Get Booked – The Sixth Of September, Callista Bowright

Welcome to today's Get Booked radio show here in our Covent Garden studio, supporting women's emotional well-being, opening discussions, and offering support via the incredible writers out there. Today we are continuing our series of interviews we've been having here for Get Booked on, um, on mental health journeys. And today joining us in the studio, we have the writing duo Alicia Wright and Stella Bowling, aka Calista Bowwright. Hi, how are you? Fine, thank you. So, uh, today, uh, we're going to be discussing The 6th of September, a book that you have put together. It's quite a big book, isn't it? Yeah, 912 pages. Wow, that must have been quite a journey writing that one. Um, it wasn't the, the journey— the, the hardest part wasn't just the writing, it was the fact that Alicia had to dictate a lot of her past life. Obviously I knew my past life, but hers was very traumatic, and there were times when she broke down recording it. And when I was listening to it, I had to stop and go outside and have a few tears. It was emotionally very traumatic for both of us. I can imagine, 'cause I mean, at the same time that I'm sure it was cathartic writing it down, it is reliving it. And just for the listeners, just to help them. So basically the two, it's based on real life, but there's kind of three sections. One is the whole background of one of the ladies, and then the other section is the whole background. I mean, we're talking from childhood all the way up until pretty much the 6th of September. Yes. And then the third section is what you do afterwards. What you do afterwards. And it's, just to summarize it a little bit, basically you both had had enough of being mistreated. Yes. And done over and used, abused, and then eventually you came across each other. Yes. So, I mean, should we start with you, Alicia? Tell us a little bit about your background and why you decided that you need to try this. It sounds very, very tragic, but in the book, I mean, there is a lot of humor as well as the emotional side. But my story started, really, it's got a little bit of background from when I was a child, but it starts really from when my parents' marriage split up when I was 11, and what happened there between 11 and 16 really was very traumatic. Beaten child, abused, worked 5 jobs from being 15, all the money taken off me, no clothes, no going out, was basically a prisoner. To actually leaving that and the trauma of leaving that and being so scared and so afraid and untrusting of anything male, really. And then going from there to 3 marriages where— I don't want to say it on the radio, but let's say the first one was an adulterer, the second one was even more of an adulterer, and the third one was an alcoholic. Yeah, you've not done well. No, not well at all, not well at all. I mean, there are some happy times in between there. I mean, the third marriage was a very good marriage. And the alcoholism wasn't one of those where he has to get up in the morning and drink vodka. He'd be completely dry for 3, 4 months and then go on a binge. So I never knew, I mean, I'd be training at work on alcohol and drug abuse and I'd never know what I was coming home to. I had to open the front door and smell. If I smelled cooking, I know it was safe. If I smelt alcohol, I know I was in for a week at least. Of hell. And then after going through that marriage and what happened there, but then that leads up to directly into the 6th of September after I'd divorced the third one. And what happens after the 6th of September, or actually what happened on the 6th of September, which was an amazing tale really, wasn't it, Stella? Absolutely. Full of coincidences, the 6th of September. And I know you don't want to discuss it, Hazel, because you haven't read that far. The thing is, It's— I wanted to kind of— because you're not going to tell us what happens because otherwise, you know, people need to go and get the book. Um, but yeah, I read both of the backgrounds and then as soon as got to 6th of September, I stopped. I just said, I'm going to speak to you guys first and just— because otherwise we sit there going, haha, we know what's happening. But this way the listeners know that I don't know. Yeah, either, which, um, it's quite— it's an amazing tale. It really is quite, quite an amazing tale. When Stella and I got together and compared notes, and it was on the 6th of September that Stella and I met, and when we got back, when we got, I went to visit Stella, um, and we sat down and compared notes on what had actually happened. And I didn't know Stella from Adam, uh, no, not, not until there was a quick call, who are you, fiancé? No, I am, yeah. And when we compared notes, we, we actually went to Portugal together to, to get over the, the shock and the trauma of actually what happened on the 6th of September. But I mean, there's a lot, there's a lot in it just before the 6th of September, then the 6th of September happens, and then afterwards. And that's the main bit. And we went to Portugal and we sat there and we compared text messages and, and, you know, contacts and what where it actually happened. And I looked at Stella and said, you couldn't write a book about this. And Stella looked at me and said, can't we? And that was the start really, wasn't it? In Portugal where we— it was because we didn't realize that both of us had similar backgrounds within, but opposite ends, wasn't it? Because yeah, because you started in a working-class environment. I started in upper middle-class Buckinghamshire. I always say she talks with a plum in her mouth. Yeah, she calls me posh bird. You're a northern lass. Yeah, exactly. I come from a two-up, two-down in, in, in Burnley in Lancashire, and I was brought up on the bare bones of everything. Stella was brought up in France. Well, I went to school in France as well. It isn't mentioned in the book because, you know, you, you could go on, the book would be twice as big if I went on about everything. Stella had, um, servants and livery and you name it. Everything that I didn't have. I had a nanny. Unfortunately. Yeah, you had a nanny. Unfortunately, no love. No, absolutely loveless. You can have everything in the world, if there isn't any affection or love there, it's not— it doesn't mean anything. It doesn't mean anything at all. I preferred to stay at boarding school, giving excuses I had work to do, so I didn't have to go home. To my parents. That was a better environment for me, but I had no affection. I felt no love. My mother constantly told me, implied that my sister was prettier than I was. She was anyway, but she would say, "This is Stella, this is Rita, but Stella is the clever one," which instantly told me. And my mother used to go on to me about my weight because I started to overeat. As you read in the book, because I was empty inside. You know, this is the reason people have eating disorders. Yeah, well, it's filling a void, isn't it? Yeah. And there were periods in my life when— the period when I met the younger man who I absolutely adored, I lost an enormous amount of weight because I didn't have any need to fill myself up with food, you know. No, but you both have a little bit of a desire for for the younger guys, don't you? Yes. Which is probably why you ended up with the same bloke. They're attracted to me. They're attracted to us. It's, you know, we don't go out sort of— they call you a cougar. What a name. But you don't go out prowling. It just happens. Yeah. It just happens that way, doesn't it? Yeah. You somehow attract them. You don't know why, you know, but— Well, we do with this particular one. The book's— the other central character in the book, we know why. Oh, we know, we know him, yeah. Yeah, there's only so much one can say. I'm quite intrigued, did you actually, did you write the book or did you dictate it? Did you have somebody come, a ghostwriter? No, no, no, Stella actually was the artistic writer. Yeah, that's a good phrase. The way that it happened was we decided to write the book in Portugal and on the way back, because I run a company, with my business partner, I knew I didn't have time to sit at a laptop and write it all down. Yeah. So I went out and I bought Stella a brand new laptop, 2 dictaphones, and the way, the way that it happened was that when I got home from work at night, I would then sit in total silence and start at the beginning and just talk into the dictaphone. And when that one was full, then I'd drive over to Stella's give her the full one, she would give me the empty one. And we just did that for almost a year, didn't we? I was gonna say, yeah, that's quite a lengthy process. Yeah, yeah. And I had to try and recreate Alicia when young, Alicia when married, Alicia's family, especially her very famous mother, who's a very, very famous medium, very well known. Right. And That was difficult because when I'm recreating my own past and my own family, I obviously know them. Yeah, but I had to try and recreate in a life way Alicia when young and her family. And that's a huge responsibility because you want to get it right. But you did. You did so well. And that's what, that's what I said to Stella when I actually read what she typed about my family. She researched my mother, she listened to the descriptions and she recreated it. It was when I was reading certain passages in the book, especially my brother's, my brother's death. She had every single detail down and I could see the picture as I was reading it. So it's like you did embody her and kind of— Yeah, yeah. Brilliant. It was important to me that the characters, that Sophie and Olivia, were very, very important in the book. Other people were important too, obviously, and Ty comes in as the thing we bounce off, as it were. You know, he makes us meet. But it was so important that people started off getting to know these characters from the very beginning. You know, they went through the journey with them because we were journeying through time and space towards each other. Yeah. Yeah. In a similar kind of way, at different levels, as it were. We were completely different. I mean, I'm a hippie that bumbles from one disaster to the other. I mean, I couldn't get across London without her, "Come on here," you know. Wow. I do actually wanna talk a little bit more about your mother. Okay. We're gonna go off for a quick break in a couple of seconds, but then when we come back, I want to talk about the psychic element. Okay. There's quite a few things that happened. It's not psychic, it's spiritual. Two different things. Oh, okay. Well, I want to find out the difference. Yes, I don't know too much about that world. So, um, we'll go over to a couple of ads and we'll be back in a few minutes. Welcome to Women's Radio Station. I'm Sarah Louise Ryan and welcome to Love Lessons Live on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Future Classic Women Awards with me, Stefania Passamonte, on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Julie May Is Listening. Hi, this is Anna Kennedy and we're at Women's radio station supporting women's well-being, and we're talking all things autism. Women, the possibilities are endless. That's what makes us different. Hi, I'm Tracy Whedon of Brownhill Insurance Group. We are an award-winning family-run insurance broker covering a wide range of insurance products ranging from commercial lines to personal household, high net worth, and fine art. 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Join us on Instagram and Twitter @WomensRadioStation, that's Women's Radio Station, or Facebook Women's Radio Station to keep up to date with all our exciting programs. Welcome back to our next section of Get Booked here in our lovely little studio in Covent Garden where it's a little bit warm, isn't it? Yes. Not that I'm complaining, you know, British weather. It's always a little bit of something. It's never, you know, just— never perfect, no. No, it's quite busy actually on the trains this morning. There's a lot of exchange students kind of rolling around. We were squashed into several trains on the underground like sardines, and I know certainly Stella's not used to it. Well, I was years ago, but I just haven't— yeah, no, there's too many people since years ago. I fell on a rather lovely young man though, didn't I? Yes, you did. Yeah, the train lurched and I accidentally