This is one of those podcast conversations that’s still a little baffling to me because I’m shocked it actually happened. Let me explain. When I was a student in college, way back in the dark ages—I mean, the early 1990s—I was introduced to the music of Christian recording artist Wes King. My good friend Jeff Hogan was a guitar player and worship leader, and one day I was in his apartment on campus. He said, “You’ve gotta listen to this guy Wes King. He’s an incredible musician.” The first song he played for me was Wes’s song “Life on the Vine,” from his album “Sticks and Stones.” I was immediately hooked. From then on, I was a huge Wes King fan. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Wes released a number of incredible albums, including “The Ultimate Underlying No-Denying Motivation,” the aforementioned “Sticks and Stones,” “The Robe,” “Common Creed,” “A Room Full of Stories,” “What Matters Most,” and “Invention,” a collaboration with fellow guitar virtuosos Scott Dente and Phil Keaggy. Wes has also written songs with, and collaborated with, many other Christian artists over the years, such as Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant, Kim Hill, Gordon Kennedy… the list goes on. He’s known as an insightful, lyrical, and theologically-minded songwriter… not to mention a world-class guitarist. I couldn’t tell you how many hours I’ve devoted over the years to figuring out how to play some of his songs and the crazy tunings they’re in. So, you can imagine my surprise when, a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit Wes in his home in Franklin, TN, to meet him in person and record this interview. This conversation drifted to a range of issues, including his music career, songwriting, the creative life, theology, and much more. A quick note: we were not in a studio for this conversation. I used a small digital recorder, so it has a different sound than my typical Zoom interviews. But I hope you enjoy it, and much more important, I hope you check out Wes’s music if you’re not already familiar with it. You can also connect with him on Facebook. * * * Today’s episode is sponsored by Vellum, the go-to book formatting software for indie authors who care about creating beautiful ebooks and print books. Use the link to download Vellum for FREE. 📚 Download your FREE Daily Writer Starter Kit at https://dailywriterlife.com/free ✉️ Want writing tips and inspiration delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Writer email at https://dailywriterlife.com/dailyemail 🚀 Want to grow your writing business and accelerate your success? Check out our Daily Writer Club. 📱 Follow us: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter

📚 Download your FREE Daily Writer Starter Kit at https://dailywriterlife.com/free ✉️ Want writing tips and inspiration delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Writer email at https://dailywriterlife.com/dailyemail 🚀 Want to grow your writing business and accelerate your success? Check out our Daily Writer Club. 📱 Follow us: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter

Today’s episode is sponsored by editor Karen Hunsanger, also known as “The Word Wizard.” I’ve worked with Karen many times, and she is your secret weapon for crafting the highest-quality book possible. Visit the link above for a free sample edit. 📚 Download your FREE Daily Writer Starter Kit at https://dailywriterlife.com/free ✉️ Want writing tips and inspiration delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Writer email at https://dailywriterlife.com/dailyemail 🚀 Want to grow your writing business and accelerate your success? Check out our Daily Writer Club. 📱 Follow us: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter

Today’s episode is sponsored by Plottr, the #1 visual book planning software for writers that helps you plan books in the same way you think. Plottr helps fiction and nonfiction authors, podcasters, speakers, and anyone creating content to organize their material and story points. Visit the link above to start your free 14-day trial. 📚 Download your FREE Daily Writer Starter Kit at https://dailywriterlife.com/free ✉️ Want writing tips and inspiration delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Writer email at https://dailywriterlife.com/dailyemail 🚀 Want to grow your writing business and accelerate your success? Check out our Daily Writer Club. 📱 Follow us: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter

Today’s episode is sponsored by Write Your First Nonfiction Book: A Primer for Aspiring Authors by my friend and business coach, Honorée Corder. You’ll learn strategies for arranging your chapters, how to get started and stay organized, and easy step-by-step instructions that will eliminate the fear that’s been holding you back. 📚 Download your FREE Daily Writer Starter Kit at https://dailywriterlife.com/free ✉️ Want writing tips and inspiration delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Writer email at https://dailywriterlife.com/dailyemail 🚀 Want to grow your writing business and accelerate your success? Check out our Daily Writer Club. 📱 Follow us: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter

📚 Download your FREE Daily Writer Starter Kit at https://dailywriterlife.com/free ✉️ Want writing tips and inspiration delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Writer email at https://dailywriterlife.com/dailyemail 🚀 Want to grow your writing business and accelerate your success? Check out our Daily Writer Club. 📱 Follow us: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter

Today’s episode is sponsored by Kristi Griffith, owner of Thumbprint Creative. Kristi has created the cover design and interior layout for many of my own books and books of my ghostwriting clients and friends. She works closely with you to create a design that perfectly captures the theme, message, and genre of your book.   📚 Download your FREE Daily Writer Starter Kit at https://dailywriterlife.com/free ✉️ Want writing tips and inspiration delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Writer email at https://dailywriterlife.com/dailyemail 🚀 Want to grow your writing business and accelerate your success? Check out our Daily Writer Club. 📱 Follow us: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter

I was a college professor for many years before getting into ghostwriting and author coaching. One of the hallmarks of any college course is that it includes textbooks. Since authors are behind those textbooks, it stands to reason that we, as writers, should be thinking about this incredible opportunity to get in front of a huge potential audience, right? Surprisingly, the vast majority of us don’t think about this incredible gold mine of opportunities. That certainly included me… until I had a conversation with the genius grant writing expert and author Holly Rustick a few months ago. I learned she had been doing this for a long time and wanted to invite her onto the podcast to talk about what we can learn from her experience. Let me tell you a bit about her. World-renowned grant writing expert and Amazon-bestselling author Holly Rustick loves to coach others to enhance their grant writing and business skills. She teaches thousands of people every week through her top-ranking podcast, Grant Writing & Funding, how to take actionable bite-sized steps to build their skills in grant writing and business. Having secured millions of dollars for nonprofit organizations around the world throughout the past 15+ years, Holly has a mission to train other grant writers to create a multiplier effect in raising an exponential amount of money for nonprofits all over the world. On today’s episode, Holly shares how she was able to get her incredible book, The Beginner's Guide to Grant Writing: Tips, Tools, & Templates to Write Winning Grants, into classrooms as a textbook. We also preface the conversation with some general thoughts about nonprofits and the incredible value they bring to the world. * * * Today’s episode is sponsored by Vellum, the go-to book formatting software for indie authors who care about creating beautiful ebooks and print books. Use the link to download Vellum for FREE. 📚 Download your FREE Daily Writer Starter Kit at https://dailywriterlife.com/free ✉️ Want writing tips and inspiration delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Writer email at https://dailywriterlife.com/dailyemail 🚀 Want to grow your writing business and accelerate your success? Check out our Daily Writer Club. 📱 Follow us: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter

📚 Download your FREE Daily Writer Starter Kit at https://dailywriterlife.com/free ✉️ Want writing tips and inspiration delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Writer email at https://dailywriterlife.com/dailyemail 🚀 Want to grow your writing business and accelerate your success? Check out our Daily Writer Club. 📱 Follow us: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter

Today’s episode is sponsored by editor Karen Hunsanger, also known as “The Word Wizard.” I’ve worked with Karen many times, and she is your secret weapon for crafting the highest-quality book possible. Visit the link above for a free sample edit.  📚 Download your FREE Daily Writer Starter Kit at https://dailywriterlife.com/free ✉️ Want writing tips and inspiration delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Writer email at https://dailywriterlife.com/dailyemail 🚀 Want to grow your writing business and accelerate your success? Check out our Daily Writer Club. 📱 Follow us: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter