The TufFish Show

Welcome Valerie James Abbott 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.

Giving herself permission to shift points of view and shift genres is what helped Valerie fully embrace her storytelling capabilities and create a children's book that honors all family members when a sibling is deaf or hard of hearing.  Valerie shared how she and her illustrator worked together to create realistic illustrations as well as tips on how she is marketing her book.

Valerie James Abbott is an active parent-advocate and champion for early hearing detection and intervention and parent-to-parent support organizations in Virginia. She has served on the board of Virginia Hands & Voices, is the first parent co-chair of the Virginia EHDI Advisory Committee, and has received the Governor’s Award for Civilian Excellence for Virginia Fire Safety, spearheading special programming for families of children who are deaf and hard of hearing. Valerie is a guest blogger for the Center for Family Involvement and has published several articles online and in print about raising a child with a disability that have gained nationwide attention. Padapillo is her first book.

Visit https://www.valeriejamesabbott.com/

Book link: https://www.amazon.com/Padapillo-Valerie-Abbott/dp/1950306801

Welcome Stacy Fisher 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.

Self-care is a vital part of being a writer and running a business, and Stacy shared so much wisdom about how cathartic writing was for her as she wrote her memoir, then later designed a planner that supported the life you want to create. Stacy shared valuable insights for things to consider when writing memoir, so that you honor yourself, those who are in your story, and your readers.

Stacy Fisher is a registered dietitian, self-care & resilience coach, health & travel writer, and speaker with more than 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry. Stacy has worked in private practice, in medical facilities, and with large companies such as Dell, Boeing, and Nike. As the founder of LivingUpp, Stacy uses a unique self-care framework to help people move forward from anything.

Visit https://www.LivingUpp.com

Book purchase links: 

Go: One Woman. One Van. A New Beginning 

The Lifestyle Design Planner 

Welcome Amanda Malek-Ahmadi 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.

Amanda's passion for dance and all things creative shined through this fabulous conversation. We talked in depth about the steps Amanda took to bring her idea for a children's book to publication, including how she ensured the accuracy of dance within her book.

Amanda Malek-Ahmadi lives with her husband, three sons, daughter, and two dogs in Arizona. When she’s not writing or having adventures with her family, Amanda teaches dance and performs with WNDC, a Professional Contemporary Dance Company. Amanda began her dance training when she was five-years-old and taught her first classes at age seventeen. She holds an Elementary Education Degree with a Dance Minor from the University of Arizona.

Visit https://www.authormamanda.com

Book purchase link for 10 Ballet Dancers

Welcome Julie Schooler 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

Multi-genre author Julie Schooler and I had a fabulous conversation that straddled both children's books and non-fiction personal development. Julie shared how she found the illustrator for her children's book as well as how her own daughter inspired her non-fiction book. She shared her writing and editing process for non-fiction and how to work with beta readers.

Julie Schooler is an author of 10 self-help and parenting books and mama of 2 beautiful tiny humans.

She wants you to rediscover YOUR sparkle so she's on a mission to help busy people have all the love, energy, and fun they deserve without the guilt or overwhelm.

Julie lives with her family in New Zealand, a small, magnificent country at the bottom of the world, where you may find her trying to bake the world’s best chocolate brownie.

Visit https://www.julieschooler.com

Rediscover Your Sparkle Book link: https://books2read.com/rediscoveryoursparkle

Welcome Stephanie BwaBwa 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.

Stephanie and I had a fabulous and fun conversation about how faith is at the center of her love of writing and storytelling. Stephanie's love of writing about angels and the supernatural has strengthened her ability to develop complex characters and create worlds within her novels. By starting with the character, Stephanie offered one wisdom bomb after another for how to effectively world build, macro and micro, within your book.

Stephanie BwaBwa is the Jesus-centered, YA Fantasy Author and Entrepreneur, creator of fantasy world Elledelle, and Co-Host of the Indie Author Lifestyle Show, who’s enjoying building a legacy through the lens of story. 

BwaBwa began her journey to publishing in 2013. In 2016, her fantasy world, Elledelle, was born. In 2017 she published her first two books. Since then she’s gone on to write and publish fantasy novels centered about black angels in a supernatural world that are captivating readers all around the world. As the CEO and Founder of Bwabs Collective LLC, BwaBwa has focused her zone of genius on teaching unconventional principles to writers who like to meticulously plot, research, and organize their way through crafting their stories while also having an incredible amount of fun. 

Stephanie BwaBwa has authored YA Fantasy series: The Seraphim Resistance Prequels, and is an avid reader of fantasy and fiction. Jesus is her Lord, Disney+ is her safe place, she dreams of being a monkey mama and she’s always penning a new story in Elledelle. You can usually catch her going for a walk through a park, or simply binging Disney+ with too many snacks. Get in contact with Stephanie directly at: stephaniebwabwa.com.

