Book Journeys Author Interview – June 16, 2017
Maggie McReynolds with Jiayuh Chyan, author of Your Key to the Akashic Records: Access Your Spiritual Adviser 24/7 to Fulfill your Soul’s Highest Potential.
“We all want to get to the point, before we leave this world, we don’t want to regret anything.” ~Jiayuh Chyan
Maggie:
Hey! Welcome to another episode of Book Journeys Radio. Every week, on Book Journeys Radio, we talk to accomplished authors who’ve gone from just having an idea for a book to a finished book that’s out there making a difference in the world. Our goal for this show is for you to walk away inspired and motivated to write your book, whether it’s your first or your third. Today, we’re talking to author Jiayuh Chyan. She is an Akashic records teacher and multidimensional healing facilitator. Her book is titled Your Key to the Akashic Records: Access Your Personal Spiritual Adviser 24/7 to Fulfill Your Soul’s Highest Potential. Hi, Jiayuh, how are ya?
Jiayuh:
I’m very good. How are you, Maggie?
Maggie:
I’m so good, it’s great to have you on the show! ….
Jiayuh:
Oh, thank you for having me here.
Maggie:
Yeah! To help orient our listeners, I’d like to start with the same basic question. So, can you tell us, please, what your book’s about and who’s it for?
Jiayuh:
Oh, yes, sure, Maggie! My book is teaching people how to access the Akashic records for themselves and also for others with proper permissions. And so, my book is really for people who are wondering what Akashic records are, and they wish that they can view it for themselves so they can access to this valuable … tools anytime they need to find some guidance and insight. That’s what my book is about and who they’re for.
Maggie:
Awesome. … I don’t know if there’s such a thing as a really short answer to what are Akashic records, but can you give it a whirl?
Jiayuh:
Oh, yeah! There’s – I actually prepared for this a little bit, so lemme just give it a try. Very quickly and … it, Akashic records is really an energetic – or some people would refer as “vibrational” …, events, including experience of our soul through all of our lifetimes – so, that means, including all the past, present and all the future possibilities. So, that’s very simple …, that’s what Akashic records are. Did that help?
Maggie:
…. Absolutely! I – … I – … full disclosure, I worked with Jiayuh on her book, and I had a marvelous time doing it, learned so much, so, I … already knew the answer. For those who didn’t, I … wanted to catch them up. What do you wish now that you hadn’t – what do you wish you knew before you wrote your book?
Jiayuh:
Oh, that’s – that’s actually a great question, and actually, it’s – it’s a tricky question, too, actually. I – I’ll share with the – the listeners why.
Maggie:
Good!
Jiayuh:
So, what – what do I wish for, before I knew? I really wish that I knew, writing this book, how it is going to really change my life. It’s in a good way, though, it’s in a very transformational way, but I wish I knew the magnitude in one way, because – however, it is not something – at least, I don’t think – it is not something that a person who actually imagines, and there’s – … you, yourself, really go through that experience.
Maggie:
Right.
Jiayuh:
The reason I – yeah. The reason I say that, I – right? I – I really feel like I’m … not the same person I was before I write this book. My life, actually has been changing because, in a much deeper level, I find out and realized that I really do have the courage to do the things that I probably never thought I would ever, before, really. So, that – that’s a huge experience, a very deep and profound, for me. So, that’s – yes.
Maggie:
So, I’m hearing that, being the author who wrote and published this book has changed other areas of your life, too?
Jiayuh:
Absolutely. It my personal life, it changed my relationship. It changed how – it actually changed my – my interaction with my own family. It became a much deeper perspective, in a way I never knew before. So, here’s the second thought I wanted to share with the listeners. It’s … a fli – flip-flop kind funny way, because, the truth be told, if I knew – if I knew, ahead of time, how … – how such a experience could be transformational, but also i – it has a lot of ups and downs, I’ll be honest. But if I knew that before, I probably would have chickened out, because of the person who I was!
Maggie:
Ah! So, the person who hadn’t wrote the book would have been a little daunted. A little scared.
Jiayuh:
Oh, … absolutely! Yes, absolutely.
Maggie:
So, Jiayuh Chyan, published author, are you a braver person now?
Jiayuh:
I think I am actually am – actually, let me rephrase that. No doubt, I am.
Maggie:
Very cool. Very, very cool. How did you – how did you pick a topic? Were you always clear, that you were gonna write this particular book?
Jiayuh:
No, not at all! I had no idea what I was gonna write. In fact, I had some idea – actually, I had a clear idea about what I was going to write, about what my book’s about end up to be nothing to what I … envisioned I was going to write. The reason I say that is because, before I actually start the process, I thought I was just gonna write about my story, …? … how my life changed and what I learned and I was … to write a lifetime story which, essentially, during the process of “Idea to Done,” which is Angela Lauria’s program that helped me with – finish this book, during that process, I realized – yeah, I realized what I wanted to write was about three to four different books, ….
Maggie:
Three or four different ones?
Jiayuh:
Yeah! The content – … the content, the topic, I wanted to write … to be the equivalent to, probably, four different books. ….
Maggie:
… narrow it down to just one?
Jiayuh:
Yeah, that is a very good question! That is a lot of work, to actually narrow down just one, but I would say, though, the – the process that Angela has, the “Idea to Done” process, really is – was tremendous help for me. The process helped me to have a way to figure out what, exactly, the message I need to send out, and what my ideal – who my ideal readers are, and who I want to help. That’s Part One, very, very important to help me to get this idea clear, and what topic I want to write. And on the second one that’s also instrumental help for me, was actually – I work with my own Akashic record. So, throughout this whole time, I always go back to my record and connect with my record and ask for different ideas and a – different suggestions and different insights, what – different impact, and my records really help me out. … my very first book needs to be on the topic of Akashic records. So, that – those are two different things that helped me out.
Maggie:
Cool! Did you consider yourself, prior to – to signing up with the Author Incubator and working with Angela Lauria – did you consider yourself a writer?
Jiayuh:
That’s – well, I tell you this much, just to begin with. When I was young, when I was … a kid, … from elementary school to, probably, high school, I was a – … I wrote a lot, but in Chinese.
Maggie:
Well, yes. That would make sense.
Jiayuh:
Right? So, in English, no. I – I never really consider, I, myself was a writer. … it’s English! … lemme just be really honest. I’m Chinese, so writing a book in English has always been …, “Nah, that’s not possible for me.”
Maggie:
I’m – I’m trying to picture writing a book in Chinese, then that feels pretty impossible to me.
Jiayuh:
Oh, thank you! That’s funny. Yes. That’s – that’s a good point! That’s a very good point.
Maggie:
So, once you – once you got into it, and once you started writing, were there times when the words just didn’t come, when you … got stuck with writer’s block?
Jiayuh:
Oh, that’s actually, absolutely, yes. Absolutely, and I actually have this writer’s block very early on. Very, very early on. I think it happened – first, I got idea, I had a clarity about the topic, … and we went through this process, we put a summary. I guess, people would say is, … call it inline, but it was really a summary of all the different key points for me, of what I want to cover. ….
Maggie:
… – to organize your thoughts, to organize the information in the book. Right.
Jiayuh:
Yes! Yes, yeah. Organize information. I was – I fly through that process, because it was easy. I knew exactly – because I am teaching Akashic records, and then, it’s easy for me to – to know what I want to cover as a curriculum, right?
Maggie:
Sure!
Jiayuh:
So, as soon as I start writing, though, huge, huge writer’s block, it was so difficult for me to move forward.
Maggie:
Ah. So, how did you handle that?
