Mark interviews Lila Holley, a US Army combat Veteran, and the multiple award-winning author behind the Camouflaged Sisters brand.

Prior to the main segment, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, a personal update and a word about this episode's sponsor.

You can learn more about how you can get your audiobooks distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway.

During their conversation, Mark and Lila talk about:

• Lila's life of more than two decades in the army, then transitioning into creating a platform allowing veteran women to share their stories
• Trying to find her place in high school, but enjoying writing and getting excellent feedback and encouragement from a teacher
• The difficulty of the transition of leaving the military and then re-creating that civilian life
• Returning to journalling as an outlet in that transition
• Sharing her experiences in order to help other veterans
• Realizing how important to would be to help so many others share their own stories
• How Lila works with veterans to help them share their experiences, reminding them that everyone has a story
• The way Lila's first book eventually lead to an entire Camouflaged Sisters movement
• The themes of the three different Camouflaged sisters books as well as the behind-the-rank series
• Being the only female and the only black person in the room for parts of her career in the military service
• Feeling like she had to work longer hours and keep proving herself, and how that pressure can often come from an internal place
• The equal pay nature of the military service
• Sharing your ugly truth and the lessons learned
• How the military is a reflection of society
• The importance of not feeling alone
• The online community of Camouflaged Sisters and how people can be a part of it
• Involvement of military family perspectives that are included in the community, the stories, and the books
• The monthly safe space sisterhood chat that focuses on self-care
• Why Lila decided to work towards her Masters in Publishing
• And more...

After the interview Mark reflects on the power of writing, the power of story, of sharing one's story, of helping others share their story, and of ensuring that people realize they are not alone.

Links of Interest:

• Camouflaged Sisters Website
• EP 271 - Story Nerd Podcast with Valerie Francis and Melanie Hill
• EP 268 - Neurodivergence and the Creative Process with October K. Santerelli
• Draft2Digital Blog Post on Industry Insights for Q1 & Q2 of 2022
• The Official LOVER'S MOON Spotify Playlist
• Lover's Moon Podcast (Spotify)
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• Best Book Ever Podcast
• Lovers Moon Podcast
• The Relaxed Author
  • Buy eBook Direct
  • Buy Audiobook Direct
• Publishing Pitfalls for Authors
• An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores
• Wide for the Win
• Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books
  • This Time Around (Short Story)
  • A Canadian Werewolf in New York
  • Stowe Away (Novella)
  • Fear and Longing in Los Angeles
  • Fright Nights, Big City
  • Lover's Moon
  • Hex and the City
• The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Lila Holley is a US Army combat Veteran. She is the multiple award-winning, Amazon bestselling visionary author behind the Camouflaged Sisters brand. This retired US Army Warrant Officer has published 9 total books, including 8 anthology books with 143 coauthors and has additional projects scheduled with the launch of her Camouflaged Sisters Publishing company.

Camouflaged Sisters empowers military women and women Veterans to take back the narrative and ownership of their stories. Lila believes there is no one better to tell these stories than those who lived them. She is creating an amazing platform that celebrates military women and women Veterans with her online community, virtual and live events, retreats and getaways, and workshops. Through this community military women connect with each other, access resources, and share their stories. Camouflaged Sisters is more than just books—it's a movement!

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0