Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m an unrepentant coffee addict, I read a lot, I’ve just started getting back into art (haven’t touched it in decades and it’s SO nice to be creating again!), and I love to experiment in the kitchen. I currently have four nonfiction books and two adult coloring books. I also blog and podcast over at vibeshifting.com.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My most recent book is The Positive Affirmations Handbook, and it was written after I finished my previous book, Mind Shifting, because I felt it would be a great way to help people extend what they learned in Mind Shifting.
Mind Shifting is about making the mindset changes needed to overcome the subconscious blocks we have that repel success and make us incapable of achieving our most cherished goals, no matter how hard we try. It’s the first book in my Life Shifting series, and I put the second book in the series on hold in order to get the affirmations book done!
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
When I’m feeling blocked, I will often take out my kitchen timer as way of kicking myself out of procrastination mode so I can actually get stuff done. I also change venues a lot. Sometimes I’ll write at my laptop in my little office alcove, and other times its pen-and-paper at my kitchen table or in a coffee shop. I almost always have a purple-inked pen when I do that. Don’t know why. Ideas just flow better with purple. 🙂
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Oh gosh — SO many! Louise Hay’s work was probably my first introduction to the self-help world. I’ve read The Secret and every major work referenced therein. I’ve read extensively in different areas of philosophy. But my educational background is in psychology and cognition (I have university degrees in both cognitive science and education), so everything that I read gets interpreted through that kind of viewpoint.
New Age concepts fascinate me because most of them are based in ancient philosophies. And I see the threads linking all of that with modern psychology and how it can all be used to help people make real changes in their lives, in a good way. Mesh all of that with a work background in project management and tech support, and that gives me a very unique way of looking at the world, I suppose.
I think that’s why my stuff works so well for people, actually. Because of my crazy, all over the place background and experience, I have a way of taking concepts that many consider very technical or “heavy” and making them very accessible to people.
What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on two books simultaneously. The second book in the Life Shifting series, and another book which kind of sprang into my head as an almost complete outline (which is always gratifying). I’ve also been working on a recipe book on and off for a couple of years, but that’s mostly as a hobby.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Besides yours? 😉
Probably my own. It’s kind of my “home base” where I run my blog and podcast and link out to my guest posts on other sites, and places where I’ve been interviewed. And all my social media sites, of course.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Find a writing schedule that works for you. It annoys me to no end when I see people saying stuff like “you have to join the 5 AM Club” to be a real writer. Nope. You need to find a schedule that works for YOU. Forget about what anyone else is doing — your circumstances won’t be the same as theirs. Fit your writing in wherever and whenever works best for you, in your particular life and situation — but see that you do fit it in.
Also, find support. Get a mentor if you can. I am very fortunate in that I have a friend who is much further along in his writing career than I am, and it’s awesome to be able to bounce ideas off him and just discuss “book stuff” with someone who actually gets this stuff. For example, you start getting all excited about book epiphanies and finally sorting out that stubborn section that’s been driving you crazy for weeks and normal people just think you’re either over- or under-medicated. Other book people understand.
Finally: you won’t finish that book if you don’t start. My book friend (who is traditionally published and has a best-seller) held up my first book (fearLESS) in front of a room full of people at one point and said “You know how many people have come to me over the years and said they want to publish book? Dozens. Hundreds. And I’ve taken the time to talk to all of them. She’s the ONLY one who actually did it.” I was totally embarrassed, but also really proud of myself. I had no idea there were that many people who set this particular goal and never actually do anything about it. It’s great that you want to write a book, but it’ll only ever be a dream unless you get out there and DO IT.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Just get it done already.”
What are you reading now?
Pathways to Bliss by Joseph Campbell, The Kybalion by The Three Initiates, and just about to start The Seventh Plague by James Rollins.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Get the current two books done, then move on to the next six I’ve got running around my head.
What is your favorite book of all time?
It’s still Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I read it for the first time in eighth grade (not for school, obviously), and it’s the first book I ever read that really made me change the way I looked at things and thought about things. There have been many books since then that have had that kind of paradigm-shifting effect on me, and my personal philosophy has evolved and changed greatly since then, but it was the first, so it has always stayed with me.
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