Mark interviews Emma Dhesi, a bestselling author and certified book coach who educates and inspires first-time authors to fulfil a calling and write their debut novel.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update and word from this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by the patrons who support this podcast at https://patreon.com/starkreflections and https://buymeacoffee.com/markleslie.

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In the interview, Mark and Emma talk about:

How Emma got started in writing as a child at school
The waves of how that "itch" to write kept coming to Emma every 6 months or so
The feeling of writing that first draft and the effective challenge it was for her
Emma's first book THE DAY SHE CAME HOME and how it began as an exploration of post-partum depression
The concept of how engaging in the creative life can provide that balance we need
How it can look different depending on where on the creative journey we are, but the similarities
The importance of trying new things, but then recognizing when it's not the right thing for us at that time in our journey
Emma's decision to become an author coach and to help other writers like her
The first book being important "evidence" that you can do it
The value of even a little bit of positive encouragement
Emma's focus on a VERY SPECIFIC demographic instead of trying to create a service to please everyone
What Emma is working on now in her writing and in her coaching
The online summit Emma is hosting in January 2025 (Be A Bestseller 6.0 - Back to Basics)
And more . . .

After the interview Mark reflects on the intrinsic satisfaction of completely that first novel, the importance of proving to yourself that you CAN do it, of trying new things (but being able to stop if that new thing is not for you), and the value of focusing in on a target audience.

Links of Interest:

Emma Dhesi, bestselling author and certified book coach, educates and inspires first-time authors to fulfil a calling and write their debut novel.

Drawing from her own success and training, Emma guides writers to finish their first book through detailed feedback, accountability check-ins, and compassionate support in her year-long 1:1 mentorship.

Emma lives in Edinburgh with her husband, three children, three cats, and is passionate about helping authors achieve their dreams through her individualised mentoring.

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

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