Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Straight From the Mouth of 'Open Your Heart for Happy Relationships' Eve Picquette



Eve Picquette has been looking for love, joy and fun all her life. Along the way she has had lots of experiences - some with more fun than others! A licensed attorney, she served as director of risk and quality management at hospital corporations in California and Arizona for thirty years. She is also a certified NLP life coach, matrix, EFT and Angel Therapy practitioner. Eve Picquette received her MSN in community mental health at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, and her Juris Doctor from the University of California, Davis.

Author of Open Your Heart for Happy Relationships: 10 Shift Keys -What Your Angels Have Been Trying to Tell You for Centuries and companion Mini Meditation MP3's, she lives in Arizona, and her present happy work is teaching and advising clients regarding having more love and joy in personal and business relationships. 

For More Information

Thanks for letting us interrogate interview you!  Can you give us a go-for-the-gut answer as to why you wanted to be an author?

As an attorney, I have done a lot of writing, so that part was easy.  I didn’t plan on writing a book.  I had written some quick relationship tip sheets that I wanted to give away on my
website.  Then I decided to add my angels as the theme, so I had them painted.  Once the angel portraits were done – it became a book and I just had to finish it. 

Tell us (we won’t tell promise!) is it all it’s cracked up to be?  I mean what are the perks and what are the demands?

Demands - Writing can be lonely if you are used to being in a busy office with lots of chaos and drama.  There is also the question of whether anyone will want your book, when all is said and done.  This is also dramatically connected to your financial state – unless you are independently wealthy!

Perks – Personal freedom!  I love knowing that I can do what I want and write about what I want!  I may choose to work today, but I don’t have to impress anyone with my work ethic or appear at 8am somewhere everyday! 

Which route did you take – traditional or self-published – and can you give us the nitty gritty low down on what’s that like?

I love design, so I wanted to have a beautiful gift book and be in control of the cover, colors, fonts, and content.  I choose self-publishing for that reason and because I am impatient and didn’t want to go through the submission and rejection (and possibly no acceptance!) in the traditional route.  Amazon’s Create Space made it very easy and really a pleasure.  The only delays have been my own – correcting, fixing, adding more content.

What’s the snarkiest thing you can say about the publishing industry (e.g. rejections, the long wait, etc.)

I am too early in the process to really comment.  Great question!

Tell us for real what your family feels about you spending so much time getting your book written, polished, edited, formatted, published, what have you?
My daughter approves.  I am currently living alone, so am blessedly free from any criticism of my schedule, late nights or obsession with my book!  My friends aren’t really aware of where I spend all my time.

What was the craziest or insane thing that happened to you in the book publishing process?

I am pretty new – so I should have a much better story in a few months. This is pretty boring - I did have a book cover designer who didn’t really think I meant what I said about how the book should look.  I had to have them modify the cover to follow my original intent.  Other than that it has been really smooth!

How about the social networks?  Which ones do you believe help and which ones do you wish you could avoid?

I only use Facebook and Twitter – and I think they can be helpful.  I use Aweber and Social Oomph to make it easier.  I would skip Twitter, but it seems to be important and many people read my tweets – which is amazing.

Book sales.  Don’t you just love them (or lack of?)?  How are you making the sales happen for you?

I am working with Dorothy Thompson of Pump Up Your Book.  I am pretty good at many things I do, but marketing is NOT one of them.  I knew I needed help!

What is one thing you’d like to jump on the rooftop and scream about?

Since the object of my book is to ignore what I can’t control and other techniques to let go and be happy – I should not say what I would jump on the rooftop and scream about – (sounds of laughter).   However, if I were really human – I would say that if I get a negative review of my book, (that I, of course, feel is entirely unfounded) that would do it!

Okay, too much sugar for you today!  Here’s a nice cup of Chamomile tea and come on over and sit under the cabana and watch the waves roll in.  Now…can you tell us what you love about being a published author and how all those things above doesn’t matter because it’s all part of the whole scheme of things and you wouldn’t have it any other way?

I so agree with the part above – “all those things don’t really matter”! 

What I love the most is the idea of freedom.  I want the opportunity to “sit under the cabana and watch the waves roll in” – more than for 2 or 3 weeks a year. That is my goal as a semi retired writer - to be able to travel more and enjoy everywhere I am, every day!

Thank you so much for the interview and very clever questions!  Eve Picquette

No comments: