Author Interview: Louise Helene

Hello fellow readers!

Today I'm thrilled to welcome Louise Helene, author of I Saw Your Future and He's Not It: A  Psychic's Guide to True Love to Melissa's Midnight Musings. Read on to learn more about this author and her book.

About I Saw Your Future and He's Not It: A Psychic's Guide to True Love

Title: I Saw Your Future and He's Not It: A Psychic's Guide to True Love

Author: Louise Helene

Publisher: Llewellyn Publications

Published: January 8, 2013

Genre: Non-Fiction

Format: Paperback

Pages: 244 pages

Synopsis:

How does my guy feel about me? Is there another woman? Could he be "the one"? The answers to love's toughest questions may be lie in your own heart. This utterly unique book empowers women to take control of their love lives by tapping into their own intuition.

Psychic Louise Helene, who has advised women on matters of the heart for thirty years, shares powerful lessons and wisdom with the rest of us. True stories from her consultations--hilarious misunderstandings, painful mistakes, and true connections--highlight how intuition can guide you through the toughest relationship problems. Through simple exercises, you'll learn how to develop your own psychic edge to navigate the murky waters of love and romance.

The Interview:

Please tell us a little bit about yourself. Do you have any unusual talents or hobbies?

I have been a psychic advisor for over 30 years.  My mother was a Spiritualist minister, and encouraged me to give my first reading when I was 12 years old.  I studied under her reading of the crystal ball, tarot cards, and many other ways to connect to the psychic realm.  I have a special psychic connection to animals, and help their owners connect with them on an emotional level.

When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer?

I have always wanted to write.  In one of my past lives I was a newspaper reporter.

Where did the inspiration for I Saw Your Future and He's Not It come from?

Several of my clients suggested I write a book to help guide women in their relationships.  Some of them have said they were going to use it as their “manual for love”.

What made you choose to write a book of this type?

Romance is my expertise.  I talk to women every day that need help navigating their love life.  With the Psychic Edge exercises in my book I hope to put the power in their hands so they can help themselves.

This book is meant to help empower women as they navigate the tricky subject of love. What do you think is most empowering to women who are already in relationships? Do you think that the thing(s) that are most empowering to a woman in a relationship are the same as those of a single woman?

Developing our own intuition is the most powerful tool that any woman can have, whether in a relationship or looking for one.  Once a woman develops her intuition she must then learn to listen to it.  So many times women ignore their “gut” feeling, only to be sorry later.  Challenges in love arise in life, no matter what our status, and intuition is our most powerful weapon to guide us through.  

Who is your favorite author?

Jane Austin

Do you have writing routine? A special pen, a certain type of music, time limits?

I always write my first draft in longhand with a pen my mother gave me years ago.  She was a very gifted writer, and when I use this pen I feel her spirit with me.

Do you enjoy edits/rewrites, or not?

I don’t like rewrites; luckily I haven’t had to do them often.

Do you do a lot of external research in the process of writing? If so, what's the most interesting thing you've uncovered in your research?

My niece Kim Osborn Sullivan loves statistics and research so she handles all of this for me.  There is a section in “I Saw Your Future and He’s Not It” called JUST THE FACTS and Kim did a great job on this part of the book.

How did you choose pseudonyms to protect your clients’ identities?

I have a large family and all were happy to lend their names to be used in the book.

Please tell us a little bit about your journey to publication.

I had a dream, prior to finding a publisher, that the first publishing company I approached would publish my book.  This is exactly what happened.  My road to publication was seamless, just as my dream had predicted.

What is the hardest part of being a writer?

The hardest part about writing is budgeting my time, as I have a very busy schedule.  My clients keep me busy, so sometimes I barely have time to write.

Are there any common themes that you feel are particularly important to write about?

Love and intuition, we can never have enough of both.  True love is what we long for, and intuition is what helps us find it.

When you're not writing, what are your other hobbies/passions?

I enjoy playing the guitar and piano.  My little troop of formally stray cats, and dog Gigi are a captive audience when I play and write music.  I am passionate about animal rescue, and being a good steward of the earth.

Are you working on any new projects?

