TV Series review: The Sister Boniface Mysteries

If you are a cosy murder mystery fan, The Sister Boniface Mysteries is right up your alley. Set in a small fictional village in the Cotswolds, one that rejoices in the dramatic name of Great Slaughter (one wonders of what?), this is the place for plenty of murders—as one can see, small villages are hotbeds of intrigue, mystery, and death. Sister Boniface (brilliantly played by Lorna Watson) is a Catholic nun at St. Vincent’s convent who spends much of her time solving murders, using new-fangled scientific techniques, and making undrinkable wine, using old-fangled techniques. Although the Reverend Mother of the convent frowns upon Sister Boniface’s propensity for solving crimes, she does allow the good sister some leeway. After all, someone must solve the murders!

Bolstering the crime solving squad are Max Brown as Detective Inspector Sam Gillespie; Jerry Iwu as Felix Livingstone, a Detective Sergeant on secondment from Bermuda, whose dream is to be assigned to Scotland Yard; Miranda Raison as Ruth Penny, the up-and-coming newspaper reporter; and Ami Metcalf as Constable Peggy Button. Belinda Lang stars as Mrs Clam, Sam and Felix’s landlady. Robert Daws is Chief Constable Hector Lowsley, who seems very confused that society is actually considering incorporating the fairer (aka weaker) sex into jobs such as police work and science. For such a small village, there are murders a-plenty, and one might even say Great Slaughter’s crime fighting squad gives Father Brown a run for his money!

Some questions hesitant viewers might ask: will I enjoy it? Of course you will; what’s not to like about a murder mystery? Is it funny? You will scream with laughter. Will I enjoy the characters? If you loved Fawlty Towers, ‘All ‘Allo, and the like, this is the series for you. Is it racist? Everyone keeps mixing up Felix’s home country of Bermuda with Barbados, but I don’t think that counts. Are the stories good? Absolutely! Is it socially and politically correct? Not at all so if that’s what bothers you, don’t watch. Are the characters stereotypes? Definitely, and they are just adorable. Mrs Clam is a real scene-stealer and is so funny that I am sure she must have everyone falling about laughing behind the scenes.

No, seriously, this is one of the best and funniest series I have ever watched. It is set in the 1960s and the period detail is superb. The not-a-romance between the attractive, career-driven Ruth and the handsome (if a bit thick in the women department) Sam, who love to hate each other and accuse each other of ruining the investigation, police and reportage, is also very sweet, especially since everyone else can see the sparks flying and feel the sizzle between them. There is no wokery although a couple of episodes veered that way, saved only by historical truths. The themes addressed also include the aftermath of World War 2, social issues of a changing Britain, and the development of women’s roles in a new society. But these are all handled within the ambit of the murder mystery and the fun and high jinks that abound, so fear not, you won’t be getting a lesson in anything. Just a darn good murder investigation! Well worth watching. I can’t wait for series two!

The Story Behind Mom's Search for Meaning: Grief and Growth After Child Loss by Melissa M. Monroe

 

California Author Pens Powerfully Poignant New Book Recovering From Losing Her Child 

Title: Mom's Search for Meaning: Grief and Growth After Child Loss
Author: Melissa M. Monroe
Publisher: Independent
Pages: 276
Genre: Memoir

Paralyzed by guilt, grief, and PTSD after her 2-year-old daughter Alice died in her sleep of unknown causes, acupuncturist Melissa Monroe determined not to become a victim in the story of her life. While taking the advice she had given to many grief and trauma patients throughout the years, hoping she could create a meaningful life without closure, she took notes throughout her healing process.

Struggling to advance her timeline beyond that of her daughter’s – and still eager to be the keeper of Alice’s stories – Melissa began to write about Alice’s life and the impact of her death. She became her own lab rat, trying various approaches to healing with the hope that her experience might be helpful to others stuck in a trauma time loop.

