March 24, 2025 • 19 mins
Welcome, welcome! Thank you for tuning in to this week’s episode of Chiquis and Chill. Today, we’re talking all about my forthcoming children’s book, The Girl Who Sings to Bees. It’s my very first children’s book and it’s loosely based on my story about how I overcame bullying – and how others can, too. I’ll talk about why I decided to write a children’s book, who it’s for, what I have in mind for my next book and so much more. You can pre-order The Girl Who Sings to Bees today, in English and in Spanish.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello, everyone, Welcome to your favorite podcast, Cheeky's and Chill.
I'm Cheeky's. I hope that you know that by now,
but if this is your first time listening into the podcast, welcome.
We love new listeners, so thank you so much. And
I hope you're feeling good, and I hope you're having
a great day today. And I'm feeling good. Actually, I'm
having a very very good day, and I'm very excited
(00:23):
because what I have to share about is something that's
very dear to me, something very new and different, and
it has to do with a new book. And it's
called The Girl who Sings to Bees and it happens
to be my first children's book. Guys, it's my fourth book,
but it's my first children's book, and I wanted to
(00:45):
talk about it because I think some people are like, uh,
why maybe, But those that know me know that I'm
very good with children. Kids always are very drawn to me.
Maybe because I'm an older sister and a lot of
people grew up watching me on our reality shows and
(01:07):
me being like a second mother and stuff like that.
I don't know, but I am really good with the children,
and this idea came to me like eight years ago,
and it's something that God put in my heart. And
I didn't feel ready then, I guess, and now I
feel ready. I don't know if it has to do
with my age or where I am in my life,
but it just all happened, I feel at the very
(01:29):
right time. So I am excited to share this with
you guys, and share what it's about and why I
wrote it. So, like I said, it is called The
Girl who Sings to Bees, and I love bees. If
you didn't know that already, well now you know. But
I love bees and I have boss by Nation, and
I love the story of a bee, and you know,
and I've talked about it plenty of times, and I
(01:52):
just knew eight years ago, about eight years ago when
I thought about this, Actually no, I'm lying, more like
seven six years ago. I knew that I want it
to be about bullying. It was either going to be
about bullying my children's book, or it was going to
be about Have you guys ever read that story The
Little Engine That Could? I read that book when I
(02:13):
was a little girls, one of my favorite books, and
you know, the little engine said, and the little train said,
I can, I can, I can I'm going to do it.
So I kind of had that idea of you know,
I was struggling in my life and so many people
thought I wouldn't make it, or I couldn't make it,
or I shouldn't or whatever it is. And I had
a lot of adversity. So that's kind of how it started.
(02:35):
I'm like, Okay, I'm going to show myself that I can.
And I wanted to, you know, write a children's book
so that children can know the power that they have
within themselves. And with that also came the bullying, and
I felt like with social media and stuff, that became
more prominent to me where I'm like, okay, this is
this is a real issue that we're living because I
(02:56):
dealt with bullying my whole life when there was no
social media, and then social media came, and then it
was even more so, and I started noticing that it
wasn't just me. There are you know, internet trolls, mean
people that just want to talk mess and I felt like,
this is a real issue and it starts with our children.
(03:20):
Something that I'm passionate about is something that I've experienced,
something that I see other people experience, and we have
to nip it in the bud. And that's why I
decided to write this book because it starts in schools,
it starts with the kids. It obviously starts at home.
Parents need to speak to their children about it, about
not being mean or you know, bullying other children and stuff.
In my mind, I'm like, if I were to write
(03:42):
a book and go to the schools and read the
book to the kids, then maybe I'll just plant a
little seed. And that's where the passion came from. And
I did think, I'm like, should I wait until I
have kids to write a children's book? Is it going
to make sense? And I'm like, you know what, I'm
going to try it and if it happens, and it's
meant to be, and that's it. And it happened, you know.
(04:03):
I pitched it to my book agent and she pitched
it to publishers and they were happy and excited about it,
and I said, okay, cool. It's crazy because it takes
a while to get all this going, you know. So
I've been working on this for about almost three years
now and it's barely going to come out now in July.
And I'm really excited because that's what it's about it's
fiction but real at the same time, and let me
(04:26):
read it. I'm going to read a little like summary.
I guess for you guys of what the book is
going to be about. So it says Janee and her
mom always sang together to help the flowers in a
Wilita's garden grow, but now her mom is gone and
Janey's song is stuck somewhere deep inside. Bullies at school
don't help. Every day, Janey watches one particular beat in
(04:47):
a Wilita's garden, working harder than the others, focused and unafraid.
The tiny bee doesn't give up. Janey begins to feel
inspired by the hard working beat as the season's change,
until one afternoon, media escapes her lips and Jane's song
once again fills the air in the garden, and when
the music begins, her mom's song sing through her heart,
(05:09):
giving Janee the strength to overcome her fears and sing
loudly and proudly to the bees and beyond. So you
kind of get what the book is about. I was
very close to my grandma. She helped raise me, so
I felt the need to include her because my grandma,
as I was growing up, was very important to me.
I always said like she was kind of like my
(05:30):
first mom because my mom was so young and my
grandma had to take care of me while mom went
to school and worked. So I had a very close
relationship with my grandma. And although my grandma didn't have
a garden, it was more like in the kitchen. But
I wanted to kind of bring in the bees because
I love bees and I love their story, and I
wanted to kind of show how my boss bees inspire
(05:53):
me to become my best self, even though there are
mean people that come and try to distance and disturb
your peace and bully you and say that you can't.
But the bees inspired me and so which is why
I put it in the book, because a bee inspired me.
And yes, my mom is in heaven, so I felt
(06:14):
the need to, you know, talk about that and how
although my mom hasn't been here physically for twelve years,
she has definitely especially on stage. In the beginning of
my career, I was so afraid. I was so scared.
I didn't believe in myself, especially because there were so
many people saying so many mean things about me. But
then I would close my eyes and I'm like Mom,
(06:35):
I know that I'm here, I'm meant to be here,
help me. And for so long, I felt like it
wasn't even me on stage in the beginning of my career,
it was my mom, like would move me. And I
know that sounds so crazy, but I felt that, and
I felt like the only way I'm going to get
through this is with my mom's strength from heaven. We
(06:59):
will have a Spanish version as well, so there's English
and Spanish, and the illustrations are beautiful, guys, and I'm
really looking forward to this. I'm looking forward to you know,
if you heard the first episode of this fourth season,
you'll kind of know where I'm at. And if you
haven't heard it, go listen to it. But I just
feel like this is just the tone of what to
(07:22):
this year twenty twenty five feels like for me. And
I'm not necessarily planning a tour for music right now
or recording an album right now, but I feel like
I'm going to fill that void in a way with
going on tour to different schools and reading the book
(07:44):
to kids, and when it comes out, the children will
be out of school, but I'm hoping I can start
that tour in September when they start school again August September.
But I'm really excited. I'm excited to go to these
schools and speak to these kids and tell them everything
that I went through and how I didn't even believe
in myself, oh for so long, because yes, there were
so many naysayers and toxic voices that I call them around,
(08:06):
But I believed in myself, and there was that little
voice that for a long time was my mom, but
then it became my own voice. And that's what you
guys will be able to see in the book. And
there's a lot of little hidden messages and little hidden
gems in the book why I chose certain flowers, and
(08:26):
I'll get deeper into that once the book is launched,
but it all is there for a reason. You'll see
pictures or the illustration has a picture of my grandma,
and my grandma does have short hair, and my mom.
But the thing that I didn't add was my mom's mole.
(08:47):
You know, she had like that mole next to her eye,
and I didn't add it. You know, I did that
purposely because I wanted to be my mom, But then
I don't. But it is my story. And then it's not,
you know, because I just I wanted to make it
soft and for children. And actually someone asked me the
other day, will this be the only children's book that
(09:11):
I publish? And I don't think so. I have other ideas.
I'd love to come out with a different children's book
about Pancho. This is exclusive here, Okay, only the Cheese
and Chill podcast listeners will know about this. But Pancho
is very dear to me, and Pancho my dog, by
the way, and Pancho came into my life when I
(09:33):
was very depressed and he came and I feel like
saved my life and he is exactly what I needed
in that time and now, and I think there's so
much healing through through pets, and so I want to
write a children's book about my punch Eito and hopefully
to inspire other people. And it's going to be him.
He's going to be talking about what it is to
(09:55):
be my son and what he feels when I feel
sad and stuff like that, because he's there for me.
So I think there's something here, guys. And definitely with
the soft era that I've mentioned, Like I said in
the first episode, I feel like this is the perfect
project for me this year, and it's kind of like
(10:15):
setting the tone for everything that I want, which is
hopefully becoming a mother this year as well. And I
feel like it's all just falling into place and it's happening,
in my opinion, at the perfect time, and I can't wait.
I cannot wait for you guys to read it. And
even like, when you guys see the cover of the book,
you'll see that the little girl's wearing those little bolita's
(10:38):
a little hair ties with the little balls. That's all
I wore when I was little. My mom put tons
and tons of them in my hair. So there's little
things that it is cheeky's, but it's not cheeky's and
it's my story. So so you guys, once you read it,
you'll see and maybe I can read just a little
bit one page for you guys, because there was one
when I was looking at it right now that stood
(11:00):
out to me. There's also even pictures of my mom
and I as well, like real pictures, and I'm sure
you guys have seen on the internet if you guys
follow me on social media. I also wrote an author's
note there, you know, a note to my readers, from
the bottom of my heart. I'm going to read one
little part for you guys. Like my mother, I will
(11:20):
sing in this garden and like the flowers, maybe one
day I can bloom too. And that's really what I felt,
guys when I started singing. It's like, this is something
that I want to do and I want to try.
And I was very scared because people would compare me
to my mom and say that I couldn't and all
this stuff. And I even felt at times that I couldn't.
But there was something deeper, something bigger, that was telling
(11:44):
me this is what I was meant to do. And
I'm glad that I listened to that because I kept thinking.
I was like, Okay, no, I'm not my mom. I
don't want to be like my mom, but I want
to take those things that inspired me to become who
I meant to be from my mom, and yeah, maybe
one day I will bloom. And I feel like I
have I can look back and say, wow, I made
(12:08):
it through those rough times and if I could do it,
so could you, you know. And that's what I really,
really truly feel. I feel like everything that I've gone
through in my life is so that I can share
the knowledge and the things that I've learned and how
I grew and you know, share those tools with you guys,
with the people that listen to me, that read my books,
that you know, listen to my music, that listen to
(12:29):
my podcast, you know all these things. I feel like
this is my mission and I always talk about it
here on a podcast because I really truly believe it.
But it wasn't always easy, and that's what this book
is all about. This book is definitely intended for kids,
but it helped me heal the little girl inside of me,
(12:51):
you know, my inner child. And it's so crazy because
last year when I went on this spiritual retreat and
a twenty twenty four, I still hadn't gotten the yes
from the publisher that we were going to do it.
We were still in conversations and writing it and like
the whole thing, and I remember, it's crazy. I remember
(13:12):
when I was in my experience when I went to go,
you know, do the shrooms, the mushrooms. I took the
medicine because it's medicine. Guys. I saw a little girl
that looks like the little girl in this book, and
I don't know, it's just so crazy, Like I definitely
(13:35):
am healing my inner child and helping her heal through
things that we went through, but also it's helping me
heal as a woman. I don't know if that makes sense,
but it's just it's just part of the divine plan.
And this is where I'm like, God, you are so good.
You are showing up and showing off in my life
because I couldn't even like plan this the way it happened.
(14:00):
And even if I could, you know what I mean, Like,
I couldn't like it. It's all just happening. And I
feel like once I went to that experience and I
hugged the little Janet because I literally did. When I
was there, I cried and I hugged myself. If you
guys haven't hugged yourself like, you should try it, Like
you just literally put your hands around your shoulders and
(14:20):
just hug yourself and it feels so freaking good. And
I learned that there at that retreat, and so many
things have been flowing for me since then. So it's
just it's I don't know, it's just it's a part
of what I'm meant to do now and where I'm
at in my life, and yes it is for children,
but I know for sure adults can read it and
feel inspired and feel like, you know what, I can
(14:42):
do it. I'll be okay, you know, because I know,
unfortunately there are children out there that maybe have lost
their mother or their father, or maybe their mother left them,
or you know, like and this is where you can
just hold on to someone one and know that you
(15:02):
are loved and that you can surpass anything in everything.
So the publisher wanted it to just be in the
English version because books sell more in English. But to
me it was very important because all of the rest
of my other books are both English and Spanish. We
(15:23):
have versions in English and Spanish. I felt the need
to definitely have it in Spanish. And it's doing very
very well with pre order. So I'm so glad that we,
you know, have the English and the Spanish version, because yeah,
I mean, if I would buy both. You know, I'm
bilingual and I want to read it to my child,
(15:43):
to my baby in English and in Spanish, so I
fought for that. It was important for me to have
it in Spanish as well, because my audience is bi lingual,
and you know, a lot of them speak Spanish. So
I don't know if I've ever told you guys here
on the podcast. I'm sure I have because I talk
about my boards and stuff. But back in two thousand
and nine, I want to say, in nine, my mom
(16:06):
was still alive. I was like really into vision boards
and I put a picture of a book because I've
always loved books. I love reading books. I just I
love the way they smell. I'm the type that definitely
prefers physical books versus having it all like on the
phone and stuff. Anyways, So when I had this idea
(16:26):
or this desire to write a book way back when
I never knew what it was going to be about,
I just knew I wanted a book. I wanted to
be an author. And then everything happened in my life
and there were things that I needed to clear up.
And that's how you know, my first memoir was born,
and was because I needed to clear some things up
and talk about things and tell my truth. So that's
(16:48):
why you know it was important to me, Yes, because
I wanted to be an author to write about what
was going on in my life and clear things up
and then follow up with you know, Unstoppable. But before then,
we had the Keto book, and you know, that's recipes
and stuff like that. But the second memoir was because
again things were being said that were untrue and I
(17:09):
was going through divorce and I said, you know what,
like I need to quietly and in my way heal
my heart and explain what I'm going through in a memoir.
So that's why I did Unstoppable. But this is completely
one hundred percent different. Because when people were asking me,
you know, in interviews, what do you have, what's coming next,
I'm like, oh, I'm writing a book. They thought, oh,
(17:30):
it's going to be another memoir and I was like, no,
it's completely different from what I've already done, and it
is completely different. And I just I don't know. I
don't want to like explain myself anymore. I don't feel
like I need to clear anything up. I don't even
care what people think, Like, I don't know. I'm in
such a different part of my life, and I don't
regret writing the books that I already wrote. That's what
(17:51):
I had to do in that season of my life,
and I'm happy I did, and I closed that book
and that chapter, those chapters in my life. So this
is just like a new bie beginning for me, where
it's it's just a different era in every way, like
I want to go back to before I started singing,
and you know, really tap into my mission in this world,
(18:14):
and this is part of it. These are things that
I've had in my heart for a long time, and
I feel like I'm starting like this new life. It's crazy.
I don't even know if I'm making sense right now,
but I just it's definitely soft Girl era and this
is the beginning, and this is the first step. This
book is kind of like stepping into that fully, and
(18:36):
it just feels really good. It feels so different. I'm
excited to do, you know, the media tour and talk
about it and explain all these things. And I'm glad
that we're starting here on the podcast first, because yeah,
this is something very special, very very special for me.
It's not going to be the last one for sure.
So be excited, guys. Put intended be excited for this
(19:00):
book if you have children or not. I think it's
just a good book to have and to read. Again,
it is intended for children, but I think adults will
enjoy it and resonate with it. And yeah, guys, I
hope that you enjoyed this episode, Thank you for listening.
And I just wanted to kind of, you know, talk
about why you know, a little bit deeper than I
did on my social media when I announced it. So
(19:20):
thank you guys again for listening. And yeah, you can
pre order it now anywhere. Really, So thank you guys
so much. And I yeah, I will see you here
or you will hear me on the next episode of
Cheeky's and Chill Guys. Let's get on show. This is
a production of iHeartRadio and the Micudura podcast Network. Follow
(19:42):
us on Instagram at Michael Dura Podcasts, then follow me Cheeky's,
That's c chiqui S. For more podcasts from iHeart, visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite podcast
Hello, everyone, Welcome to your favorite podcast, Cheeky's and Chill.
I'm Cheeky's. I hope that you know that by now,
but if this is your first time listening into the podcast, welcome.
We love new listeners, so thank you so much. And
I hope you're feeling good, and I hope you're having
a great day today. And I'm feeling good. Actually, I'm
having a very very good day, and I'm very excited
(00:23):
because what I have to share about is something that's
very dear to me, something very new and different, and
it has to do with a new book. And it's
called The Girl who Sings to Bees and it happens
to be my first children's book. Guys, it's my fourth book,
but it's my first children's book, and I wanted to
(00:45):
talk about it because I think some people are like, uh,
why maybe, But those that know me know that I'm
very good with children. Kids always are very drawn to me.
Maybe because I'm an older sister and a lot of
people grew up watching me on our reality shows and
(01:07):
me being like a second mother and stuff like that.
I don't know, but I am really good with the children,
and this idea came to me like eight years ago,
and it's something that God put in my heart. And
I didn't feel ready then, I guess, and now I
feel ready. I don't know if it has to do
with my age or where I am in my life,
but it just all happened, I feel at the very
(01:29):
right time. So I am excited to share this with
you guys, and share what it's about and why I
wrote it. So, like I said, it is called The
Girl who Sings to Bees, and I love bees. If
you didn't know that already, well now you know. But
I love bees and I have boss by Nation, and
I love the story of a bee, and you know,
and I've talked about it plenty of times, and I
(01:52):
just knew eight years ago, about eight years ago when
I thought about this, Actually no, I'm lying, more like
seven six years ago. I knew that I want it
to be about bullying. It was either going to be
about bullying my children's book, or it was going to
be about Have you guys ever read that story The
Little Engine That Could? I read that book when I
(02:13):
was a little girls, one of my favorite books, and
you know, the little engine said, and the little train said,
I can, I can, I can I'm going to do it.
So I kind of had that idea of you know,
I was struggling in my life and so many people
thought I wouldn't make it, or I couldn't make it,
or I shouldn't or whatever it is. And I had
a lot of adversity. So that's kind of how it started.
(02:35):
I'm like, Okay, I'm going to show myself that I can.
And I wanted to, you know, write a children's book
so that children can know the power that they have
within themselves. And with that also came the bullying, and
I felt like with social media and stuff, that became
more prominent to me where I'm like, okay, this is
this is a real issue that we're living because I
(02:56):
dealt with bullying my whole life when there was no
social media, and then social media came, and then it
was even more so, and I started noticing that it
wasn't just me. There are you know, internet trolls, mean
people that just want to talk mess and I felt like,
this is a real issue and it starts with our children.
(03:20):
Something that I'm passionate about is something that I've experienced,
something that I see other people experience, and we have
to nip it in the bud. And that's why I
decided to write this book because it starts in schools,
it starts with the kids. It obviously starts at home.
Parents need to speak to their children about it, about
not being mean or you know, bullying other children and stuff.
In my mind, I'm like, if I were to write
(03:42):
a book and go to the schools and read the
book to the kids, then maybe I'll just plant a
little seed. And that's where the passion came from. And
I did think, I'm like, should I wait until I
have kids to write a children's book? Is it going
to make sense? And I'm like, you know what, I'm
going to try it and if it happens, and it's
meant to be, and that's it. And it happened, you know.
(04:03):
I pitched it to my book agent and she pitched
it to publishers and they were happy and excited about it,
and I said, okay, cool. It's crazy because it takes
a while to get all this going, you know. So
I've been working on this for about almost three years
now and it's barely going to come out now in July.
And I'm really excited because that's what it's about it's
fiction but real at the same time, and let me
(04:26):
read it. I'm going to read a little like summary.
