How does the writing process work for you? Do you schedule a time every day, work madly when inspiration hits or ?

A word I use a lot when I am working on big projects like this is “percolate.” Thoughts and ideas often percolate with me…in my head…while I am driving…in the shower…walking the dog…etc. And then, with a deadline, I can usually sit down and bang those thoughts and ideas out. The timeline for this book did fluctuate from our original plan as I started writing it during my 50th year, not knowing that my own health/menopause/mental health journey was going to have to take priority before I could get MOKITA to publication.

What did you find most difficult about the writing and publishing process?  What was the easiest?

The most challenging: I wanted to include as much information as possible without overwhelming women. The topic of perimenopause and menopause is VERY big. Every day I manage a private online community with over 6000 members. In the last year alone, we’ve participated in over 130,000 conversations on a broad range of subjects— sleep to hormone balance, sexual wellness to stress management. Every day after being in the community, I would think of something else I wanted to highlight in the book. Women have a strong desire for trustworthy information and to be proactive with their own health. Because there is so much confusing and conflicting information out there, I really feel a responsibility to women to set them on the right path.

The easiest part: Working with Julie and her team. It has hard for a first-time author to hit the SEND button on the first draft, but once I did that OMG, I absolutely loved the editing process. It was so rewarding to watch my work get better and better with each draft and really create something I am proud to put my name to!

What title (or titles) have you released? Please include a short synopsis of what your book is (or books are) about.

MOKITA: How to navigate perimenopause with confidence and ease.

A MOKITA is a word from the Kivila language spoken on the largest of the Trobriand Islands, just off the coast of Papua New Guinea. Translated it means “a truth we all know and agree not to talk about.” In North America we often refer to this as “the elephant in the room.” Perimenopause and menopause are excellent examples of mokitas, and as such, women often enter perimenopause without little to no information or education about what to expect.

This book is an introduction to perimenopause. It is not an all-inclusive guide or a substitute for you doing your own research, but it will be especially helpful if you don’t have time to read fifty books or spend hundreds of hours scouring the internet, trying to figure out what information is reliable and what is trash. There is plenty of both. You will learn about my own personal journey from perimenopause-to-menopause, as well as my mission to ignite a societal paradigm shift and reframe menopause from something that is solely viewed as negative into something worthy of celebration!

I invited thirteen incredible women’s health professionals to join me on this project, including an acupuncturist, a cannabis advocate, a chiropractor, a dietitian, a doctor of natural medicine, a doctor of naturopathic medicine, an energy healer, a hormone expert, a meditation coach, a personal coach, a pharmacist, a physician, and a vagina coach/pelvic health expert. I am so grateful they all jumped at the opportunity to contribute to this project so we can empower more women, like you, to build their own integrated health team. Their chapters offer insights into the benefits of working with each modality, and will help save you time and the stress of knowing or not knowing if one particular journey resonates with you. You may even see yourself in some of the examples shared.

As a 51 year old woman, and a women’s health advocate, I have been researching perimenopause for the last twelve years. I believe women have the right to awesome health information, and that we deserve quality of life, easy access to health professionals who can support our journey—and the benefit of connecting with other women for peer support. I hope this book is helpful to all women—and all the men who love us.

Do you have any new books in the planning or writing stage?

I sure do – if Julie will let me! I often tell women that there is no such thing as a magic wand solution. However, if there is one thing that my private online community at www.facebook.com/groups/MenopauseChicks has taught me, it is the magic that lies in CONNECTION. Women like to see themselves in others’ stories. It makes just feel validated and less alone.

Hearing “me too” can make all the difference for a woman who is worried about her inability to sleep, low sex drive or heavy bleeding in perimenopause. Because these topics are all MOKITAS, women often end up feeling all alone in their journey. In fact, 70% of women told me they don’t have anyone to talk to about perimenopause or menopause.

I am working hard to change that! And I believe that there are any number of women’s stories we can share in order to help redefine & reframe menopause as well as ensure the next generation of women no longer feels alone in navigating this important life phase.

What would you like readers to know about you?

I am on a mission to disrupt how we think—and talk—about perimenopause and menopause. Frustrated by confusing and conflicting information in the media, on the internet and even from medical professionals, I launched MenopauseChicks.com in 2012. It is a way for women to become their own best health advocates, navigate midlife health information and connect to professionals who can support their journey.

In April 2016, I hosted the first-ever online menopause party celebrating my own menopause milestone. I shared my mission on the TEDxGastown Women stage in Vancouver and was awarded a YWCA Women of Distinction award in 2017.

In October 2018, I am launching MOKITA—which is a one-day, multi-city women’s health summit and a movement towards a new model for women’s midlife health. Women will gather to learn the truth about perimenopause, get empowered to be their own best health care advocates and raise money to help other women who are forced to make limited health decisions due to limited financial resources.

Do you have a favourite quote?

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” – Maya Angelou

When I started out to write this book, I assumed it would be like most other projects I’ve tackled in my career. Do this, then this, then this and boom, I’d have a book. Instead, here’s what happened in a nutshell. Upon turning 50, I acted like I was invincible, I didn’t walk my own talk, and I ended up with a mental illness diagnosis—which just might have been the blessing I’d been waiting on.

Why do we assume the journey to become a butterfly is easy? I mean, the butterfly literally turns itself inside out and has to trust that it isn’t dying in the process. If you look at the science diagrams of a butterfly’s metamorphosis, you’ll notice there are at least six to seven stages illustrated—and the final three to four all look like fully-matured, bad ass butterflies. It doesn’t go from chrysalis to fully-grown butterfly in one flash step. It’s a process, a concept that I clearly missed, as I now know what it feels like to literally turn myself inside out and trust that I’m not dying. And every day I’m grateful for having experienced this process, because it brought me back here—to writing and planning the next steps for Menopause Chicks, MOKITA and sharing this book with you.