fell on a young man. Absolutely accidentally. She did it in New York. She did. Portugal, Greece. She's always managed to grab a young man somewhere. Oh, for goodness' sake. Wherever we go. When we were in New York, somebody asked her if she was a film star. There were men. She was having her portrait done and sitting by the edge of the road and people were coming past and snapping her. And this guy was there taking photos and he was saying, "Do you mind? I got here first." Everywhere you go it's the same, but it's good because we get things done. I just let her, you know, ask for things, do things. Yeah, it's that good old northern charm, isn't it? Isn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we've been talking about your book, The Sixth of September, which you both wrote together. And just before we went off to the break, we were talking about the difference between between spirituality and being psychic. Now, tell us a little bit about your mother and the gift that you have as well. My mother was a medium, a spiritualist medium, and she trained mediums. She was a president of many churches. She built the Davy Jones Centre in Stafford. She was one of the founders. She actually gave a reading to a couple who had lost their son in a car accident, and she— they were so impressed with her. They were millionaires, and they were so impressed with the reading that— and confirmed that they had actually— she had actually spoken to their son, um, that they gave her, I think it was £1.5 million. Wow. Yeah, not, not cash. Didn't actually put it in her handbag. But they donated, yeah, a million and a half pounds to, to build the David Jones Centre. In, in what they wanted to do was a memorial to their son, and they called it the David Jones Centre. And my mother helped to design it. She created a healing room, teaching rooms, the church itself for demonstrations. She, she taught other mediums from being novices how to bring out their gifts. She taught them how to heal, how to channel, how to speak to spirit. And there's many, many mediums out there that have great respect for my mother. She was international, and I used to say to her when she was alive, I'd try and go around and see her, you know, as mum-daughter, to go and moan about something, and she wouldn't be there. And I used to ring her up and say, "Do I have to make an appointment to see my own mother?" You know, and she used to laugh and You know, I was very close to my mother, um, and she, she always, always gave me such good advice, um, but she, she's been a medium all, all of her life, uh, but in the latter part of her life, the last 20 years of her life, she just dedicated her, her life to spiritualism. The difference between spiritualism and being psychic is psychic is on a link, a link to link to person, so it's like a mind thing rather than the spiritual link, but a lot of psychics do have mediumistic gifts and use both. Right. But being a spiritualist, you're actually a spiritualist and not a psychic. So you're actually talking to spirit. Okay, yeah, no, I think I get that. One thing that I'm quite intrigued about, because you have the gift as well. Mm-hmm. Now in the book, there was— Nowhere near as strong as my mother. It was pretty strong. Pretty strong. Pretty strong. I mean, there's quite a few things that happened that you could kind of predict or you'd seen in the future. Yes. And there was one situation where you ran into school and you turned around to the head teacher and said, "Do not let them go on the school trip. The plane is gonna go down." And they were like, "No, you, Olivia." The head teacher completely ignored you. You couldn't afford to go on the trip. Well, I was only 15, you see, at the time. And obviously, you know, I suppose, you know, as an adult, you can look back and think, why would a headmaster listen to a 15-year-old girl ranting in, you know, in school saying, don't let them go on that trip, please don't let them go on that trip, they're all gonna die. Yeah. And it's, well, and also you would just assume it's just, you know, a rambling child who— Yeah. And I've got to say that normally, under normal circumstances, spiritualism won't give you that kind of message. It's something that a medium, and I'll probably get, you'll probably get listeners writing and saying, we don't do that, we don't do that. But mine was through dreams. It wasn't, well, it was a direct link with spirit, obviously, it were planting it in my mind, but I don't think I was meant to go running off to say these things. Right. But at 15, you don't know any different. You can't change what's gonna happen. No. But you did try and stop them going and they still went and the plane went down. Yeah. Now these visions come to you in dreams. How can you tell the difference between a dream because you've had a little bit too much cheese the night before? It's completely different. It is completely different. You wake up, you've been there. You have 100% been there, you know. So that you don't go, I'm not so sure. Yeah, there's no uncertainty about it whatsoever. It's 100%. You're living it, you see it. It's just like being in that situation and you wake up and it's like you're drawn back into your own body. Don't you wish you could have foreseen possibly the outcome of some of your relationships? No. No, it doesn't work like that. I think, I think your own life— my personal belief, a lot of people may well disagree with me— my personal belief, and I know it was my mother's personal belief, is that we choose to come here and we choose to have in our life the trauma, the fun. We choose our parents, we choose, you know, what family we're going to go into, what situation we're going to go into, and we come here to learn a lesson. We come here to learn either humility or compassion, or to learn about that experience that you're going through. Obviously I didn't learn the first time, or the second, or the third. Well, obviously, but I think by the third time I'm getting used to it. Practice makes perfect. Exactly. But we don't— nobody, I think, and I think most mediums will agree with me, you can't see your own life. Right. And you don't, you don't usually see about your close