Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Hi! My name is Freda Mooncotch. I’m a fitness fanatic. I’ve been working out since I was in diapers. However I was absolutely uncoordinated, basically a bid klutz and no matter how hard I tried I just wasn’t very good at sports. Mom had high hopes and put my in ballet, tap and dance which I absolutely loved in-spite of my lack of grace. I tried out for cheerleading and again I made the squad but just couldn’t get my body to cooperate with me.
I tried out for all the numerous sports teams in grade school and by some stroke of luck I managed to make the teams, year after year, but at best I was the teams official bench warmer (every team has to have them). Then it all came together and the magic happened, I gave birth to my son at 19 and everything that I couldn’t get to work before came together like a well oiled machine and my coordination arrived.
As the saying goes… “The rest is history.” I became one of the top step instructors at Bally’s Chicago Health Club, and spin instructors at another club. All those tap, dance and ballet classes finally paid off. From there I studied Ortho-Bionomy, Jin Shin Do, Reflexology, massage therapy and nutrition and have been obsessed with fat loss, metabolism, and nutrition for the past 20 years. I love n=1 experiments where I can take theories and play them out into real life experience rather than spout off a bunch of research papers.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Defying Age With Food: It’s What You Eat, Not How Much You Exercise! Reclaim Your Health, Energy & Vitality. Came from deep within my soul after being sick and not understanding why. I was doing everything the doctors told me to and I was the picture of health and at the age of 39 my world just started falling to pieces. I felt as if I were stuck in a pin the tale on the donkey game where my team of doctors were blindly trying to guess what was wrong with me. Out of complete frustration I opted out and decided to seek alternative therapies and heal myself.
My book is about my journey and how I was able to overcome and heal adrenal burnout, hypothyroidism, chronic fatigue and chronic stress.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
That is a fantastic question. When I wrote Defying Age with Food, I did it in less than 2 months. It was like an obsession and once I got into the writing “trance” you couldn’t move me. And as any one who writes knows, you’ve got to be in the “flow” to really write a story that is worth reading. The worst thing a writers book can be is BORING! That is my nightmare. I didn’t want a boring story so I had to go deep within my soul and let the feelings, emotions speak to me and translate them into a story that many could relate to.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I don’t own a TV so I spend a great deal of my free time reading. So many authors have influenced me like Jimmy Moore and Dr. Eric Westman of Cholesterol Clarity, Dr. William Davis of Wheat Belly, Gary Taubes of Why We Get Fat, Pam Killeen of Addiction: The Hidden Epidemic, Dr. David Perlmutter of Grain Brain, Dr. Michael Eades of Protein Power, William Lagakos Ph.D., author of The Poor Misunderstood Calorie, and Mark Sisson’s work and too many more to mention.
Other books and authors that have had a profound influence on my life are Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Dr. Weston A. Price, Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, Good Meat by Deborah Krasner, and Folks This Ain’t Normal by Joel Salatin.
Dr. Peter Attia’s work fascinates me as well as Dr. Nannette Yount, Dr. Dominic D’ Agostino, Ellen Davis and others on The Ketogenic Diet and Cancer.
I’ve read every book by Malcolm Gladwell and am currently reading AntiFragile by Nassim Taleb and plan on reading all of his books too. I love book on history and war too.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on my Functional Diagnostic Nutrition certification as well as going back to school for exercise physiology an nutrition. I also just started my second book Shut Up & Keto ™ which is basically part 2 of my miracle. The Ketogenic Diet literally changed my life over night. What started out as a fun n=1 experiment turned out to be the best thing I’ve “accidentally” done, but then again I don’t believe in accidents.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
The best method of promotion is writing a story that sells itself. A story that evokes an emotional response from the reader. Whether it is controversial, hate, erotic, sad, whatever the case maybe, you want to tap into those deep emotions. Someone who hates your work with a passion will, unwittingly, sell far more copies than someone who likes it, largely due to the passion they put behind knocking you and your work.
If you are self-published, the second method is having your own website for the book and creating a following and buzz through social media. There is no shame in self-promotion and cross-promotion with other authors.
Amazon.com is also a great place.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Oh wow! Being so new myself I feel like I shouldn’t be offering any advice. As a new author I can tell you what not to do in writing a book. I learned the hard way and made a ton of mistakes. Don’t give up if you are really passionate about your subject. Spend some time with other authors and pick their brain.
People make writing a book look easy. Trust me it’s not as easy as it looks!
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The more you try to protect your reputation the more you lose it. People who are self-employed, like many authors, must not worry about protecting their reputation. In order to get noticed in a very loud world, you need to be interesting and fearless.
Comfort stifles creativity and innovation. When you get too comfortable you stop dreaming, you tend to get complacent. If you have goals and want to achieve those goals being uncomfortable helps you become incredibly innovative and think outside the box.
Be flexible, adaptable, Antifragile and ready to recreate yourself when the time calls for it. When you make a mistake or “fail” tear it apart, reflect, dissect it, and learn from it. Every thing we do in life is a lesson to teach us and guide us. Failure is not something to be afraid or ashamed of but a tool to learn from. In fact, allow yourself to experience “post traumatic growth” instead of post traumatic stress. Which means you thrive when life hands you your butt. It pushes you to the next level. One of my favorite movies that really drives this idea home is RUSH.
What are you reading now?
I’m reading Antifragile by Nassim Taleb, David & Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell and almost finished with The Diary Of A Young Girl by Anne Frank
What’s next for you as a writer?
I LOVE learning. The more I learn the less I know and I just could be a life long student. My brain seeks out knowledge like a moth to a flame. I’ve been this curious ever since coming out of the womb. I look out my eyeballs and just want to know what makes things tick, what makes things work, if I do this what will happen…
I’m self-employed and work with clients from skype and have the freedom to do this from anywhere in the world. With that in mind, I’ve set my heart on returning to school in Seattle, Washington Fall of 2014.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Anything by Malcolm Gladwell, history books focused on some of the greatest wars both wins and loses. Survival books. Yeah, I’m totally into that stuff. Definitely NOT any self-help books!
Author Websites and Profiles
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