As much a study of trauma’s effect on time perception as it is an intimate view into the heart and mind of a bereaved mother, Mom’s Search for Meaning shows us that meaning resides in the search itself…with a spoonful of gallows humor to help the medicine go down.

Praise:

“Melissa doesn’t just say the way out is through, she very much takes us through what that looks like. And in being so specific, I think it’s universally relatable. The final chapter is “To be, or not to be”-level work. This is mom-loss Shakespeare.” Teresa Strasser, author of Exploiting My Baby, the upcoming Making It Home, and co-host of the syndicated TV show The List

“Melissa’s book provides powerful testimony to the strength of the human spirit and our vulnerable, complicated, and yet inspirational ability to heal.”  Kim Cookson, Psy.D., founder of the Trauma and Resiliency Training and Services Program at the Southern California Counseling Center

“It is the story of how one person found her way – with grief and with pain, but also with humor and grace – back to a life that would be forever different, but which couldn’t be, and wouldn’t be, anything less than purposeful and honest.”  Dan Koeppel, author of To See Every Bird on Earth, Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World, and Every Minute is a Day

“The explorations of compassion are deep, Melissa’s march toward love is inspiring, and the writing is beautiful. It is a book about child loss that – at times – made me laugh out loud. I will never stop thinking about this book. And I am so glad.” Liz Friedlander, film and television director

Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/yrmuumc6

Barnes & Noble: https://tinyurl.com/mryd9z7s

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/123189454

Billy Dees Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMzd6XXm-kU

"When everything we love turns to ash, all we have is love. I began to realize that if I marched toward the love — even on a day when I felt like shit — I would always be guided and surrounded by love. If I cursed the path, I wouldn’t see the love that was all around me and would find a cursed path.

When Alice died, it became crystal clear to me that nothing matters but love. That clarity was notable because not one other thing was clear. But more importantly, I began to see that love doesn’t die. My love for Alice went nowhere; I just didn’t know what to do with all that love when her body was no longer here, when I could not interact with her personality or hug her chubby belly. It was clear to me my love for her survived though her body did not. I could still feel her, though I couldn’t see or touch her. Grief is love in the absence of the recipient of the love.

Grief is the phantom limb of love.

This meant I had to learn how to love someone no longer here ... and to do that, I had to focus on the love that was here. And there was so much love around me, thank God.”

After my two-year-old daughter Alice died in her sleep of unknown causes just eleven days after her second birthday, her death was classified as Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC). Obviously, I was, and am, devastated, but initially I was absolutely paralyzed with grief, guilt, and PTSD. I began my blog Mothering in Memoriam about a month after Alice died because I could barely speak, and folks wanted to know how I was doing. They also wanted to know what happened. So, I began documenting my healing journey.

I thought some friends and family would read the blog, and I'd save my breath and sanity because re-telling the story over and over was traumatizing. But the blog took on a life of its own, something I didn't expect. I received hundreds of notes from people telling me my words helped them. I figured if I helped even one other person while saving myself, this book was a mission worth undertaking. Eventually, my friend Teresa Strasser (author of Exploiting My Baby and Making It Home) ordered me to send her chapters, and this book was born. 

The title came from an editing note Teresa used to describe the book. And then I remembered that grief guru David Kessler says that "finding meaning" is the sixth stage of grief. While discussing potential titles with another friend, Mom's Search for Meaning was the clear winner. After Alice died, I found myself searching for meaning long before I knew it was advisable to do so. In cases like Alice's, where no cause of death can be determined, one's need for "closure" becomes unattainable, and therefore, finding meaning can become a driving force. It was for me, at least. 

 

Now living in Los Angeles with her daughter Grace, Melissa M. Monroe was born in Yuma, AZ. She attended Loyola University in Chicago. After finishing at Loyola, she studied modern dance at the University of Chicago. In 1995, she moved to California to train in Pilates, yoga, and acupuncture, which she practices as a professional.

