Words are powerful—yours, mine and everyone else’s. Words are essential for communication. They are the stimulus when laughter is the best medicine and genuinely appreciated when comfort is needed. Words. You use them every day to communicate what you want, get what you need and respond to others when they need something from you. Words are universal. They are ordinary, and something everyone can relate to because it’s how we connect with and exchange thoughts with one another.
Words are even more powerful, however, when they draw people together around common interests and themes, evoking positive energy and actions. It is easier said than done, especially in book form. Recently, we connected with two amazing sisters who have achieved this lofty goal. They put their heads together and figured out how to make seven ordinary words extraordinary in 7 Women 7 Words. First, they selected seven simple words women can readily identify with, then added five remarkable women to their dynamic duo and pooled their talents to create a collection of inspirational essays that are a must-read for your book club. Not a membership of a book club, no problem it’s also perfect for your coffee table. Expect to experience a range of emotions: sidesplitting laughter for their irrepressible humor, delight in their victories, sadness for their pain and empathy for their fears.
You are probably wondering what the words are and we were tempted to tell you, but wouldn’t it be much more fun for you to discover them for yourself in the copy you place next to your bed? We will offer one word of caution. Once you open 7 Women 7 Words, you may not put it down until you have finished reading it.
7 Women 7 Words
HimPower: Ladies, 7 Women 7 Words is a remarkable book! It is equally raw and refined—raw, in that it grips readers, opening wounds that have become septic, begging to be cleansed—refined, because of its pure sustenance, providing much needed nourishment for the healing process. What inspired you to do this exciting project?
DiAnne Malone: I think that we both wanted to do something together as sisters, so we brainstormed about what we could do that may be a spin off from my blog, “Who’s That Lady?” Finally, we came up with something that we hadn’t seen done a lot in the world of book writing, and that’s pulling different women from different backgrounds together to write about the same words. We were interested in finding out just where all of our paths crossed as women.
HimPower: How did you go about choosing the seven words?
DiAnne Malone: We started out with 50 words! Those words were just ones that we found exciting, those “pretty” words that came right off the top of our heads. We whittled them down to 25, I think, and finally, we got them down to ten words. Those ten words, in our minds, embodied what we felt would be a most interesting invitation for interpretation among our little tribe. When the ladies and I workshopped together, we decided as a unit which words to toss and which to keep.
HimPower: What inspired you to choose the five women who help to make up the 7 voices?
DiAnne Malone: Initially, I wanted to use voices from my blog. So, I sent out an invitation to all the ladies to see who would bite. A few were in but then were out. Some were too busy; others were trying to have babies. Aside from that, I wanted to choose women who had ferociousness about them, those women who had something to say, to hide even, but never had the platform to get to the essence of who they are and how they embody their womanhood.
DiAnne and Hope
HimPower: How did writing an essay for each word impact you personally? And was this experience the same for each of the women who participated?
DiAnne Malone: Personally, I realized that I had some unresolved situations, some things to settle with myself I thought were done. Finished. But somehow, those words were like magnets or even shovels, pulling and digging out stuff that I’d bulldozed over with other projects. I actually cried (something that I rarely do publicly), during the workshop, over something that I’d written months before. I was sitting there thinking to myself, “Why are you crying? You wrote this! You knew this was here!” Anyway, in a lot of ways, the words broke something in me, and I’m really blessed to be able to slough some stuff off. The experience for the other women was quite similar, or at least I felt so. I mean, they were all in from the start, and the synergy between us allowed us to feel each other’s heart. I’m not making this up. We really knew each other through those words, so seeing the impact through their eyes was transformative and real. I don’t think anyone could have faked that experience.
HimPower: Hope, do you believe the book speaks to every woman? If yes, explain why?
Hope LeNoir: Yes, I think so. Every single woman in the world has lost something and gained something, and as I look back on the book’s themes and the essence of the discussions, I would have to say that it is about loss and gain. I mean, I feel like we discovered some issues we just had to lose, to put away, before they killed us, and then we had to develop the strength and stamina to pick up the things that are best for us. Every woman, no matter what age, creed, color, or ethnic background, knows what that feels like.
HimPower: Have you been surprised by the feedback you’ve received from readers? How does it compare with what you expected?
DiAnne Malone: Honestly, I think both Hope and I wanted to see if we could pull something like this off. We are like that, you know. We are both all about some, “Let’s see if we can do this?” And then, we go about the business of doing it. But after we workshopped and understood that what we were doing was not just some sandbox adventure, we realized that the book freed a lot of women. Most immediately though, the book allowed women who never thought they were writers, who never thought they could be published, who never wore make up or had a photo shoot or worked closely with 6 other women at once—the book made a dream come true. We also became friends and learned how to reach joint agreements with one another. We learned how to respect differences and be vulnerable. We learned how to be honest about the process. We learned how to push through wounds through writing and hurt through writing and heal through writing. We healed each other and had a lovely time doing it. There is nothing to compare to an experience like that. In the world of experiences with women, this book ranks pretty high.
