Author: C.E. Flores

Live Your Gift Companion Guide: The Workbook for Creating Your Life Map by Dana V. Adams

| C.E. Flores

Over the last few months, I’ve been concentrating my studies on learning more about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in order to become a certified life coach. I have to say that the Live Your Gift Companion Guide: The Workbook for Creating Your Life Map by Dana V. Adams is the perfect complement to my studies.

I eagerly dove into the material. The informative sections were clear and concise. The worksheets were thought provoking and had plenty of space for reflection. The activities build upon each other so that at the end, I had a completed action plan. 

Since I’ve been studying CBT, the concepts weren’t completely new to me. In fact, several of the activities were exactly like those I’ve seen in my courses. The fact that they were familiar in no way detracted from the effectiveness. I thoroughly enjoyed working my way from defining my beliefs and principles to creating goals that aligned with my core values, and so will you!

I was a little leery about the quality of the book since it is meant to be a companion workbook for the book Live Your Gift: Discovering Your Authentic Life Through Life Mapping. However, I found that there was enough explanatory material included for each activity that I had no problems following the reasoning behind it without having read the other book.

There were very few typos, a double ‘the’ and a ‘youself’ were all that I found. The layouts of the worksheets were appropriately designed. The graphics, like the Personal Well-being Wheel, were also large enough to write on. There were duplicate forms included at the end of the book for the development of additional goals and plans. 

All in all, I was delighted with Live Your Gift Companion Guide: The Workbook for Creating Your Life Map by Dana V. Adams and not just because it fit so well into my current pursuits. I would recommend this workbook to anyone that wants to improve any aspect of their life, no matter how small or large. It’s especially good reading when designing those New Year’s Resolutions. I encourage you to pick up your copy today so that you can create a life that lives up to its potential this year.

I received an ARC from Reedsy Discovery to review this book. You can read my review here.

The Ultimate Women’s Wellness Bundle

| C.E. Flores

Do you know what the best thing is about the Ultimate Bundles products? The number of eBooks you get for one price. Of course, the courses, workbooks, seminars, summits, and even documentaries are nice. But, let’s face it. I’m in it for the books.

This bundle will just knock your socks off when it comes to eBooks about women’s health. The Ultimate Women’s Wellness bundle has 32 eBooks–yep, 32! Plus 32 eCourses/audios, 12 workbooks/printables, 2 summits and a documentary for $37.

And that’s not all! You can choose to upgrade and get the Herbs & Essential Oils Super bundle with 29 eBooks, 4 Printables, and 7 eCourses including my book Exploring Traditional Herbal Remedies in Mexico in addition to the Women’s Wellness Bundle. 

This eBook smorgasbord is only available until February 10, so don’t wait too long! I’ve already gotten mine and am ready to dive right in! Books, glorious books!

Blog to Book Project — Foreword

| C.E. Flores

A foreword is usually written by someone other than the author. It might describe the interaction between the writer of the foreword and the author of the book. Or it could talk about the information and relevance of the book on a social, historical or cultural level. A foreword is often fewer than two pages. 

Generally, the foreword is not written by just anyone, but someone that is considered an expert in his or her field. Therefore the foreword serves as something of an endorsement of the author or book to follow. 

If the book is a compilation, the editor may write the foreword. 

If a book has had several editions published, sometimes a new foreword is included before a previous foreword. The newer foreword could talk about how the updated edition differs from the first or why the book has become culturally relevant again if it is a public domain edition. 

This is the only section of the book that is signed by the author of the foreword. Any titles or affiliations associated with the author of the foreword is also listed.

As a general rule, this section is not numbered as part of the book. If it is paginated, it uses lowercase Roman numerals.

In some instances, an author may write the foreword. When this is the case, the section may discuss how the idea of the book was developed and could even include acknowledgments. 

Assignment: Do you know someone that would lend credibility to your book by writing the foreword? Have you made a formal request?