I guess for you guys of what the book is
going to be about. So it says Janee and her
mom always sang together to help the flowers in a
Wilita's garden grow, but now her mom is gone and
Janey's song is stuck somewhere deep inside. Bullies at school
don't help. Every day, Janey watches one particular beat in
(04:47):
a Wilita's garden, working harder than the others, focused and unafraid.
The tiny bee doesn't give up. Janey begins to feel
inspired by the hard working beat as the season's change,
until one afternoon, media escapes her lips and Jane's song
once again fills the air in the garden, and when
the music begins, her mom's song sing through her heart,
(05:09):
giving Janee the strength to overcome her fears and sing
loudly and proudly to the bees and beyond. So you
kind of get what the book is about. I was
very close to my grandma. She helped raise me, so
I felt the need to include her because my grandma,
as I was growing up, was very important to me.
I always said like she was kind of like my
(05:30):
first mom because my mom was so young and my
grandma had to take care of me while mom went
to school and worked. So I had a very close
relationship with my grandma. And although my grandma didn't have
a garden, it was more like in the kitchen. But
I wanted to kind of bring in the bees because
I love bees and I love their story, and I
wanted to kind of show how my boss bees inspire
(05:53):
me to become my best self, even though there are
mean people that come and try to distance and disturb
your peace and bully you and say that you can't.
But the bees inspired me and so which is why
I put it in the book, because a bee inspired me.
And yes, my mom is in heaven, so I felt
(06:14):
the need to, you know, talk about that and how
although my mom hasn't been here physically for twelve years,
she has definitely especially on stage. In the beginning of
my career, I was so afraid. I was so scared.
I didn't believe in myself, especially because there were so
many people saying so many mean things about me. But
then I would close my eyes and I'm like Mom,
(06:35):
I know that I'm here, I'm meant to be here,
help me. And for so long, I felt like it
wasn't even me on stage in the beginning of my career,
it was my mom, like would move me. And I
know that sounds so crazy, but I felt that, and
I felt like the only way I'm going to get
through this is with my mom's strength from heaven. We
(06:59):
will have a Spanish version as well, so there's English
and Spanish, and the illustrations are beautiful, guys, and I'm
really looking forward to this. I'm looking forward to you know,
if you heard the first episode of this fourth season,
you'll kind of know where I'm at. And if you
haven't heard it, go listen to it. But I just
feel like this is just the tone of what to
(07:22):
this year twenty twenty five feels like for me. And
I'm not necessarily planning a tour for music right now
or recording an album right now, but I feel like
I'm going to fill that void in a way with
going on tour to different schools and reading the book
(07:44):
to kids, and when it comes out, the children will
be out of school, but I'm hoping I can start
that tour in September when they start school again August September.
But I'm really excited. I'm excited to go to these
schools and speak to these kids and tell them everything
that I went through and how I didn't even believe
in myself, oh for so long, because yes, there were
so many naysayers and toxic voices that I call them around,
(08:06):
But I believed in myself, and there was that little
voice that for a long time was my mom, but
then it became my own voice. And that's what you
guys will be able to see in the book. And
there's a lot of little hidden messages and little hidden
gems in the book why I chose certain flowers, and
(08:26):
I'll get deeper into that once the book is launched,
but it all is there for a reason. You'll see
pictures or the illustration has a picture of my grandma,
and my grandma does have short hair, and my mom.
But the thing that I didn't add was my mom's mole.
(08:47):
You know, she had like that mole next to her eye,
and I didn't add it. You know, I did that
purposely because I wanted to be my mom, But then
I don't. But it is my story. And then it's not,
you know, because I just I wanted to make it
soft and for children. And actually someone asked me the
other day, will this be the only children's book that
(09:11):
I publish? And I don't think so. I have other ideas.
I'd love to come out with a different children's book
about Pancho. This is exclusive here, Okay, only the Cheese
and Chill podcast listeners will know about this. But Pancho
is very dear to me, and Pancho my dog, by
the way, and Pancho came into my life when I
(09:33):
was very depressed and he came and I feel like
saved my life and he is exactly what I needed
in that time and now, and I think there's so
much healing through through pets, and so I want to
write a children's book about my punch Eito and hopefully
to inspire other people. And it's going to be him.
