065_#2 My Beta Readers Talk About My New Book — Baptized By Love: How I Found Present Joy and Never Let It Go

Lyn Gregory — my experience of reading the book  —the comprehensive and cohesive elegant way you strung together the moments of your life created something that is really just such an exquisite memoir …  You toss off nuggets that are so profound that happen, and while I’m reeling from the truth of that moment and the truth of what you’ve realized, and you’re already onto the next sentence — and I’m like, I’ve got to stop and really absorb this. So, even though this was such a compelling and propulsive read, I had to slow down, so I felt like could really, totally understand all the levels of which this was impacting me.
There are things you share, where I felt like, like with meditation, where you share the internal surrender that is necessary in meditation, to find the peace we seek. 
One of the characters you create so vividly on the page is Betty. You can feel the love in every sentence of that relationship where you take her wisdom and integrate it into your life. About living every moment fully. You distill things to their essence. 

Moira Novak — The action happens immediately - it’s like a James Bond movie. There’s so many moment that are impactful. I had to slow down so purposefully. I teach mindfulness, and started putting down the ways you show us the moment to moment practice of mindfulness.  And it doesn’t feel like being pushed and pulled into a way of thinking but this was a happening. The intellectual understanding and embodiment of how you practice it and showing it in the simplicity. You don’t make a doing of the surrendering, but there is a letting go process. You’re very vulnerable about saying this is a lot of work, but it’s not the kind of work you can do in a rush. It’s an every day,  moment by moment awareness of what you were experiencing, non-judgmentally. Willing to be kind to yourself.  If anything, I’d say this is a lesson in self-compassion. The work is inside. 
There was a passage that struck me so much that I kept rereading it that it impacted me so much, I wrote it down. You said, “About attending first to the love and joy of my own being so that the overflow is available for others.” We only have to give to others, what is overflowing in us. We see that time and time again throughout the book. I learned so much about how give myself self-compassion without feeling week. I loved how you baptized yourself in the shower — the willingness to accept that grace from the Divine. 

Brian Harris — I was able to live the transformation through your story — it’s like the owners manual for changing your perception and and life. It’s like a step -by-step guide through example. It is all so inspiring for anyone trying to change — this is going to be that catalyst for for a lot of people. You made a lot of decisions at critical moments in your life that, you were able to tune into your inner guidance system to make these decisions that accelerated your spiritual growth and evolution, that we’re routing for you every step of the way. People that read this will be able to relate to, if not the horrific experiences specifically, but the lessons they can gain through reading your process, without going through all themselves.

Patricia York — You lay down your life and accept a new one. You show by your example, how transformation happens. The imagery is so beautiful, the metaphor and symbolism you use, is what makes the reader stop and show down and fall in love with this moment with the author. 
What I say was that surrender isn’t just giving in, it is saying ‘I don’t know how to do this.’ I makes the reader want what you have. I love the smell imagery, and how that ties to how you relate it with Betty. 
There’s not a lot of exposition, it’s just beautiful, simple statements that make you stop and think about.
I loved your dedication in your book. You claim being the amazing woman she always knew you were.