Visit stephaniebwabwa.com

Book purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/Stephanie-BwaBwa/e/B073ZKDPLT

Welcome Daniele Lanzarotta 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.

Daniele and I talked about getting inspiration, developing characters, and how it takes a village to bring a book to life.

Daniele Lanzarotta is the author of young adult and new adult paranormal/fantasy/contemporary novels, including The Sinners Series, Academy of the Fallen Series, Life Interrupted and more. 

Daniele is the CEO & Founder of Elysian Nightfall Studios – audio & video post-production, brand development and screenwriting services company. She is also the A/V Director and partner at The Audio Flow, and a Board Member with Youth in the Booth. 

Writing and working with audiobooks and TV/Film is her passion. She has undergraduate studies in Digital Cinematography, a MBA with focus in marketing - specializing in brand development, and Certification in Media Communications.  In addition to having worked on post-production for several audiobooks in diverse genres, she has also worked on Virginia based short films as the 2nd Assistant Director and Still Photographer. 

She enjoys watching hockey, playing Rock Band/Guitar Hero, traveling, and spending time with her husband, two daughters, and the family dog.

Visit http://www.danilanzarotta.com/ or https://www.elysiannightfallstudios.com/

Book purchase links for The Sinners series, Academy of the Fallen series, Life Interrupted and more

Welcome Daniella Rushton 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.

Daniella and I talked about how she found her way to create her first book and series. We talked about how her faith guided her writing and creativity as well as how important it is to work with others to bring your book to life. 

Daniella Marie Rushton is British, born 1973. Wife to Nicholas and Mother to Bertie. Over the course of several summers whilst vacationing with her family, in the delightful desert sun of the Coachella valley, California, she formulated the concept of The Panther Tales. 

Her son challenged her to channel her renowned imagination into writing a book series. The Panther Tales was born and The Watchers and The Gifted Ones is the first book of the series. 

Living a thoroughly creative life, Daniella busies herself with not only the ongoing series of The Panther Tales, her dog Walter and her family and friends. She is also an advocate in the Christian faith, believing in oneself, finding and using ones ‘Gifts’ in life.

Visit http://www.thepanthertales.com/

Book purchase link: The Watchers and The Gifted Ones from The Panther Tales

Welcome Andy Slinger 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.

Andy shared so many nuggets about writing for middle grade readers including structuring the book and understanding the target reader. We talked about imposter syndrome and the importance of building your platform as an author.

Andy is a single dad of identical twins and a middle grade writer. He's from North West England and works as a retail manager day to day. He writes in a humorous, fun and exciting style whilst addressing hard hitting topics in his books.

Visit https://www.andyslinger.com

Book purchase links for The Super Twins

Amazon

Amazon UK

Welcome Natalie Sisson 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.

Natalie and I talked in depth about the journey a book not only take the reader on, but also the writer because it's an opportunity to share your "special sauce." A book can be part of a business' eco-system, and Natalie demonstrates this throughout this powerful conversation with each of the books she's authored.

Natalie Sisson is a New Zealand entrepreneur, bestselling author, speaker, host of the ‘Untapped’ podcast, and lover of handstands and dogs. She’s passionate about helping women entrepreneurs leverage their unique set of skills, knowledge, and experience to get paid to be them, and make an income and impact they desire, simply by being them.

https://nataliesisson.com

Book: Suck It Up, Princess 

Welcome Jacob Hess 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.

Jacob shared so many nuggets centered around telling the story you want to tell. He shared how he created a framework for creativity that helped his self-editing process before he worked with his editor as well as create the world within the story and structure the book.

There is one True Story that all other stories echo, one Story that captures everything that it means to be human and showcases the greatest beauty ever seen: the gospel of God's grace in Christ Jesus. It is Jacob’s passion to retell this Story in everything he does.

Jacob grew up in Oregon and became a Christian at a young age. God has continued to display His faithfulness to Jacob throughout his life; a journey deeper and deeper into grace. Jacob received a Master of Divinity from Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon and moved to Seattle Washington where he works as a minister in the local church. 

Jacob’s years in school grew his passion for writing and reading, but he has always had a love for stories, whether they're told with pen and page or the rhythms and rhymes of song. He agrees with J. R. R. Tolkien when he writes, “the Pot of Soup, the Cauldron of Story, has always been boiling, and to it have continually been added new bits, dainty and undainty," (On-Fairy-Stories, p. 45). As humans we simply cannot seem to escape a need to tell stories, a desire to reach beyond ourselves and connect to the deeper truths of who we are and what it means to live a life of meaning.

Our stories inspire us, convict us, and encourage us as we struggle through a world not as it should be. This is what Jacob seeks for his stories to do. He wants to tell new stories built on the tried and true pillars of tales centuries old, stories that connect to our deepest longings and speak to our greatest fears. But most of all he wants to echo the greatest story ever told, the One True Story to which all other stories point: the gospel of God's grace in Christ Jesus. 

https://www.jacobehess.com/

Book: The Bright Abyss