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Belgium

Belgium

In 2011 I visited Belgium. Read about my adventures in Dutch.

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Esther Jacobs2022-08-27T17:41:37+02:00

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GEFELICITEERD CATHARINA OOIJENS! @catharinaooijen

GEFELICITEERD CATHARINA OOIJENS!

@catharinaooijens ging met pensioen. Haar werkgever, het UMC ziekenhuis, vroeg haar een boek te schrijven over haar werk als klinisch doula, bevallingscoach.

“Ik had geen idee hoe dat te doen. Esther hielp me niet alleen met de opzet en structuur, maar leerde me ook van alles over promotie, uitgeven en nog veel meer.”

Tijdens de schrijfweek in de Franse Alpen maakte Catharina grote stappen. En nu, precies een jaar later, is haar boek klaar. ‘Mijn Stem; met 12 verhalen van bijzondere vrouwen met een complexe zwangerschap.’

“De boekpresentatie was geweldig, vooral omdat een aantal ouders die ik in het boek interview er ook waren. En natuurlijk de andere deelnemers van de schrijfweek, wiens boeken binnenkort uitkomen.”

Ben jij de volgende succesvolle schrijver? Van 9-16 oktober help ik je tijdens de schrijfweek ind e Franse Alpen om jouw boek tot leven te brengen. Meer info in de comments.

WHAT ALZHEIMER CAN TEACH US Today, on World #Alzh

WHAT ALZHEIMER CAN TEACH US

Today, on World #Alzheimer's day I want to honor everybody who is touched by this disease; patients, families, friends and caretakers 🙏

I wrote this poem for my dad.

We are often so consumed by ‘things’. Let’s focus on love; it’s the only thing we know for sure that is always there. It may be the last thing that remains of a person…

You’re leaving us little by little
Your body is still here, but your mind is drifting further away
It’s scary to see how a mind that was once so sharp now has problems with simple things
Once you made lots of money, now even simple math is too much
Once you traveled all over the world, now you don’t remember where you live
Once you provided for your family, now you forget to eat and drink
You can still tell stories, it’s just that you repeat the same ones over and over
You still crack jokes, but they’re always the same
And you ask interested question, but you forget the answers
Some people change personality because of this horrible disease
Fortunately, you seem to become more open and loving every day
We help you where we can, but you want to be independent
One thing is still the same: you are still as stubborn as ever!
You try to keep your grip on the world around you, but it’s slipping through your fingers like sand.
When you can’t trust yourself anymore, the world becomes an overwhelming place, so you’d rather stay at home
Watching CNN, over and over again.
I wish you’d concentrate on happier things, but you seem content
Maybe CNN is made for people like you; repeating the same ‘news’ over and over
It has become your lifeline to the world
Every day you go for an hour walk around the golf course
Always in the same direction so you don’t get confused
I wish I could walk beside you more often
Instead I call you on Facetime and show you the places I visit
You remember most of them -from your travels- and tell me stories I already know
This is our life now, connected by technology
And by LOVE
You’re leaving us little by little
But you’re still here and that’s what counts!
I know there will be a day when I wish I could hear you tell that same old joke again and again…
So please, tell me again…

❤️

8 TASKS YOU COULD OUTSOURCE TO A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT

8 TASKS YOU COULD OUTSOURCE TO A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT

Stop wasting your time on things that somebody else can do better (and cheaper) than yourself

Did you know you can hire a qualified VA for as little as $5-10 per hour?

1. Creating visuals for social media, your book, newsletter, website etc.
2. Data capturing and data entry, to keep you organized
3. Customer service, handling your emails
4. Publishing and scheduling what you write on your blog, website, newsletter and social media
5. Copywriting and editing for your website, blog, emails and social media (even your book!)
6. Project management, creating SOP’s (Standard Operating Procedures)
7. Managing your IT, website and other technical stuff
8. Basic research on any topic

Want to know how to find a good VA and successfully outsource tasks at a budget you can afford?

Join the live online workshop September 21st!

See comments for more information.

Leaving Miami in style… with some help from my s

Leaving Miami in style… with some help from my sweet dad 🧳 Flying business class makes a night flight a pleasure instead of horrible. Lately I have decided that if I can find a good deal, I will give myself the pleasure of flying business on long night flights. #noexcuses 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

HOME Did you know that I have struggled with the

HOME

Did you know that I have struggled with the concept of 'home' since I was 17?

I left my childhood #home during an argument between my parents, who were divorcing, and have never returned. The 'happy family' photo is all I have left of my happy, safe childhood...

Since then I've been proving to myself that I don't need a home. The times I did connect emotionally to a place, I always had to leave (a relationship ended, the place needed to be renovated, a mother-in-law didn't like me, a house was sold, a municipality deregistered me, etc.).

I lived in over 40 different places in 35 years. As soon as I found a place and settled down, I wanted to travel again. After a while on the road, I needed a base again; but after a month or two, the travel 'itch' started again...

I am very curious if this will be different when I will live on my @tinytrullo Trullo land for the next 9 months.

What does 'home' mean to you?

