Interview with Dr. Gabrielle Francis, author of 'The Rockstar Remedy'
Dr.
Gabrielle Francis has been practicing natural medicine for more
than thirty years.
She
is a Naturopathic Doctor,
Chiropractor, Acupuncturist, and Licensed Massage therapist. Dr. Francis
currently practices in New York City as The Herban Alchemist. She also operates Backstage Alternative,
which is her natural medicine road show that provides chiropractic, massage,
acupuncture, nutrition and herbal remedies to performing artists on tour.
Dr. Francis received her formal medical
training at National College of Chiropractic and at Bastyr University. She 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.
Stacy Baker
Masand is a health, fitness and lifestyle editor whose work has
appeared in magazines such as In Style, Marie Claire, Self, Shape, Fitness, DuJour and Women's
Health. She's co-author of New York Times bestseller Your
Best Body Now. Stacy is currently developing projects for both small
and big screen.
Their latest
book is the health/wellness/rocknroll book, The
Rocstar Remedy.
For More
Information
- Visit Dr. Gabrielle Francis’ website.
- Connect with Gabrielle on Facebook and Twitter.
- Find out more about Gabrielle at Goodreads.
- Connect with Gabrielle on Instagram.
- Visit Gabrielle’s blog..
- Contact Gabrielle.
About the Book:
Known
as the “Rock n’ Roll Doctor” to some of the most famous bands in the world, Dr.
Gabrielle Francis shares her unique holistic prescription to achieving health
and balance—even when you don’t live like a saint!
As a Holistic Doctor to the music industry’s elite, Dr. Francis has helped rock stars repair, recover, and refuel from the demanding schedules and occasional overindulgences that come along with the rock star lifestyle. Being overscheduled, sleep-deprived, overeating, drinking and managing physical and mental stressors aren’t lifestyle habits unique to the music industry; they are the same challenges faced by all of us, every day.
As a Holistic Doctor to the music industry’s elite, Dr. Francis has helped rock stars repair, recover, and refuel from the demanding schedules and occasional overindulgences that come along with the rock star lifestyle. Being overscheduled, sleep-deprived, overeating, drinking and managing physical and mental stressors aren’t lifestyle habits unique to the music industry; they are the same challenges faced by all of us, every day.
In The Rockstar Remedy, Dr.
Francis shares her unique strategies designed to be incorporated into your
hectic lifestyle. Her programs are customized to meet you where you are at,
whether an experienced health enthusiast or a beginner. Completing the 21 day
detox will give you a renewed sense of energy and enthusiasm for life, while
looking and feeling your personal best. She explains how health is not a
destination, but exists on a spectrum, and the simple act of making better
choices every day—even if they’re not the best choices—helps
us achieve balance in both mind and body. With tips for improving energy
levels, easy food guidelines and a simple no-starvation detox, Dr. Francis
offers a simple, effective plan for staying healthy and happy amid the chaos of
our daily lives. Her popular “Harm Reduction Techniques” and “90/10 Rule” make
it easy to celebrate life with occasional indulgences while maintaining good
health. This is not a temporary fix; this program brings long-lasting,
life-changing results.
Now you can reach for the stars too!
For More Information
- The Rockstar Remedy is available at Amazon.
- Pick up your copy at Barnes & Noble.
- Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.
Q: Welcome to The Writer's
Life! Now that your book has been
published, we’d love to find out more about the process. Can we begin by having you take us at the
beginning? Where did you come up with
the idea to write your book?
Dr. Francis: I have been practicing alternative medicine for nearly 30
years. I love what I do. However, I had been feeling for sometime that
I would like to take my message to a wider audience as I felt I had much to
share from many years of working with Rock musicians and keeping them healthy
through lives of excess and indulgence.
I was asked to write a book by a
literary agent, the Godfather of Celebrity doctors. He said that I needed to write a book that
would appeal to the “health book reader” target audience who were primarily
women between the ages of 25 and 55… and they were interested in beauty, weight
loss and depression
.
I found this kind of sad and boring. After all, there are 1000s of books on the
shelves like that and most are so boring that I don’t even read them and I am
in the business.
Then one day I was having an
adventure in NYC, just walking through the city and enjoying the people
watching. I had one of those “I have a
great idea moments” that I should write my story about working in the music
business and how all these rock stars are getting healthy. It would be the
alternative to sex, drugs and rock’n‘roll.