ones, your loved ones. Okay. Right. I mean, it's quite complex, isn't it? It's very complex. Yeah. And have you ever seen something that you chose not to act upon? No. Hmm. No, because if I have it to me, there's a reason why I have it. And usually it's somebody that's in need, in dire need. And I think the reason why I said to Stella in the first place, let's go to Portugal, is because I knew that Stella was in dire need. When we met and I learned about her story, not her childhood, but what had actually happened on the 6th of September, the incident that brought us together. When I actually learned about what had happened just prior to the 6th of September, um, and, and gosh, that was a night, wasn't it? That was a night and a half, Stella, really, wasn't it? Yeah. So you haven't read on from that bit. Um, I felt very, very protective towards Stella. I felt responsible in some ways. I don't know why I've said this to you before, haven't I? You have. And I had to shield her from a lot of things. But then I think a bit of the mediumistic quality kicked in and I knew that I had to take Stella away. And that's why I suggested to Stella, right, we're going to go away for a week and we're going to sit down and we're going to talk it through. I think when we first met, you thought I was going to scratch your eyes out. Oh, yes. When she turned up on my doorstep and I saw this vision of smartness, you know, compared to me, I was there in a pair of slippers and like I usually am, looking as if I've just flown out the garden. I thought, oh my God, she's going to go for me with those long nails and tear me to pieces. She had a box of cream cakes, you know, as a sort of peace offering. I stopped purposely because I knew that she'd be extremely nervous with me turning up on her doorstep. And so I thought it through and thought, well, I've got to dispel whatever fear she's got. So I stopped at the local shop and I bought cream cakes in a box and I knocked on the door and she opened it and her mouth fell open and I just thrust these cream cakes forward and said, "Let's have coffee." And I think that sort of put— it didn't put you at complete ease, did it? Because you were very, very nervous. I know you were. I was very nervous. Well, I'm just a nervous person anyway. But I think it was quite strenuous for both of us, I think, because of what had actually happened. And the telephone call that had happened on that night after the incident. When I went round, I went round with the sole purpose of— she had my complete respect. She had my complete respect because, well, I'm not going to say because it happened on the 6th of September and I know you don't know about that bit, but Stella earned my respect straight away by what she did and how she handled that. And I was listening in. This is why I didn't want to read it, because this is the bit that I'm enjoying, because it's like, it's like— Yeah, it gets to the real crux of the matter on September the 6th, and it's like a bomb exploding. It really is. And I sat there and I listened to a story and listened to, you know, what actually happened. And I'm trying to be very careful so I don't spoil the book. Well, you can't spoil it for anybody that's listening. They need to go and buy the book. Oh, they do. By the time— I think I was there for about 2 and a half hours, wasn't I? We talked and talked and— Yes. And then we talked some more over the next 2 weeks over the telephone. Darkness was falling as Olivia said farewell to Sophie. Sophie went out, saw the beautiful sports car, and felt even more inferior. I could quote you the book off by heart. And it was then that I had this feeling that I had to take her away. I didn't know the reason why I had to take her away at that point, but I knew I had to take her away. Well, you've bonded over something, and there's a reason that you've both been brought together, and it's not just to write the book. It's— what we're going to talk about in a bit is what you wanted to achieve in writing this book for the people that were reading it, for what they could hopefully achieve and understand about themselves and all about female empowerment as well, and how to stick it to the man sometimes. 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And, uh, oh, I've just been having a look, I've completely forgot to, um, I love this, I love this line: two women team up and overcome trauma and share a troubled tale. This is the 6th of September. We've been chatting away, haven't we? Yes. And the thing is, we've been chatting so much we could probably have like a 3-hour show, and I keep on forgetting to ask half the questions I've got down here. Are you ready? Yes. Yes. Right, okay. Now this book is both of your stories, and it comes together on the 6th of September, that what happens. Now, what is the reason that you've both decided to write this book? What is it you want other people to take from this book? It's— for me, for me, it's— it needed to be written for other women to see some of the traumas. I'm not saying that everybody has been through the amount of traumas, um, and escapades, or, you know, things that we've gone through. Um, and, and some might just have sexcapades. Yeah, it has got— Stella actually asked me before we arrived, is it all right for me to say Go for it. Which one is it? The— as long as it's not swearing. No, it's not swearing. What Stella actually said to me. Well, it was a word I invented for this. No, no, Stella actually said to me. Oh yes, I know what you want me to say. I'm sorry, there's things I'm forbidden to say. No, we were going to say it actually in just one or two places, it makes Fifty Shades of Grey look like the Highway Code. I was going to bring that up as well. But for me, it was actually— I knew this book had to be written, and being a spiritualist, I know that my mother had a hand in the book. And Stella is a perfect scientist and did not believe in spiritualism until we went to Portugal. I really— and then it's incredible, and it really was, because we were sitting down, we just talking generally about the situation, you know, about this guy and ourselves. And we'd been talking quite late into the night. We went in and there