HimPower: Hope has the book accomplished what you intended it to do? If yes, how so? If no, what else would you like to have seen come out of it?
Hope LeNoir: This is a hard question. I think the project is like seeds. You plant them, and you may not ever see what the fruit looks like. Some seeds grow fast, others, quite slowly. Some grow down before they grow up. Who knows how this book has impacted the world. Another reason this question is hard is because we didn’t go through a traditional publisher. Everything this book is happened within the confines of the seven. We wrote it. We decided on the name. We edited amongst ourselves. We all had input on the cover. We did our own marketing. We financed our own launch. There are limitations with self-publication. I hate that because of the limitations of independent publishing the book didn’t have a wider audience. It is really a good book; it really is. So, I would have loved to see a major publishing house pick up the project and say, “You all have something here. Let us help you spread the message through the world. Let us help you get some traction.” That didn’t happen, and honestly, we’re not sure how to make it happen. The marketing, the contacts, the know-how, is costly and time-consuming, and all of us need our jobs. We can’t just drop everything and chase after the possibility of a book deal. But if I could, I would for all of the ladies; I’d make this collaboration a very big deal.
HimPower: Have you done any forums where women can come together to discuss the 7 words and share their stories?
Hope LeNoir: We’ve not done any forums yet, other than our big book signing event. Many of the ladies have done some things individually, but as a collective, we’ve yet to do something like that. We are, however, planning an online book club where our readers can meet us on-line to discuss the writing process, the book, and some of the issues within.
HimPower: Have you considered spearheading a similar project with girls? (It would seem to be a great tool for healing adolescent and teen hurts.)
Hope LeNoir: Oh, yes! We have been discussing a similar project for several groups: men, singles, couples, and definitely a girl’s book would be so timely. Every time we discuss the book with other people, they get excited about the prospect of using different groups.
HimPower: DiAnne, we understand you have written other books, what can you tell us about those?
DiAnne Malone: So, I collaborate on a novella series with a colleague of mine. My pen name for that project is Rosee Garfield; hers is Hazel Lindey. The series is called, The Church Chronicles of Iris and Locke. The book explores the interplay of residents of a small but flourishing all black community in the south and the church within that community. The town is called Sweet Fields, and the folks who inhabit that town are lovely, nosey, quirky little people who have all kinds of adventures. I often call it southern church humor with a touch of romance. I also have another book out that is a devotional. The name of that book is Light UP! The title speaks for its contents. The devotional is a forty day one with space for reflection and a short prayer at the end of each meditation. The devotions are inspired by many of the posts I have on my blog. I have a couple of other projects in the works as well. I’m working our narrative arc for a book I’ve tentatively titled “Come Sunday.” It is a book about rest, rest for the purpose of having the energy to celebrate God on Sunday. We don’t really rest for that; if we rest, we rest for ourselves and from others. We don’t rest so that we will have the energy to worship not just on Sundays but throughout the week, through our lives’ work. I recognized a while back that I don’t use the Sabbath as a rest day, but a catch-up day, and by the time I get to church, I am so tired that I can barely engage in the sermon, the choir, I even trudge around for offering. I sit there waiting for the preacher, the choir, the musicians, the ushers to GIVE me something, but I’ve brought nothing to the table. My worship was tired. I needed to change that, and in doing so, how I viewed worship and rest changes. I wanted to share that experience with other people, especially women, who never stop themselves from spinning forward. We wear ourselves out for everything and leave nothing for God to use. I’m also super excited about collaborating with my sister again (wink, wink). I started writing a chapbook for younger readers because I didn’t see my daughter’s face represented in the chapbooks for girls her age (1st-5th grade). I recognized this when it was “dress as your favorite book character” day at school. There were not many book characters that looked like her, especially girls. That bothered me. So, I took Toni Morrison’s advice and began to write the book I’d want to read if I was a little girl her age. Hope and I will be working on that book together, because the main characters are sisters.
HimPower: Hope, we understand you’re published too. What is the name of your book?
Hope LeNoir: I wrote Rush because I thought it was important to deal with the psychological aspect of embracing your purpose. I also founded Rise and Fly, which supports the work I do to as a Professional Strategist, Career Coach and Inspirational Speaker.
HimPower: Thank you both for sharing so much of yourselves with our readers. Where can they purchase 7 Women 7 Words or any of your other books? Can they contact you for more information?
7 Women 7 Words is available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle form. I can be contacted both by phone and by email. My email address is dianne@diannemalone.com. Hope can be contacted at: info@riseandfly.net.
DiAnne and Hope
