The TufFish Show

Welcome Sana Fayyaz 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.

Sana talked about the importance of letting your imperfect voice out being willing to share it, despite your inner critic's protests. She shares how working with others helped her with blindspots, which was a significant part of her writing and editing process.

Sana Fayyaz is a creative who loves being a student of life and enjoys the beauty of a beginner’s mind. She took root in the crowded streets of Pakistan, sprouted in the concrete jungles of New York and bloomed in the deserts of Saudi Arabia. Sana, known as the Sacred Keeper of Memories, relishes in gathering meaningful moments through writing as a way to connect with humans and build bridges across chasms. Currently residing in suburban NY with her husband and three daughters, Sana is just a furry pet away from living the white picket fence American dream.

Visit http://sanafayyaz.com

Book purchase link: Chai Chats: Personal Essays to Fill your Cup

https://www.amazon.com/Chai-Chats-Personal-Essays-Fill-ebook/dp/B08R9GSQQT

Welcome Michael O'Brien 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.

Michael and I talked about the importance of believing in your voice and the impact your ripple can have. We talked in depth about writing memoir and being clear about your target readers as well as overcoming as Michael puts it, "post traumatic 7th grade English disorder."

Michael O'Brien is the Chief Shift Officer at Peloton Executive Coaching and serves on The Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association Global Board. As a coach, speaker, and best-selling author, he helps leaders build resilience and prevents bad moments from turning into a bad day. He has shared his personal transformational Last Bad Day story and leadership advice on the TEDx stage, with Fortune 500 companies, Entrepreneur, Fast Company, Real Simple, ABC, and NBC. 

Visit www.michaelobrienshift.com

Book - Shift: Creating Better Tomorrows: Winning at Work and in Life

Welcome Julie Gorges 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.

Julie shared so much wisdom about remembering your "why" when you face imposter syndrome, rejection letters and navigate your publishing path. We also talked in depth about her memoir and how that book took shape.

Julie A. Gorges is an award-winning author of five books available on Amazon, a blogger at www.babyboomerbliss.net, and a freelance writer with hundreds of articles and short stories published in national and regional magazines. In addition, she won three journalism awards as a newspaper reporter. 

Julie’s latest book, Ten Secrets to Losing Weight After 50, received a five-star review from Reader’s Favorite and her book, I’m Your Daughter, Julie: Caring for a Parent with Dementia, based on her caregiving experiences for her mother who had Lew Body dementia, won grand prize from Royal Dragonfly.

Julie lives in Southern California with her husband. She has two grown sons and four grandchildren. Her other passions, aside from writing, are traveling and sailing.

If you’d like more information about Julie, please visit her author’s website at www.juliegorges.com or her blog at https://babyboomerbliss.net/,

Books:

Ten Secrets to Losing Weight After 50

I'm Your Daughter, Julie: Caring for a Parent with Dementia

Just Call Me Goody-Two-Shoes 

Time to Cast Away

Residential Steel Design and Construction

Welcome Kathy Perry 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.

Kathy shared how getting your books leveled for reading enables libraries and schools to provide better guidance for children that matches their reading level. We also talked about leveraging themes within books as well as building characters and vocabulary lists.

After the passing of her parents, Kathy Perry evaluated what she was doing with her life and her contribution to others. She’s always had a heart for teaching kids. Kathy has been a classroom teacher, a homeschool mom, a tutor, and a substitute over many years. Now, she’s written, illustrated, and published the Bandana Acres series of Early Reader Chapter Books with solid moral lessons that fill a genre gap between picture and chapter books. Fellow teachers say, “Great! Keep it up. We need more of these.”

As a twelve year-old, Kathy identified with a fictional orphaned girl and was so impressed with her cleverness and honesty that Kathy wanted to be like her. It was this story that inspired Kathy to write Emeline - A Journey, a story that will educate, encourage, and inspire your tween or teen to find their way as a confident young adult.

Visit  https://www.kathyjperry.com

Book purchase link

Kathy’s website:  https://kathyjperry.com/chickadee-words-store/emeline-a-journey

Welcome Matt Juhl 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.

Matt and I talked in depth about creating and developing complex characters and strong dialogue as well as striking the balance between show vs tell, so that readers feel connected to the characters and want to keep reading.

Matt Juhl is an award-winning contemporary romance author. Having interacted with clients and colleagues in the financial industry for the past twenty years, he has gained a deep understanding of relationships and where people's passions lie. Using that knowledge and his affinity for storytelling, Matt published his award-winning debut novel, The Straight Crimes. When not absorbed in his writing, he enjoys vacationing at the beach, relaxing in his hot tub, and otherwise spends too much time on Instagram. Matt resides in Fort Worth, Texas, with his family and is currently working on his next book.

