I can say with complete honesty that the ONLY times in my career that "time has opened up in my schedule" - is when I intentionally opened it up (i.e. scheduled what I wanted within it). A quick mini-soapbox rant on the subject of "time" today!

"Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separate the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work." -Stephen King.

What to fall back on when the "spark" - whether of talent or creative passion.... fails you.

For this week's Sunday Story Time, an excerpt from a client book - "The Pilot Method: The 5 Elemental Truths to Leading Yourself in Life!" by Black Hawk helicopter pilot Elizabeth McCormick. The lesson is about how to use fear to your advantage rather than as an obstacle between you and your goals! Click the episode link to learn more about Elizabeth's book.

As promised, here are the 7 movies/TV shows I mentioned in today's episode:

1. Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul

2. Wolf of Wall Street. vs. Boiler Room

3. Goodfellas

4. M.A.S.H.

5. Mr. Holland's Opus

6. David Mamet films (Glengarry Glen Ross, Wag the Dog)

7. Office Space, the Vacation movies

Enjoy the lessons and be sure and chime in at my Ink Authors groups on Facebook (click the episode link) with YOUR favorite movies/TV series to study as an author!

"What was the biggest lesson you learned from writing and publishing your memoir?"

This is a question I heard a few times last weekend when I launched "The Power of the Curve" (click the episode link above). My answer is actually validation of something I've been telling my author for YEARS - so thank goodness I was right! ;)

"Who cares about my story?" - the answer I learned from writing my own memoir that can hopefully give you the inspiration and courage to share YOUR story!

3 things you can (and should) do within a week of launching your book, to keep the conversation going with your new readers!

Some writing fundamentals tips (and a formatting one!) to help make for a more pleasant reading experience for your readers AND why that's so important.

Let's challenge ourselves this week, and adopt a "High Performance Author Mindset." What does that mean? In today's episode I explain AND give you an assignment to take it out for a spin - let's have some fun!

An EXCLUSIVE book excerpt today from an incredible woman - Shellye Archambeau. Her book isn't available until October but I have an advanced copy & exclusive excerpt for today's Sunday Story Time! Click the episode link to go pre-order your copy on Amazon.