Literarily Speaking

Author Interview with Giselle Mascarenhas, Author of 'SHE FORGOT SHE WAS FREE' #authorinterview

thewriterslife September 20, 2026 0 Comments

Today we are interviewing Giselle Mascarenhas, author of the transformational self-help book, She Forgot She Was Free: Returning to the Girl You Were Before the World Got Loud (Mija Media House).

Giselle Mascarenhas is the founder of BECOME™, creator of the BECOME Methodology™, and author of She Forgot She Was Free. An entrepreneur, speaker, and transformational guide, she has dedicated her life’s work to helping people reconnect with who they were created to be so they can live with greater purpose, freedom, and intentionality.

After years of building businesses, leading organizations, and walking through seasons of personal growth, Giselle recognized that lasting transformation does not begin with external success, it begins with remembering one’s authentic identity. That realization became the foundation of the BECOME Method™, a proprietary methodology designed to guide individuals through a transformational process of self-awareness, healing, alignment, courageous action, and embodied growth. Unlike a framework that offers guidelines for achieving a specific outcome, The BECOME Method™ is a comprehensive method of personal advancement that can be applied across every area of life, leadership, and purpose.

Her debut book, She Forgot She Was Free, is both a deeply personal memoir and an invitation for readers to embark on their own journey of remembrance. Through honest storytelling, reflection, and faith, the book explores the universal experience of losing ourselves beneath expectations, fear, pain, and performance, and the courageous journey of rediscovering the freedom, identity, and purpose that have always existed within us. Rather than simply telling her story, Giselle invites readers to see themselves in its pages and begin writing the next chapter of their own lives.

The book became the catalyst for the broader BECOME movement, an expanding ecosystem of transformational experiences designed to help people move beyond inspiration into intentional action. Through immersive workshops, retreats, leadership development, educational programs, community experiences, publishing initiatives, and speaking engagements, Giselle equips individuals with practical tools to create meaningful and lasting transformation. Every experience is grounded in the belief that personal growth is not about becoming someone different but remembering and embodying the person God uniquely created each of us to be.

Known for her ability to blend heartfelt storytelling with practical application, Giselle creates spaces where people feel seen, challenged, and empowered to take meaningful action. Her presentations combine vulnerability, strategic thinking, and actionable guidance, allowing audiences to leave not only inspired but equipped with a clear path forward. Her work resonates with entrepreneurs, leaders, professionals, educators, faith-based communities, and individuals seeking deeper purpose and authentic fulfillment.

Beyond her work as an author and speaker, Giselle is passionate about developing leaders who create ripple effects within their families, businesses, organizations, and communities. She believes transformation is contagious, that when one person remembers who they are and chooses to live courageously, they give others permission to do the same. This philosophy continues to shape every initiative within the BECOME movement.

Through future books, collaborative publishing projects, leadership academies, retreats, and global speaking engagements, Giselle’s mission is to help millions of people reconnect with their God-given identity and become the fullest expression of who they were created to be. She envisions BECOME as a worldwide movement that empowers individuals to live intentionally, lead authentically, and create lasting impact for generations to come.

Giselle lives in Texas with her family and continues to write, teach, speak, and expand the global reach of the BECOME movement. Whether on stage, in the pages of a book, or through transformational experiences, her message remains the same: the person you are searching for has never been lost, you have simply forgotten who you are. Remember. Rise. BECOME.

Visit her website at www.thebecomemethod.com.

Connect with her on social media at:

╰┈➤Twitter: https://x.com/giselleempowers

╰┈➤ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/giselleempowers

╰┈➤Instagram: https://instagram.com/giselleempowers

╰┈➤Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21957760.Giselle_Mascarenhas

Can you share a story about what brought you to this particular career path?

I don’t think I chose this career path as much as I kept following what God put in front of me.

For most of my life, I have been a builder. I see possibility in people, businesses, communities, and ideas, and I have this almost uncontrollable desire to help bring that possibility to life. But for many years, I didn’t understand that there was a common thread running through everything I was doing.

Then I started doing my own deeper work.

I began asking myself who I was underneath all the roles I had learned to play, the wife, mother, leader, entrepreneur, achiever, the woman who could always figure it out.

That’s where BECOME was born.

And then God called me to write She Forgot She Was Free.

When I walked into the discovery session with my publisher, I didn’t even know what the book was going to be about. We prayed together, and then something happened that I can only describe as God taking over. The framework of the book began pouring out onto her whiteboard.

I went home and wrote the memoir portion in three days.

That was when I understood that my whole life had been preparing me for this work.

The book, BECOME, the experiences I create for women, they are all connected by the same purpose: helping women stop believing they need to become someone else and start remembering who they have always been.

Can you share the most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your career?

One of the most interesting things about my career is how many times I have been willing to begin again.

I have walked away from things that looked successful from the outside because I knew they were no longer mine. I have built things from nothing, watched things fall apart, changed directions, started over, and had seasons where I had absolutely no idea what was coming next.

There was a time when I might have looked at those reinventions as evidence that I couldn’t get it right.

Today, I see them completely differently.

I wasn’t starting over. I was being cultivated.

Every version of my career taught me something I needed for the next one. Business taught me how to build. Leadership taught me how to see possibility in people. Failure taught me humility. Loss taught me discernment. Starting over taught me courage. And all of it eventually gave me the language for the work I do today.

That’s one of the biggest truths in my book: sometimes the thing you thought was taking you off course was actually preparing you for where you were always meant to go.

What was the biggest challenge you faced in your journey writing your book?

Telling the truth without trying to make the truth prettier.

I’m not talking about factual truth. I’m talking about emotional truth.

When you’re writing about your own life, there is a temptation to explain yourself. To justify decisions. To make yourself look wiser in the past than you actually were. To protect people. To protect yourself.

I didn’t want to do that.

I wanted the woman reading this book to recognize herself in my humanity, and that meant I had to let her see mine.

There were memories I had to revisit differently. There were moments when I had to acknowledge where I had been performing, where I had abandoned pieces of myself, where ego had been involved, where fear had made decisions for me, and where I simply didn’t know then what I know now.

The challenge was allowing the woman I am today to love the woman I was then without rewriting her.

That became one of the most healing parts of writing the book.

What is the main empowering lesson you want your readers to take away after finishing your book?

You are WHOLE right now.

Not after you lose the weight.

Not after you make more money.

Not when the relationship is fixed.

Not when you’re more confident, more successful, more disciplined, more spiritual, or finally have everything figured out.

Right now.

So much of what women are sold is based on the idea that there is something wrong with us that needs to be fixed. I reject that.

The woman you were before the world got loud is still there. She didn’t disappear. She got buried underneath expectations, responsibilities, disappointments, survival, and all the identities you learned to perform.

You don’t need to become someone new.

You need to remember who you have always been.

That is what I hope a woman feels when she closes this book, not that she has another list of things she needs to fix, but that she has permission to come home to herself.

What is the one habit you believe contributed the most to you becoming a great writer?

Listening and studying.

I don’t know that I would even call myself a great writer. I would call myself a storyteller who finally became willing to listen.

Add that to being good at studying and recognizing patterns in people.

I study people. I listen to the words they use and the words they avoid. I began to listen and study my own life. I listen when something keeps tugging at me. And most importantly, I listen for God.

When I wrote this book, I wasn’t sitting at my computer trying to sound profound. I (honestly God) was identifying patterns to tell the truth about what I had lived and what I now understood were programming from where we base all of our decisions from.

When something came, I wrote it.

There were days when I wrote for nearly 15 hours because the story was pouring out faster than I could process it.

So if there is a habit behind my writing, it is getting quiet enough to hear what wants to be said, and then having the courage not to edit the life out of it.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most good to the people, what would that be?

I already started it.

BECOME.

But the irony of the name is that I don’t believe women need to become someone else.

I want to create a movement of women who remember.

Women who remember that they are whole before they achieve another thing.

Women who stop shrinking themselves to make other people comfortable.

Women who choose themselves without believing that choosing themselves means they have to stop loving or serving everyone else.

Women who ask God, “Show me what is mine,” and then have the courage to move when He answers.

And women who turn around and do the same for another woman.

Because I don’t believe transformation is supposed to stop with us.

Imagine what happens when a woman remembers who she is. It changes how she mothers. How she loves. How she leads. How she builds. How she walks into a room. How she uses her voice. How she treats other women. What she teaches her daughters and granddaughters.

That’s the movement I want to spend the rest of my life building.

Not millions of women trying to become someone better.

Millions of women remembering they were already free.

She Forgot She Was Free is an invitation to remember the woman you were before fear, expectations, achievement, disappointment, and survival convinced you to forget.

In this deeply personal and transformational book, two-time best-selling author and founder of The BECOME Method™, Giselle Mascarenhas, shares the lessons, questions, and revelations that led her back to her truest self. Rather than offering quick fixes or another self-help checklist, she invites readers into a journey of honest reflection, identity, healing, and intentional growth. Through compelling stories and practical insights, readers are challenged to release limiting beliefs, reconnect with their authentic voice, and rediscover the freedom that has been within them all along.

Rooted in the principles of The BECOME Method™, She Forgot She Was Free equips readers with a powerful way to move beyond simply surviving and begin living with clarity, courage, and purpose. Whether you’re navigating a season of transition, rebuilding after loss, or simply sensing there is more waiting for you, this book will remind you that the life you long for doesn’t begin by becoming someone new, it begins by remembering who you have always been.

Because the person you are searching for has never been lost.

She has simply been waiting for you to remember her.

╰┈➤Book Details

● Title: She Forgot She Was Free
● Author: Giselle Mascarenhas
● Genre: Self Help
● Sub-genre: Inner Child Self Help/Transformational Self Help/Motivational Self Help
● Language:English
● Pages: 132
● Paperback ISBN: ‎ 979-8234125965
● ASIN: B0H6M1PSHT
● Publisher: Mija Media House
● Publication Date: June 23, 2026
● Price: Hardcover $37.99, Paperback $25.81, Kindle $9.99
● Amazon: https://a.co/d/04aiKYWO
● Purchase Signed Copy: https://signedcopy.netlify.app/

Author Interview with Karen Charles, Author of 'EVAN'S STORMY VOYAGE' #authorinterview

thewriterslife September 15, 2026 0 Comments

Today we are interviewing Karen Charles, author of the children's book, Evan's Stormy Voyage (BookBaby).

Karen Charles grew up in West Africa and traveled across Africa, the Middle East, Central America, and Europe. Her rich background and lifetime experiences are reflected in the depth of her writing. In her stories, she transforms real-life narratives into gripping thriller fiction. Her novels intricately weave threads of truth into a tapestry of suspense, intrigue, and riveting storytelling. She is the author of three children’s books in the “Evan’s Adventures in Africa” series, including Freeman Earns a Bike, Evan’s Gift, and Evan’s Stormy Voyage. Her three thrillers include Fateful Connections, set in the aftermath of 9/11, and Blazing Upheaval, set during the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles and the Northridge earthquake. A Glimpse Too Far offers the mystery and heart-pounding suspense of a psychological thriller and is based on a true story. Karen Charles has two businesses—a global company that trains international teachers to teach American English and an Airbnb on a beautiful bay in Washington State, where she and her husband currently live.

Karen’s latest book is Evan’s Stormy Voyage.

Visit her website at www.weaveofsuspense.com.

Connect with her on X, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Can you share a story about what brought you to writing for children?

My writing journey began at age eight during a family relocation to Nigeria in West Africa. Seeing the magnificent crowned crane for the first time left such a lasting impression that I wrote a poem about the experience. To my delight, it was published in the children's magazine Jack and Jill, giving me my first taste of sharing my writing with others.

Although teaching became my lifelong career, writing remained an important part of who I was. As I taught students the art of storytelling, I wrote stories alongside them, often casting my students as characters in our adventures. Those years nurtured my creativity and reinforced my belief in the power of stories to inspire, entertain, and connect people.