Jiayuh:
Oh, that’s … help. Tons of help. A lot of help. I think, actually, it’s also in line with what I share with listeners early on. I always get help from two directions. One is definitely the process, … the “Idea to Done” process. I – it – there is part of this method that I learned, is to – to do a meditation – it’s exercise, I guess. It’s exercise, like a meditation, but it is a – the intention of that is really to – to go to our creativity temple and to – to meet our ideal readers and also to – to see our books, our inner author, … I have an inner author, which I did not know before, right? So –
Maggie:
Yeah!
Jiayuh:
To – to connect, be – be in that space creates a temple to actually meet my inner author to ask her, “What is the problem?” … “What’s happening? Why can’t you write?” And …. So, I learned from that. My inner author tell me what it is about. And – so, that’s one, and the other method, also, I always – like I say, I always connect with my own records … and ask for guidance and – and ask to understand the spirit you choose. … why am I having this difficulty? What is it … all about? So – so, those are different ways how I find out and overcome what it is, and then she overcome it as well.
Maggie:
And … of course, I’ve never experienced writer’s block (ahem) but –
Jiayuh:
Oh! So, really!
Maggie:
Yes. No, no, totally not true. But I know that it’s easy to doubt in those moments, right? To feel like, “What am I doing?” and “I’m not really an author,” and “What if I never – what if my mojo never comes back?” Right?
Jiayuh:
Oh. That was – that was – when I was – very real concern. That was very real concern, yeah. And … almost … “Gosh, I think I made a mistake, what was I thinking? I cannot do this!” Those were all there, right … all together.
Maggie:
Well, I’m – I’m curious. What do you think – if you had been writing the book on your own, if you hadn’t been part of this program, if you’d hit those rough patches, what do you think would have happened?
Jiayuh:
I would stop.
Maggie:
You’d have just stopped.
Jiayuh:
Oh, yeah. Definitely. I will stop.
Maggie:
Yeah.
Jiayuh:
I think I would – because I did not really know – I didn’t – … I didn’t really have the tools. In addition to my Akashic records, but I really didn’t have the tools or – … people like Angela, she is so experienced in this, she really knows how to help – help me to release my fears and help me to see the quality. I think that’s a huge difference about whether or not I would – I was doing it myself versus I have a mentor that’s actually helping out – helping me out. Because she knew, exactly, what’s happening. Just because she – she – she – she had gone through this herself and she’s worked with many, different authors, so I think that … yes, if I did it myself, I would definitely stop. Because I didn’t know how to move forward.
Maggie:
I think this must be how so many of us have … three chapters of a – of a half-baked book somewhere on our desktop, right? That we wrote six months ago, or six years ago,
Jiayuh:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Maggie:
I’m betting everybody listening, who’s ever – ever even tried to start writing a book can identify with that. ….
Jiayuh:
Yeah. Yeah, I can only imagine.
Maggie:
What was different about writing or publishing a book than – than you would – expected? What – what – what surprised you about this process?
Jiayuh:
Actually – I’m actually – I have been actually pleasantly surprised that it is actually – it was actually a lot easier than what I imagined it would be. I’m actually thinking now is because I had help during the whole process, because before I begin, I – … in my …, this is not possible in my own life, …. I was … – I was …, “This is never going to have – it cannot be possible.” But then, that’s my mindset before I start, because you were such a big mountain, I did not think I could overcome it, but the whole process – even though there were ups and downs, of course there are ups and downs, … they’re hard working, there are … difficulties, there are emotions, all of those, but when I looked back, it is really so much easier than what I thought would have been.
Maggie:
… feel, while you were in it, … it was this long, drawn-out thing? Or did it – did it just feel like it had a good pace? … what did that feel like for you?
Jiayuh:
It’s actually – I think it’s – I think it comes and it goes, in a way, when I had writer’s block. I couldn’t write for … three days. I – I sit down because I – I have schedules, but I really couldn’t be productive. But once I come the writer’s block, I fly through, very quickly, and I credit that to the momentum. The fact that everything was laid out, there is – there is one step after the other, and it was actually very manageable once after I overcome my writer’s block. I – I don’t think that makes sense to you, but that’s how it feels.
