I’ve just returned home from the ReWrite writers conference in Austin. It was a great time of listening to and connecting with numerous talented and passionate writers. I thoroughly enjoyed it. But I can’t help thinking about the fact that a lot of the people who attended are going to experience some level of rejection […]
I recently returned from a wonderful in-person meet-up with my mastermind group, which is comprised of Jonathan Milligan, Dennis McIntee, Rebecca Livermore, Dale Callahan, Jackie Ulmer, Fokke Kooistra, and Michael Nichols. I am beyond grateful to be in a group with these people! We were together one full day and two nights. During the day […]
Chasing a dream can be tough. It takes perseverance–sometimes more perseverance than we’ve ever had to muster in the past. Chasing a dream stretches us in ways we’ve never been stretched. I tend to think we actually become different people when we pursue a goal to which we feel deeply called. Watch this video to […]
My son and I recently learned about electric motors. In fact, thanks to our friends Gretchen and Bill, we were able to build one through a service called Tinker Crate, which I highly recommend. So we were working on this motor, trying to get the wheel to spin, and nothing was happening. Just before throwing […]
We all know we have a lot to offer the world—if we could just get a break, if we could just get out of our own way, if we could just be who we are deep down. But then life happens and we happen, then more of life and more of us. Things get complicated. […]
We were all excited. An author we had just published was going to be on Oprah, and the subject of our author’s book would be front and center during the interview. We shipped thousands of books to make sure our accounts had plenty of inventory. The day came, and Oprah set her up beautifully. The author did a […]
Once there was a woman who wanted to help people with a product she had in mind, so she started a company. She read about similar products, and began creating hers. She tested and tweaked it until it was just right. She let people use it to be sure it served them well. She used […]
The more I work with successful people and observe how they become successful, I’m convinced: success is not the result of some magic key. It doesn’t happen to people who are smarter or prettier or more talented than everybody else, or at least that’s not how it happens most of the time. It’s much simpler […]
I recently received this question from an aspiring writer: “I have a contact in book acquisitions who is willing to look over a proposal. I have ideas and draft work for like 4 books. How do I decide what to send him?” Friend and author Michelle DeRusha and I are in the middle of a training […]
Stand up, everybody,” the perky lady said from up front. “We’re going to do a little stand-in-place yoga to get our blood moving.” Great, I thought to myself. Comfortably seated at a conference with two hundred strangers, I was not excited about getting up and moving my pudgy body in unusual ways for all to […]