After retiring from teaching, I finally pursued my dream of writing thrillers inspired by true stories. My novels weave real events into gripping fiction, creating stories that resonate with readers long after they turn the final page. I have been honored to appear as a guest on podcasts and to speak as an author at schools, libraries, and book festivals, where I enjoy sharing my passion for writing and encouraging others to tell their own stories.

One of the greatest challenges of being a self-published author has been learning the world of book marketing. It has required persistence, adaptability, and a willingness to continually learn new skills. Despite these challenges, the overwhelming encouragement from readers keeps me motivated. Hearing how deeply readers connect with my characters and the true events woven into my stories is the greatest reward and continues to inspire me as I write the next chapter of my journey.

Your latest book, Evan's Stormy Voyage, is about an eight-year-old boy named Evan who leaves New York aboard a freighter bound for West Africa. What is he planning on doing once he gets there?

Evan is planning to go to an American boarding school in Jos, Nigeria, during the school year. He will spend his vacations with his parents, who will be working in Kafanchan.

When the voyage turns out to be quite treacherous with furious storms, how does little Evan handle it?

Evan is scared of the storm but handles it bravely. He and his cabinmate, Mateo, don’t get sick, so they support each other and spend the time together, playing games and reading.

What does your book teach young readers?

Courage doesn’t mean you aren’t afraid. Evan can feel scared, uncertain, or overwhelmed and still keep going. That gives children a healthier picture of bravery: I can be afraid and still be brave.
Storms are temporary. The voyage can become a gentle metaphor for difficult moments in childhood. When things feel chaotic or frightening, children can learn that they can make it through and eventually find calmer waters.
Trust yourself and keep moving forward. Evan’s journey can encourage children to listen to their inner voice, make choices, and discover that they are more capable than they initially realize.
You don’t have to face hard things alone. The story includes people who help Evan, reinforcing that asking for help isn't a weakness—connection is part of courage.
Adventure can come from uncertainty. The storm isn't simply an obstacle; it changes Evan and teaches him something. Children can come away seeing challenges not just as things to escape, but as experiences through which they grow.

What's the main reason someone should really read your book?

Filled with unforgettable characters, breathtaking ocean scenes, and heartfelt moments of friendship, Evan’s Stormy Voyage is a rich coming-of-age adventure that celebrates empathy, resilience, and the power of human connection across cultures. Perfect for readers who love emotionally rich adventure stories, this second book in the Evan’s Adventures in Africa series invites children into a world of discovery they will never forget.

Is this book part of a series?

Yes, Evan’s Gift is the first book in the series, and then Evan’s Stormy Voyage. Coming soon is Evan and Elmer’s Adventures in Africa, which is about Evan and his pet monkey. The next book will be about Evan’s adventures with his dog, Tippy.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most good to the people, what would that be?

If I could start a movement, I would call it “Open the World to a Child.”

I grew up in Africa, became a teacher, an entrepreneur, and eventually an author, and each chapter of my life has taught me the same thing: when we help children understand people whose lives are different from their own, we plant the seeds of compassion.

I would love to see a movement that uses books, education, and personal stories to introduce children to cultures beyond their own neighborhoods and borders. Children are naturally curious. When they read about another child’s home, family, struggles, dreams, and adventures, that child who once seemed “different” suddenly becomes someone they understand.

That is one of the reasons I created Evan’s Adventures in Africa. In Evan’s Stormy Voyage, children experience the excitement of crossing the Atlantic on a freighter, meeting a new friend from Ghana, facing a frightening storm, making mistakes, forgiving one another, and discovering the courage to face the unknown. They are traveling the world without ever leaving their chair.

As a teacher, I learned that education is about far more than reading, writing, and arithmetic. We are also teaching children how to become human beings—how to be kind, curious, resilient, generous, and accepting of others.

Imagine if every child regularly read stories about children from other countries and cultures and then had opportunities to talk about what they had discovered. We might raise a generation that doesn't begin with, “How are you different from me?” but instead asks, “What can I learn from you?”

