Authors Who Lead - Learn to write a book from bestselling authors and leaders

Send us a textDavid Simpson left his teaching career to become a full-time author. He is the writer of one of the best-selling fiction series in the world, the Post-Human Series - Sub-Human, Post-Human, Trans-Human, and Human Plus.   What We Discuss with David Simpson:   How and where to get ideas from when writing a book How to condense your writing when you've got a ton of ideas! Some steps to get traction with writing your succeeding books A dream for these stories to be told from books to the movies Strategies for working with two creative projects with two different stories Finding the balance between research and writing Why you should consider reading and writing about science fiction   Like this show? Please leave us a review here -- even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so we can thank you personally!

Send us a textJames Schramko is an entrepreneur, speaker, coach, and writer. With an extensive background in sales, James took this into the the online world, doing business development for clients, until finally finding his passion in coaching people. James co-authored the book, Work Less, Make More, along with Kelly Exeter. What We Discuss with James Schramko: Creating a book out of documenting your life or writing diaries The journey of creating James' book and some pain points along the way Taking notes and bullet points from the books you read The power of having action steps at the end of each book How do you deal with having the same name as your book The whole concept of Work Less, Make More Having some readers to rate the draft of your book Making your book super accessible to everyone   Like this show? Please leave us a review here -- even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so we can thank you personally!

Send us a textTal Gur is a nomad and avid goal seeker.  Around a decade ago, he made a decision to pursue every big dream to live life on his own terms. He wrote a bucket list of 100 life goals - from Ironman triathlon, to non-stop travel, to become financially free - and gave himself exactly 10 years to achieve them all. Little did I know that that night would change the course of my his life.  Through relentless focus, Tal traded his daily grind for a life of his own daring design, as a location-independent entrepreneur and coach. He tackled financial, physical, and spiritual dreams one by one: mastering English in pulsing Melbourne, completing Ironman New Zealand, creating financial independence, surfing at the world’s most sought-after beaches, and rebuilding a Peruvian family’s flood-ravaged home, among other adventures. Tal shares not only his journey but how the book was a celebration of this journey.   

Send us a textScott A. Huesing is a retired United States Marine Corps Infantry Major with 24 years of honorable service, both enlisted and as a commissioned officer. His book, Echo in Ramadi,  is a ten-month snapshot in time that changed the face of operations on the battlefield; a captivating story of Echo Company, 2d Battalion, 4th Marines during the Second Battle of Ramadi in support of the Multi-National Forces (MNF) Surge Strategy in 2006. His true-life account provides keen insights into what may be an unfamiliar world to readers, but very familiar to those, like Scott, who lived it and endured this historic fight. Echo in Ramadi was written to honor the sacrifices and spirit of his Marines and the families they supported – it is his tribute to them and his honor to tell this great story. Readers will feel the pain, emotion, laughter, intensity, and friction that Scott describes in unvarnished detail. Scott shares the struggles he had writing his book and how he overcame having his computer stolen which had his only copy of his first draft of the book. He also talks about how his book was picked up by a traditional publisher and the importance of reaching out when writing a book  Scott and I first connected because of a mutual friend and guest on episode 08 Major (ret.) Joshua Mantz the author of The Beauty of a Darker Soul a fellow veteran who made a huge impact with his book on several veteran authors. You will love this episode.    

Send us a textScott is an unlikely fiction writer, he is a physics teacher who loves literature. He started writing short stories and quickly went to writing novels. His first book The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko was an award-wining breakout novel was published and he is working on his second. In this interview, he discusses how he finds his ideas, writes his books and how he landed a publishing contract for his first book.    Scott Stambach lives in San Diego where he teaches physics at High Tech High Media Arts. He also collaborates with Science for Monks, a group of educators and monastics working to establish science programs in Tibetan Monasteries throughout India. He has written about his experiences working with monks of Sera Jey monastery and has published short fiction in several literary journals including Eclectica, Stirring, and Convergence.

Send us a text Aidan Mcgeath wrote his first 500-page fantasy book while still in high school. He found time at night and between classes. He was done with his book by 18 and published it by 19. He plans to keep writing and shares some insightful lessons about how he plans his novels, where he generates names for his characters and why he feels he is Born to Write.    If you thought you didn't have the time or were not skilled enough or just had any doubts about how to write a book, this interview will inspire you. 

Send us a textDominic Carrillo is a teacher who I met while living and working in San Diego, California. He when I first met him he told me he was working on a book and he was thinking about self-publishing. I was fascinated and he was the only friend I had at the time that had done so successfully.  He has since published 4 books and his most recent book The Usual Suspects, is a Young Adult novel set in Sofia, Bulgaria, where he teaches. He often gets his inspiration from inside of the classroom. Though he still teaches full time in an international school he still makes time to write daily.  His stories have been published in a variety of print and online magazines, and he's a regular contributor to San Diego Reader magazine. Dominic has written a travel memoir, Americano Abroad, a literary novel To Be Frank Diego , and two young adult (YA) novels:The Improbable Rise of Paco Jones  and The Unusual Suspects (2018). Because Dominic's novels are used in some classrooms, he occasionally speaks at libraries, schools, and education He is a great guest and his way of looking at writing and how we can write books even if we work full time jobs is really helpful. 

Send us a textMajor (ret.) Joshua Mantz is the author of The Beauty of a Darker Soul, a book dedicated to helping people overcome emotionally traumatic experiences. A graduate of West Point, Josh served as an Infantry Officer in the US Army for nearly a decade, and is the recipient of the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with Valor. He is a highly sought after speaker on the topic of emotional trauma, having shared his message at TEDx, Got Your 6, and hundreds of other events. This incredible author shares about his journey of writing his book and how revealing is Darker Soul was so important to its success.   

Send us a textKarin Roest is known as the “Industry’s Best Kept Secret” as she’s focused on creating fame for celebrities for 15 years instead of for herself. She has worked behind the scenes as a Celebrity Talent Scout and Producer with Grammy Award-winning musicians, Nobel Peace Prize Winners, highly paid TED talk speakers, New York Times Bestselling authors and Award-winning philanthropists. But jet-setting around the world with celebrities was not enough, so she disappeared to do one year of meditation in silence (yep, no talking for a year!) to find a deeper purpose and meaning in her own life. Now, merging the best of both the business and spiritual worlds, she helps authentic leaders create a customized blueprint customized blueprint in 8-weeks or less get on a solid path go from unknown to A-list Famous for a good purpose. Let's find out why authors can use Hollywood secrets to grow their purpose. 

Send us a textCharlie Hoehn is the author of Play It Away, Play for a Living, and Recession-Proof Graduate He has spoken at the Pentagon, U.S. military bases, Stanford, and TEDx. Previously, he was Tim Ferriss’ Director of Special Projects, whom he helped edit and launch The 4-Hour Body. Currently, Charlie lives in Austin with his wife and daughter, where he is the Head of Author Marketing for Book In A Box. Charlie Hoehn runs a podcast called Author Hour.  Today, he shares some great stuff about the leveraging the power of storytelling by making it identifiable, dealing with the “expert” syndrome, and how to handle negative reviews.