Dogs Are Smarter Than People: Writing Life, Marriage and Motivation

This week? Well, our podcast is not our normal format because we’ve been in the car for… um… Okay? Forty-eight hours? Apologies! So, this week we drove from Maine to Vermont to Maine to North Carolina to Maine. In North Carolina, we went to Shaun’s dad’s funeral and it was the first time that Carrie’s … Continue reading "Road Rage When North Meets South"

When people look at our dog Gabby, they almost always say, “Oh, she’s so beautiful.” Gabby, however, isn’t beautiful by breed standards. She’s actually a mess. Her muzzle isn’t boxy enough. Her back sloops. Her hips splay. She’s about twenty pounds too skinny. And that’s mostly all because she was abused and starved her first … Continue reading "Dog Poop and Shame"

So there’s a quick and easy way to figure out who you are and who you want to be, but also figure out what your book is and what it wants to be.  It’s called the high concept. It’s the dramatic question. It’s the way you describe in a quick captivating phrase all the energy … Continue reading "Yo! We’re High Concept."

We all want to be creative. We all want to be amazing at relationships. This guy, Benjamin Hardy, PHD, wrote an article on Medium exactly about that. It’s called “21 Behaviors that will make you brilliant at creativity and relationships.”  Basically, his article is saying that people limit themselves by defining who they are, what they … Continue reading "Motivation and Creativity And Hand Pies"

Shaun: A week or so ago, someone told Carrie that she’d be better served if she didn’t present as insecure on her social media.  Carrie: For the record, I am just open about when I’m scared about things. I’m not sure insecurity is the same as fear. I mean, I guess it is to a certain extent. … Continue reading "Lick the Kitten, Embrace Your Vulnerability"

Why Do People Suck So Much? One of the biggest things you hear in the world of writing is to make your character likeable, which is great and all but gives you two questions:  How. How do you make your characters likable? How do you make your characters likable when in real life people suck … Continue reading "Am I the Butt Face? How to Make (and be) a Likeable Character"

So, if you check out the link to this article on the Huffington Post by Leslie Kean, you’ll have some good background on what we’re talking about. But Kean writes about the To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science, which is meant to “advance research into unexplained phenomena and develop related technology.” One of … Continue reading "If UFOs Are Real Then What the Heck Else Is"

There are a lot of different ways to write a best seller, but the three of the most common features are these: THREE MAIN HINTS TO MAKE A BEST SELLER You have to engage the reader. You have to keep them hooked. Make them loyal. Easier said than done, right? Maybe not. Think of what … Continue reading "Let’s Write a Best Seller"

Jared Leto is a somewhat polarizing guy for who-knows-what reason. He’s model-pretty, a vegan, an award-winning actor and a musician. And there’s this quote I (Carrie) read that struck a chord.  “When you commit to something that’s seemingly impossible,” he says, referring to ascents both metaphorical and literal, “and you’re pushing through things that are … Continue reading "Don’t Dabble Writers, Commit. We Know What a Hyphen Is and That’s Sexy."

This week’s podcast is not our normal format. We drove 27 hours or so this week. Our brains became a bit unglued – Okay. Even more unglued.  But we talk about: Writing Divorce Why People Get Divorced How By Using Those Metrics We Will Probably Get Divorced Paying Attention to Other People’s Stories Rotarians The … Continue reading "Shaun Reveals Why People Divorce. Plus, Hippies and Rotarians."