He's going to be talking about what it is to
(09:55):
be my son and what he feels when I feel
sad and stuff like that, because he's there for me.
So I think there's something here, guys. And definitely with
the soft era that I've mentioned, Like I said in
the first episode, I feel like this is the perfect
project for me this year, and it's kind of like
(10:15):
setting the tone for everything that I want, which is
hopefully becoming a mother this year as well. And I
feel like it's all just falling into place and it's happening,
in my opinion, at the perfect time, and I can't wait.
I cannot wait for you guys to read it. And
even like, when you guys see the cover of the book,
you'll see that the little girl's wearing those little bolita's
(10:38):
a little hair ties with the little balls. That's all
I wore when I was little. My mom put tons
and tons of them in my hair. So there's little
things that it is cheeky's, but it's not cheeky's and
it's my story. So so you guys, once you read it,
you'll see and maybe I can read just a little
bit one page for you guys, because there was one
when I was looking at it right now that stood
(11:00):
out to me. There's also even pictures of my mom
and I as well, like real pictures, and I'm sure
you guys have seen on the internet if you guys
follow me on social media. I also wrote an author's
note there, you know, a note to my readers, from
the bottom of my heart. I'm going to read one
little part for you guys. Like my mother, I will
(11:20):
sing in this garden and like the flowers, maybe one
day I can bloom too. And that's really what I felt,
guys when I started singing. It's like, this is something
that I want to do and I want to try.
And I was very scared because people would compare me
to my mom and say that I couldn't and all
this stuff. And I even felt at times that I couldn't.
But there was something deeper, something bigger, that was telling
(11:44):
me this is what I was meant to do. And
I'm glad that I listened to that because I kept thinking.
I was like, Okay, no, I'm not my mom. I
don't want to be like my mom, but I want
to take those things that inspired me to become who
I meant to be from my mom, and yeah, maybe
one day I will bloom. And I feel like I
have I can look back and say, wow, I made
(12:08):
it through those rough times and if I could do it,
so could you, you know. And that's what I really,
really truly feel. I feel like everything that I've gone
through in my life is so that I can share
the knowledge and the things that I've learned and how
I grew and you know, share those tools with you guys,
with the people that listen to me, that read my books,
that you know, listen to my music, that listen to
(12:29):
my podcast, you know all these things. I feel like
this is my mission and I always talk about it
here on a podcast because I really truly believe it.
But it wasn't always easy, and that's what this book
is all about. This book is definitely intended for kids,
but it helped me heal the little girl inside of me,
(12:51):
you know, my inner child. And it's so crazy because
last year when I went on this spiritual retreat and
a twenty twenty four, I still hadn't gotten the yes
from the publisher that we were going to do it.
We were still in conversations and writing it and like
the whole thing, and I remember, it's crazy. I remember
(13:12):
when I was in my experience when I went to go,
you know, do the shrooms, the mushrooms. I took the
medicine because it's medicine. Guys. I saw a little girl
that looks like the little girl in this book, and
I don't know, it's just so crazy, Like I definitely
(13:35):
am healing my inner child and helping her heal through
things that we went through, but also it's helping me
heal as a woman. I don't know if that makes sense,
but it's just it's just part of the divine plan.
And this is where I'm like, God, you are so good.
You are showing up and showing off in my life
because I couldn't even like plan this the way it happened.
(14:00):
And even if I could, you know what I mean, Like,
I couldn't like it. It's all just happening. And I
feel like once I went to that experience and I
hugged the little Janet because I literally did. When I
was there, I cried and I hugged myself. If you
guys haven't hugged yourself like, you should try it, Like
you just literally put your hands around your shoulders and
(14:20):
just hug yourself and it feels so freaking good. And
I learned that there at that retreat, and so many
things have been flowing for me since then. So it's
just it's I don't know, it's just it's a part
of what I'm meant to do now and where I'm
at in my life, and yes it is for children,
but I know for sure adults can read it and
feel inspired and feel like, you know what, I can
(14:42):
do it. I'll be okay, you know, because I know,
unfortunately there are children out there that maybe have lost
their mother or their father, or maybe their mother left them,
or you know, like and this is where you can
just hold on to someone one and know that you
(15:02):
are loved and that you can surpass anything in everything.
