Authors Corner: The Living Library with Tess Booker

Awakening to Ourselves: Discovering the Spirit Within with Bill Pautler

What does it mean to awaken—not to something outside of ourselves, but to a deeper understanding of who we are and our relationship with God?

In this episode of Authors Corner: The Living Library, Tess Booker welcomes Bill Pautler, author of Awakening to Ourselves, for a deeply spiritual yet practical conversation about faith, conscious renewal, inner freedom, and discovering the Spirit of God within.

Drawing from his own spiritual journey, including an experience Bill describes as a supernatural encounter with Jesus, Bill shares the experiences and understandings that shaped both his life and his writing.

Together, Tess and Bill explore what awakening can look like in everyday life, how our understanding of ourselves can evolve through faith, and what becomes possible when spiritual growth moves beyond ideas and becomes something we experience and embody.

Rather than presenting awakening as a destination reserved for a select few, this conversation explores it as an ongoing process of awareness, discovery, renewal, and relationship with God.

For seekers, believers, spiritual leaders, and anyone exploring the relationship between faith, identity, emotional awareness, and inner freedom, this episode offers an invitation to become curious about what may already exist within you.

In this episode you'll discover:

Bill's personal journey of spiritual awakening and transformation

The experiences that inspired Awakening to Ourselves

What Bill means by discovering the Spirit of God within

How greater self-awareness can influence our spiritual lives

The relationship between faith, conscious renewal, and inner freedom

Why awakening can be an ongoing journey rather than a single moment

How lived experience can deepen our understanding of spiritual teachings

Ways to bring spiritual awareness into everyday life

About Bill Pautler

Bill Pautler is the author of Awakening to Ourselves. His work draws from decades of personal spiritual exploration, lived experience, and conversations with others seeking greater understanding of themselves and their relationship with God.

Through his writing and teaching, Bill invites readers to explore awakening not simply as something to understand intellectually, but as something that can become personally experienced and lived.

Connect with Bill Pautler

Awakening to Ourselves:

Email:

Continue Your Journey with Tess Booker

If today's conversation resonated with you, I'd love to continue the journey with you.

Explore podcasts, emotional wellness resources, Executive Reset experiences, the Inspired Living App, speaking, coaching, and current ways to connect with Tess—all in one place:

https://dot.cards/tessbooker

Authors Corner: The Living Library celebrates authors whose books carry ideas, experiences, and wisdom worth continuing beyond the page.

How Brain Surgery Inspired a Horror Novel: The Unconventional Journey of Barry Maher

What happens when a life-altering experience doesn't just change your perspective—it gives you a story you never expected to write?

In this episode of Authors Corner: The Living Library, Tess Booker welcomes author, professional speaker, and longtime storyteller Barry Maher for an unconventional conversation about creativity, survival, storytelling, and the inspiration behind his horror novel, The Great Dick: And the Dysfunctional Demon.

Barry's path to becoming a horror novelist is anything but ordinary.

Before writing fiction, his articles appeared in scores of publications, he worked an extraordinary variety of jobs, and he built a career as a professional speaker working with audiences and major corporations around the world. His media appearances have included The Today Show, CNN, CBS, and CNBC, along with his syndicated newspaper column, Slightly Off-Kilter.

Then came an experience that dramatically changed his life.

Barry was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor approximately the size of a baseball. After undergoing brain surgery, he emerged without the tumor—and with the beginnings of the story that would eventually become The Great Dick: And the Dysfunctional Demon.

Tess and Barry explore how that experience influenced his creativity, the unusual origins of the book's provocative title, and the literary influences woven into the story, including The Great Gatsby and Moby-Dick.

They also dive into Barry's creative process, the novel's unusual characters, its supernatural and horror elements, and another distinctive feature of the project: music and a soundtrack designed to become part of the reader's experience.

It's a conversation about what can emerge from life's unexpected chapters—and the strange, surprising places where stories sometimes find their authors.