Yes, I am collaborating on two books one fiction, and one non-fiction.

Quick Fire round:

Coke or Pepsi?  

Coke

Chocolate or Vanilla?

Chocolate

Rainy winter days or blazing hot summer days?

Rainy winter days

Hard Copy or e-book?

Hard Copy

Favorite book?

Gone With The Wind

Last book you read?

Marley and Me

What's a quote that inspires you?

The only real valuable thing is intuition by Albert Einstein

What's your favorite comfort food?

Chocolate Cake

About Louise Helene:

Louise Helene is a second-generation psychic, Tarot reader, and crystal ball gazer who has conducted thousands of readings during her thirty-year career as a spiritual advisor. She is the co-author of I Saw Your Future and He’s Not It: A Psychic’s Guide to True Love, a women's intuitive dating and relationship guide. Louise resides in the Greater Chicago area. www.louisehelenethepsychic.com

My Love by Joanne Clancy

Title: My Love

Author: Joanne Clancy

Publisher: Cupid's Arrow Publishing

Published:February 12, 2012

Format: Kindle/e-book

Pages: 95

Source: Received from author in exchange

for an honest review

Read: August 18 2012

In A Few Words: Nice concepts, slightly repetitive
My  Rating:  2 Stars

Goodreads: Add this book to your TBR list

Goodreads Synopsis:

 Is there such a thing as love at first sight? Can love be measured?

My Love by Joanne Clancy is a collection of essays about life, love and dating. 

The book discusses different definitions of love, from coming to terms with the reality of love to the importance of giving and generosity and thoughts on the death of a loved one.

The book has ideas on how to woo a woman and how to make a man fall in love. The importance of humour in a dating relationship and how to work on a happy balance while dating is also discussed. 

There is a section on first date tips and internet dating. 

The last part of the book deals with how to realise when a relationship is over and when it is time to move on with your life. There are some helpful tips on how to start over and how to prepare for dating by dating yourself.

My Love is a beautiful collection of love and life experiences

Melissa's Musings:

The overall concept of this book is really nice. It's full of tips for internet dating, first dates, relationships, etc. I see what the author was trying to do with this book, it just didn't work well for me. 

One of the major issues of this book for me was the sequencing. I felt that a lot of the essays were out of place, they just didn't flow together well. I know that essays are generally supposed to be treated as separate entities, but with the subject matter, a lot of the essays seemed to overlap, but they didn't do so in a way that was really cohesive. With a little bit of swapping, I feel that the flow could be improved, which would really enhance the book overall.

In one particular essay, titled "Giving and Generosity" there was a lot of scripture and quotes from the Bible. I found nothing wrong with the content or the quotes themselves, just the frequency of them. In this particular essay scripture was quoted every one or two paragraphs, and as someone who doesn't have that much experience with them this was a little off-putting. I also felt that the frequency of these quotes detracted from the underlying message of this essay.

I did enjoy the fact that this is full of nice ideas for how to improve your relationship, as well few particularly poignant poems that remind the reader that they shouldn't take love for granted. It's passages like these that I wish there were more of because they really stop to make you think.

A lot of the content in this book is common sense, but it is nice to have the reminder of these activities and ideas. 

Along with the thought of a lot of the ideas in the book being common sense, there was an element of repetition that bothered me as I was reading. There were a lot of ideas that were repeated throughout the essays, in exactly the same wording. One in particular stands out because it was mentioned no less than 5 times:

"I''ve had one or two first dates in my time..." or some slight variation thereof.

By the last time of seeing this line I was saying out loud "We know that already! So have most of those of us who are reading this book!"

One great section that I really liked was towards the end where the author is describing potential places for a date in London. She notes several restaurants whose cuisine sounds delicious. And she also makes note of a lot of other places to go go for dates such as some of Britain's public gardens and other more well known attractions.

I had also hoped that there would be more of the author's personal experiences mixed in. I find it easier to connect with books like this if there are personal anecdotes and I feel that may be part of the reason that this book didn't work as well for me.

Overall,  this is a nice book that with a bit of polishing could really be wonderful. I'd recommend it to someone looking for some basic tips on first dates.