goals to finish 2015 strong.
P.P.S. You know that interview with Judy Blume that I mentioned above? It’s one of my absolute favorite monthly member interviews to date, and it is my gift to share it with you. Free.
Click here to download and enjoy!
This month’s Books To Live By selection highlights the theme of our membership Inner Circle for June: Embracing the Unpredictable: Discover the Rewards of Surprise, featuring LeeAnn Renninger, Ph.D., surprisologist, research psychologist, author and speaker.
Our June selection is….
Surprise: Embrace the Unpredictable and Engineer the Unexpected by Tania Luna and LeeAnn Renninger, Ph.D.
Whether you love or loathe surprises, this book will open your eyes to the unexpected benefits that come from allowing more unpredictability in your life.
Luna is the founder of Surprise Industries, the only company that specializes in surprise, and Renninger is one of the world’s leading surprisologists. Together they have created a fun and illuminating look at how surprise can lead to more growth, innovation and connection in all aspects of life.
This book is the perfect combination of entertainment and science, and it will inspire you to invite and engineer more surprises into your day-to-day routine. You’ll gain tons of strategies that will empower you to seek out surprises, and you’ll discover why this skill is absolutely vital to staying engaged and energized in your life.
Surprise is a truly fresh perspective on what it takes to have a positive and fulfilled life. You never know, adding more surprise to your life could be the key to propelling you further than you ever thought possible. 🙂
With lots of love~
P.S. If you aren’t in our Women on Fire Inner Circle yet, I invite you to join us today for your chance to win a copy ofSurprise on our inspiring live-stream master class and chat for members only on June 16, 2015. I’ll be coaching you ongrief relief and how to work through your losses to find peace and compassion.
Even if you are not actively grieving a loss right now, we all have them. It’s important and helpful to know how your losses might hold you back, as well as how to recognize when others are grieving and ways to help them. Hope to see you there! 🙂
This month’s Books To Live By selection highlights the theme of our membership Inner Circle for May: Ignite Your Passion and Fall in Love with Your Life, featuring Gregg Levoy, an author, speaker, teacher and media expert.
Our May selection is….
Vital Signs: The Nature and Nurture of Passion by Gregg Levoy.
Gregg is a longtime friend of mine and the author of Callings, one of my favorite books about finding and trusting your true path. I couldn’t wait to share Vital Signs with you. This book is a work of art on the topic of following your passions, and it enables you to easily take Gregg’s invaluable insights and put them to work in your own life.
Throughout these pages, Gregg thoughtfully guides you on how to activate your spark from within. Whether you are looking to discover your passion for the first time or want to reclaim a long-forgotten dream, I can’t stress enough that this is the book for you!
You’ll be ignited in ways you never thought possible and gain tools that will empower you to re-engage with what you want most in your life.
I’ve never met a person who didn’t have a big dream stirring inside, and neither has Gregg. Vital Signs reminds us that our passions are possible. What could be more inspiring than that? Let me know your thoughts on this brilliant book in the comments section below!
With lots of love~
P.S. If you aren’t in our Women on Fire Inner Circle yet, I invite you to join us today for your chance to win a copy of Vital Signs on our inspiring live-stream master class and chat for members-only on May 12, 2015.
I’ll be coaching you on how to create the essential building blocks to grow your own business or to expand your big dream. We will look at how to develop a business and a life that serves you and your highest good, rather than allowing yourself to be overwhelmed by serving everyone in your path. Hope to see you there! 🙂
This month’s Books To Live By selection is a special and personal favorite of mine. It was written by one of our Women on Fire members, a woman for whom I have the utmost respect. I am in awe of her talents!
Trudy Dujardin is an expert and pioneer in the field of green interior design and and eco-conscious living and she is a champion to make your home healthy!
Our April selection is….
Comfort Zone: Creating the Eco-Elegant Interior by Trudy Dujardin
Trudy is a nationally recognized interior designer, and in her new book,Comfort Zone, she shows you how to create your own healthy, elegant, sacred environments.
Throughout the pages of this coffee table-style book, you are introduced to award-winning interiors that grace some of the most beautiful homes in America.
Trudy shares her thought processes behind everything from color and fabric choices to design plans that are environmentally conscious and energy efficient. And Comfort Zone explores in depth details that many design books simply gloss over.
Comfort Zone is so much more than a beautiful coffee table book. It is an invaluable resource from the best in the business, and it will help you create your own comfortable and sustainable spaces with style.
Trudy’s eye for design is genius, and I know you’ll see that reflected throughout the stunning pages of the book.
Trudy taught me years ago that “A Healthy Home Is the Ultimate Luxury.”™ It is the ultimate gift that Trudy has finally shared her many secrets and vast experience so we can each create a healthy home.
I hope you’ll invest in Comfort Zone as a resource for years to come – and as a gift for those you love.
With lots of love~
This month’s Books To Live By selection is one of the most astonishing and inspiring stories I have ever read! This New York Times bestseller will spark your sense of adventure and remind you of the abiding power of the human spirit.
Our March selection is….
Grandma Gatewood’s Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail by Ben Montgomery.
Before Cheryl Strayed, there was Emma “Grandma” Gatewood. And if you loved Wild, you will fall head over heels for the tale of the original trailblazer.
In 1955, at age 67, Grandma set out to complete a journey that no woman had ever done alone before. She left home “on a walk,” carrying only a 17-pound sack of supplies, no tent or sleeping bag, and wearing a pair of Keds tennis shoes. And she became the first woman to hike the 2,168-mile Appalachian Trail all by herself. But she didn’t stop there. Grandma went on to hike the full trail two more times, making her as the first person ever to do so.
With 11 children, 23 grandchildren and a dark past of domestic abuse, Grandma has an undying perseverance and insurmountable strength you can’t help but marvel at.
I was so completely riveted by Grandma’s story that I finished this book in less than two days. And she will always stand as a reminder that, no matter your age, experience or background, if you follow your passion, you will accomplish your big dreams.
Go Women on Fire, go! 🙂
With lots of love~
P.S. Want to achieve your big dreams without having to hike the Appalachian Trail? Join us at this year’s Women on Fire Retreat in Chicago, April 24-25. There’s no better place to re-ignite your spark, re-charge your batteries, and re-align with your dreams. ONLY five seats remain, so make sure to claim yours by registering today!