So the publisher wanted it to just be in the
English version because books sell more in English. But to
me it was very important because all of the rest
of my other books are both English and Spanish. We
(15:23):
have versions in English and Spanish. I felt the need
to definitely have it in Spanish. And it's doing very
very well with pre order. So I'm so glad that we,
you know, have the English and the Spanish version, because yeah,
I mean, if I would buy both. You know, I'm
bilingual and I want to read it to my child,
(15:43):
to my baby in English and in Spanish, so I
fought for that. It was important for me to have
it in Spanish as well, because my audience is bi lingual,
and you know, a lot of them speak Spanish. So
I don't know if I've ever told you guys here
on the podcast. I'm sure I have because I talk
about my boards and stuff. But back in two thousand
and nine, I want to say, in nine, my mom
(16:06):
was still alive. I was like really into vision boards
and I put a picture of a book because I've
always loved books. I love reading books. I just I
love the way they smell. I'm the type that definitely
prefers physical books versus having it all like on the
phone and stuff. Anyways, So when I had this idea
(16:26):
or this desire to write a book way back when
I never knew what it was going to be about,
I just knew I wanted a book. I wanted to
be an author. And then everything happened in my life
and there were things that I needed to clear up.
And that's how you know, my first memoir was born,
and was because I needed to clear some things up
and talk about things and tell my truth. So that's
(16:48):
why you know it was important to me, Yes, because
I wanted to be an author to write about what
was going on in my life and clear things up
and then follow up with you know, Unstoppable. But before then,
we had the Keto book, and you know, that's recipes
and stuff like that. But the second memoir was because
again things were being said that were untrue and I
(17:09):
was going through divorce and I said, you know what,
like I need to quietly and in my way heal
my heart and explain what I'm going through in a memoir.
So that's why I did Unstoppable. But this is completely
one hundred percent different. Because when people were asking me,
you know, in interviews, what do you have, what's coming next,
I'm like, oh, I'm writing a book. They thought, oh,
(17:30):
it's going to be another memoir and I was like, no,
it's completely different from what I've already done, and it
is completely different. And I just I don't know. I
don't want to like explain myself anymore. I don't feel
like I need to clear anything up. I don't even
care what people think, Like, I don't know. I'm in
such a different part of my life, and I don't
regret writing the books that I already wrote. That's what
(17:51):
I had to do in that season of my life,
and I'm happy I did, and I closed that book
and that chapter, those chapters in my life. So this
is just like a new bie beginning for me, where
it's it's just a different era in every way, like
I want to go back to before I started singing,
and you know, really tap into my mission in this world,
(18:14):
and this is part of it. These are things that
I've had in my heart for a long time, and
I feel like I'm starting like this new life. It's crazy.
I don't even know if I'm making sense right now,
but I just it's definitely soft Girl era and this
is the beginning, and this is the first step. This
book is kind of like stepping into that fully, and
(18:36):
it just feels really good. It feels so different. I'm
excited to do, you know, the media tour and talk
about it and explain all these things. And I'm glad
that we're starting here on the podcast first, because yeah,
this is something very special, very very special for me.
It's not going to be the last one for sure.
So be excited, guys. Put intended be excited for this
(19:00):
book if you have children or not. I think it's
just a good book to have and to read. Again,
it is intended for children, but I think adults will
enjoy it and resonate with it. And yeah, guys, I
hope that you enjoyed this episode, Thank you for listening.
And I just wanted to kind of, you know, talk
about why you know, a little bit deeper than I
did on my social media when I announced it. So
(19:20):
thank you guys again for listening. And yeah, you can
pre order it now anywhere. Really, So thank you guys
so much. And I yeah, I will see you here
or you will hear me on the next episode of
Cheeky's and Chill Guys. Let's get on show. This is
a production of iHeartRadio and the Micudura podcast Network. Follow
(19:42):
us on Instagram at Michael Dura Podcasts, then follow me Cheeky's,
That's c chiqui S. For more podcasts from iHeart, visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite podcast
Host
Chiquis
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