Website: http://www.melissamariemonroe.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tripleMMeaning

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MelissaMarieMonroeAuthor

Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@triplemmeaning

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissammonroe/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-monroe-b0b1197/

 

 

Guest Post: Is Time Travel Real? by author John York

 

What might happen if a handful of people living in different eras became entangled in time?

Title: The Five Watches
Author: John R. York
Publisher: DocUmeantPublishing
Pages: 316
Genre: Time Travel

What might happen if a handful of people living in different eras became entangled in time, some intentionally and some accidentally? The nineteenth-century scientist, Dr. Wilhelm Gussen, is passionate about improving the welfare of mankind, and so he begins a journey through time in a quest to learn about future advances in epidemiology. Physicist Emory Lynch, from the twenty-seventh century, studies an old pocket watch, said to be a time travel device, and accidently stumbles into the twenty-first century. In 2019, Jim Zimmerman, the de facto neighborhood go-to guy, finds himself caught in the middle of a clandestine, future conspiracy. True to his character, he becomes inextricably involved in future affairs that involve saving humanity from itself—dragging his wife and a few neighbors along for the ride. Thus, begins a time travel adventure that examines the stubborn predictability of human behavior and how some things, even over time, never seem to change.

Praise:

“The Five Watches is filled with interesting characters and enchanting tapestries woven into the fabric of time itself. John explores not only the ravages of time but more importantly the impact of individual kindness, caring, and selflessness towards others that is heartwarming. I enjoyed this suspenseful page turner, the connection to everyday people and to imaginable heroes that we can all strive to become. Uplifting! – Jim Richards, Beta Reader

Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/46fjjp6f

 

Is Time Travel Real?

The concept of time travel is ageless, captured in myths and traditional stories as far back as the first century BC. It’s not difficult to imagine primitive humans sitting around an open fire contemplating what wonders the future might bring, or the ability to repeat the past so as to correct a bad decision. The earliest mention of using a machine to facilitate time travel is thought to have occurred in Edward Page Mitchell’s short story, The Clock that Went Backward, although some scholars and critics question whether a clock really counts as a time machine. Of course, H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine is generally considered by most to be the first modern time-travel story, though he actually wrote one seven years earlier called The Chronic Argonauts. In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, time travel became a common plot element in science fiction, yielding multitudes of books, short stories, comics, movies, and TV series. The prevalence of time travel fiction has nurtured the development of several literary categories or types of temporal travel, ranging from “anything goes” to the real possibility of time travel derived from quantum mechanics and theoretical physics. In fact, time is both a concept and a dimension. As a concept, time is a measure of the flow of events, a straight line on which we can plot the past, measure the present, plan and hope for the future. As a dimension, time becomes a fourth dimension of space with a physical property and a mathematical structure. 

There are a few brilliant people who study time in ways most of us would find impossible to understand. They consider how traveling through time could be possible, at least mathematically, and they labor over definitions of temporal models that support or contradict various time travel paradoxes. For many, these scientific theories of relativity, the mathematical models, and the paradoxes they create lend a modicum of credence to certain types of time travel tales. When science is cleverly woven into a story, compelling science fiction often results. Stories about time and time travel are abundant. They appeal to a broad spectrum of readers because they’re a compelling mechanism for allowing one’s mind to wander into situations past, present, and future in ways that other genres cannot—at least not without incorporating time travel. It also provides the author with a very broad palette of “what if” possibilities. Fortunately, time travel works in just about every genre, like romance comedy, fantasy, action, and others.

