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A Life Less Ordinary

Tag: Plunge (page 3 of 3)

Q & A with D.G. Kaye, featuring Author Liesbet Collaert and ‘Plunge’

Check out my interview with fellow memoir author and blogger Debby Gies, who is one of the most generous, caring, supportive, knowledgeable, and honest people I “virtually” know!

Source: Q & A with D.G. Kaye, featuring Author Liesbet Collaert and ‘Plunge’

When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?

I don’t think there was much of a realization, but more of an “easing into” writing for me. It came naturally. As a child in Belgium, I enjoyed writing, which was done in cursive, in the form of letters to friends and essays at school. In fourth grade, one of our daily assignments was to create a journal. Half of the page in this notebook was filled with words, the other half with a drawing that accompanied the text. This journaling task was my favorite part of the day and I picked up the writing portion again when I was a teenager. Ever since I was fourteen, I’ve written a daily diary!

As I traveled throughout my twenties, I stated: “One day I will write a book.” But who hasn’t said that at some point in their lives? I wrote weekly travel reports to family and friends, first by hand, then via group emails. After a year-long RV journey in Mexico and Central America, I actually started drafting my first book. But, three months after that trip, we dove into the next adventure, and those plans were shelved. No time! New experiences to document!

In 2007, when we changed gears from overland travel to sailing the world, I started blogging. For eight years, I kept up my www.itsirie.com blog about our cruising journey in the Caribbean and the Pacific. During that time, I published articles in magazines and I could finally call myself a writer!

I guess, at some point, I had aspirations to be become a travel writer, but I quickly realized this would take away pleasure from writing and from traveling. It’s hard work, there’s a deadline and a format, your travels have a purpose other than enrichment or excitement. In my opinion, both should be done independently to produce the best results and find the most enjoyment and focus.

D.G. – Love your story about slowly becoming a blossoming writer. And I agree with you, writing about travels is exciting and a great way to document your life, but travel writing specifically, is another ballgame altogether.

Where do your book ideas grow from?

Continue reading

Plunge Release & Happy Birthday to Me

Today is the day. It’s the moment I have been anticipating for a few years. I decided to pick a special date for this special occasion: my 45th birthday.

Mark and I did it! We finalized the work on my travel memoir, Plunge, and it is now available on Amazon as an eBook and paperback. Wider distribution will follow in December.

Plunge blurb:

Tropical waters turn tumultuous in this travel memoir as a free-spirited woman jumps headfirst into a sailing adventure with a new man and his two dogs.

Join Liesbet as she faces a decision that sends her into a whirlwind of love, loss, and living in the moment. When she swaps life as she knows it for an uncertain future on a sailboat, she succumbs to seasickness and a growing desire to be alone.

Guided by impulsiveness and the joys of an alternative lifestyle, she must navigate personal storms, trouble with US immigration, adverse weather conditions, and doubts about her newfound love.

Does Liesbet find happiness? Will the dogs outlast the man? Or is this just another reality check on a dream to live at sea?

To read early impressions of Plunge, have a look here. These 5-star reviews for my writing and my story delight me!

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of Plunge, check out this universal link or go to one of the specific Amazon sites for your country:

To buy Plunge in the US, click here.

To buy Plunge in Canada, click here

To buy Plunge in the UK, click here.

To buy Plunge in Germany, click here

To buy Plunge in Australia, click here (I don’t see the paperback yet, but hope that will appear soon).

To buy Plunge in Belgium and the Netherlands, click here (only the eBook is available on this site; for the paperback, please go to the German website). 

Thank you for purchasing Plunge and spreading the word.

Happy reading!

My sincere appreciation goes to all of you, my readers and blog followers. You have encouraged me along the way; your enthusiasm and support led to this special day!

Here is where I am celebrating my birthday and the launch of my debut travel memoir in the company of a small bubble of friends…

Plunge on Pre-order & A Special Dedication

Today, November 15th, 2020, would have been my dear oma‘s 100th birthday. Mark and I planned a trip to Belgium to celebrate that special event. Covid or not, we’d do the effort and make the commitment. Unfortunately, she passed away in the spring of 2017, at age 97. I wrote about my relationship with her here and posted a Dutch poem about her here.

Oma and Liesbet in 2014

I think about my oma a lot. She played an important role in my life – when I was a toddler, a teenager, and, especially, an adult. I often said she was my best friend and savored every chance I had to visit her when in Belgium. My travel memoir, Plunge, is dedicated to her (and one other person). While she wouldn’t have been able to read the book – she didn’t speak English – she would have been immensely proud of her “favorite” grandchild!

It was my intention to launch Plunge today, but that timing was too tight. If Mark, Maya, and I would have remained in “our room above the garage” in Newburyport, Massachusetts, it might have been possible. Working full-time from the road is tricky. But… the next best thing to commemorate my dear oma on the day she would have become a centenarian is by putting Plunge (the eBook anyway; it wasn’t possible for the paperback) on pre-sale.

Yes!!! The digital version of my book is ready for pre-order on Amazon as of today, for the special price of US$4.99. This will go up to US$5.99 on the date of the actual release, which is set for November 28th. On that day – if Amazon cooperates 😊 – both the eBook and the paperback of Plunge will be available. Leaving reviews are possible on Amazon starting that day and on Goodreads any time.

Plunge available for eReaders

Thank you, everyone, for following my journey – on the blog and in the book – and for sharing in the excitement!

To pre-order Plunge in the US: click here.

To pre-order Plunge in Canada: click here.

To pre-order Plunge in the UK: click here.

To pre-order Plunge in Germany: click here.

To pre-order Plunge in Australia: click here.

To pre-order Plunge in Belgium and the Netherlands: click here.

Cover Reveal of “Plunge”, My First Travel Memoir

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