books, Writing, Authors, Author Spotlight
Clementina Esposito
Author Spotlight
Author Spotlight

Writing

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Author Spotlight

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Only One Body

One of the greatest joys of my work as a writing coach and developmental editor is helping authors bring their vision to life. And with health and wellness professionals who are experts in their field, a book helps them expand their reach without having to continue to trade time for money or overextend themselves as healers. On August 19, Dr. Matt Fontaine released Only One Body, a book that invites readers to take charge of their health in simple, powerful ways.

The message is clear: you only get one body. You can invest in it now—by moving, eating well, and making proactive choices—or you can defer that investment and “pay later” with time spent in the doctor’s office. Most of us have the privilege of choice, at least for a while. And Dr. Fontaine asks a vitally important question: Will we choose well?

In Only One Body, Dr. Fontaine draws on more than twenty years in practice to show readers how to partner with their doctors, understand their options, and navigate the complexities of the human body with confidence. He uses simple, easy-to-understand strategies, and delivers them in his down-to-earth, guy-next-door voice, empowering readers to swim into what he calls “blue oceans” of health–fresh, mineral-rich, wide-open possibilities for living fully.

As his writing coach and holistic and developmental editor, it was an honor to help shape and clarify Matt’s message so that it could reach the readers who need it most. We had to condense tons of information and turn medical jargon into language that real people could understand. Then, I needed to help him unlearn the kind of writing he’d learned to survive and thrive in getting a PhD in chiropractic school. All this before we could even deal with the nuts and bolts of structure and writing that would keep the people he most wanted to reach reading. 

Health and wellness books have a special place in my heart because the transfer of knowledge is just the beginning. When well-written and consequently well-received, they’re about choice, freedom, and transformation. 

If you’re ready to rethink your relationship with your body and your health, or you’re curious how a book like Matt’s can transform your practice, Only One Body is an excellent guide.

Working with Dr. Matt was one of many lessons in divine timing. Introduced by one of his business coaches at the time, Matt first reached out to me four years before we actually began working on his book in earnest. It would be four more years until he published. And though he’s no stranger to transformation—athlete, sports medicine doctor, entrepreneur—each version stepping more fully into the man who would write Only One Body–guiding him into his latest evolution as author is an honor I don’t take for granted. 

One of the greatest compliments I’ve ever received as a coach came from Matt himself when he said that writing the book with me made him a better human. That’s the kind of transformation I strive for in my coaching. My philosophy is simple: writing isn’t just about putting words on a page; it’s about honoring the timing, the inner evolution, and the whole person, so that their most authentic voice can emerge and ripple outward into every part of their life. 

Now I’m not telling you it should take you eight years to master your content; I’ve coached plenty of writers who get it done in a year, and one who did it in six months. I am saying it’s not a contest, and you shouldn’t compare yourself to others. And if you’re writing your book to usher in a transformation, I’d be wary of anyone who promises you a book in a weekend. 

📖 Get Your Copy of Only One Body by Dr. Matt Fontaine

Choose the format that works best for you:

  • 📘 Paperback (Amazon US): Buy Now

  • 📱 Kindle eBook: Buy Now (also available in the US Kindle store)

  • 🎧 Audiobook (Audible US): Listen Now


Make love. Tomorrow is not promised.

Make love. Tomorrow is not promised.

“They’re either watching TV, sleeping, or making love,” it’s the guess my friend David hazarded.

It was a Sunday, not too long ago. It seems so far away now though. It was before the virus, before social distancing, before people in our country and our neighborhood started dying.

We were sitting at Janos and Theresa’s Gallery as was our habit most Sundays. We’d read the New York Times while our kids made art and happily followed each other back and forth between the gallery and Clipper Coffee.

There was usually a pretty steady flow of traffic in the gallery on Sundays but it was forebodingly quiet that day.

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Show and Tell

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Show and Tell

My husband and I went out to California a few weeks ago. We arrived at our hotel room delighted to discover one of his colleagues had been kind enough to leave us a welcome package replete with a lovely little book by Floriana Peterson entitled 111 Places in San Francisco That You Must Not Miss.
 
Which is where I discovered 826 Valencia. The brainchild of Dave Eggers and Ninive  Calegari, it’s a pirate storefront with cool loot up front and one-on-one tutoring programs for kids in the back. In the middle, the young author's work is for sale. Yes, you read that right...the same little folks being tutored go on to publish and sell their essays, poetry, and short stories.  I even picked up a book of essays about the joys and perils of technology--written by his peers--for my eldest. 

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Opportunity Knocks Twice

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Opportunity Knocks Twice

Loyal readers, please forgive me, it’s been too long since my last post. It’s not that I haven’t been thinking about you, or that I haven’t had a ga-zillion and one things to say to you, or that I don’t know how important consistency is to our relationship, I do.

Once upon a time when I was working for the VP of Advancement at Lehman College, my boss left an article she’d cut out of The Times on my desk. The headline was snazzy….something to the effect of, I’m paraphrasing loosely now, Women Can Have it All, if They’re Patient.