In my novel, The Five Watches: An Accident of Time, I use a watch (five of them actually) as a time machine, and I use an obscure concept of ‘the future of the future’ to dodge those scientifically pesky paradoxes regarding the inability to change the future. I use the current tensions in our country and the world as a backdrop for the plot line. Time travel offers an author and the reader a unique way of considering the state of humanity from historical and philosophical perspectives. Time forces the story’s characters to confront the consequences of their actions as well as those of others, regardless of what time they find themselves in. So, is time travel for real? When considered as a concept, we all travel through time at exactly the same rate: 60 seconds per minute. However, there really are people out there who conduct experiments to prove the reality of time travel.  As an example, there is the delayed choice quantum eraser experiment, performed by Marian Scully, which involves pairs of entangled photons. If you’re interested, you can Google it and read the detailed description of the experiment and the results. I’m pretty sure you won’t understand it, but (spoiler alert) I can tell you the results of the experiment were inconclusive. To date, there is no quantifiable proof that we can travel through time, either forward or backward. Nevertheless, time, each minute of each day, is the most valuable thing we possess. Since time is precious, we should all use it wisely. Fortunately, we have troves of time travel stories to stimulate our imaginations. And here’s some food for thought — as Albert Einstein once said, “The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.”

 

About the Author

John R. York has been writing and publishing his stories since 2016, but he’s always been a storyteller, even as a kid in Central Ohio where he grew up. His life experiences provided him with a wealth of tales to share with others and resulted in his debut work, Wolf’s Tale. He has since published five more novels, including the award-winning Journey to Eden. A retired high-tech executive, he currently lives with his wife, Paula, in New Port Richey, Florida.

Website: www.johnryork.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/john.york.9277

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@johnryork and www.tiktok.com/@dreamwriter

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/John-York/author/B0771RCZJ2?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21571052.John_York

 

 

Sponsored By:

Book Spotlight: Blood and Water by Linda Armstrong Miller

 

It’s about telling the people you love that you love them, because tomorrow is not promised to you…

 

Title: Blood & Water
Author: Linda Armstrong-Miller
Publisher: Dorrance Publishing
Pages: 266
Genre: Christian Thriller

Lisa Rivers is a genius with a photographic memory. She is the youngest, highest paid computer designer for the Department of Defense. Her program promises no more POWs and can be used domestically. No more missing children. So, how is it that Lisa is kidnapped? How was her identity discovered? Is she still alive and if so, can she be found before it is too late?

Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/35nwbkz3

Barnes & Noble: https://tinyurl.com/bdcu442x

Goodreads: https://tinyurl.com/tbn9suhe

Book Excerpt  

 

Sunday morning, Sam Rivers and his son Zach ran from the parking lot to the entry of the emergency room. The run had only been a hundred yards but, with the guilt Sam carried, twenty extra pounds, and no sleep in the past twenty-four hours, he found himself panting and sweating as if he had just run a marathon.

He bent over, placed a hand on each knee for support. As he did, sweat joined in the center of his smooth, black forehead, ran down to a point, and dropped off his nose as he held his head, first down then up, trying to catch his breath.

The few gray strands at his temple appeared to outshine the rest of his black hair. If this is what getting old is all about, Sam decided he didn’t want any part of it. He stood and wiped his face. The sweat made his skin look like dark shiny caramel.

Breathing less like an asthmatic old man, Sam led Zach through the doorway. Once inside, they felt lost and overwhelmed. They stopped, looked around for a familiar face then tried not to panic when they didn’t find one.

As Sam looked around, he continued to work on controlling his breathing and on the catch that had seized his right side.

There were two areas where they could seek help, triage and the information desk—both busy. Between the two areas was a door sporting a Staff Only sign. Sam thought about trying the door. Before he could, a young woman wearing baggy blue jeans and a sagging yellow T-shirt—Sam could only guess she was someone wanting to be seen but hadn’t—beat him to it.

The exasperated attendant of the information desk turned to her and asked, “Can’t you read?”

“I was just looking for the bathroom,” the lady with the yellow T-shirt said then sucked her teeth.

“That sign don’t say Bathroom.” He pointed down the hall to a sign that did.

With that, the attendant turned back to the young mother of two standing before the information desk. The lady with the yellow T-shirt turned from the door, flipped the attendant a bird then left through the doors Sam and Zach had just entered.

