🥳To
celebrate 18 months of Tweetables, I'm revisiting some of the authors
who have featured on the blog so far, and Amanda is my second in this series.
She was my first non-fiction interviewee, way back in April
2022. It was a popular post and I was keen to find out what had happened since
our chat:
'Thanks so much, Jane.
My most popular seniors’ exercise guide has been Balance Exercises for Fall Prevention (published in December 2020).
Late last year, I published a Spanish language version, Ejercicios de Equilibrio para Prevenir CaÃdas (December 2022) and at the beginning of this year, I published an English language audiobook version (January 2023). (You can see my book review below).
Balance Exercises for Fall Prevention was my third seniors’ exercise book and is strictly an exercise guide, incorporating all the exercises presented in my first two books (Balance and Your Body and Balance 2.0). The background on fall prevention and personal stories that supplement the exercises in my first two books have been removed.This book provides a home-based fall prevention workout that doesn’t require special equipment, sweating, or getting down on the floor. The exercises improve balance, increase muscle and bone strength, liberate joints throughout your body, and increase your confidence.
It includes a foreword by my elderly father, Alex, with whom I complete exercises on a weekly basis. He and my mother have been my longest standing exercise participants, including completing live sessions via Zoom during the lockdown days of COVID-19.
The Aging Parents Book is a movement and gentle exercise guide. The purpose of this book is to show you, or your older loved one, how to do gentle movement-based exercises that will both feel good AND improve mobility and strength, as you (they) go about daily life. These exercises will improve walking, reinforce good posture, and enhance ease of movement during day-to-day life. All of the exercises in this book are completed lying down (on a bed) or seated in a chair. The font size has been increased and the font style has been changed, to improve readability for those with eyesight challenges.
In August of this year, I published my 13th book, Shawna’s Outreach: When we each give a little, a lot gets done. It’s my first collaboration, as I worked with a woman named Shawna Thibodeau who runs a grassroots initiative to help feed people living in poverty and on the streets in Ottawa. Shawna’s Outreach began with a Facebook page, sharing photos of donated items and stories of her experiences distributing these donations on the street, to raise awareness of Ottawa's homeless crisis and draw in more donations. From its beginnings, Shawna’s Outreach has received no payment for this work and is not funded.
Earlier this year, I approached Shawna with the idea of writing a book to raise funds and awareness. I volunteered my time and services, as well as recruiting an editorial team as volunteers, to keep the costs of producing the book as low as possible. All royalties from the sale of this book will go to supporting people living in poverty and on the streets of Ottawa.'
Gosh, I feel exhausted just hearing about all of Amanda's work, but what a great collaborative project! So what's next for this busy lady?
'I left my office job at the end of 2022, to focus on supporting family (my adult children still live at home and are in post-secondary studies, and our aging parents are needing more support from my husband and I). My husband says I’m retired, but I say semi-retired, as I still have lots of books in me!
The official book launch for Shawna’s Outreach takes place in late October (Tuesday, October 17th, 2023), so I’m working with Shawna on promoting it. That includes media requests and inviting elected officials for all three levels of government to attend and share details about our book/book launch.'
You can find out more by visiting Amanda's links below and reading our original chat here and my book review follows:
Website: amandasterczyk.com
Instagram: @amanda_stretch