I could use the Rock stars as the ambassadors for my health message and
take the message to a new audience. I
wanted to inspire people that were not so interested in health to “join the
church” not to just “preach to the choir”.
I was elated with my wonderful idea. But this agent thought it was a terrible
idea. His comment was “Where would we
put it on the bookshelves? Health or
Rock’n ‘Roll?” I said to him, “How about
the best sellers section? Anyway, there
aren’t so many bookstores any more!” So
we parted ways, as he did not feel that I had a viable idea.
I thank this man for giving me the
idea and inspiration to write. I sat on
my idea of a couple of years before my agent serendipitously walked through the
door of my practice.
Q: How hard was it to write a
book like this and do you have any tips that you could pass on which would make
the journey easier for other writers?
Dr. Francis: The first challenge was to
interview 80 Rockstars about their health.
Chasing creative types around the world while they are on tour or
recording and getting them to talk about their health...This was intense. But once we got the interview they were
thrilled to be part of the movement as not many people have asked them how they
actually keep up this lifestyle from a physical and spiritual perspective.
The second challenge was that the
publishers and I had different ideas of who the target audience was. Harper Collins wanted me to stay in the box
of the “health book reader”. It would be a safe sell. I wanted to take the message to a totally
new audience by using the Rockstars as ambassadors. I guess that 30 years of hanging out with
creative types made me not like being boxed into appealing to one target
audience. I didn’t want to “preach to
the choir”. I wanted “to get more people
to join the church!” Ultimately, we
came up with some good compromises.
I learned that publishing a book is a difficult process
that involves a lot of negotiating. But
that when you have an idea and belief that you can “feel in your gut”… You have
to fight for it and not budge. The “gut
feelings” and “intuitions” always rule over the logic and reason. Then, the other things you have to just let
go of and not look back.
I would also recommend that you
hire a publicist to help you sell your book and have that lined up months
before the release date. The publisher
was very engaged during the writing but you really have to sell your own
book. Social media and other clever
online strategies such as Book Blog tours are essential in this changing market
especially, since there aren’t too many bookstores anymore.
Q: Who is your publisher and how
did you find them or did you self-publish?
Dr. Francis: I sat on my idea for a while
until another agent, Peter McGuiggan, the founder and owner of Foundry Media,
serendipitously came to my practice.
Peter specializes in Rock n Roll Autobiographies and his partner, Yfat,
specializes in Health and Wellness. They
ate it all up! So from there, they
helped me to develop The Rockstar Remedy. I sold it to Harper Collins Wave. The publisher, Karen Rinaldi, is known for
publishing health books with an edge to them.
And this one definitely has an edge.
Q: Is there anything that
surprised you about getting your first book published?
Dr. Francis: I was surprised at how conservative the
publishing business is. I didn’t realize
that a book that crossed over two genres would be a challenge to the publishers. I had to fight to keep the artist
contributions in the book. But
ultimately, I think that the anecdotes and stories they offer add inspiration
to the reader. It is surely the most
entertaining health book out there!
Q: What other books (if any) are
you working on and when will they be published?
Dr. Francis: I am a world traveler. When I travel, I find the healers and the
healing systems in the country that I am in and I try to learn the holistic
medicine traditions of the region. So my
next book will be my travel medicine stories.
Lets say Eat, Pray, Love meets
Anthony Bourdain with an alternative medicine theme!
Q: What’s your favorite place to
hang out online?
I want to be like him when I grow
up!
Q: Finally, what message (if any)
are you trying to get across with your book?
Dr. Francis: My message is that getting healthy is not a
bore or a chore. You can party and
celebrate and still be healthy. You can
be healthy without changing your lifestyle by making small adjustments along
the way. Health and healing is an
adventure and it should be fun. You can
have your shake and eat cake too!
Q: Thank you again for this
interview! Do you have any final words?
Dr. Francis:
“This book is dedicated to the “Rockstar” in you!
That rebellious spirit that refuses to settle for the status quo…
The fire within that ignites transformation in body, mind and spirit…
The desire to create the life of your dreams…
So that you can fulfill your true destiny…
Join me on the Adventure…”
Dr. Gabrielle Francis
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