The waiting room was filled with mothers holding babies and with men and women reading magazines as they waited for one of the too-few rooms to become available. Sam and Zach felt like intruders as they walked through the waiting room trying to find a way back into the patient care area; unwilling to wait. On the way to the bathrooms, they passed a man holding his head down as if snoozing, a lady sitting next to him, trying to quiet her crying baby. He never looked up but she watched them suspiciously as they walked through.

After checking the phone and bathroom areas, Sam and Zach had no choice but to go back and wait for someone at either the triage area or information desk to become available. There were two nurses at triage. One, somewhere in her early twenties, was assisting an elderly white-haired lady—who was not making her job easy. For some reason, the lady kept trying to pull her blouse up and show the nurse something underneath. Each time she did, the woman exposed her undergarment. The nurse noticed Sam, smiled then looked back at the elderly lady.

The other nurse, mid-thirties, maybe older, was with a young mother who was holding a runny-nosed little boy. He squirmed, trying to get down. When he didn’t get what he wanted, he screamed for all to hear, “Let go!”

More focused and quicker than the younger nurse, the older nurse finished with the mother who couldn’t control her child then moved on to yet another mother and child combo. When done, she turned to Sam and Zach.

“Sir, may I help you?” she asked.

Her name was Tish, no last name, just Tish. She was light skinned with sandy brown hair, which was pulled tightly into a ponytail. Tish was heavy-set with a pretty face but, for some reason, she seemed unwilling or unable to smile. She looked tired, although it was only 0800.

Tish looked at Sam through the open glass partition which separated them as he approached. “Yes, I’m Detective Rivers. My daughter was just brought in by helicopter.” Sam who was tired and had pain in both his knees and his legs also found it hard to smile at 0800.

The pain in his knees and legs were the least of the pain he felt, the pain that encompassed his heart threatened to encompass the rest of him. He felt all of the fifty-three years that made up his life catching up with him. At least he was no longer panting. He was thankful for that.

“Sir, let me get the patient representative. She’ll be able to…”

“I don’t want the patient representative.” Sam walked away from Zach, meaning for him to stay where he was, and approached the door. Zach followed anyway. "I want to see my daughter, Lisa Rivers. I know she's here?"

Sam looked through the open door into the hallway located behind triage. He wondered where Special Agent Frank Millwood was. Sam couldn’t help feeling angry at Frank. He knew they were coming. Where was he? Why hadn’t he made arrangements for them to be taken straight back upon their arrival?

“Sir, at the moment—” Tish started again.

“There was an FBI agent that came in with my daughter, Agent Millwood.

Where is he?” Sam interrupted her again.

“Detective Rivers, Zach, over here.” They turned and saw Millwood standing in the hallway, at the end of the waiting room. The sight of him immediately made Sam forget he had been angry at him. In fact, he was glad to see him. According to Frank’s partner, Sam couldn’t ask for anyone better to protect Lisa. That kind of praise from one lawman about another was gold.

Saturday night, when Frank was called in, before Lisa’s rescue had gone down, Frank had been dressed in a nice coat and tie. Sam marveled that all he had to show for the day’s wear and tear was a little dirt. As far as Sam was concerned, that made him a lucky man.

Frank had thick curly brown hair with even thicker and curlier eyelashes, the kind that women envied. He had perfect white teeth that flashed easily.

Sam found him easy to like and trust—something he rarely found, especially the first time he met someone.

Millwood was a second-generation FBI agent, joining the agency because it was expected of him. If Millwood was feeling the pressure of walking in his father’s footsteps, it didn’t show.

“Thank God,” Sam said leaving Tish and triage.

Millwood waved at Tish, indicating that Sam and Zach were friends, not foes. This didn’t seem to impress Tish one way or the other, but she said nothing more, allowing the two to pass.

