Gabriella Goddard's Blog (author of "Gulp!: The 7 day crash course to master fear and break through any challenge"

More Raw : Try it...I am!

As summer draws closer the vision of swimsuits and beaches does wonders for my interest in exercise and healthy eating. 

In March I went "downunder" for a holiday and also to work on a creative project which I'll be telling you more about soon.  I stayed with my super fit friend Sharon in St Heliers (the best place in the world!).  As always going to New Zealand where one is surrounded by sea, sand, sun and fresh air, it got me thinking about my health and fitness.  As a member of the gym at the Hilton in Rotherhithe I'd veered towards the treadmill and weights machines.  But coming back from NZ I decided to try out the classes.  WOW - is all I can say.  There are some seriously fit people out there.  I'm proud to say that after being the unfittest, fattest and most discoordinatist in the class, after two months of regular attendance I'm walking taller, my arms and legs are moving in time to the music and in synch with everyone else - and on Saturday when the teacher got it wrong....guess who go it right and guess who everyone else followed (oh yes I'm a girlie swat).

All I can say, is if you're tired of exercising - try out a class.  Something magical can happen.

And then there's the food.  If you haven't heard of Karen Knowler, the raw food coach extraordinaire, then you must check out http://www.karenknowler.typepad.com/   Summer is a great time to be pigging out on salads and vegetables and Karen has this incredible knack of making that sound exciting.  I've been watching her video clips as well and the one on making almond milk sounded so easy, I almost went out and bought the almonds!

So I've made it my Gulp! mission to try out Karen's recipes over the summer and see if I can dramatically increase the amount of raw and natural fruit and vege I'm eating on a daily basis.

And then my biggest challenge will be what to do with all that extra energy coming from more exercise and raw food!

Any suggestions?

Bring Madeline Home

Our hearts go out to the family of little Madeline, snatched from her bed while on holiday in Portugal with her family.  We pray for her safe return home.  In the meantime let's keep her memory alive.

Ask Gaby...my new career column in In London magazine

I'm very proud to announce that I am now the career/work columnist for In London magazine.  My first "Ask Gaby" came out this month and I had so much fun doing it.

In London is a magazine aimed at New Zealanders, South Africans, Australians and all other folk living and working in London.

It's a great magazine and I'm really delighted to be associated with it.  Check out the online version at http://www.inlondon.com/emag/ilm40/index.cfm .  "Ask Gaby" is on page 62.

Write That Book - Sarah Newton's Top Tips from a Debut Authors

Sarah Newton's debut book titled "Help! My Teenager is an Alien" published by Penguin, is due to hit the shelves on March 1st.  She shares with us her amazing and honest gems for getting that book written.  Thanks Sarah!

1. 1.  Start with the end in mind -  before you even put pen to paper, start with your idea of the finished book and the impact it will have.  What will it look like, feel like, how will people feel reading it? Truly get connected with the impact your book will have on the world. Go to bookstores and imagine your book on the shelves, build a vision board of images or write how people will be feeling when they read your book. This is so important and you will need it on the days when the energy is not so great. Just looking at these images, reading your vision and connecting with the readers you want to attract will motivate you.

2. Plan a general concept and framework of the book before you start to write – how many chapters will it have, how will it be written, what will make it different, what would you love to see in it? Get other books and incorporate ideas you like. Get the flow of the book planned before you write. I decided I wanted my book to read as if you were watching a television programme, so I knew I therefore needed to use case studies with pieces in between that were informational, like when the presenter speaks to camera on a TV programme.  Once you have the framework, you can then fill in the gaps.

 

Write That Book - Linda Jones's Story

"2003 seems like a very long time ago now, but that is when I first picked up a pen a jotted down a rough idea for a children’s book entitled ‘The Lonely Little Christmas Tree’. The story was completed all bar the ‘tweaking’, in 2004. All Ineeded now was to find someone to illustrate it!

The husband of a work colleague, Mike Conn, came to my rescue. A truly talented guy who is giving my words ‘life’. Initially though it proved to be a slow and drawn out process. Being very aware that illustrations do take time to produce if you are going to ‘do the job right’, I had to find a way to speed this process up a little without compromising the finished product. I simply did not know how to achieve this at all.

Enter Gabriella Goddard! - Gulp! Was my inspiration! In my admiration for Gabriella’s drive and vision, I discussed my project with her.