First of all, Happy New Year to everyone! After my rollercoaster of a year, 2009 ended on a high note with a lot of very promising things happening. I’m extremely excited going into 2010.

I promised an update on my ustream show the other day so here it is. Many of you have been asking when my book is coming out. Well, plans have changed a little. I recently started working with motivational speaker and coach extraordinaire Les Brown, and have decided to focus on my speaking and motivational career first, as opposed to my writing career. Considering I spent the last nine months writing (and finishing) my book, it was not an easy decision. But there’s a good reason for it.

If you've followed my blog over the last few months, you know I’m honest and straightforward, without holding any punches. My book is written in the same way: intimate with a type of rawness that will entertain and shock people. I talk about disturbing things that many people don’t want to face, and I talk about them honestly, because I’ve lived through them. Judging by people’s reaction to my previous book excerpt describing my rock bottom moment, which was significantly less controversial then several other things in my book, I realized there are some things I cannot talk about without people judging me. Personally speaking, what others think about certain choices I’ve made doesn’t bother me. But if I want to inspire people using the lessons I’ve learned through my struggles, I cannot alienate those same people by telling them things they can’t or won’t hear with an open mind.

I refuse to be selfish and allow my insight and inspiring message to be wasted just so I can publish my book. There are some instances where the story gets in the way of the message. In this case, I can’t let that happen. I also refuse to write a watered down version of my life just to make certain people feel comfortable reading it. It would feel dishonest to me.

So that’s my decision. I will talk about my experiences in a way that will help people. I won’t sugar coat things, but I don’t need to spell everything out either, as far as my past goes. I am still thankful for the process in finishing the book because it was the most therapeutic experience I could have asked for, and yielded an unlimited amount of material for my upcoming speeches and presentations.

What’s next for me? My exciting new career! I’ve been doing motivational speaking for three years on behalf of the last two WNBA teams I’ve been a part of. In addition to being the team community representative during the off-season, I have represented the WNBA numerous times in front of audiences ranging from school children to corporate sales managers. Now I’m ready to take all that practice and step out on my own.

I hope you all are not too disappointed, but I have a message that will change lives, and can hardly wait for everyone to hear it. I’ll keep you informed of my progress and let you know when my new, redesigned website is up. Thanks for all your support. But please don’t stop now because I’m not done yet!

P.S. And I will still be barking it up in the yard!

View Original Post at chantellesays.yardbarker.com

• Filed Under:  
• Basketball, Sports, SportsPLUS, Personal

• Tags:
• family
• Chantelle Anderson
• autobiography
• memoir