Take your readers on a

heroine's journey



Welcome to 

STORIES WITH SPINE:

Book coaching with Catriona Mitchell.

Bringing the feminine back to life in today's narratives. Because when the story changes, everything else does too.

This is for transformational non-fiction on themes such as myth, archetypes, psyche, nature, the body and the sacred - seen through a feminine lens.

Stories with Spine is for you if:

You are a deep thinker, awake to the world's crises.

You recognise that a reverence for the feminine is missing from our fast-paced, mind-dominated, hyper-masculine society; that we're distanced from from the deeper intelligence held within our own bodies, and disconnected from the Earth, with consequences that affect us all. 

You have a non-fiction book idea in mind that re-writes a dominant narrative and offers a positive solution to the mess we're in.

You'll take your readers on a heroine's journey - or an eco-heroine's journey - into the deep feminine, for a profound re-imagining of culture... one reader at a time. 

However, you recognise that conveying beautiful, disruptive ideas can be difficult.

You might have been trying to write your manuscript, but keep getting stuck.

This subject feels so big, you could use a book coach to help you refine your message, structure your contents, and free up your creative flow... with accountability.

The heroine's journey calls on the wisdom of the ancient feminine traditions and feminine mysteries, bringing that back into consciousness." 

- Erika Lorentz, Jungian analyst and educator


You are an educator:

You are already sharing your expertise through speaking, writing, journalism, academia, teaching, consulting, video or film-making. 


Your ideas have been tried and tested over time, including in written form - articles, blogs, essays, and/or previously published books.  


Your materials have emerged from in-depth research and from lived experience and perception.

You're passionate about your subject, and would like your message to reach greater numbers, via a non-fiction book that supports your education platform and becomes part of your professional ecosystem.

Your book will be transformative, self-help or prescriptive non-fiction. It might also be categorised as:

Women's studies, feminism

Cultural history, sociology

Embodiment, mind/body/spirit

Spirituality, religious studies

Women's health, psychology

Environment, ecofeminism.



You're looking for a book coach who can help you:

  • Define your profound message: the controlling idea for your book
  • Plan and structure your narrative in advance, with all key elements in place
  • Birth the most profound vision for your book, in a way that feels supported and nurtured
  • Keep one eye on creative inspiration and the other on marketplace pragmatics
  • Traverse the dangerous waters of self-doubt and resistance
  • Brainstorm big questions, especially when you get stuck
  • Be held accountable and honour deadlines, so you are consistently moving forward
  • Improve and polish your work, with regular editorial feedback
  • Craft a professional book proposal and query letter for literary agents and publishers
  • Improve your full manuscript with a comprehensive developmental edit
  • Navigate shifts in the publishing industry, which can be daunting.

Just as there is a relationship of mind to body, so there is a relationship of body to earth."  

- Carl Jung

CHOOSE YOUR NEXT STEP

I offer guidance at various stages of the book development process. This way, you can start at the place that is right for you. 

1. You're looking for your story spine

You're at the ideas stage. You have a sense of your message, but would like to develop it and define your book's central point and purpose, before you start writing. 

 YOUR STORY SPINE

2. You have fleshed out your ideas

You know the breadth and scope of your material, but are yet to find a structure that works. You'd like a guide to help you map your narrative before you write your full manuscript, and/or prepare a professional book proposal to pitch to agents and publishers.

 YOUR BOOK SKELETON
YOUR BOOK PROPOSAL

3. You have a full-bodied manuscript

You've revised your manuscript, and are seeking a developmental editor to offer feedback on what's working and what isn't at the big-picture level.

 YOUR BOOK EDIT

Fabulous! Your input and reflections are invaluable.

I look forward to our calls every week. 

Thanks for being so clear."

Melanie Swan, UK

The Sacred Womb

thesacredwomb.com

My Philosophy

I live inside the question, "What does it mean to be a woman at a time of patriarchal and environmental collapse?"

I believe the dominant culture treats women's bodies in the same way we treat the Earth: both have been denigrated. And yet, the female body holds a unique creative intelligence that is urgently needed. It is relational, deep feeling, empathetic. It knows it is not just part of nature, it is nature. It wants to protect life and create beauty. The body is the literal source of life, as well as the metaphor, and we have much to learn from its wordless intelligence.

READ MORE


Build your book around a profound message.

Discover 5 types of profound message to help you identify the controlling idea for your book, and facilitate a valuable shift in perception for your readers.

FREE PDF HERE
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