WHY YOU HAVE TO DRESS YOUR WOLF IN SHEEPS CLOTHING

WHY YOU HAVE TO DRESS YOUR WOLF IN SHEEPS CLOTHING

When I wrote my 1st book ‘What is your excuse?’ (about fraud & deception in the charity world) I made sure the villains committing those crimes were portrayed as the bad people I knew them to be. My publisher forced me to change that.

“The first time you met those directors of the big charities, how did you experience them?” Well they seemed nice and normal then, but” I was eager to explain what I had found out about them later. “Don’t rush into conclusions,” the publisher insisted. “Take your time, take the reader with you through your experiences and thought process as you lived them back then” he advised.

Rewriting those characters was the hardest thing I ever did. To describe the first meeting with the 3 men that would give me nightmares for many years, just like the naive me of 28 years old me saw them at that time: friendly, competent, experienced. It was hard to recall the nice things they had said to me during that first meeting. To write down how inexperienced I felt next to these impressive men and how I had looked up to them at first. But I realized it was the only way to go if I wanted my story to make sense, to be realistic and interesting, to be read.

I understood then that my readers would eventually come to the same conclusion by themselves. By me just sharing my story and providing the facts, not forcing my conclusion onto them.

Many writers struggle with bringing their story to life - losing the interest of their readers. Their characters and dialogues are not lively or realistic.

As I wrote and published more books I not only learned to manage the pace of the story and to make my characters realistic, but also to liven up my story with direct dialogue and quotes, like I did in the first paragraph of this email. (Try to image the difference if I had just given the tips, without the dialogue).

Storytelling is not only for fiction books: it also makes non-fiction books much better. I explain all this and help you avoid the mistakes, make your characters and dialogues more realistic. Join my live online workshop: ‘From idea to book’ - 14 Sep: See link in bio!

LIVE AND WRITE IN REVERSE “The tragedy of life

LIVE AND WRITE IN REVERSE

“The tragedy of life is that you live it ‘start to end’, but you can only understand it in reverse. One way to at least overcome this when writing a book is using the reverse writing method that Esther explained during her workshop. You start with the back cover text and design. Next, you begin promoting and selling the concept. Only then do you start writing. It’s kind of tragic that I only understand this now that my book ‘Stress-free leadership’ is almost finished.”

– Niels van Steenbergen, entrepreneur

Are you thinking of writing a book? Or are you working on another big project, like a website, screenplay, or thesis? Then I would really encourage you to start at the end, by writing your back cover, storyline, home page, or executive summary. This is the first thing people read to decide if they are interested. Very few people realize that the back cover is the most important page of their book. Not only is it your executive summary, your sales material, your first connection to a publisher or investor, but it also provides you the structure for the rest of your book or project.

Before I discovered this ‘secret’ I was struggling with big projects and the books I was writing. Now I have already published over 30 books. Do you want to learn my Reverse Writing secrets? Join my live online ‘From idea to book’ workshop on Sept 7th (Dutch) or 14th (English).

More info in the comments.

DOUBLE LUCKY! On the train towards Schiphol, my di

DOUBLE LUCKY!
On the train towards Schiphol, my digital nomad friends sent me this picture of the enormous waiting line at the airport 😱
Normally I fly KLM and I have priority as a frequent flyer, this time I had booked a ticket with ITA airways and had no way to avoid the queue. 😬
Still, I felt a calmness inside me. I would find a way to make this trip smooth as always. 🧘‍♀️
To my surprise I found out that the ITA checkin is handled by … KLM, so I could use the short priority line! 🙏🏻
So while my friends were unfortunately still in line outside, it took me only 30 mins from train to checkin to security to lounge. 💪🏻
As an extra bonus, it turned out I had booked a business class ticket without being aware of it (it was the cheapeat ticket on the budget air website, you don’t expect that at all). So also the rest of my trip will be smooth and luxurious. 💫
Thank you, Universe! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

PS I invited my friends to the lounge to share this bliss!

As I am flying to Puglia today, I am already looki

As I am flying to Puglia today, I am already looking forward to my next event: the writing retreat in the French Alps from Oct 9-16.

These memories from last year really make me want to be in the mountains, search for mushrooms, taste the amazing food from our private chef and of course be with the writers!

Congrats by the way to @catharinaooijens who is about to publish her book!

Do you want to join me on this retreat? Check out estherjacobs.info/en/writingretreats/french-alps/

See you there? ⛰ ✍️ 📚 🍷

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Workshops

From idea to book workshop (Dutch)
Online: Oct 5th
Write-focus session
Online: Oct 18th
Digital Nomad workshop
Online: Oct 19th
How to turn anything into a business
Online: Nov 16th
Light your fire without the burnout
Online: Dec 14th
Modern promotion and ‘free publicity’
Online: Jan 18th
From idea to book workshop (English)
Online: Feb 15th
Digital delegation workshop
Online: Apr 12th

Retreats

Inspiration trip to Puglia: Oct 27-31st

Write your book in 1 week:
The French Alps: Oct 9-16th
Curaçao, Caribbean: March 20-27th
Mallorca, Spain: May 24-31st

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