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International Women’s Day: Book exploring fears features Kelowna writers

The book has launched in time for International Women’s Day

A book featuring Kelowna writers has launched in time to celebrate International Women’s Day.

‘Fear Less’ is an anthology, compiled by 19 women from the U.S. and Canada sharing stories about their greatest fears, how they overcame them and how they have become more resilient as a result of their hardships.

Sharon Hughes-Geekie is a local businesswoman and she said the goal of the book is to show that everyone is affected by fear one way or another.

“This book addresses all sorts of fears, from eating disorders to self-doubt, imposter syndrome to fear of abandonment,” she said.

“We all have fears and a lot of it is self-doubt in disguise and we struggle with how to overcome those fears in order to live our optimal life.”

She added that the stories are to help others, especially women, to overcome or at least be able to live with their fears and to celebrate their victories.

Co-author Andrea Kelly said it’s important to overcome as many of our fears as possible to live the best life we can so that nothing is holding us back. However, she also said it’s also important to understand that there will always be new fears and new trials throughout our lives.

Kristy Keus echoed the sentiment, adding that fear can hold us back from being the best person we can be not just for ourselves, but for our loved ones too.

Kristen Thompson said as women, there are a lot of things that we talk about with each other, but there is also a lot of unsaid things, including what’s difficult or what we’re afraid of.

“I think it’s important to create a sense of sisterhood, especially in these times… we have these nagging fears that many of us didn’t know we had or didn’t talk to each other about,” she said.

“So (this book) creates this sense of not being alone and reminding women we’re alike in many ways.”

For her part, lead author Christine Esovoloff said she hopes when men and women alike read the book, that they gain perspective on the things that are holding them back or that they need to work on.

“For me, writing my chapter in the book highlighted some areas in my life that I wasn’t even aware that fear was really holding me back,” she said.

“So I hope people gain some awareness and maybe gain a step or two on how they might be able to overcome it.”

The book is now available at Barnes & Noble in the U.S. and Chapters in Canada. If you wish to order online, you can do so here.

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Twila Amato
Video journalist, Black Press Okanagan
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Twila Amato

About the Author: Twila Amato

Twila was a radio reporter based in northern Vancouver Island. She won the Jack Webster Student Journalism Award while at BCIT and received a degree in ancient and modern Greek history from McGill University.
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