That is the movement I would start.

Because if we want to change the world, I believe one of the best places to begin is with a child, a book, and an open mind.

Eight-year-old Evan has never crossed an ocean before. Leaving behind the familiar streets of New York, he boards a massive freighter ship with his parents, bound for West Africa, where his family will live for the next four years. Excited yet uncertain, Evan watches the Statue of Liberty fade into the mist and wonders what waits for him on the other side of the Atlantic.

Life aboard the freighter feels like a floating world of its own. The ship carries only a handful of passengers, and Evan quickly befriends Mateo, another boy his age who is traveling to Ghana to live with his grandparents for a year. Together, the boys explore the ship’s narrow passageways, climb to the bridge where Captain Morales lets Evan help steer the vessel, and spend long afternoons in the ship’s library building model kits and solving puzzles while storms churn across the ocean outside.

As the days pass, their friendship deepens. Evan learns that Mateo misses his family as much as he does, and the two boys discover what it means to trust someone far from home. But when Evan’s prized airplane model kit suddenly disappears, suspicion and hurt threaten to destroy their friendship. Angry and confused, Evan must decide whether to hold onto resentment or search for understanding.

Meanwhile, the voyage itself grows more dangerous. A hurricane drifts far off its usual course, slamming the freighter with towering waves that leave passengers frightened and seasick. In the middle of the storm, Evan witnesses courage from the crew, compassion among strangers, and the quiet strength of his own parents as they face uncertainty together. Through the chaos of the sea and the heartbreak of betrayal, Evan begins to mature in ways he never expected.

When the ship finally reaches the bustling ports of Liberia, Ghana, and ultimately Lagos, Nigeria, Evan is overwhelmed by sights and sounds unlike anything he has ever known—towering cranes unloading containers, humid air thick with salt and diesel, crowded harbors alive with movement, and vibrant new cultures waiting beyond the docks. Yet the hardest moment comes when Mateo must leave the ship in Ghana. Their emotional goodbye forces Evan to confront how deeply friendship can change a person, even in a short time.

Filled with adventure, heart, humor, and emotional depth, Evan’s Stormy Voyage is a middle-grade coming-of-age novel about courage, kindness, forgiveness, and finding home in unfamiliar places. Inspired by the author’s experiences growing up in Africa, the story offers young readers a vivid journey across the Atlantic as it explores universal themes of friendship, empathy, resilience, and cultural discovery. Fans of heartfelt adventure stories will be swept into Evan’s unforgettable voyage as he learns that the greatest discoveries are often the ones made within ourselves.

Evan’s Stormy Voyage is available at Amazon.

╰┈➤Book Details

➺Title: Evan’s Stormy Voyage
➺Author: Karen Charles
➺Genre: Children’s Series
➺Language:English
➺Pages: 72
➺Publisher: BookBaby
➺Publication Date: ‎ August 24, 2026
➺Formats: Paperback
➺Paperback ISBN: ‎979-8317844738

# Author Interviews # Evan's Stormy Voyage

Book Blast! To Murder a Marquis by Arabella Sheraton

thewriterslife August 13, 2026 0 Comments

When Jane Carstairs goes to Chelston Hall to complete an archival project, she wakes up in the woods there, only it's no longer 2015 ... it's 1815, and she's faced with the discovery of a possibly dead man…

Escape into the drama and romance of the Regency era with To Murder a Marquis, an immersive time travel adventure full of mystery and passion!

When modern-day Jane Carstairs awakens in 19th century England, she’s thrust into a captivating world of lords and ladies, grand estates, and old-fashioned courtship. But Jane soon realizes there’s a sinister murder plot afoot. As Jane works to discover the truth, she finds herself entangled in a web of intrigue. Will she solve the mystery in time or fall victim to the assassin? And can Jane resist the magnetic pull of attraction in this unfamiliar era?