As Sam and Zach walked with Millwood, it appeared that he was either already familiar with this emergency room or he’d done a lot of investigating since arriving. He led them down a long hallway that had no patient examination rooms, just closed doors.

They went about halfway down that hall and turned to the right, which placed them in an area that did have examination rooms. They passed the mother with the runny-nosed little boy. She was chasing him in the hallway while other patients watched her. Some were laughing at her and encouraging the little boy to run faster.

Millwood caught the kid and held him for his mother. He then flashed a look at a young, white male of about twenty-two, sporting tattoos of horned serpents all over his right arm. The look said, I dare you to say another word.

When the mother had her son in the room again, Millwood pulled the door shut and the three of them continued.

They made a left onto another hall and Millwood led Sam and Zach to room 104, where all else ceased to exist for Sam. The door to the room was open and no one in the room seemed to realize visitors were standing outside looking in. Sam and Zach watched the flurry of activity centered on a stretcher that sat in the center of the room.

Lisa laid on that stretcher, attached to three IVs—one in each arm, and another one with four tails extending from it, protruded from her neck. Two one-liter bags, which were almost empty, hung from an IV pole; their fluids ran into Lisa’s veins. A small bag with the word Dopamine and the life-saving liquid from two units of blood were also running into Lisa’s bruised and battered body.

As if that weren’t enough, she also had wires running from her small chest to a cardiac monitor mounted to the wall. Other wires ran from her chest and back to another monitor that sat on a red cart. Without being told, Sam and Zach knew what all the activity was about. Lisa had gone into cardiac arrest and now she was being resuscitated. She had coded.

More...

 

About the Author 

Linda Armstrong-Miller has worked in the medical field for over twenty years. In that time, she has worked as a counselor, registered nurse in the emergency room, ICU, Recovery Room, and she has worked with children placed in psychiatric hospitals. She understands when a family is in crisis, and she has been with them during their time of distress, depression, anxiety, and difficulty. She believes in God and uses her belief as well as her experience when writing. Blood and Water is her second book published. Touched is her first book. Currently she is working on a young adult trilogy.

Website: lindaarmstrongmillerauthor.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lindaam1 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100039732613292 

 

Becoming Flawesome by Kristina Mand-Lakhiani

 

Being described as “10 years worth of therapy in one book,” Becoming Flawesome is a celebration of our whole selves, warts and all, and the glory that is to be found in living in our truth…

Title: Becoming Flawesome
Author: Kristina Mand-Lakhiani
Publisher: Hay House Publishing
Pages: 280
Genre: Nonfiction

Perfection. We all dream of living by it, feeling it, being it…

And it is in the name of perfection that we demonise our flaws, make ourselves ‘less-than,’ and render ourselves vulnerable to the shame of not being good enough.

We live in a society that subliminally encourages us to wear metaphorical masks, slay our inner sadness, and ignore our imperfections, or as Kristina refers to them, her ‘dragons.’ Even within the world of personal development and spirituality, toxic perfectionism lurks in the shadows.

In Kristina’s upcoming book Becoming Flawesome #BecomingFlawesome, she reflects on her own story, her battle against perfectionism, and what it took for her to return to what she now deems to be her most authentic self. Being described as “10 years worth of therapy in one book,” Becoming Flawsome is a celebration of our whole selves, warts and all, and the glory that is to be found in living in our truth.

Every chapter is closed with reflection points and exercises to encourage the readers to dive deep into the essence of who they truly are, what their values are, and how to navigate an oftentimes overwhelming world.

In this book, Kristina breaks the mould as she takes the reader on a journey through:

• The dark, controversial side of ‘personal growth,’ and the insecurities that thrive on it

• Self-care vs self-love, and why you need both

• What authenticity actually is, beyond the buzz

• The ‘Hermione Syndrome,’ and how to diagnose if you’re secretly suffering from it

• How to create aligned lifestyle habits that stick

• Why the more you judge others, the more you judge yourself

• Societal masks, and how to remove them from your psyche 

• Imposter syndrome in the world of high-flyers 

• Emotional literacy: how to cope with strong, painful emotions healthily 

Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/mwtzj3jx 

Mind Valley Books: https://www.mindvalley.com/books/flawesome 

What is Becoming Flawesome? 

