Claudette Alexander's Page

Cold Coffee Press Spotlight Interview With Author Claudette Alexander

Claudette Alexander was born in St. Lucia and has been living in Toronto for the past 40 years. Retired, her past experiences involve work in accounting and union activists. She has been battling chronic kidney failure for 10 years and currently volunteers leading workshops on living healthy with chronic health conditions.

Her memoir ‘Sunrise From An Icy Heart’ is about her transformational journey into womanhood, her search for a special kind of love, the tears and joys of motherhood, and her fight to remain among the land of the living.

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Interview:

What makes you proud to be a writer from Canada? I am proud that Alzheimer’s has not overtaken my mind as yet and I can still remember scenes from my past that I can recreate on paper.

What or who inspired you to become a writer? My children inspired me. They did not grow up with their fathers and I always had the desire to let them know of the love that preceded their birth.

When did you begin writing with the intention of becoming published? I have always wanted to write a book. In 2005 I spent three months in the hospital fighting for my life. When I got out the desire to tell my story become more pressing.

Did your environment or upbringing play a major role in your writing and did you use it to your advantage? My environment had everything to do with my writing. I wrote about the life I lived.

Do you come up with your title before or after you write the manuscript? I started with one title and changed it several times but when I came to the end of my story the appropriate title came to me.

My initial intentions was to write children books so I did some training in that genre however when I started to write about a love I once had and then my quest to find fulfilling love, the writing took a different turn and I ended up with my experiences from age 22 to 59. This became MY Memoir.

What has been your most rewarding experience with your writing process? At this stage of my life I am beginning to forget things, people and places. I am so thankful that I was able to complete and publish this novel knowing that it will be there years after I have departed this earth. As someone with a chronic health condition, I inspire many people and will continue to do so.

What has been your most rewarding experience in your publishing journey? I have been on a constant learning curve. I amaze myself with how much I have learned and how much I am yet to learn in this industry.

Have you had a negative experience in your publishing journey? If so please explain how it could have been avoided? I spent two years writing query letters to agents and publishers and kept getting rejections letters, then I took matters into my own hands and got the job done.

What one positive piece of advice would you give to other authors? Read read read and read again.

Who is your favorite author? I do not have one favorite author because I like many. I like Eckhart Tolle, Nicholas Sparks, Terri McMillan and many more.

Is there anything else that you would like to share with us? Never give up on your aspirations.  Many days when I sat down on the dialysis chair I would be writing and the nurses kept asking, “What are your writing?”

“My book” I replied. Then it became, “When is that book going to be published?” with a smile of course. Then it became a laugh. Well now they are in awe and so is everyone else.

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Sunrise From An Icy Heart – by Claudette Alexander

Do you want to overcome betrayal, grief, and/or manage a chronic health condition, and find fulfilling love?

‘Sunrise From An Icy Heart’ will take you on a discovery of the human need to find a special kind of love, raise loving sons and rise above the strangling odds that face immigrants.

Alexander chronicles her transformational journey into womanhood from age 22 to 59. Her first love left her alone and pregnant. She searched for love but encountered stormy weather until her heart grew as frigid as the North American winters. It would take a special man to crack through her icy heart. After four failed relationships and two sons: Terence, as charming as a sunrise and Kriston, her sunshiny star, she struck gold with Malcolm whiles battling chronic kidney failure.

A story of survival and determination, from St. Lucia to Canada through a midst of rejections, abandonment and the power to smash through the fence of fear and fly. A sensual, amusing, and fun read that will stimulate your senses, make you laugh, cry and learn some essential life lessons. This book is intended for mature readers.

Genre: Memoir

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‘Sunrise From An Icy Heart’ by Claudette Alexander is a memoir. Keep in mind that Memoirs allow the reader to go back in time with the author to relive people, places and events.

Claudette’s memoir begins at age 22 and ends when she is 59. Her story comes from a single mother’s perspective giving us a glimpse into St Lucian customs.

Quote from her book: "A thousand buds of happiness exploded in me. A heat-wave engulfed me. I could feel my face ablaze. My smile was as calm and wide as the Caribbean Sea. Yes indeed, this was the moment I had waited for. My big elaborate wedding was happening with my soul mate, the man who knew how to love me. The man who knew how to marry me. The man who knew how to get the sunrise from my icy heart. There was a peace flowing from his heart into my heart."

View and enjoy a book reading from Claudette Alexander at You Tube. http://youtu.be/iSfdPoDSuJA

Book Preview from Cold Coffee Press (July 2014) http://www.coldcoffeepress.com

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View Book Excerpt Reading At You Tube

View Video Book Trailer At You Tube

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