Check it out here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NCPTIBV/The New Cleanse is your first published book. Do you plan for any follow ups or additional books?
My
plans are to expand on this current book. Right now it is a
beginners guide and quick reference. In the next couple months, I
would like to expand by creating more detailed menus and by adding
more recipes.
What
do you think makes a great recipe book?
I
like recipe books that have beautiful photos, some great cooking
tips, and some unique ideas about how to customize the recipe to suit
the reader’s taste.
For
instance, taking a recipe and spinning it into a mexican or asian
influence.
What
inspired you when writing [SOUPING:]
The
New Cleanse?
I
had always wanted to try a cleanse. Not for weight loss, but for
removing toxins from my body. I had researched several different
methods of cleansing, but I knew my challenge was not feeling hungry.
After reading a few books about the soup cleanse, and the fact that
I LOVE soups, I knew this was the cleanse for me. After doing the
cleanse several times, from 2 days on up to 5 days, I took what I
learned and decided to journal my lessons into an ebook. When
reading through lots of blog comments, I noted lots of concerns about
not wanting hunger pains, or the crashes of a full “Juicing”
diet. Mostly from people who had never tried to cleanse, but wanted
to try one. This is the book is for those people.
What
are your ambitions for your writing career? Full time? Part time?
My
writing for now, will remain part time. In the next year, I would
like to publish a book that focuses on unique and upscale appetizers
and planning menus for different size parties. I am experimenting
with several ideas right now.
I
would also like to put together a children’s cookbook that would
combine food and health education with cooking to create a fun
learning experience.
When
did you decide to become a writer?
My
writing began several years back when I would write all the “how
to” and procedures manuals for the companies I worked for. Since
then I wrote an Event Planning book that describes how to organize
events from 10-500 people. In this book I use my 10+ years
experience as an event planner and manager to help the reader plan
their own event with minimal stress.
When
writing The
New Cleanse
did anything stand out as particularly challenging?
The
biggest challenge for me was getting the nutritional information to
measure up (excuse the pun:) healthwise. For instance some of the
recipes still show high sodium. To cut down on that, I highly
recommend using plain water instead of chicken or beef stock. I also
include a Nutrition Fact Table in my book. What started out as a
curiosity on the nutritional value of everyday staples such as
butter, olive oil and ranch dressing, ended up being a total research
effort into the nutritional truth of these substances. Looking at 27
condiments and sauces side by side is really eye opening. In my
book, I give the reader the facts on the different oils and they find
out which one’s are the healthiest.
How
did you come up with the recipes in The
New Cleanse?
Most
of the recipes in my book are ones that I have been cooking for a
while. Of course I tweaked them to give them more cleansing
qualities. The rest are recipes from various cleansing sites, but
also adjusted to my personal tastes. I wanted to cleanse, but I
didn’t want to lose any of the full rich flavors standard in all of
my recipes. The readers will find the recipes to be easy to prepare
and even easier to eat.
What
do you like to do when not writing?
My
general interests are in the feminine lifestyle. That sounds a
little strange, I know. I run several websites including
extrarecipes.com where I post all of my popular main course, side
dish, appetizer and desert recipes. I also run ihairremoval.com
which supplies home laser hair removal devices as well as skin
rejuvenation machines. And lastly, I have handmade jewelry at
kristinewalkerjewelry.com