In this episode you'll discover:

Barry's unconventional journey from journalism and professional speaking to horror fiction

How brain surgery became part of the unexpected origin story behind his novel

The story behind the title The Great Dick: And the Dysfunctional Demon

How classic literature including The Great Gatsby and Moby-Dick influenced Barry's thinking

The unusual characters, supernatural themes, and dark humor within the story

How music and a soundtrack became part of the creative experience surrounding the book

Barry's thoughts about adapting the story for film

How life experience can unexpectedly become creative material

About Barry Maher

Barry Maher is an author, professional speaker, columnist, and storyteller whose career has taken him from an eclectic collection of early jobs and journalism assignments to stages across the United States and around the world.

His client list as a professional speaker includes major multinational corporations, and his media appearances have included The Today Show, CNN, CBS, and CNBC. He also wrote the syndicated newspaper column Slightly Off-Kilter.

After undergoing surgery for a large cancerous brain tumor, Barry emerged with the story that eventually became his horror novel, The Great Dick: And the Dysfunctional Demon.

Connect with Barry Maher

Website:

Email:

X / Twitter:

Bluesky:

Continue Your Journey with Tess Booker

If today's conversation resonated with you, I'd love to continue the journey with you.

Explore podcasts, emotional wellness resources, Executive Reset experiences, the Inspired Living App, speaking, coaching, and current ways to connect with Tess—all in one place:

https://dot.cards/tessbooker

Authors Corner: The Living Library celebrates authors whose books carry ideas, experiences, and wisdom worth continuing beyond the page.

Navigating the Midlife Transition: Empowering Women Through Menopause with Denise Stegall

What if midlife isn't something women need to fear or simply endure, but a new chapter they can learn to understand and navigate with greater confidence?

In this episode of Authors Corner: The Living Library, Tess Booker welcomes Denise Stegall, founder of Healthy Living with Denise, international bestselling author of Healthy Living, Happy Life, and creator of the Midlife Metabolic Flip.

Together, Tess and Denise explore the often confusing transition through perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause and why so many women enter this stage of life without understanding what may be happening in their bodies.

For Denise, the subject is deeply personal.

At 37, she began experiencing symptoms she didn't understand and struggled to find answers that made sense to her. That experience led her to begin researching and learning about perimenopause and ultimately shaped the work she does today supporting women through midlife.

In this conversation, Denise shares what she has learned about nutrition, lifestyle, hormonal changes, accountability, communication, and the importance of becoming an informed participant in your own health.

Tess and Denise also discuss the emotional and relational side of menopause, including why communication with partners matters and how greater understanding can help women advocate for themselves and make more informed decisions with their healthcare professionals.

Rather than viewing menopause as an ending, Denise encourages women to see midlife as a continuum and an opportunity to better understand their bodies, priorities, and the way they want to live moving forward.

In this episode you'll discover:

The differences between perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause

Why menopause and midlife are still surrounded by confusion and misconceptions

Denise's personal experience of developing symptoms at 37 and searching for answers

How hormonal changes can affect women's experiences during midlife

Why nutrition and everyday lifestyle choices are an important part of Denise's approach

The role accountability can play when making sustainable changes

Why individual experiences of menopause can vary significantly

The importance of communicating with partners during this transition

How education can help women ask better questions and advocate for their health

Why Denise views midlife as a new chapter rather than an ending

About Denise Stegall

Denise Stegall is the founder of Healthy Living with Denise, international bestselling author of Healthy Living, Happy Life, and creator of the Midlife Metabolic Flip.

With more than 25 years of experience in the wellness space and a long-standing focus on women's experiences during menopause, Denise brings together nutrition education, mindset, accountability, and practical lifestyle strategies.

Her Nutrition Made Simple philosophy encourages women to move away from confusion and complicated approaches to wellness and toward sustainable habits that support how they want to feel, function, and live during midlife.

Connect with Denise Stegall

LinkedIn:

Facebook:

Instagram:

YouTube:

Email:

Continue Your Journey with Tess Booker

If today's conversation resonated with you, I'd love to continue the journey with you.

Explore podcasts, emotional wellness resources, Executive Reset experiences, the Inspired Living App, speaking, coaching, and current ways to connect with Tess—all in one place:

https://dot.cards/tessbooker

Authors Corner: The Living Library celebrates authors whose books carry ideas, experiences, and wisdom worth continuing beyond the page.

This conversation is educational in nature