 

Being deeply involved in the personal growth industry for 20 years, surrounded by professional friends who have written and published successful books, I always assumed that I would write a book. It seemed like a natural progression within our industry. However, my tendency to be brutally honest with myself presented a challenge. I knew that I would only write a book when I had something meaningful to contribute. This realization took years because I had been focused on my work as an entrepreneur and marketer, helping other authors convey their messages and teaching their methods. It was only after some time that I recognized I had my own unique perspective to share, even if it drew inspiration from the teachings of others. 

 At a certain point, I felt a strong desire to share a message with the world, and that was the moment I knew I was ready to write the book. I sat down and began the writing process. However, my initial concern was finding the right publisher. Given my deep involvement in the industry, I felt a strong inclination to publish with an exceptional and reputable publisher. I hesitated to publish independently, as I felt it would not align with the ideas I embraced as a co-founder of a prominent company in our field. It dawned on me that if I wanted to write a book about staying true to myself, my values, and authenticity, I needed to do it on my own terms. This realization led me to choose self-publishing, enabling me to make independent decisions about content, writing style, and the order in which it would be presented. The initial version of the book carried a rebellious tone, reflecting this newfound autonomy.

 

However, upon completing the manuscript and preparing for publication, an unexpected opportunity arose. A reputable publisher, one that I had admired for some time, expressed interest in publishing my book. At that point, I felt that my book could benefit from being associated with a well-established publisher like Hay House. I agreed to work with them under the condition that they would allow me to retain my unique and somewhat obstinate style. Although additional editing was done in collaboration with Hay House, the book still maintains some of its unconventional nature. In essence, this book represents a small act of rebellion, which aligns well with its topic. This book will help you to find your way back to your most authentic self, break free from toxic perfectionism, and start living flawesomely - find the courage to be completely honest with yourself, and kindness in your heart to love and accept yourself unconditionally.

 

About the Author

Kristina Mand-Lakhiani is an international speaker, entrepreneur, artist, philanthropist, and mother of 2 kids. As a co-founder of Mindvalley, a leading publisher in the personal growth industry, Kristina dedicated the last 20 years of her career from teachers like Michael Beckwith, Bob Proctor, Lisa Nichols, and many more. 

She started her career in a government office in her native Estonia and, by her mid-20s, achieved a level of success mostly known to male politicians at the end of their careers. It was shortly after that Kristina and her then-husband Vishen founded Mindvalley. From a small meditation business operating out of the couple’s apartment in New York, the company quickly grew into a global educational organization offering top training for peak human performance to hundreds of thousands of students all around the world. 

Kristina believes life is too important to be taken seriously and makes sure to bring fun into every one of her roles: as a teacher, mother, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and world traveller. Kristina helps her students to virtually hack happiness by taking them through her unique framework - “Hacking happiness” - a unique framework of balancing your life, taking in every moment, and paying close attention to the small daily choices.  

Kristina is also the author of three transformational quests - "7 Days To Happiness", "Live By Your Own Rules.” and "The Art of Being Flawesome". Kristina talks about personal transformation, authenticity, understanding and accepting oneself, and a path to happiness.

In July 2023, with the help of Hay House Publishing, Kristina releases her very first book - "Becoming Flawesome" #BecomingFlawesome. In her book, Kristina shares her own journey from being on top of a personal growth empire like Mindvalley to stepping aside, conscious uncoupling from her husband, and walking her path towards being more honest with herself. 

Website: https://kristinamand.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kristinamand

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristina-mand-lakhiani-73168414/