The Last Ten Pounds:
One Woman's Journey to Love
(by shedding Fear, Anger, Hatred...and Everything In-Between)
by Lina
Sage
GENRE: Memoir
BLURB:
Shortly after I was born, my family left
Vietnam’s strict Communist regime by escaping on a tiny fishing boat in the
middle of the night.
Luckily, Canada accepted us as refugees and we
were excited for a new beginning. However, any hopes of a brighter future
vanished before an abusive alcoholic father who’s repeated physical violence
against my mom left me screaming for any stability. Sexual, physical and
emotional abuse clouded my childhood years leaving me so damaged that it
changed who I was meant to grow up to be.
In my early twenties, I bought a house and
converted it into a full blown marijuana grow op.
Soon after, I entered into the world of elite
call girls and became one of the most sought after girls in my agency. By my
late twenties, I was on top of the world and the proud owner of a
multi-million-dollar luxury day spa.
Just when I thought I had it all, I made the
ultimate mistake that ended in me losing everything and hitting rock bottom.
I was spiritually broken and in desperate need
of healing. I had no choice but to reconcile with my past. This decision
brought me down a miraculous journey that opened me up to consciousness and
enabled me to exist in the space I do today; that of uninhibited peace.
The Last 10 Pounds: One Woman’s Journey to
Love (by shedding Fear, Anger, Hatred…and Everything In-Between) is my personal
journey and a testament that it is possible to heal and transform. To be the
person you were born to be.
Excerpt:
“Uncle Quinn… please stop. Please
stop Uncle Quinn! Stop it you’re hurting me!” I wailed loudly.
“Shhh… I’m just playing with you,”
he replied with a sly look on his face, as he continued to grope me with both
hands.
This had happened many times before,
the constant touching and fondling of my private parts every time Uncle Quinn
saw me. See the thing is, I didn’t make it easy for him because of my feisty
nature. Usually I would be able to run away before he could really get a hold
of me and on the times that I couldn’t get away, his inappropriateness would only
last a few minutes until I would squirm so hard that he would finally release
me from his grasp.
But today was different and I felt
it immediately. His huge hand pinned down both my tiny wrists and with his
other hand he proceeded to maliciously rip off my summer jumpsuit. His weight
crushed my petite frame to the floor so much so that I couldn’t move. No matter
how hard I tried, I couldn’t create enough wiggle space to escape his 6’2 lanky
stature. With his free hand he pushed his fingers inside me with such ferocity
that a loud scream escaped my mouth before I could even discern what was
happening.
Author Interview:
What inspired you to write The Last Ten
Pounds?
My
memoir, The Last Ten Pounds, started off as a personal project to help me
process, deal with and heal from the emotional traumas from my past. It
originally started off as nothing more than scribbled notes in my journal.
Before long, it had filled an entire book. That’s when I realized that my
personal project was so much more than journal entries. It was meant to be
shared with the world and maybe along the way help to inspire people in their
own personal struggles.
When or at what age did you know you
wanted to be a writer?
To
be honest, I never wanted to be a writer. My first childhood memory when asked
what I wanted to be when I grew up was that I wanted to be an artist. Soon
after that I wanted to be an actress. I held on to that dream for many years.
In junior high and high school, I was involved in the drama club. I even spent
one summer enrolled in acting classes. But life happened and I soon let go of
that dream. I’ve always been a creative person and I guess writing is an outlet
for me to express my creativity just as acting did. I don’t believe in
coincidences, so I can’t say I accidentally became a writer. I think it was in
me along along to become a writer.
What is the earliest age you remember
reading your first book?
The
earliest age I remember reading my first book was when I was ten years old. I
was in grade five and one of my classmates introduced me to a book series
called The Babysitter’s Club. I was hooked from the first book that I read. The
series is based on four young girls who are navigating through the ups and
downs of their pre-pubescent years. There was boy, family and friendship drama.
I could relate to these characters in so many ways especially with one of the
girls named Claudia. Her character was Japanese-American and myself being
Vietnamese-Canadian, it felt so nice to be able to immerse myself in a series
that had an Asian girl as one of the main characters. In addition, these girls
were young business entrepreneurs running their own babysitting club. Myself being
an over achiever, I aspired to be like those girls and dreamed of owning my own
business one day. When I think of The Babysitter’s Club, I’m hit with nostalgia
because as turbulent as my childhood was, reading those books was my way of
escapism.
What genre of books do you enjoy
reading?
