Interview With Author Leah spelt Ligia Montani
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve worn many hats over the years but the ones cling to are artist (painter), speaker, and writer. I’ve always had a thing for books, if I’m not creating I’m working out for an obstacle course with audiobooks always pumping in the background or hiking with my husband and 4 kids.
This is my first book.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Living with Dirty Glasses: How to clean those dirty glasses and gain a clearer perspective of your life
In my most challenging days struggling with mental health, a laundry list of “diagnoses”, medications, labels, hospitalizations, doctors, therapists nothing helped all I wanted to do was …die. It was a book that changed my life and set me off on a new trajectory from despair to connecting with myself.
Anytime I am asked that question it makes me tear up: I don’t want anyone to feel as alone as I once did. I want to share the profound power we don’t realize we have to heal within ourselves.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I love writing on plain unruled paper. As the writing flow takes hold, the lines of the page feel suffocating as my letters bulge and swell. I love writing with emotional meaningful songs from my history in the background, but I pick one and put it on repeat to connect and stay with that particular emotion that is coming up. the repetition also silences the distraction of any lyrics.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love books by Brene Brown, I’ve learned so much about vulnerability and shame through her work. Seth Godin’s Icarus Deception is a book I continue to revisit. Jenny Lawson, Think again Adam Grant, David Gogins, Rick Mercer, Elizabeth Gilbert, Glennon Doyle, Susannah Canaway… I love books and getting lost in stories and learning how our minds work, the hero’s journey all of it
What are you working on now?
I’m often told by people “I’m not creative” and it feels like a lie. My next book is about the power of creativity and how everyone is creative but we need to redefine what the meaning of the word is. I believe many of us suffer because we deny or just don’t know we need a creative outlet. We are feeling, expressive beings that need that outlet to truly be whole.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have a downloadable journal connect
https://mailchi.mp/409d6f40ddbc/living-with-dirty-glasses?fbclid=IwAR2_NjM4O2oYFqQuaSfwPZ4lvzR-qOZbDTtMfwLS62IERwhmy6LrzbVljnA
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Community is so vital when writing a book. It really helped me be surrounded by people at different stages of the process, it was encouraging and kept me on track. I was accountable for showing up and figuring out what the core message was behind the book. With a deadline in mind and an accountability partner, it pushed me to show up and meet the deadlines.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Throw out what you had and start over. As writers, we can get precious about our work, but I noticed the value in this advice when I started to read past journals and notes and noticed that the essential themes will always come up again, more mature and better formed as time goes on. We think if we let go we will have lost something, but its all already in you. When I read Victor Frankl’s Mans search for meaning and how he had lost his manuscript when he was imprisoned we rewrote it after his release and with far more insight.
What are you reading now?
Stop Guessing: The nine behaviors of great problem solvers by Nat Green
What’s next for you as a writer?
It is developing a companion course that walks you through the process of cleaning your life glasses and rewriting your personal narrative.
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?
Tough questions! Alice in Wonderland, An invisible thread, the Last Concubine, Big Magic
Author Websites and Profiles
Leah spelt Ligia Montani Website
Leah spelt Ligia Montani Amazon Profile
Leah spelt Ligia Montani’s Social Media Links