was one settee there which she was on, one I was on here. And suddenly she was covered in these little sparkly things like stars. And I thought, I haven't been drinking. We're not drinking, girls, you know. We'd only had one, two normal cigarettes, you know. And I turned my head round and looked back to see that the rest of the room was normal. And I'd had trouble with my eye, actually, funny enough, before that. But the rest of the room was normal. I turned back again and there she was, covered in these sparkling things. And then she started to float above the settee. Not physically. I mean, as far as I was concerned, that's what she was doing. And I thought, bloody hell. And I couldn't believe it because It was an experience where somehow strength came into me and she could see the people in my life who died. As you know, if you've read it, you know, 3 bereavements, 3 terrible bereavements. The people were there in the room and I thought, oh well, I sort of go along with it because this is really happening. But it was incredible because, not to go into huge detail, but Afterwards, I knew that this wasn't going to just be something that I woke up in the morning and thought, "Well, it was interesting," and I don't feel anything. From then, I have felt. I am aware that my daughter and my son and my lover are there with me in my life. I know I can feel them there in a very positive way, and I still don't believe it, because I am very scientific. I have a BSc. I do not believe in such things, but they're happening. Sometimes you can't control what you know is happening to you. No, I mean, I absolutely— this can't happen, this is rubbish. But it happened to me, and I described it in detail in the book because it was so realistic, and I wanted people to know that these things can happen. But in a sense, I'm a non-believer, yet I do believe implicitly because it took a huge black weight out of my body, you know, off my soul and my mind. It was utterly amazing. It really was. She does have huge powers. And what I went through was incredible. That's why I felt I needed to write about it in detail. Well, and quite— because over, as we've mentioned, over 900 pages, it's quite a big book. What was the decision to— because it's your first book. Yes. Maybe there might be another one. Well, we are being asked to write a second one. Yeah, we've been asked. Really? Yeah. Wow. And would it be the same kind of— I don't know whether it'll be 912 pages long. I doubt it was going to be as long as that one, but we never know. You don't know what's going to happen, you see. The thing is, I've been taking this book around with me everywhere for the last few weeks, it's quite heavy. Yes, it is, isn't it? You can use it as a doorstop afterwards. And also, if you have one in each hand and you put your hands up and down it, yeah, it's like, um, develops your muscles. Yeah, you get a bit too active with your hands and hit one of the microphones. Sorry. So getting back to why the, the reason why the book was written for me is to show the women that no matter what life throws at you, how you manage to cope with that. There's a light at the end of the tunnel and you've just got to be strong. That women are strong. They're a lot stronger than they think. Life can throw so many different things that can beat you down and one thing after another after another. And we all know as women, when something happens, we wait until we're alone and we sit there and we cry and we wonder what we've done wrong and, Is it our fault and all the rest of it? This book will show you that it's not, that there is a pathway through it, that you can come out the other side stronger, much stronger. Going through my childhood and what I went through in my childhood, I promised myself that coming from nothing and having nothing, I would build a life for myself and for any future children where they didn't have to want I could have what I wanted and I stuck to that. I absolutely stuck to that. It's when you're faced with something that's quite horrific and it's what we do with that. Is your stomach rumbling? You got up really early this morning, didn't you? Yeah, I did, yeah. 4 o'clock in the morning. I thought I heard your stomach rumbling. It was, yeah. Yeah. I went to Marks Spencer's this morning, so I've had my breakfast. Although I had to be very careful because when you're on, um, I love their egg and tomato sandwiches, but you can't eat that on a train. That's not okay. It's not fair, is it? No, I just stuff it down really quickly before I got on. It's one of those, it's one of those ones that's just unacceptable. Egg and anything fish related, don't do it on the rails. It's not okay. But it stops my stomach from rumbling. Exactly. So a couple of things that I want to ask you as well is, considering what you've both been through and the cathartic journey of writing this down, what 3 tips would you give on mental health and mental well-being to anyone, men and women? Do you want to go first? One is to be gentle on yourself about things that happen in life. You can People put too much on themselves, expect too much of themselves. That's why they go down, because you think, I've done— as you said, you think you've done something wrong when things come on you in life. You have to learn to be gentle with yourself, to treat yourself properly, to love yourself, to help yourself through things. And the other thing is that you don't have to be a knight in shining armour on a horse to be brave. It's just facing it and tackling it in the best way you possibly can. And the third tip, I don't know, is to realise that it happens to everybody. When things happen to you, you have a feeling of being isolated sometimes, a feeling you're the only person in the world this has happened to. Which is why it's good to write and share. Yes, and to reach out to other people as well, because sometimes you can become very isolated when things happen to you. That's what I was going to say, is communication. Yeah. No matter what you're going through in life, and especially if you're going through any abuse, yeah, is don't feel too scared to speak out. You must communicate it. You must go outside of that place and