Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
Dr. Gabrielle Francis has been practicing holistic medicine for over 30 years. She is a Naturopathic Doctor, Chiropractor, Acupuncturist, and Massage therapist. She received her formal medical training at National College of Chiropractic and at Bastyr University. She also has extensive training in Alternative Cancer Therapies, Environmental Medicine, Functional Medicine, Mind-Body medicine, and Bio-Identical Hormone therapies. Following her formal medical education, Dr. Francis travelled extensively to various parts of the world studying medicine with indigenous healers in countries such as China, India, Thailand, Bali, Brazil, Morocco, Peru, Guatemala, Ecuador, Belize, Mexico, Egypt, and Mali.
Gabrielle currently practices in New York City as The Herban Alchemist and operates Backstage Alternative, which provides natural medicine to Rock’n’Roll performing artists on tour. She is the Author of The Rockstar Remedy, a rock’ n’ roll doctor’s prescription for living a long healthy life.
Welcome to Blogcritics, Gabrielle. Tell us about your book.
The Rockstar Remedy is a health and wellness book with a Rock’n’ Roll theme. It shares my philosophy of natural medicine that I acquired from 30 years of working as the tour doctor with some of the biggest Rock Groups in the world. I learned and I share that you don’t have to sacrifice the fun in order to live a healthy life. It is quite the opposite. Getting healthy is an adventure and it should be attainable, enjoyable and non-judgmental. The Rockstar Remedy allows you to change the quality of your life without changing the intensity and indulgence of your lifestyle. In other words, “You can have your shake, and eat cake too!”
Who is your target audience?
The target audience for The Rockstar Remedy is people that are interested in health but have been intimidated by the idea because they thought that it was too difficult, boring, or uncool. It is a book for people that would like to improve the quality of their life and health without really changing the intensity of their lifestyle. This book would appeal to Mothers, business travellers, health and fitness lovers, and music lovers. If you want to get your boyfriend or husband healthy, this might be the book he would enjoy reading. It is a great gift book!
Did your book require a lot of research?
My book required the research of my life and life experiences. The medical content was derived from 17 years of medical school and 30 years of clinical practice. The stories came to me from the research of studying the indulgent behavior of Rock Icons on tour for 30 years. That is truly an anthropological and psychological study. The interviews of the Rockstars required a lot of chasing around famous people that were on tour and recording. This was the most time consuming part of the writing process. I had to hire a couple of journalists to help me with this as it is a full time job chasing down Rockstars and I have 80 of them in the book!
What do you do when your muse refuses to collaborate?
I think the best thing to stimulate my creativity is to change the scenery and get out of the normal life routine. I live in NYC so that is really easy to do. I will just go out for a walk in a new neighborhood and have an adventure. I will almost always have a story or a creative idea that comes to my on one of those adventures. When I travel, especially internationally, I always stir up the creative muse! The travel itself lends to creativity since it puts you in the present moment.
Many writers experience a vague anxiety before they sit down to right. Can you relate to this?
I can relate to a sense of anticipation before I write, but I would not describe it as anxiety. I get a story that starts to formulate in my mind. I will cycle through that story many times until the entire story is completely in my head. It will stay there in my thoughts until I write it down. Writing the story gives me a sense of exhilaration. Then I go celebrate when that chapter or story is finished.
How do you celebrate the completion of a book?
I had a book launch party on Feb.11, 2015, which was a huge success and a very climactic moment. We had 500 people that attended and another 400 had to be turned away at the door. At one point my publicist told me there was a line outside of the hotel that wrapped around the block. The party was attended by lots of Rockers, Rock Lovers and health lovers. Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings brought down the house with a lively set of funk and soul. The Martha Washington Hotel in NYC sponsored us. We had a wonderful spread of “Sound Bites”, healthy food with a Rock n Roll twist. We also served “ Free Spirits”, gluten free alcohol and some non-alcoholic drinks too. The evening was like a dream for me. It is really the first party that I ever had for myself and I am so glad that I did!
How do you define success?
Success is recognizing your gifts, expressing those gifts in a way that is personally satisfying, sharing those gifts with others as inspiration, and having gratitude for that opportunity.
Do you have a website or blog where readers can find out more about your work?
My website is www.TheRockstarRemedy.com and the blog is called The Soundtrack. It is on the same site. The Soundtrack posts three types of content:
- Bonus Tracks, which are Interviews by healthy Rockstars
- Liner Notes, which are Health tips for People that love to live life and celebrate.
- Remix, which are Rock’n’Roll inspired healthy recipes.
I would love to see you all on my site and join The Fanclub, which is my newsletter and social media platform.
Where is your book available?
My book is available at all major bookstores, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Target, Walmart and many indie and independent bookstores. My dream is to see it in the airport bookstores. I really think that this is a great health guide for people on the move. I have great tips in there for staying healthy while travelling that I learned from being on tour with bands for so many years.
George Orwell once wrote: “Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.” Comments?
Writing a book is definitely exhausting and time consuming. The publishing process is the part that is painful and a struggle. I would say that I was driven my angels that I could neither resist nor understand. And they led me to the synchronicity and serendipity that ultimately helped me complete this accomplishment. It was not easy but it was the biggest learning experience of my life. I can’t wait to start my next book!
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