Christina Smith is an entrepreneur, consultant, mother,
and published author. "Joseph's Journey" is her first children's
picture book.
Born and raised in the Bay Area, she grew up in a house with 3 children, WITHOUT the white picket fence and no dog! However, there was lots of love and laughs to go around. When she was about 10 years old, she thought she was going to be the "next coming" of Whoopi Goldberg! Well, "life happened" and "that" did NOT happen, but in 2014 she was able to cross ONE ITEM off of her bucket list and perform stand-up comedy in front of a live audience.
When she's not homeschooling her son or driving him all around town to his various activities, some of Christina's favorite things to enjoy are: PEET'S COFFEE, the local library, a throw-your headback, "that brought tears to my eyes" kinda laugh; organic, gluten-free, dairy free, non-gmo food (did we mention she's from the BAY AREA?) and good music.
Christina is a certified graduate/alumnus of, certified professional speaker/author, George Ramirez' "Present with Purpose" (2008) & two-time student of his "The Miracle in the Mirror" programs. She has received a Certificate of Recognition from California State Assembly in Honor of Graduating from the Women's Initiative for Self Employment and dedication to empowering the quality of her life and her community (2007).
Additionally, she is a student of Certified Rebirthing-Breathwork Practitioner, Iris Nelson. She holds an Associates degree in Legal Administration/Paralegal Studies from Heald Business College.
Born and raised in the Bay Area, she grew up in a house with 3 children, WITHOUT the white picket fence and no dog! However, there was lots of love and laughs to go around. When she was about 10 years old, she thought she was going to be the "next coming" of Whoopi Goldberg! Well, "life happened" and "that" did NOT happen, but in 2014 she was able to cross ONE ITEM off of her bucket list and perform stand-up comedy in front of a live audience.
When she's not homeschooling her son or driving him all around town to his various activities, some of Christina's favorite things to enjoy are: PEET'S COFFEE, the local library, a throw-your headback, "that brought tears to my eyes" kinda laugh; organic, gluten-free, dairy free, non-gmo food (did we mention she's from the BAY AREA?) and good music.
Christina is a certified graduate/alumnus of, certified professional speaker/author, George Ramirez' "Present with Purpose" (2008) & two-time student of his "The Miracle in the Mirror" programs. She has received a Certificate of Recognition from California State Assembly in Honor of Graduating from the Women's Initiative for Self Employment and dedication to empowering the quality of her life and her community (2007).
Additionally, she is a student of Certified Rebirthing-Breathwork Practitioner, Iris Nelson. She holds an Associates degree in Legal Administration/Paralegal Studies from Heald Business College.
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As a mother, how do you explain an absentee father to your
child without blame, anger or resentment? Empower them! Seven-year-old Joseph
shares his story about when he first learns about
the POWER of choice he
possesses after his father leaves and doesn't come back. His mother teaches him
the difference between his father’s choices and his own. Do Joseph and Mom
become angry with Joseph’s father? Well, a belief is just a thought you keep
thinking over and over...find out what happens on Joseph’s Journey!Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Thank you for this interview! I’d like to know more about you as a person first. What do you do when you’re not writing?
I’m a homeschooling mother of one son, Joseph. He’s in the 6th grade now. I’m also seven and a half months pregnant
with my second child, a daughter. Those
two things alone keep me very busy!
Additionally, I’m a virtual assistant.
I also love to read and I have an extensive library at home!
When did you start writing?
In 2006, I started off with writing business letters for
others and doing legal documents preparation because I have a degree in Legal
Administrative Assistance. Then I moved
into generating copyright content for other business owners as well as my own
for various websites. From there I went
into comedic writing because it was very therapeutic for me. It was a way for
me to talk about what was painful and bothering me emotionally yet at the same
time be able to laugh about it. Which
then led me to want to write children’s books.
As a published author, what would you say was the most
pivotal point of your writing life?
My first book sale on Amazon from Great
Britain!
That was an amazing feeling!
If you could go anywhere in the world to start writing
your next book, where would that be and why?
