Your Life Yoda

December 1, 2017

Interview with Illustrator Jo Painter

Jo is a freelance Concept Artist, Illustrator and Animator trying to break her way into the game industry! She currently works for a variety of authors and companies around the world but when she’s not working and painting at her desk, you can usually find her with her head stuck in a book or out for a walk in the countryside. The best way to keep up to date with her work is through Instagram - @po_jainter or her website, www.jopainter.co.uk

November 4, 2017

Interview with Science Fiction Author Thane Keller

It's a joy and a pleasure to be able to interview my big brother, Thane Keller. Thane is a science fiction author and U.S. Army veteran who explores the depth of human nature under dire circumstances. After over a decade of service, he has deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan where he was personally engaged in ground combat. Although busy at home as a husband and father to four, he has consistently made time to express his passion for writing.

You can find Thane at www.thanekeller.com and can purchase his books on Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo, or at any local bookstore.

September 1, 2017

On Making Time

If you ask anyone why they aren't progressing further on their goals, time is often the answer. "I just don't have the time." I've said it. You've said it. Time is unfortunately one of the clearest, most finite resources available. Interestingly enough, we all have the same amount.

August 31, 2017

Book Review – The Terrible PLOP

Children's picture book, The Terrible PLOP, is written by Ursula Dubosarsky and illustrated by Andrew Joyner.

To be fair, my first reaction to seeing the title and cover made me hesitate. The Terrible PLOP. I first assumed it was a made up creature, invented and used specifically for rhyme potential. I also felt the cover was so-so and thus I began reading, unimpressed and ready to get it over with.

August 28, 2017

Book Review – Sam and Dave Dig a Hole

Mac Barnett's children's picture book, Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, illustrated by Jon Klassen, found its way into our home this past week and laid upon my son's floor along with many, many others. The routine unfolded as it typically does, with him picking out which book(s) to read before bed. When you read as many books as my wife and I do, it's a true pleasure coming across one as delightful as this.

August 27, 2017

Just Share Your Story

It's been said every sentence is a persuasive argument that succeeds or fails in convincing the reader to read the next. Agree or disagree?

Frankly, I don't agree (completely) because the reader is complex, having a multi-dimensional purpose for reading. One aspect may be truly that each good sentence does cause the reader to continue on. But at the same time, the reader, once personally invested through time, money, promise, or any other act of will may continue reading not for that purposes alone. I listen to audio books during my commute. I have literally finished books only to be able to say I finished them, not because they provided some revolutionary insight or emotional experience. I simply wanted to finish what I started.

August 24, 2017

Interview with Author R.J. Batla

R.J. Batla was one of the first authors I connected with when I embarked on building my own author platform. Always an encouragement, he has truly become a confidant and friend along my publishing journey. R.J. has been fascinated by fantasy novels and the worlds that authors create since he was little. R.J. admits the process of world building has been an arduous process, but proclaims it has been well worth it. He is a fantasy author, Christian, husband, and father who enjoys the outdoors and spends as much time as he can with his family. You can learn more about R.J. at his website and connect with him on Twitter, and Facebook.

August 23, 2017

Overcoming Author-Illustrator Depression

Depression is a very real, very damaging, very painful experience that can be short term or long term and have long lasting consequences. This perspective of author depression in no way is intended to come across flippantly as if to compare on the same level as chronic or acute depression. An author, however, can learn a great deal about how to process the feelings and thoughts encountered during the road to publication by examining depressive symptoms.

August 22, 2017

The Book Business of Writing

Every step in the book publishing process is an aspect of business. Let's take the author's role for a moment. Authors provide both a product and a service. The product being obvious, a written book, and the service a bit more subtle, the reader's reaction.

August 21, 2017

Writing as a Passion

Have you ever had a passion that began as a teeny, tiny seed deep inside your heart? The more you thought about it, the more it grew from your heart into your mind. Once it became lodged in your mind, you turned it over and over, thinking about the details, the what if scenarios, and began doing research. After a while, as if the secret well inside of you was so big it was about to burst, you told someone. Not just anyone, of course, but a close friend or a family member. You knew the passion, the dream, was so delicate, you couldn't entrust it to just anyone.