How do you get started as a writer while juggling the responsibilities of motherhood and mortgages?

According to Jill Robinson, it's all about small steps and letting yourself get scared.

A couple years ago, Jill pivoted from her 20 plus years in speech pathology into a career in professional writing and hasn't looked back.

Since making that decision, she has begun earning an income through publishing stories in Kindle Vella, Chicken Soup for the Soul and other publications.

In this episode she shares how she is building a thriving author life, including tips on leveraging Kindle Vella as an early career author.

Resources mentioned: Her view from home: https://herviewfromhome.com/ and Chicago Story Studio: https://www.storystudiochicago.org/

Connect with Jill via Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firstdraftdotblog/

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When it comes to writing, you might think that the biggest challenge we moms face is finding time.

According to Megan Clancy, that's a lie.

Megan is a mom and women's fiction author who recently left behind a career as a high school English teacher to focus on her true passion: supporting moms as a writing coach.

In today's episode she explains that the biggest barrier her clients face isn't not having time to write, but overcoming "mom guilt" to make that time. As well, she shares tips on how make the most out of the writing time you do have.  

Connect with Megan via her website at http://www.meganaclancy.com/.

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Have you experienced a profound life-changing event?

Writing can not only be a powerful way to help process your own feelings, but also help others going through the same thing feel seen.

E.D. Hackett is a speech-language pathologist by day and a women's fiction writer. In 2020 she published her second novel, The Havoc in My Head, based on her own profound experience with a pituitary tumour (located at the base of her brain below the hypothalamus). 

In this episode, she shares how writing about her life long condition has been a gift not only to other women suffering from pituitary tumours but was also a defining moment for her writing career.

Connect with E.D. Hackett via her website: https://www.edhackettwrites.com/

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Do you love to write but sometime feel pulled into other creative pursuits? 

According to Alicia Peterson Baskel, leaning into those pulls can help take your writing to new levels.

Alicia is a creative entrepreneur whose background includes being a professional dancer, choreographer, fibre artist and podcaster. 

In this episode, she shares how practicing these different forms of creative expression have influenced both her business and craft as a children's picture book author.

Connect with Alicia by visiting her online at https://linktr.ee/aliciapetersonbaskel or on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/aliciapetersonbaskel/

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Do you ever feel like hitting the restart button on your life?

For Brooke Smith, the death of her mother and end of her marriage was the call from the universe she needed to rebuild her life from the ground up.

That journey eventually brought her to launch a new career in writing and life coaching, where she is helping other women using writing to understand past and present blocks and create the lives they want by writing and publishing non-fiction books.

In this episode, learn Brooke's tips for writing and living.

If you are interested in working with Brooke, check out her Declare & Dedicate program, an eight week long group program for those who have an idea for a book, but have no idea how to start the writing process, which launches January 9.  For more information, call/text her at 970-769-9638 or email her at [email protected]. Learn about her other programs and services at brookesmithlifecoach.com

Resources mentioned: The Way of Integrity by Martha Beck 

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Are you a women in your middle age? Then maybe you should write a novel about one.

Alexandra Potter has published dozens of romcoms about 20 year olds finding love during her two decades as a women's fiction author. However she recently took a big leap of faith in her writing by focusing on the experience of a middle aged woman and that feeling that your life just isn't how you planned. Her book, Confessions of a 40-something F*** up is now being turned into a TV series.

Hear why she made the change and her tips for writing comedy in this episode.

Resources mentioned: 

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott and Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert: 

Catch up with Alexandra via her website at https://www.alexandrapotter.com/ or via Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/alexandrapotter/

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Do you ever find yourself laughing (and sometimes crying) about the everyday life of being a mom?

Momcom is a newly emerging genre that centres on the humour and heart of motherhood and could be the perfect for the story inside you.

Lisa Roe's debut momcom novel, Welcome to the Neighbourhood, was named one of the best reads of 2022 by USA Today.

In this episode, she shares the highs of writing motherhood, tips for writing humour and her journey as a first-time author.

Connect with Lisa via her https://linktr.ee/Lisaroewrites and via Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/lisaroewrites/?hl=en

Resources mentioned: 

Welcome to the Neighbourhood https://www.amazon.com/Welcome-Neighborhood-Heartfelt-Romantic-Fiction-ebook/dp/B09DTK7L2W

Women’s Fictions Writers Association: https://www.womensfictionwriters.org/

The fifth semester https://www.the5thsemester.com/

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Do you have anxiety? Does the idea of creating an Instagram reel send you into a panic? 

You may want to start writing horror.

Candy D. Mitchell is a mom and fantasy and horror fiction author who recently published the second book in her Folengower series.

In this episode, she talks about how writing horror is actually a release for her anxiety and how she has learned to open herself up to readers--despite a difficult past and identifying as an introvert--to build her author (and painting) business. 

Connect with Candy on Instagram (@thepeculiarfairy) or via her website: www.thepeculiarfairy.com.

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Writing isn't just about words, it's about reinventing yourself (and sometimes learning to be ok with the "C" word)

After leaving her life as a nurse to stay at home with her son, Julia Jarrett realized that she didnt't really want to go back. On a whim, she decided to try her hand a writing the books she loved to read: romance.

She has since built a thriving romance author biz and in this episode, she shares how she not only learned to write best-selling romance novels but also what she learned from her "throw it at the wall and see what sticks" strategy, which has included an highly successful cover collaboration with TikTok's Hot Boss.

Connect with Julia via her website; https://www.authorjuliajarrett.com/

Resources mentioned: EdX UBC: How to write a novel: structure and outline: https://www.edx.org/course/how-to-write-a-novel-structure-outline

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