The TufFish Show

Welcome Sandra Young to The TufFish Show, a place to help writers and aspiring authors get out of their own way to leave a legacy by telling the stories they want to share through writing their own books and confidently sharing them with others. The writing process can be tough and the business side can feel scary, but TufFish makes both feel smoother and achievable. Visit https://www.jennifermilius.com/tuffish to learn more.

Creating the emotional tug within fiction is so important because as a writer, you want to immerse the reader into the story, and that's the theme of this conversation with Sandra Young. We touched on ways to include show vs tell, tips to develop setting, tips for character development as well as how to weave in other hobbies and passions into your writing. 

Sandra L. Young’s passion for vintage fashion inspired her to write her debut novel, Divine Vintage, published this February with The Wild Rose Press. She’s researched and gathered a large, impressive vintage collection spanning the late 1800s to 1990s, wearing pieces onstage through years of performing in singing groups and community theater. Her website at SandraYoungAuthor.com features a few of her fun garments that are included in the book.

Visit - SandraYoungAuthor.com 

Book purchase link: Divine Vintage

Welcome Jen Craven to The TufFish Show, a place to help writers and aspiring authors get out of their own way to leave a legacy by telling the stories they want to share through writing their own books and confidently sharing them with others. The writing process can be tough and the business side can feel scary, but TufFish makes both feel smoother and achievable. Visit https://www.jennifermilius.com/tuffish to learn more.

Something that copywriting and book writing have in common is storytelling, and Jen Craven beautifully demonstrates how this can come together through emotional connection. This conversation is packed full of tips for character development, especially when handling multiple points of view, and structuring your story. 

Jen Craven is the author of upmarket women's fiction, where one decision changes everything. The author of two historical fiction novels, Best Years of your Life is her debut contemporary work. She writes from northwestern Pennsylvania, where she lives with her family.

Visit - www.jencraven.com

Book purchase link - Best Years of your Life 

Welcome Uma Girish to The TufFish Show, a place to help writers and aspiring authors get out of their own way to leave a legacy by telling the stories they want to share through writing their own books and confidently sharing them with others. The writing process can be tough and the business side can feel scary, but TufFish makes both feel smoother and achievable. Visit https://www.jennifermilius.com/tuffish to learn more.

This conversation with Uma Girish dives deep into letting your 3 am WHY be your portal to purpose. When you allow your writing, your creativity to shift into this perspective, you'll be able to deal with perfectionism and tend to overwhelming emotions that may come up as you set out to get your book into the world. 

Uma Girish is a Spiritual Mentor, Human Design Guide, and Award-Winning Author. She mentors her clients to find and live a life of purpose through the lens of Human Design by addressing their emotional wounds caused by loss, generational trauma, or other forms of grief that have not been honored.

Visit - https://umagirish.com

Book purchase links:

Understanding Death: 10 Ways to Inner Peace for the Grieving

Losing Amma, Finding Home: A Memoir About Love, Loss and Life's Detours

Lessons From Grace: What A Bay Taught Me About Living and Loving

Welcome Lindsay Ward to The TufFish Show, a place to help writers and aspiring authors get out of their own way to leave a legacy by telling the stories they want to share through writing their own books and confidently sharing them with others. The writing process can be tough and the business side can feel scary, but TufFish makes both feel smoother and achievable. Visit https://www.jennifermilius.com/tuffish to learn more.

Working through change was the overall theme of this fascinating conversation with Lindsay! From starting as an illustrator, then becoming a writer, Lindsay shares her process and transition as well as knowing when it's ok to change agents. And the most important part of all of these shifts, she is that she maintained her creative integrity. 

Lindsay Ward is the author and illustrator of over two dozen picture books for kids. She is also the founder of Critter Lit, a free critique service for up-and-coming authors and illustrators. Lindsay lives in Peninsula, Ohio with her family. Visit her online at lindsaymward.com or follow her on twitter @lindsaymward.

Visit - lindsaymward.com

Book purchase links for all of Lindsay's books

Welcome J.H. Dahler to The TufFish Show, a place to help writers and aspiring authors get out of their own way to leave a legacy by telling the stories they want to share through writing their own books and confidently sharing them with others. The writing process can be tough and the business side can feel scary, but TufFish makes both feel smoother and achievable. Visit https://www.jennifermilius.com/tuffish to learn more.

Getting that first draft out of your head and down on paper or screen can be especially challenging, so use this conversation with Jodie to help you get through the messy middle. Jodie shared how she worked with alpha and beta readers, came through how she structured her book and the world within it, and the lessons she is applying to help her write book two of the series in less time that the first book. As any author knows, as you move closer to getting the book published, another journey begins - marketing - and Jodie shared some tips for using Tiktok.  

J. H. Dahler is the author of The Forest Girl, her debut fantasy novel. After eighteen years as a librarian, she waved goodbye to spend more time with family and focus on writing her epic fantasy series. Hiking and traveling are at the top of her to-do list, especially to ancient ruins and stunning landscapes, but she’s also dedicated to the cozy life: curling up with a good book and snuggling her two dogs. Jodie lives outside of Baltimore, Maryland, with her son and husband.

Visit - www.jhdahler.com

Book purchase link - The Forest Girl 

Welcome back Alexa Bigwarfe to The TufFish Show, a place to help writers and aspiring authors get out of their own way to leave a legacy by telling the stories they want to share through writing their own books and confidently sharing them with others. The writing process can be tough and the business side can feel scary, but TufFish makes both feel smoother and achievable. Visit https://www.jennifermilius.com/tuffish to learn more.

This extra special episode is packed full of so much wisdom from the incredible Alexa Bigwarfe. Alexa's first fiction novel, 4 Days in Paris, releases December 6, under her pen name Lexi Haddock, and I couldn't wait to have her back on the show! In our previous chat, we talked about finding your target readers and the publishing space, this time we talked about her transition to becoming a published fiction author. If you are considering a pen name or working through your first fiction novel, then let episode be a resource to help you grow as a writer, both in the craft and in the business.

Alexa Bigwarfe is a USA Today best-selling author and the founder and CEO of Write|Publish|Sell, a company dedicated to helping authors professionally self-publish and market their books. She is also the founder and host of the Women in Publishing Summit and owns two hybrid publishing houses, Kat Biggie Press and Purple Butterfly Press. Alexa is publishing her first fiction novel, 4 Days in Paris, under her pen name, Lexi Haddock.

Visit - https://lexihaddock.com/

Book purchase link - 4 Days in Paris

Welcome Joyana Peters to The TufFish Show, a place to help writers and aspiring authors get out of their own way to leave a legacy by telling the stories they want to share through writing their own books and confidently sharing them with others. The writing process can be tough and the business side can feel scary, but TufFish makes both feel smoother and achievable. Visit https://www.jennifermilius.com/tuffish to learn more.

This conversation is jammed packed with so much goodness about self-publishing your book! Joyana leveraged "field trips" for research as well as her writing critique group to write her first book. She shared so many nuggets on how she incorporated the feedback and book research such that each round of writing and edits got stronger.  Choosing to self-publish her books, Joyana shared various tips on how she did this so that she produced and marketed high-quality books.

Joyana Peters is the Indie author of the award winning novel, The Girl in the Triangle. The Girl in the Triangle won a number of awards in 2021- including the IBPA's Ben Franklin Award for best historical fiction and the Book Excellence Award for best multicultural fiction. Joyana is also building up a self-publishing coaching business to empower other authors with the joy and autonomy of the process.

Visit - https://joyanapeters.com/

Book purchase links:

https://books2read.com/TheGirlintheTriangle

https://books2read.com/SaintPetersburg

Welcome Misty Black to The TufFish Show, a place to help writers and aspiring authors get out of their own way to leave a legacy by telling the stories they want to share through writing their own books and confidently sharing them with others. The writing process can be tough and the business side can feel scary, but TufFish makes both feel smoother and achievable. Visit https://www.jennifermilius.com/tuffish to learn more.

Misty had a goal for her business to write and publish 20 books while keeping each book intentional and created out of love. In doing so, she developed several different series, each with their own look and feel, that enabled her to have multi-book launches within a year. She also made sure her fictional stories had non-fiction discussion topics, so that her young readers could have their own experiences after each book.

Misty Black is a children's book author, a mother of three, a decent cook, and a terrible singer who enjoys annoying her teenagers by singing at the top of her lungs. She is a 12-times bestselling, award-winning, author of 22 children's books and is working on 117 more, but who's counting? Misty is an entrepreneur, marketing strategist, and board game enthusiast. Her business experience and mad Monopoly skills have helped her sell over 90,000 copies in 3 years, and she enjoys teaching others about the craft.

And as a special thank you to our listeners, Misty has created a special coupon code for you to get $20 off for the Get It Written Workshop! To take advantage of this generous offer, visit https://www.mistyblackauthor.com/get-it-written-about, then use 20DISCOUNT and you'll get the workshop for $37.

Visit - mistyblackauthor.com

Book purchase links:

Bubble Head, It's Time for Bed!

Grandmas Are for Love

Clutz the Cat Can Do Hard things

Get It Published Program - https://www.mistyblackauthor.com/get-it-published-about

Welcome Alyssa Dver to The TufFish Show, a place to help writers and aspiring authors get out of their own way to leave a legacy by telling the stories they want to share through writing their own books and confidently sharing them with others. The writing process can be tough and the business side can feel scary, but TufFish makes both feel smoother and achievable. Visit https://www.jennifermilius.com/tuffish to learn more.

As you pursue your goal of being an author and running an author business, there will be times when you face one of the three Fs - fear of failure, fear of rejection, or fear of regret. Yet what's important is what you do next when you recognize it's happening, and this conversation with Alyssa is full of so much wisdom to not only understand what's happening, but how to move through it successfully. 

Confidence Crusader, Neuro Nerd and Success Equalizer, Alyssa leads the American Confidence Institute, that has empowered over 350,000 people at organizations including the US Air Force, US Tennis Association, Spotify, Wayfair, Panera, Amazon, Dell, Staples, UPenn’s Innovation Center and dozens more.

Supporting her mission to bring more confidence to the world, Alyssa is the Confidence Educator for IT Cosmetics, a global L’Oréal brand. She’s a 2-time TEDx speaker, hosts the podcast Real Confidence and contributes to Thrive Global and many other online media. Her 7th book, Confidence is a Choice: Real Science. Superhero Impact., was recognized by the International Book Awards and endorsed by experts at Harvard Medical School, Wharton’s Neuroscience Center, MIT’s Trust Center, Yale’s Office of Diversity, UC Berkeley Executive Education, and other top academic and business leaders.

With a commitment to make workplace diversity, equity and inclusion a reality, Alyssa founded and chairs the ERG Leadership Alliance, the largest association training employee group leaders, executive sponsors and allies.

In 2021, Alyssa received a Stevie award for Achievement in Thought Leadership.

What fuels her confidence? Her unusually patient husband, 2 very tall sons, and their quirky, but really cute, rescue pooch.

Visit - www.AmericanConfidenceInstitute.com

Book purchase links: Alyssa Dver's books