Transport yourself back to the richly detailed Regency world and join Jane on her unforgettable quest for justice and love. With vivid descriptions, gripping suspense, and passionate romantic encounters, To Murder a Marquis is a time travel adventure you won’t want to miss. Embark on the journey today and discover why readers are raving about this unique, spellbinding tale of courage, connection, and timeless romance.

Read Sample Here.

To Murder a Marquis is available at Amazon.

╰┈➤Book Details

➢Title: To Murder a Marquis

➢Author: Arabella Sheraton

➢Genre: Regency Romance

➢Sub-genre: Time Travel

➢Language:English

➢Pages: 324

➢Publisher: Bublish

➢Publication Date: February 23, 2025

➢Formats: Paperback, Kindle

➢Paperback ISBN: ‎978-1647048969

➢Price: Paperback $14.99, Kindle $2.99

╰┈➤Excerpt

Furious barking woke me from a very nice dream in which my ex-fiancé Allan Hunter was on his knees, begging me to stay, and I had just flung his ring back in his face in a most satisfying manner. The fact he’d dumped me for a full-breasted bistro waitress called Tawnee—that’s right, with a double “e”—who clearly said all the right adoring things, had the intelligence of a single-celled organism, and was a tigress in the bedroom was something I chose to ignore.

The dog wouldn’t stop barking. I opened my eyes, and there he was, a beautiful russet-coloured retriever, barking like mad, but with his tail wagging. Still slightly dazed, I shook my head. What the hell was I doing lying under a tree? I was supposed to be in the library at Chelston Hall, helping Dad, who was in hospital in London with bronchitis, collate the archives of the Hadley family. I could almost hear him say, “Jane Carstairs, what on earth are you doing there when you should be working?”

The dog was still barking. I’m not afraid of dogs so I raised myself on one elbow. “Here, boy. What’s the matter?”

I held out one hand for him to come over and have a sniff as an introduction. The dog took a few steps forward, then ran back to his original spot, and barked once. Clearly, a clever canine. He was telling me something. But what? I struggled to sit up. For some reason, my clothes were constricting; something like a straitjacket encircled my chest. Instead of my casual T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, I wore an ankle-length flowing dress, and short lace-up boots, along with a tight, short, long-sleeved jacket. I was in period costume straight out of Pride and Prejudice. Not funny! Someone had obviously pranked me but managing to undress and get me into this suffocating costume was beyond a joke. Plus, how did I get from sitting in a chair in the library to lying under a tree?

Back to the dog again, which now seemed very agitated. He ran back and forth a bit and whined. By pulling my dress and copious amounts of petticoat up to my knees, tearing something at the jacket shoulder in the process, I managed to stand. The dog ran off through the trees as if on a mission. Maybe someone was hurt, and the mutt was looking for help? Dogs can be so clever that way. Running in the narrow skirt was impossible so I hitched the skirt as high as I could and chased after the dog. Ten minutes later I arrived, panting, at the scene of a bloody accident. Bloody is no exaggeration. A man, also dressed in period costume—riding gear—lay on his back, his arms flung out. He was either asleep, or unconscious, or ... I didn’t even want to consider the last option. The dog stood next to him, its tail wagging. It looked at me, whining as if to say, “Help him.” I knelt and took a closer look. Robert William Edward Hadley, the Marquis of Coleston, lay before me. An arrow protruded from the top of his left shoulder, a massive amount of blood soaked the front of his fawn-coloured coat, and he looked very dead.

– Excerpted from To Murder a Marquis by Arabella Sheraton, Bublish, Inc., 2024. Reprinted with permission.

About the Author

From Jane Austen to Georgette Heyer, Arabella Sheraton has found both enjoyment and inspiration in sparkling, witty Regency novels. She also loves history and generally finds the past more fascinating than the future. Arabella wrote her first Regency romance to entertain her aged mom who loved the genre. Arabella is honoured to share the adventures of her heroes and heroines with readers.

Arabella’s book, To Murder a Marquis, is available at Amazon.

Visit her website at https://www.arabellasheratonbooks.com.

Connect with her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/regencyromances/ and X at https://x.com/ArabellSheraton.