Maggie:
No, I get it. What I’m hearing is that there was an – an inherent structure in the program that you could … rely upon like a – … there it is, your – your – your – your safety net. You know where you are in the process at any given time, right?
Jiayuh:
Right, right. Exactly. And then, there is a underlying – I think there is underlying – how should I say? I think there is also an underlying level of comfort, … I know I don’t have to figure out the process, because the process there lay a foundation for me already. I just need to make sure I follow it and I’ll get there, and – and I did.
Maggie:
And that’s so important, isn’t it? … that there is – and it’s a relief to realize you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
Jiayuh:
Oh!
Maggie:
You don’t have to create the entire thing out of noth – out of nowhere, right?
Jiayuh:
Ab – absolutely. That’s actually – that’s not only a relief, that’s really a tremendous … I always say that’s Universe. Know what I need, so send the help my way. Yeah! So, I really – I really, really believe that’s what Universal has done for me, …. I actually just see … information, one day out of blue. And – and I don’t think I mentioned that before, but I just saw her information one day out of blue, and then I told the Universe, “If this is meant to be, lemme see, in three days.” Sure enough, I saw in three more days. And that was what – how magic it was, how magical it was.
Maggie:
When you know, you know. And apparently, the Universe knows, too. So –
Jiayuh:
Yup! Yup. And I’m very, very grateful for that.
Maggie:
So, you’re published, and the book’s out there. So far, what’s the bet – what’s the best thing that’s happened, out of publishing your book?
Jiayuh:
For one thing, I get to call myself “International Award Winning Best Seller,” ….
Maggie:
… tell us about – tell us about your award! Tell us about your award!
Jiayuh:
Oh, … gosh! It’s really, … – I could believe I actually had a – award, because it was just … one of those things. “I have a book, my book is published, why don’t I just …” – … it was … wasn’t – wasn’t thinking I was going get any – any acknowledge.
Maggie:
Right. Recog – recognition.
Jiayuh:
… – right, right, right. And I entered this international book award. I just saw – I got to try, …, I have nothing to lose, I have a book!
Maggie:
Right.
Jiayuh:
… yeah. And I entered in, I had no expectations and I – I forgot about that, and all of a sudden, people are – start talking about – I – I got award, I’m … “What?” And I actually had – had a – was given an award for the – for the finalist in … the – the spec – the middle aged speciality. The finalist. So, I was really, really, really excited about that, because I never expected that it would come out of – I was just thinking, “Well, since I have a book, why don’t I just enter that and see what happens?” And – so – so, that’s about my book award, but ….
Maggie:
That’s a pretty big thing! That’s a pretty big deal, congratulations!
Jiayuh:
…. Oh, thank you! Is it? I’m sorry, it’s just … I don’t – I still – I still need to … from people a little bit more. Thank you.
Maggie:
I get it!
Jiayuh:
Yeah! But then, truly, what’s the best thing that actually happened – … my book is out there, is, I got so many – I cannot even tell you h – so many people … – in addition to the people, they took their time to post it on Amazon, the book review, I got so many readers, they send me private e-mails, …. They just want to talk to me about how my book resonates with them, and then how my book helped them, there are people – really, I didn’t imagine – I wasn’t imagine – there are people really, was waiting, looking for my book. And – and that’s the best thing … to know. My – my book really is out there and help people who my book was meant to help. And that’s actually the best thing.
Maggie:
Knowing that you are actually – you are making a difference in the world, the one that you intended.
Jiayuh:
Yeah, yeah. That is very true, because we all want to make a difference …. Every single one of us, we all want to make our lives better, we all – we all have this feeling of, we want to help people to make the whole world better place, we all do. But this is really … beyond what I can imagine, a – actually, and make a difference with my book.
Maggie:
Yeah. Yeah. Right.
Jiayuh:
Yes!
Maggie:
… all of us want to leave a legacy, I think? And to know that some – that we’ve – we’ve left our little corner of the world a – a somewhat better place for having been here, right?