bellow from the top of your lungs as much times as you, as many times as you can, and tell people what's going on. You will get help. Well, the thing is, you did, and you were unfortunately put back in the situation repeatedly, but luckily things have changed. Things have changed a lot since I was, I'm 69, and I was at that point, I think I was 14 years old, um, and at 14, you know, going to the My friend's mum, in the book, I think it's in the book, my friend's mum called the police after I heard or told her what was going on. She called the police, please come and pick me up. And I thought I was going to the police station, I thought I was safe. And he drove me straight back to this sperm bank. I was just, I just couldn't. There was quite a few situations where even when you were believed, And the teacher just turned round and had a go at your dad and let you back in? The headmaster actually went round to see him. Actually, yeah, they left me there. They didn't move me. I just think it's bonkers. Yeah. 3 days he didn't beat me. For 3 days he didn't beat me. But on the 4th day, I got the 3 days beating, so he couldn't win, you know. I mean, it was a horrendous situation. But I think it shows women to look out for everybody else, not just for your own situation, but to look at everybody else's situation, to have some empathy, not sympathy, but empathy, and put yourself where you can make a difference in somebody's life by listening. Listening is the biggest thing. It solves loneliness, it solves— you know, people just being able to talk about what's happening. It is all about open discussions and sharing experiences, and there's great healing powers in— I know they say problem shared is a problem halved. Not always, but it's just good to listen. It's good to listen, because if you can listen to somebody and let them offload, that helps them to grow stronger. Yeah, helps them to make decisions that they need to make, and sometimes decisions in life can be the most difficult thing that you can do. True. Uh, we are going to go off to our last section of ads. I'm going to be back in a couple of minutes. Okay. Welcome to Women's Radio Station. I'm Sarah Louise Ryan, and welcome to Love Lessons Live on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Future Classic Women Awards with me Stefania Passamonte on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Julie May Is Listening. Hi, this is Anna Kennedy and we're at Women's Radio Station supporting women's well-being and we're talking all things autism. Women, the possibilities are endless. That's what makes us different. Hi, I'm Tracy Whedon of Brownhill Insurance Group. We are an award-winning family-run insurance broker covering a wide range of insurance products ranging from commercial lines to personal household, high net worth, and fine art. You can contact us on 0208 658 4334 or visit our website www.brownhillgroup.co.uk for your free no-obligation quotation. At Brown Hills, we've got you covered. Hi, I'm Lauren Mishcon. I'm a birth doula and mum of 3, and I'm passionate about supporting women to have empowering and positive birth experiences. Please join me for my brand new show, From Tummy to Mummy, here on Women's Radio Station. Every week I'll be here with an expert guest talking about women's reproductive health, everything fertility, pregnancy, birth, and baby related, right through to the menopause and beyond. Please join us for an informative and fun hour. Hi, I'm Hazel Butterfield, a blogger, book lover, and mental health advocate, and you can listen to my show Get Booked here at Women's Radio Station daily at 5 AM and 5 PM. Throughout my shows, we'll talk about the books I've read, new releases, chat to authors, publishers, and book enthusiasts, all with the theme and aim of supporting women's emotional well-being. If you have a book to tell us about, get in touch at presenters@womensradiostation.com. Join me on my show and share my love of books and writing. Hi, I'm Valentina Barbacci, and I'm the executive director of Media Matters for Women. We're a registered charity operating in Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and we produce and share podcasts via Bluetooth on mobile phones, focusing specifically on women and girls excluded from information due to extreme poverty. We empower those living in rural areas with media that transforms how they access, own, and share information. To find out more and be part of this movement, come check out our website at mediamattersforwomen.org. You're listening to Women's Radio Station, supporting women's well-being. Women's Radio Station's creating a global network for the empowerment of women, and we want you to be involved. Join us on Instagram and Twitter @WomensRadioStation, that's Women's Radio S-T-N, or Facebook Women's Radio Station to keep up to date with all our exciting programs. You're listening to Get Booked. This is the final section of today's show. We have been chatting to the writing duo, Alyssia Wright and Stella Burling, AKA Callista Bowright. The authors of "The Sixth of September." We've been chatting away, shooting the breeze. I kind of feel like we should have put a bottle of Chardonnay in the middle. Two women who team up to overcome trauma and share a troubled tale. Now— It has got humor in it as well. Yeah. Yeah. It's quite funny. It's just quite funny. Quite a few little bits that I was giggling about. Yeah. And now we have been talking about how, we've been talking off air as well. You are. You've been chatting away about getting a manuscript for a screenplay. The screenplay is being made now. It is. So you had 7 requests for your manuscript of the book from film directors in New York. Yeah. Yeah. That's not bad, is it? No, because most authors who come away from that, if they got one, they would be ecstatic. Over the moon. Yeah. Yeah. But we got— when they came on her phone, she was leaving work and reading them to me. She said, well, I found 5. She emailed them to me. This was the things they mark you on, you know, each person you see. And as I went through them, I realized there were more than 5. I said to her, you can't count, there's 7 here. 7 we have. I wasn't— you're the