Visit https://linktr.ee/author.mattjuhl

Book purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1493513257/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_fabc_8z7bGb5PHVK97

Welcome Cat Michaels 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.

Cat and I talked about the business of being an author, especially as you consider co-authoring a book, and honoring your path that supports your message with creativity and service. She also shared some valuable tips for working with beta readers.

Award-winning author Cat Michaels started writing stories in fourth grade and hasn’t stopped since. 

Her books for young and reluctant readers have been recognized for excellence in writing children’s literature with three Purple Dragonfly Awards, a first-place honor from the Children’s Literary Classics Book Awards, and a silver medal by the Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards. Her last chapter book, Sweet T and the Turtle Team, also won the Wind Dancer Films competition and was considered for adaptation to movies or TV.

Cat earned an M.S. degree in special education from the University of Kansas and held her first teaching positions near Kansas City, supporting children with learning disabilities. After a career in the classroom, she studied for a certificate in organizational development from National Training Labs and managed communications and training programs for a global high-tech firm in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park. Before becoming an authorpreneur in 2013, Cat’s final 9-5 role brought her professional life full circle as a writing coach at a community college.

Cat and her family live outside Raleigh, North Carolina, where she creates a fairy garden for neighborhood children, enjoys photography, works out most days, and writes.

Visit www.catmichaelswriter.com

Book purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NXRS98Z/

Welcome Dr. Cynthia Miller 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.

What an incredible conversation with Dr. Cynthia! Her memoir was years in the making, but to get to her published book, she had to overcome imposter syndrome, work through difficult trauma and loss, as well as determine what stories should be shared or not.

Dr. Cynthia Miller, visionary and pathfinder, has a Ph.D. in Cellular Transformation and the Psychology of Change. She guides people into the unknown, from the remote wilderness, the psyche, and vast terrain of cellular consciousness into multiple dimensions, all to uncover the truth of who they are. For decades she has transformed her own life and the lives of her clients.

Her map, CM2=E, is a revolutionary model for Conscious Multidimensional Evolution that can shift the global framework from fear and suffering into safety, inner fulfillment, and love.

Dr. Cynthia is the author of Unseen Connections: A Memoir from Pain and Violence to Joy, The Art of Radical Gratitude, and I Am Worthy.

Visit https://www.drcynthiamiller.com/

Book purchase link for Unseen Connections:

https://www.amazon.com/Unseen-Connections-Memoir-Pain-Violence-ebook/dp/B08TPRQNFK/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Welcome Caleb Ortega 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.

Caleb shared so much goodness as we talked about his writing process and how it takes a village to bring your book to life. He talked about world building as well as the editing process and working with his editor and beta readers.

Caleb Ortega is a combat veteran, avid world traveler, and author of The Writer and the Throne, which is book 1 from the Warfare of the Gods series. He is a student of historical/cultural ethics and morals. He enjoys painting, mindless action movies, and losing fairly consistently in chess.

Visit Caleb at Ctortega.com

Book purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MQ8TM91/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_rFOaGbKP5V9ME

Welcome Abbie Pierce 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.

During my chat with Abbie, we talked about the beauty of using fiction to share what you may be working through - to share how to go through change. Abbie talked about her writing process which includes how to structure a book, tips for self-editing, overcoming writer's block and the power of a community.

Abbie Pierce is an Author, Coach, Fire-Starter, an Ally, and is Always up to Something!

Abbie says that people rationalise and don’t start their best work or quit when they encounter The Resistance. Through 1:1 personal coaching and mentoring, Abbie wants to help people make the creative change they seek. Being a veteran, she is for the crazy misfits who get a thrill out of winging it but want to turn pro. Abbie believes in building safe spaces for people to navigate the awkward moments of learning together, so that we can master the fear and practice the tenacity for sharing our creativity with the world.

It’s why Abbie also co-founded a veterans networking group, to help each other build our networks and create our opportunities. Abbie side gigs as an author of fiction novels and blogging at Evoenix:Edits, a weekly insight into the Practice of Leadership and helping others and honing your Real Skills.

Visit https://evoenix.com/

Book purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08R21ZHHD/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

Welcome Rosie Russell 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.

This chat is full of goodness as Rosie shares the process she and her co-author went through to create their first book together, including setting up the business elements, storyboarding the concept, and the writing process itself.

Rosie Russell is currently the author and illustrator of nine books for young readers. After studies in early childhood education, she taught in elementary and middle schools for fifteen years. She enjoys sharing her books with students and encouraging them to write and illustrate their own stories.

Rosie now writes and illustrates full time in her Kansas City, Missouri, hometown. As an avid reader, baseball fan and crafter, her greatest joy comes from spending time with family and friends.

Visit Rosie's website: www.booksbyrose.com

Book purchase link for Just Between Sam and Me: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NXRS98Z/