My book is called “Can Spiritual Women Say F#ck?: A Jersey Girl’s Guide to Inner Peace.”  It’s part memoir and part inspirational work, drawing from my rich history of missteps, mistakes, and tragic results to solidify ten new “Jersey-fied” rules for life, which may or may not be what you’re used to hearing.

The book is meant to get you riled up in some ways, reconsidering things you may have been explicitly taught or picked up from the general public.  But it’s also meant to assure you that you don’t have to change who you are to be “better.”  And to people who feel like there’s something missing in their lives, it gives a clear idea of how to find what that is and some options for how to go get it.  It’s a manifesto for authentic living.

We love the title. Very daring.
Obviously, its title is provocative.  I like to consider it “Skinny Bitch” for the meditation set.  The book is an honest, real conversation between readers and me, and I have been passionately defensive of the authenticity of my communication.  I speak to you like you might speak to your friends, even while I’m dropping knowledge bombs on you that will change your life.

The whole point is to lend my voice to the revolution of consciousness that I think is inevitable and necessary.

I wanted a provocative title, both to grab people’s attention and to communicate clearly the purpose and content of the book — I will curse, but I will also lead you down a path to inner peace.  Those things are not mutually exclusive.

Ah, so that answers the question – spiritual women can curse. What genre is this book?
Body, Mind & Spirit / General

What kind of readers will it appeal to?
I wrote the book with seekers in mind, but specifically seekers who were having quarter-life crises, or preparing to graduate and get into the real world (target demographics being me or my sister).  Since then, I’ve discovered that it has moved everyone who has read it, including senior citizens and divorced, middle-aged men.  So the answer is, it will appeal to anyone with questions in their hearts.

What gives you the right to answer these questions?
I’m just a normal person who happens to be very in touch with her spiritual side — I’m an empath, an ordained minister, and a spiritual counselor.

I’m also a crazy cat lady running an unofficial rescue out of my house (right now, we have five cats and three dogs).  I’m excited to promote this book, it makes my cats happy to know that their mom is out starting a revolution of consciousness!

We know you’ve got a great sense of humour, but there are serious undertones to the book, aren’t there?
The book talks intimately about some of the most tragic things that have happened in my life, including the loss of a baby, the loss of the man who raised me, and my experience with domestic violence.  I speak frankly and openly about these topics in the hope that it will encourage others to be able to own their stories, too.

Have you written any other books that we should read next?
Not yet, but I am working on publishing some more “Jersey Girl’s Guides” in the future!

Come back and talk to us about them when you do. Do you have a website where we can keep up with your work?
http://jerseygirlglobal.com

How can we follow you on Twitter and/or Facebook?
@Jess__Barrett on Twitter;
www.facebook.com/jerseygirlsguide on Facebook!

What’s next?
The book tour will kick off in 2014, and I’ll be trying to get my message out to as many people as possible in independent bookstores and in book club meetings around the country. I’m interested in talking to individuals and small groups, really forming relationships with people who are reading the work and getting excited to participate in the revolution!