I enjoy
reading memoirs because there is so much truth and vulnerability when one
chooses to share their story with the world. I’m always curios to learn about
some else’s’ experience. As they say, everyone has a story. The unfortunate
part is not enough people write and share theirs. I also enjoy reading
spiritual/self-help books. I’m a big fan of
Krishnamurti, Lao Tzu, Wayne Dyer and Eckhart Tolle. I do enjoy a good fiction
now and again. The last fiction I read was a book by a Swedish author named
Jonas Jonasson called The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and
Disappeared. It was very well written and absolutely hilarious. I would highly
recommend this book. It has been made into a movie but I always find that the
book is always better than the movie.
What is your favorite
book?
My
favorite book is Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. The book is a novel but the topic it
covers is purely spiritual. It’s about a man who answers an ad only to stumble
across an ape. The man is taken aback when he discovers that the ape can talk.
Over the course of the book, they engage in many philosophical conversations
about man and his relationship to the Earth. The message it conveys is so
powerful that every chapter makes you stop to reflect on your own existence.
You know I think we all have a favorite
author. Who is your favorite author and why?
It
depends on what genre we’re talking about. For non-fiction, I would have to
say, Krishnamurti. His teachings are very complex and at times hard to grasp.
But he is the real deal when it comes to spiritual gurus. For fiction, I go
through phases where I’ll read only one author and then when I’m finish reading
their books I move onto another author. For example, I went through a Dan Brown
phase where I couldn’t get enough of his books because I loved how every
chapter he writes ends in a cliffhanger and keeps the reader so engaged. I also
like the topic of his books based around secret societies and symbolism. Then I
went through a Wally Lamb phase where I read all his books and fell in love
with the way he developed his characters so vividly. There’s so many great
authors out there that it’s hard to have one favorite.
If you could travel back in time here on
earth to any place or time. Where would you go and why?
I
would travel back to the conception of our planet to see how it all began. I
think it would be interesting to see the very moment when our planet was
created and what the first life form on Earth was. At the same time, I would
love to see how it all ends.
When writing a book do you find that
writing comes easy for you or is it a difficult task?
Personally
for myself, I find that creativity comes in waves. When I’m riding the wave, I
try to stay on as long as possible and I find that the words come to page
seamlessly. When the wave is gone or some might see this as writer’s block, I
disengage from the writing process and focus on other aspects of my life and catch
the next wave when it comes.
Do you have any little fuzzy friends?
Like a dog or a cat? Or any pets?
Yes! I have a two-year-old Shih-Tzu named Bobo. He’s the love of
my life. I’m the biggest dog lover ever. This never use to be the case because
growing up I used to be terrified of dogs.
I touch upon this in my book when I say, “when you get over your fears,
there is nothing but unconditional love waiting on the other side.”
What is your "to die for",
favorite food/foods to eat?
This
is an easy question. Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate! But I only like
dark chocolate. I like the 85-90% range. Does that make me weird?
Do you have any
advice for anyone that would like to be an author?
Yes.
I would like to share with you and the reader’s one of my blog posts I wrote
called Conquering Fear with Creativity:
Structure
is nothing but stunted growth of fear hiding itself and inhibiting your fullest
potential to flourish and create. We are all creative beings. Listen to the
flow of the river and you shall see that it doesn’t lay stagnant, instead it
moves as a current. Let your inner compass guide you and don’t stay stagnant,
even for a second. For the minute you stay stagnant you inhibit your personal
growth, and if you do this then the light of your creativity will perish into
the darkness.
We
are all creative beings. Let’s not forget our purpose and why we are here. Do
not let one single person stunt your creativity because they are too consumed
in their own darkness to achieve and create. Step into the light. Love, dance,
sing, draw, laugh and create. That is our only purpose here. To stunt
your creativity is to kill your soul. We are not concrete and abstract. We are
artistic and bend whichever way our heart desires. Bend with your heart. Cry
with your heart. Do not shut down your heart, for your heart will bleed and beg
for mercy. Do not shut down the very reason why you are here. You are here but
only momentarily … for a smidgeon of a second. Then your star will be replicated
by another. How do you want to exist? Ask yourself that. Do you want to fill up
your day consumed in nonsense or open up your heart to feel, create and fulfill
the very essence of why you were put here? We all exist for a reason. Go inside
and find your existence, bring it to light and let it flourish. You can only do
this through creativity.
AUTHOR BIO:
Lina Sage is a writer, speaker, producer and
entrepreneur. She is the creator and founder of Chic Spirituality; a movement
whose philosophy is to live your life with heightened awareness by surrounding
yourself with things you deem beautiful. Lina believes balance of mind, body
and soul, is the key to unlocking all things beautiful. Therefore, she enjoys
physical activity to maintain a strong body and meditation to calm the mind.
But she especially cherishes time spent with her beloved husband and dog
because they are what brings her soul the greatest joy. Lina also likes to
surround herself with great food and exotic travels around the world.
Giveaway:
$20 Amazon or B/N GC
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