Welcome to my blog Helen. Thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions about yourself, your business, 99 Series, and your book, 99 things you wish you knew before…Planning for Retirement.
Q. Tell us about your latest work—title, genre, etc. — and why you wrote it?
A. As a financial specialist for over 10 years, I realized that women were not getting the proper information to help reduce poverty in their retirement. I spent thousands of hours building retirement plans for women and decided a book in this format would be the easiest way to inform them without overwhelming them.
Q What draws you to your genre(s)? Why is this type of story compelling to you?
A. This is a story about my life and why I became a financial specialist so it’s not only a true story, but written in a very specific format that makes the book a map of a woman’s life and how not to take the wrong path.
Q. What is your writing process like? Do you map the whole thing out or do you just let it unfold?
A. The 99 Series is about the Top 11 points of any given subject- so we take the top 11 points of retirement, they become the chapters and we write from there.
Q. What kind of research was involved in writing your book?
A. Thousands of hours!!! Online, in person, speaking at seminars….
Q. How much of YOU makes it into your characters?
A. All of me. I breathe the books I write.
Q. How do you balance the need to have time to write with the needs of family, society, etc.?
A. Writing is therapeutic and it helps my family because I have learned to cope better.
Q. Have there been any authors in particular, that inspired your writing?
A. Robin Sharma and Napoleon Hill.
Q. Is there a story you want to tell behind or about your work(s)?
A. The story is http://womenonthefence.com/2010/02/15/a-single-moms-valentines-day-one-womans-story/ all played out here to help inspire other women.
Q. What other projects are you currently working on or about to start?
A. The 99 Series was the journey that took me to my Write Club- the opportunity to work with children encouraging them to read and write their own stories that the 99 Series publishes. www.writeclub.ca
Follow the link to read a very special book written by Katie Wood one of the Writeclub children.
Follow the link to read a very special book written by Katie Wood one of the Writeclub children.
Q Could you share some of your marketing strategies? Which ones are the most effective in your opinion?
A. Word of mouth is key- people talk a lot about networking but for me the most effective is just opening your mouth.
Q. What would be the top five, (or 3 or 1 or however many) things you would tell aspiring authors?
A. Write from your heart, stay true to yourself no matter how painful the writing is and never sell yourself short because you have valuable content to share with the world.
Again, thanks Helen for taking the time to share your knowledge with us. We appreciate you and your work.
Good luck with your current and future publications.
For more information:
Email: Helen@99-series.com
Phone: 514-298-3582
Purchase: Amazon, Kindle,
I see you are from Canada. How does that differ from America?
ReplyDeleteWhether you are a woman living in Canada or America, you need to understand how to plan for your retirement. When I worked in the States, the only thing that was different was the 'terminology" of the various investment vehicles offered but the concept remained the same.
ReplyDeleteHelen do you have any tips for those planning on retiring in a foreign country?
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