businesswoman. I was busy. I quickly flicked through the email, saw 5, and then flew it across to Stella. And it was Stella, and he said, you haven't read it properly, there's 7. Not bad. Not bad going. No, not bad. If you want to find out a little bit more about the book and the whole process, you can go into callistabowright.com where there's YouTube videos, there's your legs. Oh, sorry, I'm hitting the microphone. See, I'm getting all excitable. My producer's looking at me going, "Stop hitting things." I'm like, "My arms just want to fly around everywhere." But if listeners can go on to callistabowright.com calista.com, they will see the YouTube readings with you. Calista's actually got her own YouTube channel. You don't have to go onto calista.com and do it. Yeah, but if they go onto the website, then they can order the book. Oh yeah, definitely. And then find the Facebook and the LinkedIn. Yeah, the YouTube videos are on the website. Yes. Yeah. Which they're already embedded in there as well. So it makes it quite interesting. And you're doing a book tour? As well. Yes. Readings at various libraries around the UK. And what is the Pacific Star Award? You're better talking about that. Well, it's Aaron Washington who reviewed it. He awarded us their star, which is for a book of excellent merit, which also automatically puts it in for their award. Right. We're also putting— actually, we've actually, we got the purple, purple— yeah, that's it, didn't they? Yeah, it's on the book cover. Yeah, it's for a Book of Excellent Merit. It's on— no, it's not on this one, it's the new edition. Yeah, um, you've got a newer edition already? No, no, this one's been, um, sort of updated since the awards were given. They had some errors in it, which was their, their thing, not ours. Right. And so they've changed it. But on changing it, they've actually put on the inside cover that it's got the Pacific Review Award of Excellent Merit. It's also been put forward for the Eric Hoffa— is it Eric Hoffa Award by the US Review? Right. They were good reviews. We also had a Blue Ink review, which Alicia didn't like very much, but it was, it was a good review, actually. Yeah, because they are very harsh. And it was actually a good review. Oh, really? Blue Ink are usually quite— It said, this is a sexy read. It is a juicy, propulsive book. Despite its length, it moves. And you know, people have said, look at this huge book and think, oh my God. And suddenly they find themselves sitting up all night reading it. I think one of the first people, or certainly within the first 10, We had somebody go on to our Facebook, wasn't it, and say, "Yippee, the books!" Somebody called Barbara, "Yippee, my books arrived!" And then I think it was 2 and a half days later, she put another review on saying, "It's 2 and a half days later and I have sat up all night and I had my son make coffee for me all day and I started the book and I have actually not been able to put it down and I've finished it." in 2 and a half days. I couldn't believe that for somebody to do that. And we've had lots of reviews like that where people just can't put the book down at all. There's gonna be a lot of people where a lot of the topics will resonate. Oh, definitely. There's so many different things that have happened to the pair of you that there's something. Everybody's been through at least one or two of those things. I've just been having a look here on, 'cause what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna make sure that we put up the link on our GetBooked resource. Okay. On womensradiostation.com, so people can go and buy it. But there's, depending on how they want to read it, um, so you've got it on Kindle, haven't you? Yeah, yeah. Um, so it's, it's, it's £15.99 on paperback, and it's, uh, it's on special offer on Kindle at the moment. But that makes it a little bit easier if you're wanting to read it on the train. Yeah, on the train or on holiday, Kindle, because it's quite a big book, it's quite heavy. I've been getting a sweaty back with my backpack travelling around with me because the thing is I want to keep it because I'm one of these people I read, I read every day and I read a lot and but just the joy of TFL can be a nightmare and there's delays left, right and centre but if you've always got a book you're always doing something. Exactly. But yeah, so this has been, this has been coming with me for the last couple of weeks. You poor thing. Do you know what, my back muscles at the moment are fantastic. Fantastic. It's really easy. It helps you with the exercise and burning calories, you know what I mean? What more can you want from a book, really? Yeah, I mean, and as we were saying before, you know, Stella's saying, you know, you can put it on one arm. You do the old bat wings, you know? Yeah, yeah. So basically, for people who obviously can't see what's going on in the studio because this is radio, this is great radio, you can put the book in your hand, flat palm, and just raise it 10 times either side, and it is absolutely fantastic for the kind of, you know, for the back. And also because of our beautiful artwork cover, you can also stand that up on a shelf in your house and you have a work of art there. You have a work of art there as well. I mean, it's got so many functions. Yeah, it has, but it does look like a coffee table book. But please, yeah, it is, but please do read the book before you start using it as doorstops and exercise. Yeah, but you know, I like it that you made sure it was multitasking because that's just women down to a T. Well, of course, I mean, that's what we women do. Of course we do, yes. And do you read yourself? Yes. So do we have favourite authors, favourite books? Charles Dickens. Oh really? One of the reasons I like Charles Dickens is his in-depth characterisation. His characters come to life. I feel as if I know them when I finished a book because he goes into descriptions of them which bring them to life, which affects the way I write. I wanted to bring them to life, you know, the characters have to live for you, they have to be people. Because people have always said by the end of the book, although it's long, they're rooting for these