It would be somewhere quiet, partially-secluded, in a
luxurious, fully stocked bungalow surrounded by greenery. It would have all my
favorite foods, clean water, a diverse library and a clean, comfy writing
space. Why? Because, it would be great to just get away for a while and immerse
myself in my creativity without a bunch of distractions. We’ve all heard of the “man-cave” right? Well, if I had a “she shack” on my own
property like this, I wouldn’t need to go anywhere else but there to get
away. As a matter of fact, that’s a nice
goal to work towards. You’ve just inspired me with this question! I would love, love, love my own “she shack”
writing space!
If you had 4 hours of extra time today, what would you
do?
Set aside more time to do healing and spiritual work
together with my family.
Where would you like to set a story that you haven’t done
yet?
That’s a good question and one that I haven’t pondered
really. I’m more into writing
non-fictional juvenile literature so it’s more about teaching a “subject
matter” if you will, rather than the setting of the story acting as a character
or focal point of the story to make the plot “work”. I’m not sure if I would write a juvenile
fiction book, it’s just not something I’m interested in at this point.
Back to your present book, Joseph’s Journey: When Dad Left and Never Came Back, how did you
publish it?
For my first edition, I self-published using the
Createspace.com platform. For my second
edition, I used Ingram Spark AND Createspace.
In writing your book, did you travel anywhere for
research?
No I did not because it wasn’t necessary. This book is about
how to have a difficult talk with your child when their father is absent, but
in a way that is empowering for both mother and child. The story is told in the voice of Joseph, a
seven-year-old boy who recounts to readers how his mother first had this
discussion with him and how it helped him.
Why was writing Joseph’s
Journey so important to you?
It was important to me because I had MANY girlfriends who
were raising their children without fathers. I honestly thought that when I had
my child, I wouldn’t be doing it alone.
I picked Joseph’s father. I saw
something beautiful in him. We both
agreed to make Joseph. However, for
whatever his own personal reasons were, he decided that he could not be present
in Joseph’s life. I knew I didn’t want to
be angry about it, but I was at first AND yet, I knew I had to find a way to
heal from that anger because Joe was watching and he was NOT angry with his
father. He just felt love. Joseph was almost four years old when his
father stopped coming to see him. The
first thing I did was go to the library, because I’m an avid reader, to look
for a children’s book that addressed this matter. I found a couple but they were related to
couples that had been divorced and Joseph’s father and I were never married. There was another one, but there was this
awful quote from the book akin to the mother telling the child, “At least your
father pays his child support on time”!
I thought to myself, NO WAY am I getting that book. So, I knew I had to find the right words to
talk about this with my son because there wasn’t already a book available that
I could use. Once it was done, I just
felt that not only did it help Joseph, it would help other children out there
just like him. That’s why it was so
important to write this book.
Where do you get your best ideas and why do you think
that is?
I get my best ideas from life experience. Life experience is
a great teacher. Life is always teaching
you something that you could draw from when you need answers to questions that
you may have. Plus, since I’m writing
juvenile non-fiction, life experience is the best well to draw from for writing
ideas.
Any final words?
Yes. I want to encourage those reading this interview that
no matter what challenges life brings you, if you have the wherewithal to make
it through those challenges, there is something to be learned…a story to be
told. Dare I say the gift of wisdom that
you have been given? Accept the gift and
use it for your self-growth and prosperity. I promise you that if you do this,
life will be more fulfilling. You will
see life’s meaning and purpose. PLUS,
you will see how many lives you touch by not being afraid to step into your
greatness.
Dear Reader, As a thank your for your visit to I'm Shelfish's blog and for any comment to this post, during my book tour Dec 5th-16th, I am offering free books that enhance social and emotional intelligence in children grades Pre-K - 2nd grade to all school teachers, homeschooling parents, librarians and any other parents with a child(ren) that age, entitled, "That's Bingzy: Busy Building Self-Esteem" By Arlene Richards. (While supplies last.) Contact me at beablessingenterprises.com/contact-us to request your free book. Sending warm wishes...Christina
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