By the age of twelve, Ashley Rae had survived incest, child abuse, and
the deaths of both her biological parents. Born to Baptists but raised
by Buddhists, Rae found peace and healing on a Pagan spiritual path
while obtaining her college degree and starting the career of her
dreams.
Rae thought the hardships in her life were over...until
she lost her job, started a new relationship, and found out she was
pregnant with another man's child all in the same week. Terrified of
cesarean surgery, Rae vowed to give birth to her child at home – but
first, she had to find one.
Alternately haunting, humorous, and
heart-warming, Not My Mother: A Memoir follows Rae over a nine-month
quest to break her family's generational pattern of abuse and victimhood
in order to become for her unborn child the mother she had always
wanted for herself.
About the Author
Ashley Rae puts on fantastically awesome weekend retreats at All World
Acres in Plant City, writes meditations, blogs, articles, and books,
teaches reading comprehension, creative writing, divination, and
self-healing techniques, and freaking loves her life.
Interview with Ashley Rae
Did you find it difficult sharing so much of your
personal life with the world?
No, I have no shame.
My nickname in college was “Queen TMI.”
Any other books in the works?
Yes, I'm working on the sequel to my first memoir, in
which I explore how I hit Rock Bottom and turned my life around, curing the
Major Depressive Disorder that plagued my life in the process.
I'm also working on fun and practical workbooks for Chakra Healing, Intuitive
Tarot, and Writing to Heal.
Do you think you’ll ever try your hand at fiction?
Yes, I think fiction will be a fun challenge.
If your memoir was made into a movie, who would you
choose to play you?
Drew Barrymore. Angelica Houston for my mom. It'd be like Ever After, but totally different.
Tell us one of your guilty pleasures.
Wait, I'm supposed to feel guilty about my
pleasure? ;) Paranormal Romance, especially ones that
feature vampires, shapeshifters, and/or faeries.
Do you have any quirky writing habits?
I write in my head while I'm driving and dictate it
into the voice memo feature on my phone.
Is that quirky, or perfectly normal?
I know you also work as a life coach. Tell us a
little about the work you do.
I developed my Love Your Life Coaching practice last
year after I realized that my greatest joy in life came from helping people
figure out what they wanted and how to get it.
I have served as a professional psychic for nearly a decade now, and I
realized that my favorite readings were the ones where my clients new they wanted
to change something about their lives and came to me to figure out what and
how.
The difference between a psychic reading and a life coaching session is that in
a psychic reading, the psychic is giving all the answers, while in a life
coaching session, the life coach is guiding her client to the answers that are
already inside her client.
In both services I connect intimately with the energy
of my client and use my intuition to guide everything I say. But in life coaching, I'm asking questions,
listening with my whole being, inspiring epiphanies, and assigning
homework. We start each session with an
objective, the goal we intend to achieve in the alloted time. The first session is often making a list of
all the aspects of the client's life that he or she would like to change and
picking one to focus on for that session.
Then we explore the problem, the feelings associated with the problem,
and what the client is ready to do to solve it presently. The client leaves the session with a plan of
action, which may include homework assigned by me, and we have a follow up
email or call after the session. It's
the most fun and rewarding work I've ever taken up (outside of parenting.)
You faced a lot of adversity in your life, but you
overcame it. What advice do you have for young girls who may be facing similar
struggles?
Ask for help.
You deserve to be happy and healthy.
There are good people out there who want to
help you.
You don't have to do it all
yourself.
You are not alone.
That goes for everyone who struggles, regardless of
age, gender, or type of struggle.
Who are some of your favorite authors?
Dianne Sylvan, Kim Harrison, Lynsay Sands, JK
Rowling, PC Cast, and many more.
What song to you think would make a great theme song
for your book?
Because of You by Kelly Clarkson is the one I
was fantasizing being in the book trailer video. I think it needs something more uplifting,
though. Maybe I Will Survive by
Gloria Gaynor. That would make people
laugh at the end credits if it were a movie.
Unwritten by Natasha Beddinfield is a song I often sang while
writing my first memoir. Hero by
Mariah Carey? Okay, now I've chosen half
a soundtrack.
Where to Buy
Not My Mother: A Memoir by Ashley Rae is available on
Amazon in both print and e-book formats.
Connect With Ashley
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