About

Today’s episode marks the one year anniversary of my Straight Talk for a Curvy World podcast. I truly believe in the work we are doing here on the show and all of your generous feedback lets me know you believe in it too. To help me celebrate this milestone, I am speaking today with an amazing woman, Ann Sheybani. Ann was my very first guest on my very first episode of this podcast. During her episode, Sharing Secrets About the Stranger Within, she opens all the way up and shares her secret truths. Her episode is to date, the most popular and most downloaded episode from the past year.   A Great Writing Coach Ann Sheybani is my writing coach. If she tells me I am ready to release my book, I believe her. Ann says there are many people who are not able to share their stories with the world because they have not yet dealt with their emotions around the subject they want to write about. According to Ann, “When you are writing about your past, your feelings come back to you as if you are experiencing them again...” She says, many people dissociate from their feelings which make them hard to access. If they want to write a powerful story they have to think about everything they were feeling at the time and allow the reader to identify with the why behind the what. As a book coach, Ann Sheybani likes to form deep bonds with her clients. She wants the relationship to be a positive one for both parties. She will refuse a client if they are damaged or need more therapy than writing can provide. But she says, when a writer is ready to learn and to be critiqued without getting their feelings hurt, she can help them to uncover their role in their past situation. And, that is when the story gets interesting.   I Thought I Loved Myself While I was revising my still untitled book, there were numerous epiphanies that bubbled up. One epiphany that really stood out was looking back at all the times I thought I loved myself. How do you know if you love yourself anyway? If I thought I loved myself then and I think I love myself now…how is a girl supposed to know? Given the transformative process that this book has had on me, I realize it is much easier to be honest than it is to hide things. There will always be someone judging. It’s unavoidable. The takeaway I want people to get from my book is to remind them they are not alone, they are not the only one, and they are not crazy either.   Send Me Your Questions and Your Stories Do you need to catch up on early episodes of this podcast? If you do, go to Annpeck.com. You can share your comments, questions and feedback with me on the blog page or on social media @Iamannpeck. Send me a private email at ann@annpeck.com (I am the only one who reads it). If you would like to send in a voice recording, you can record a voice memo on your phone -including your name- and share your message with me. Be sure to subscribe to this podcast and share your review on whichever platform you use to listen.