two, they feel as if they know them. One of the critics, the US Review, said that the readers feel by the end of this book that they know these characters and are rooting for them. And Dickens does the same thing, apart from the fact he was, without realizing it, a social commentator on the day and brought many things to light which the Victorians would rather he didn't. The power of writing. Yes, he has this wonderful power of bringing characters to life. So I've always loved Dickens if I have a very favourite author. Right. And for yourself? I like, I like Tolkien. Right. But I like to read historical books. I'm not talking about sort of King Henry VIII. I like those documentaries, but for a book, I like to read things that have got philosophy in them and historical things such as World War II, what happened with the Nazis, with the concentration camps, but in other countries as well, the differences. I mean, everybody thinks that— I mean, obviously the major one was the concentration camps in World War II, but have you read, um, The Tattoos of Auschwitz? Yes, I've just finished it. I loved it. Fantastic book. But, um, I was watching actually a newsreel yesterday where a chap I think I mentioned it to you last night, didn't I? A chap was invited along to a TV program and he didn't realize— he thought he was just there as an audience member. Um, and he had, he had actually saved 660 children by transporting them out of Czechoslovakia. Yeah. And what he didn't realize was that the whole audience were those children growing up. And they all stood up and he turned round and his face— his face was amazing. You know, things like that actually move me, really do. I think there are a lot of heroes that people don't know about. There are, but sometimes a true hero isn't somebody that goes around shouting about it. Exactly. But that was this chap. I can't remember his name. No, I can't. But I know he really did move me. He really did move me. It does ring a bell, to be honest. I think— I'm sure I've heard something along those lines. Um, another book I would recommend, especially if you like historical books— have you read Michael Ondaatje's Warlight? No, I haven't read that one. Stunning. Absolutely stunning. You'll have to write that one down for me. I will write it down for you. Um, we, we're coming to the end of today's show. I cannot believe how quickly it's gone by. Amazing. It's gone very quickly. And thank you so much for coming in and chatting to me. I mean, there's I feel like I'm gonna have to get you back in again because we've not really had a chance to get through half of the questions. Well, if we come again, don't let them cancel it at the last second because it cost us so much in train fares. It's all right, I'm just laughing. I do appreciate you coming in, and I'll make sure that for people that have just tuned in, if they want to listen again, they can go on to Women's radio station. Look, and look up my, all my shows on Getbook to make it a lot easier. And please do go on to calistabowright.com to go and find out more about you guys. And thank you so much, and good luck with the writing of the, well, the people writing the manuscript and making it into a screenplay. Yeah, I just want to say to all women out there, be strong. Just be strong. We are strong. You're all heroines in your own way. Love that, I absolutely love it. Thank you so much. Uh, do make sure that you get in touch if you, if you want to review a book or if you want to come on the show and chat about your favorite books, or maybe you are writing a book. Get in touch at presenters@womensradiostation.com. Welcome to the Women's Radio Station, supporting women's well-being. Women's Radio Station is all about diversity, from opinions, career, ethnicity, education, and most importantly, women's well-being. We aim to celebrate the individuality of every woman everywhere, providing opportunities and the platform for your voice. Visit our website womensradiostation.com for more information. I'm Tamina Zaman, founder of Empower and Enrich. When it comes to money, do you clam up or get confused? Do you wish you could save more money, or are you hoping you have enough for retirement? You are not alone. Many women want to be smarter with their cash but just don't know where to start. At empowerandenrich.org, you will find a host of options to help you take charge of your finances and learn how to put your money to work for you in an easy, affordable way. Get in touch with me at empowerandenrich.org, and let's change your future together. Hello, my name is Natasha Anne Kelleher. Welcome to you lovely lady listeners of your very own women's radio station. Over the coming months, I'll be doing a survey in big brand coffee shops interviewing customers asking why they like to drink coffee and if they would like to give us a health tip for our listeners. The most shared and liked post will be the winner of a prize. Stay tuned for further details. Hi, I'm Carolyn Van Beers. Please join me for a brand new show here on Women's Radio Station. It's Mother's Hour. If like me, you're a mum juggling far too many balls and dropping most of them, this is definitely the show for you. We'll examine the highs and lows of motherhood and make sure you laugh out loud as we take on this challenging role together. With spoonfuls of advice, incredible stories. It will be a refreshing, honest, and funny look at being a mum. Are you struggling with money? Turn to us as a national charity helping people struggling to make ends meet. Job loss, illness, or bereavement can cause a real financial crisis. We give practical help to get people back on track, whether you're thinking of having a baby, trying to get out of an unhappy relationship, or just unsure what benefits you may be entitled to, we can help. Visit turn2us.org.uk. Welcome to the Women's Radio Station, supporting women's well-being. Women's Radio Station can give voice to your brand with a wide range of sponsorship opportunities, including individual programs, We can tailor your experience for you. For more information on how you can sponsor a show, go to womensradiostation.com. 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