Jiayuh:
Yeah. Yes. This funny thing – the interesting thing is, I didn’t have that philosophy when I was young, though. I didn’t. I think, when I was young, I had a total different outlook of my life, it was all about me. But as I get older, things change, and I’m so happy – I’m really happy my philosophy changed. And I get – get to the place of my life, I’m really happy with where I am, and I’m really happy about my life, and I really happy about what I do, so that means a lot to me, ‘cause we all want to get to the point, before we leave this world, we don’t want to regret anything, right?
Maggie:
Right. So, officially, now, you will never, ever be able to say, “Ah! I should have written a book.” Right?
Jiayuh:
Oh, my goodness! You are right, Maggie! I never thought about that. Wow.
Maggie:
You’ll never have to say that. Isn’t that a cool thing?
Jiayuh:
That is very cool, and I never – that never crossed my mind, so thank you. That was very, very enlightening.
Maggie:
Oh, you’re welcome.
Jiayuh:
That is very enlightening!
Maggie:
You are welcome. So, having been through this whole process, having written your awesome bark, I – I’m – I’m – I’m gonna plug it a little, ‘cause I’m proud of it, too, what advice would you give someone who’s listening, who – who’d want to write a book but who, maybe, can’t figure out how to get sorted, or who wants to write a book but who hasn’t finished it, or who wants to write a book but they don’t even know what book. What’cha got?
Jiayuh:
Oh, my advice is really simple. Do it. If I can do it with Angela’s help, you can do it, too. That’s it! Very simple.
Maggie:
Yeah, … and you’re right, and certainly, I think you’re a great example of that, not because you’re not a polished or accomplished writer, because you are, but because you’re writing in a – what is a second language for you. And you’re very good! You’re very fluent.
Jiayuh:
…. Oh, thank you!
Maggie:
But I know – I know – I know the difference between being conversationally fluid and being able to write a book in a language that you didn’t grow up learning. That’s pretty huge.
Jiayuh:
Wow! Thank you. I really appreciate that. Yeah. It’s – it’s different, because I was writing in a second language. That’s truly different. ….
Maggie:
You think in Chinese, when you write the book?
Jiayuh:
Not anymore.
Maggie:
Oh, that’s interesting.
Jiayuh:
Yeah. I was thinking in English, totally.
Maggie:
Oh, that is really interesting. Do you dream in English?
Jiayuh:
I think, yes. I think, most of the time, I think the whole situation …, because, when I work into this country twenty-eight years ago, I had to translate everything from Engl – from Chinese, … I have to translate English into Chinese. And now – and now, I – I’ve – when I first comes to the US, I think in Engl – in Chinese, and reading, about me, was all Chinese, and I have to translate, that took time, but now, it flip-flops, it’s opposite way. So, after twenty-eight years, I guess my language system has been switched. I think in English, I dream in English, so I – when I think about something to explain, it’s only English.
Maggie:
Well, at the risk of sounding corny, you dreamed a pretty big dream in English, when you thought up and wrote this book. Right?
Jiayuh:
Oh! Oh, my goodness. Well, yes. That – that’s a – that was a huge journey. It was actually the impossible dream up until the time I begin to write my book.
Maggie:
Yeah. So, Jiayuh, I’m so thrilled that you were able to come and talk today. It is wonderful to hear your voice again, and you have such an inspiring story. Thanks for – for hanging in here.
Jiayuh:
Well, thank you! I’m really honored to be here and thank you so much for having me here.
Maggie:
You are so welcome! Jiayuh Chyan is the author of Your Key to the Akashic Records: Access Your Personal Spiritual Adviser 24/7 to Fulfill Your Soul’s Highest Potential. The main title, again, there, was Your Key to the Akashic Records, and you can find it on Amazon! And now, it won awards and I have to rush out and read it. Thanks for being here, Jiayuh! Everybody listening, thanks so much for being out there. Tune in again, we’ll be back next week! Have a great day.