Want to be a writer? A career author? In case you haven’t heard, the blank page can be a real A-hole, and the book industry no less intimidating. If you’ve ever wished you could sit down and ask your favorite authors how they do it—how they REALLY pull it off day after day, year after year, book after book—you're going to love this show. Today’s a Celebration Day here at the Beautiful Writers Podcast, our first-ever "Best Of” episode.

I’m Linda Sivertsen, your host, and these snippets make up Part I of more to come.

Basically, it was IMPOSSIBLE to choose the “best” snippets from 22 hours of audio with the most lovable, talented storytellers in the world (bestsellers like Elizabeth Gilbert, Glennon Doyle Melton, Seth Godin, Brené Brown, Martha Beck, Anne Lamott, Steven Pressfield, and so many others), where all topics were fair game. If you’re already a fan of the show, I think you’ll love reliving these hilarious, wicked smart moments. If you’re new here, we’ll hopefully leave you wanting more. Every episode we’ve done, from the show’s inception with Danielle LaPorte and me to the past 14 months where I’ve brought on different monthly celebrity guest hosts, they’ve all been dear to me.

Most of our interviewees are on a book tour at the time of our chats, and with combined book sales in the hundreds of millions, they know just what to say to bring INSTANT relief and ah-has! no matter where a person is in their life or creative process. I’m still starstruck by every interviewee. I think you may be, too, as evidenced by the fact your 400,000 listens/downloads so far have put us in the top 5% of all podcasts of all categories! GRATEFUL doesn’t even begin to cover it.

In closing, I can’t tell you how tempting it was to turn this into a 3-hour episode by including every one of our 26 interviewees. All are survivors. Thrivers. Proselytizers. And their religion is kindness. They’ve faced incredible hardship and more rejection than a family of rats in a restaurant. Yet, they’re still standing. Still laughing. Still giving. Still writing.

Rather than short-change them (and you!) with snippets too short to get inside of, I’ve broken them up into Part I and II (coming soon). Until then, subscribe here so you never miss an episode.

And, of course, you can find all of our interviews in their entirety below and at www.beautifulwriterspodcast.com. Write on, my friend. I’m so very happy you’re here. xo