My impatient twenty-something self was like ah, c’mon, that shit again?

Patience, it is a virtue. Admittedly, one I had very little of before I had children but those pesky little critters come with unintended consequences don’t they? I think the most astounding compliment I got after I had babies, came from my parents. They said they’d never known me to be so patient. In fact, they didn’t think I had it in me.

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If you can't see 'em, we can't get 'em: I lost my keys and rediscover the basis for content creation

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If you can't see 'em, we can't get 'em: I lost my keys and rediscover the basis for content creation

With a new, and bigger phone, all my essentials no longer fit in the same little wristlet I’d been using.

It was last year. Spring was about to break when my boys and I were walking home from school.  The uneven sidewalks on City Island disappear completely in some spots. In others, they disintegrate into dirt or dust.

They’d wreak havoc on my shoes, if I let them. I generally walk in the street.

I was walking over the sewer when I dropped my keys.

“Noooooooooo!” I cried, hoping the chunky concoction of keys and rings–the big, bright-orange-red C of a keychain my husband had gifted me–would catch, and balance, on the grates.

But they went straight through.

Embarrassed by how guttural my scream had been, I reassured the boys I was o.k. We were o.k.

Wildly inconvenienced, but o.k.

Hearing the scream, my neighbor, Stephanie, turned around. Seeing my two kids and I still intact, she hazarded the next best guess.

“Keys?” she asked.

“Yep.”

“Call 311.”

Dear Jane: It's not about the oranges, why you shouldn't get over it, and 24 other healthy writing rules

Dear Jane: It's not about the oranges, why you shouldn't get over it, and 24 other healthy writing rules

After reading my last post entitled, Your Sovereignty is in Your Story, you told me you’d like to write about recent events of your life but that you don’t know how to do it in a way that’s “healthy.”

You told me that what’s stuck in your craw are the voices telling you that by expressing your pain and sorrow you’re somehow not “‘over it’ like the onus is on [you] to be over the abuse.”

You say you want to use your voice to help others who are feeling helpless and powerless but you don’t know how…

These are fascinating complexities, Jane.

And I know you’re not alone in your searching, which is why I’ve decided to respond in an open letter.

You pose a great question: How do we share our vulnerabilities and give value to others?

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Maybe It's Awkward

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Maybe It's Awkward

I don’t watch much T.V. In fact, when my husband and I met, I didn’t own a T.V. Then he bought me one. Let’s just say it was kind of a package deal.

All these years later, I still don’t watch much T.V. Aside from a movie with family, or lately, in an attempt to help me manage some late night anxiety, Dominic will turn on Frasier re-runs. I’ve never been able to resist that show. All I have to do is see the white outline of the Seattle skyline begin to be drawn and I’m hooked.

It must have been Saturday night, we were watching Frasier, I was laughing out loud, it was good. Dominic changed the channel and Saturday Night Live was on. There was this hilarious skit about how Valentine’s Day has been appropriated in all these truly awkward ways. By people’s moms and dads was one example, by colleagues and business associates was another. They were all funny. I laughed some more. It was good. It was true. I thought of you.

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Your Sovereignty Is In Your Story

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Your Sovereignty Is In Your Story

Some trusted sources recommended I start the New Year resting, practicing radical self-care & compassion, and—thankfully, this one comes easy for me—reading. In past years, I might have resisted all but the reading part, guilted myself out of what’s best for me, or even scoffed at the thought.

But, I’m at the point in my writing journey where I can no longer deny what I know is true. Self-care and self compassion are essential to sharing my story with you. I’ve recently made a big breakthrough on my book and now that I know what it’s about, I’m committed to making massive progress toward its completion in 2019 (stay tuned).

Meanwhile, between reading client work–and skimming materials that might support it and them–and what I read for personal and professional growth, pleasure, and my book group’s selection of the month, I’ve probably got seven titles going at the moment.

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The End Of The Little Island Called Home: Lessons For The Young Launcher

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The End Of The Little Island Called Home: Lessons For The Young Launcher

In a post-script to a recent FB post marking the end of my first course-retreat launch, I wrote: This is the End of the Little Island I Call Home.

I meant it literally. I was down on the beach at end of the Island sitting in the sand.  I couldn’t do more in that moment than promise to write a blog post–as soon as I got some rest–sharing with you all I’d learned when I hadn’t sold enough spots to make walkyourtalk2018.com a go for 2018.

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Higher Aims, More Gratitude, Expanded Worldview ... Three Reasons I Do What I Do

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Higher Aims, More Gratitude, Expanded Worldview ... Three Reasons I Do What I Do

“Where can we see one of your talks, Clementina?” Two business-friends asked in unison.

We were all at a conference where I’d become known for helping people write talks. I’d seen these two gentlemen at the bar and had gone over to say hello. They complimented my work, shared some great feedback they’d heard about me, and then promptly put me on the spot.