Interview with Anna Gibson-Steel

Author of Stress Free Solutions to becoming Stress Free

Where are you from originally and where do you reside now?

Ireland

If you currently reside somewhere besides where you were born, what’s the story that lead from there to here?

Apart from living in Australia in 1997, while my husband played rugby for Queensland, we have always lived in Ireland.

What made you decide to write and publish your first book?

One day, when our youngest son Harry was 9 years old, he came home all excited as a friend had shown him a clip of his dad (my husband of 30 years), playing rugby for Ireland, in that moment I realized that as Harry had not been alive when Peter was a professional rugby player he knew nothing of that aspect of our lives. Our older two children (23 & 19) had vivid memories of it. So I decided to write Peter’s biography to record it for Harry. A Life with Claw was a joy to write for that reason. My second book -Stress Free Solutions to Becoming Stress Free- was created from a desire to share my Life’s work in Holistic Healthcare, in order to help with the current global epidemic in Stress.

How would you describe your books to first time readers?

Stress Free solutions to becoming stress free, is exactly as the title says. I wrote the book in cartoon format, as one of the main issues for people suffering with stress, is that their memory recall is dramatically affected, so they are unable to retain text that they read. This book is easy to read, understand and it teaches fast, effective solutions to reduce stress.

Who do you feel is most likely to connect with the topics you write about?

In today’s world 95% of people are suffering from stress, so everyone would benefit from understanding how the stress response operates in their body, and how they can get it under control.

What unexpected or surprising thing did you learn during the process of writing and publishing?

I learned that I loved the creative process of writing and sharing valuable knowledge, but I’m not keen on marketing.

If you could, what advice would you give to past self yourself before embarking on this journey?

Find a really good Editor and Marketing person!

How many people would you ideally like to reach with your books?

Everyone who would like to find joy in living again!

What has been the biggest challenge and frustration during the process to date?

Marketing!

What’s your biggest strengths when it comes to book a) writing, b) publishing and c) marketing?

I enjoy writing about experiences/knowledge that I have learned, but I would never be able to write fiction!
As I had a publisher for my first book and I self-published my second book, I’m am learning through experience (ie the hard way!!), that a good publisher is worth their weight in gold!
No marketing strengths- only weaknesses!

What’s your biggest weakness when it comes to book a) writing, b) publishing and c) marketing?

Marketing

When do you think you will you write your next book?

I will write a book before the end of this year, this one will share case studies from thousands of clients that I have helped over the past 20 years, the objective is to open peoples minds to the value of Holistic Healthcare, especially from an energetic perspective. Hopefully this will motivate and inspire people to become pro-active in their Health and Well being

Are you self published or did you use a hybrid publisher, or a traditional publisher?

Both.