The World is Your Lobster by Lee Mountford

| C.E. Flores

Lee and his wife Nicki decided to take a belated gap year in their 40s and travel the world. Beginning in Melbourne, Australia, they went to 27 countries, covering a total of 77,427 kilometers and sampling 276 domestic beers. Lee recounts the highlights and little adventures in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, with corny jokes, and nearly funny puns. You can’t say the man didn’t try. 

The adventure itself had some inevitable lows, including icky accommodations, being charged extraordinarily high prices, and one instance of denied entrance to the temple for the blatant display of knobby kneecaps. They met some memorable characters on the way, such as the Italian Hamster and Paul, the poetry reciting Russian. 

As I was reading, I kept thinking that I would love to see some of these pictures Lee was yammering on about. Lo and behold, midway through the book, there was a QR code above to view some of the pictures online. Since I may be one of the last remaining people in the world that does not own a smartphone, that feature wasn’t as exciting as the link to their Instagram account. (https://www.instagram.com/worldisyourlobster/). My personal favorite photo was of Lee carting around the hotel safe in Myanmar.

Roundabout the time when the Mountfords arrived in Europe, both trip planning and book proofreading went to the dogs. Random apostrophes appeared in places they had no business being (her’s). Muddled homophones confused the issue at times (who’s vs. whose). Enough inconsistent capitalization sprouted up to drive this English teacher bonkers. (Eiffel Tower, Eiffel tower, eiffel Tower, anyone?) Maybe Maggie-Jane, the orange Brazilian VW camper van that the couple was trundling around in, affected the grammar in some way.

Like all good things, eventually, the journey came to an end. Nicki and Lee took up the yokes of the middle-aged once again, albeit with a gleam of wanderlust in the eye from time to time. So if you are an armchair traveler and enjoy a good travel story, or in this case hundreds of good travel stories, then The World is Your Lobster by Lee Mountford is the book for you!

I received an ARC from Reedsy Discovery. You can read my review here.

Blog to Book Project — Preface

| C.E. Flores

The preface is written by the author and addressed to the readers directly. It is more often found in non-fiction books. 

You could tell the readers why you wrote the book. Does it fill a need? Were you inspired by a particular incident? What is the purpose of this book?  

You could also talk about the writing process. Why did you decide to turn your blog into a book? What were the challenges you overcame? How did you change or what did you learn in the process of writing this book? How did you research it? How long did it take you to write this book?

Yet another aspect you could write about is reader assistance. What will the reader gain by reading it? Should it be read in a specific manner?

Finally, you could summarize the material contained in the book. What are the major themes? What are the steps to the final goal? What are the highlights of each chapter?

Choose one of these viewpoints in order to keep the preface short, less than two pages is ideal. 

This section is also paginated with lowercase Roman numerals as part of the front matter. If there are two prefaces, one written by the author and the other by the editor, the editor’s preface comes first.  If there is both a preface and a foreword, the foreword is first. 

Assignment: Decide which aspect you would like to discuss in your preface. 

The Grape Series by Laura Bradbury

| C.E. Flores

If you are looking for fun and lovely memoirs, you can’t go wrong with The Grape Series by Laura Bradbury. Whimiscal and throught provoking, you’ll find yourself shaking your head at the situations that Laura finds herself in.

In My Grape Year, Canadian teenager Laura participates in a study abroad program in France and finds the love of her life. 

In My Grape Paris, Laura and Franck head to Paris for a year so that Laura can study Medieval French Literature.  

My Grape Wedding is the crazy marriage ceremony of Franck and Laura. 

My Grape Escape chronicles Laura and Franck’s efforts to create a French village vacation rental. 

And in My Grape Village, Laura and Franck return to live for a year in France with their two young daughters in tow. 

My Grape Cellar finds Laura and Franck remodeling a thirteenth century wine cellar.

All of these books are delightful reads. And you can actually see some of the places that Laura describes on her website Graperentals.com. Once you start on this adventure with Laura, you’ll want to continue.

