Reading With Robin on Women’s Wellness Day
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Never Too Late is the theme of this year’s Women’s Wellness Day, which is happening on Saturday, September 19th at the Newport Marriott with keynote speaker and bestselling author, Claire Cook. And it’s never too soon to get your tickets for this annual event that’s sure to be a sell-out! I checked in with event organizer, Martha Murphy, to get an overview of what the day will look like.
“Women’s Wellness Day is an opportunity to do something just for you. To spend a Saturday with a best friend, or sister—or on your own—having fun, learning things that can help make your life better. Do a little shopping at the mini-boutiques, enjoy a really nice buffet lunch, just kick back and let the day be yours. The presentations this year are mostly new, so for those women who attend every year—and there are quite a few—I think they’ll like how we refreshed the program. In addition to listening to medical experts talk about a range of topics including nutrition, sex, sleep, stress, and so on, this year women can learn tips about de-cluttering from an expert on organizing any part of your home of business life. We’ll also have a weight-loss expert giving a presentation. We’ll have a presentation on the health and wellness benefits of being part of a book club! As always, we have introduction to yoga and introduction to meditation from the amazing folks at All That Matters. We will also have a quiet room where woman can have a free mini-Reiki session. There’s a person who can give you make-up tips. There’s just so much to choose from. Or, you can enjoy a cup of coffee and shop to your heart’s content! I actually do almost all my Christmas shopping that day—and I buy a few treats for myself, too!”
“The highlight of the day is our keynote speaker. We’ve always had a celebrity author as our keynote and we’ve had some good ones over the last 8 years. But I can honestly say I think Claire Cook will be our best yet. She is funny, wise, kind, down-to-earth, smart—did I mention funny?—and full of a positive energy that is a force field unto itself! She’ll be talking about the subject of her newest book, Never Too Late: Your Roadmap to Reinvention. She’s truly a reinvention expert, and a great speaker, and just fun. Did I mention she’s a New York Times best-selling author? She will also be autographing copies of her book, which we will have for sale at the event.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“This is just a glimpse of what Women’s Wellness Day is all about. Our attendees love it, and leave with the handy goodie bag we give each person, filled with all kinds of handy items. To see the details, all you have to do is go to www.schospital.com and on the homepage under Lectures & Events click on the link for Women’s Wellness Day. Or call us at 788-1173.”
Claire Cook and I go way back. All the way back to Must Love Dogs which had just been published when we met. In anticipation of her Rhode Island visit I had a few questions for my friend.
Q- What are you most looking forward to about coming up North for Women’s Wellness Day?
A – Seeing you again, of course, Robin! I’m also really looking forward to connecting with the women who attend Women’s Wellness Day—I hear it’s a fun, fabulous event. And even though I’ve been in Atlanta for a couple of years, I’m still a New Englander at heart and I really miss the beach, so I can't wait to breathe some of that crisp September salt air! I’m also thinking of setting a walking adventure for a sequel to my novel, The Wildwater Walking Club, in the area, so I hope to do some location scouting while I’m there, too.
Q- Is it ever really too late?
A- Dreams don't have an expiration date. Not even a best by date. If it's still your dream, it's still your dream. My first book was published when I was 45. At 50, I walked the red carpet at the Hollywood premiere of the movie adaptation of Must Love Dogs, starring Diane Lane and John Cusack. And this year, just after I turned 60 (how can it be!), I hit the New York Times bestseller list for the very first time with my novel Life’s a Beach. Take it from me, it is never, EVER too late!
Q- What are a few pearls you hope attendees will take away from your keynote on WWD?
A- I hope the women who attend walk away inspired and ready to move forward in their own lives, and also knowing that we can make lots of mistakes—I certainly have!—and still get where we’re going.
Beyond that, here are five of my favorite pieces of reinvention advice in case anyone reading this can’t make it to Women’s Wellness Day, though I hope you will!
1. Rise above the negativity. Whatever the motive, lots of people will tell you why you can’t or shouldn’t do whatever it is you want to do. You just have to decide to do it anyway. You might want to protect yourself a bit in the beginning, too. I didn’t tell anyone about my first novel until it was finished. You don’t need anyone’s permission—just do it!
2. Be who you really are. The big buzz word these days is branding, but I think of it as authenticity. This is the first job I’ve ever had where I wasn’t pretending, or at least trying to pretend, to be a slightly different person. Who I am and what I write are totally in synch. There’s tremendous power in that!
3. Confound expectations. If everybody’s doing it, it’s already been done. Put a little surprise in everything you do. Originality counts!
4. Do something nice for someone. It’s easy to get needy when you’re struggling to figure out what’s next, but many of the great things that have happened to me were triggered by something nice I did for someone else. People talk—your actions determine what they say. As one of my characters in Multiple Choice once said, karma is a boomerang!
5. Get your tech together. Everything you need to know about the world you want to conquer can be found online. Get your computer skills up to speed – fast! Take a class or find a computer mentor. Research. Network. Create an online presence on Facebook and Twitter. The Internet is a great equalizer – and there are so many opportunities out there just waiting for you to take advantage of them!
Q- What are you working on now?
Must Love Dogs: Bark & Roll Forever, Book 4 in the Must Love Dogs series, just came out, and I decided that instead of jumping right into Book 5, I’d follow up Never Too Late with another nonfiction book, this one about how to grow awesome instead of old. So I’m doing a TON of reading and research about how to rock this aging thing. I’m learning so much, and I can’t wait to share it all with everybody.
Reading With Robin will have a breakout session at Women’s Wellness Day where we’ll be talking about the benefits of belonging to a book club! Reading connects us and opens up a world of dialog about whatever topic you’re interested in. Community equals wellness and a reading community, what’s better than that?
Tickets for this year’s annual event Evening With Authors including Orphan Train’s Christina Baker Kline, Marisa de los Santos and Ted Thompson can be purchased HERE. This event is Wednesday, October 7th and you can use the code RWRGoLocalProv for a 10% discount until August 15th. (Tickets will sell out.
ROBIN KALL is Rhode Island’s own book maven. From author interviews to events with best-selling authors, Robin shares her love of books wherever and whenever possible. You can connect with Robin on Facebook and follow her on Twitter, or on her website which is updated constantly with all new author interviews and bookish information. Reading With Robin is on AM790 Fridays from 4-5pm and on I Heart Radio (search AM790 WPRV).
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