Laura’s descriptions of her life, her cultural struggles as an expat, and her descriptions of village life in France are amazing. I enjoyed living vicariously with her through these stories and I think you will too!

Blog to Book Project — Introduction

| C.E. Flores

The introduction introduces the subject of the book. It may also be referred to as the prolegomenon. This section states the goals and purpose of the main text. It could provide a brief summary or explain aspects that should be understood before reading the text. 

The introduction can be included as part of the front matter or the first section of the main body. If it is part of the front matter, it uses lowercase Roman numerals for pagination. If it is included in the main body, standard pagination applies. 

Don’t skimp on the quality of your introduction. Amazon allows readers to have a “sneak peek” of your book with the Look Inside option. Providing this little tidbit in the form of a stellar introduction can be the difference between a sale and no sale.

Consider answering these questions directly in your introduction:

  • What problem does your book solve?

There are so many competitors out there. If your book can solve any issue for your reader, highlight it. 

  • How does your book solve that problem?

Tell readers what type of information they will find that will help them resolve that issue.

  • Why are you qualified to provide this information?

Perhaps this problem was something you studied or learned through experience. Tell your readers why you are an “expert.”

  • How will your book improve your readers’ lives?

Make your book part of a bigger picture for your readers. Not only will you be able to do X but with this skill, you can finally achieve Y. 

  • What proof can you give readers that their problem will be solved by reading your book?

This would be a great place to include brief testimonials. 

  • What does your book promise to provide?

Include something of a disclaimer here. While everyone’s situation is unique, learning X can help you do Z. 

  • Encourage readers to begin reading RIGHT NOW!

Here is the call to action. Readers should feel inspired to begin your book (or purchase it if they are reading this with the Look Inside feature.)

Be sure to proofread this section carefully. Spelling and grammar errors will turn off potential readers. Remember to keep this section to about two pages as well. 

Assignment: Write your introduction. Proofread it. Does it inspire action?

Bad Sons by Oliver Tidy

| C.E. Flores

I love a good mystery and Bad Sons by Oliver Tidy didn’t disappoint me. David Booker was teaching English as a second language in Turkey when he came back to the UK to help his aging relatives liquidate their bookstore. When he arrived, no one was there to meet him. No one had seen his aunt and uncle that day. And then a body washes up on the beach.

The descriptions were so detailed I could imagine myself on the gray, chilly mornings, standing next to David looking out at the English Channel. David wasn’t a superhero, quite flawed actually, a smoker, drank a little too much, had a bit of a temper but was overall decent. His concern for his relatives drives him to do more investigation than the local police would like. 

David forms a sort of alliance with Detective Cash, the female detective assigned to his case. Together they do some poking around in an effort to discover what has happened. Not to spoil the story, but they discover that sometimes things are exactly what they seem. 

Delightfully, this is only the first book of the Booker and Cash trilogy. I wonder what sort of other mysteries find themselves entangled in. 

Blog to Book Project — Prologue

| C.E. Flores

A prologue is a scene or event that occurs prior to the point in which the book begins. This section is most often found in fiction. As a rule of thumb, if you have a prologue, you should also have an epilogue. 

The prologue should set the stage as it were. It provides information that helps the reader understand the following book. It can be written in character or as a direct address to the reader. 

A prologue could:

  • Provide the backstory to the events in the book. These might include historical events or dramatic moments that caused or influenced later actions. 
  • Intrigue the reader so that he or she continues reading. Consider how to make the information in the prologue arouse the interest of the reader. Can you make it suspenseful or mysterious? Does it trigger strong emotions? Do the characters find themselves in desperate situations in need of resolution?
  • Be told from a completely different point of view. Perhaps the villain imparts some useful information in the prologue while the main story is told through the eyes of the heroine.

Keep it short! A page or two at most should be enough. The idea is to pique a reader’s interest, not reveal information that is contained later in the book. 


Assignment: If you plan to include this section, write your prologue.