Writing

“How Do I Connect with My Creative Muse?”

January 10, 2020 by Lisa Tener

Karin’s creative muse showed up as a bee

How to Connect with the Creative Muse

In many of my private consultations and classes, including “Writing in the Zone” and “Bring Your Book to Life(R),” I lead participants through a guided visualization to “Meet Your Creative Muse.”

What’s a Muse and Why Connect?

Think of your Muse as the creative aspect of yourself, that inner source of creativity that just “knows things.” Your Creative Muse knows from deep inside your heart and soul, beyond all the constraints and perceived limitations of the ego.

I love this work with the inner Muse. I especially enjoy it for its sometimes playful, sometimes surprising, always wise counsel.

After the guided visualization, people often share the clarity, insights and shifts that come from connecting with their Muse.

Symbol

The Creative Muse often gives us answers symbolically, including how it shows up (as animal, object or person, for example). Sometimes there are layers of meaning we can only appreciate when we sit quietly with the images awhile–or journal about them.

It was like that for Karin, who wrote,

Yes, I have a muse now (first one). It is a little yellow bumble bee. I was very annoyed at first to find a little yellow bee….not what I wanted or expected….but I remembered to suspend judgement and once I did everything shifted. Now I can see that my muse is totally perfect for me. Buzzing with creativity, stinging intention, adding sweetness to the world, flying solo but being deeply connected to community (so me)….”

Your Creative Muse doesn’t always show up the way you might expect or even want, but if you allow the wisdom of the Muse to rise up from within, you will probably soon enjoy the symbolism.

I know I felt disappointed when my Muse showed up as just light. I mean, how amorphous can you get? Couldn’t she show up as a fairy or angel or someone specific. But then I thought, “Light? That’s pretty cool.” And suddenly, it was.

My Muse has since shown up as a wise woman whose clothes sometimes whirl into mesmerizing patterns that take me to other dimensions—and she makes a mean bowl of alphabet soup—perfect for a writer, yes?

I Have a Muse. Now, What?

Karin brought up the other big questions that come from working with the Muse—in a nutshell: “Now What?”

“What do I do now that I have a muse?”

“How do I connect with my creative muse?”

“Should I connect just when I’m stuck?”

“What does my muse want me to know?”

“Are there any rituals for connecting?”

Firstly, I suggest your connect with your Muse every single time your write. It can be as simple as closing your eyes and taking a deep breath, or putting on your special writing sweater/jacket/hat/shoes/scarf/goggles.

Creating and Writing in the Zone: The TENER Method for Creative Flow

In a few week’s I’ll be sharing the most recent incarnation of my process for creating in a state of flow. Two of my clients have dubbed this “The TENER Method” for creative flow. It looks like that name is sticking.

Stay tuned for the exact elements you can use to create your own creativity ritual or writing ritual to consistently access a state of flow for all your creative endeavors.

You’ll learn to connect with your muse on demand and much more.

In the meantime, I’d love to hear about your experiences.

How do you connect with your Creative Muse?
How does your Muse show up for you?
What insights has your writing Muse provided about your writing, your book or other creative endeavors?
What challenges have you had with connecting with your writing Muse?

Share your experience!

Life, Writing and Presence Amidst the Holiday Mayhem

December 18, 2019 by Lisa Tener

[bctt tweet=”Presents or Presence: Writing and Life in the Holiday Mayhem #creativity #writingworkshop” username=”LisaTener”]

A couple of weeks ago, my office looked like this:

And my kitchen table looked like this:

Can you relate? If not to the mess, at least to the feeling of overwhelm that comes with it during the holidays? Especially if you’re also working on writing a book!

I’d scheduled with Jess for an extra cleaning/organizing day that week–one to do her usual house cleaning and the second to address and stuff holiday envelopes, wrap and pack gifts (and the all important labeling due to my messy handwriting), and help make those surfaces (table, desk, floor) visible once again.

Only it snowed and she got a bug.

But enough “poor me.” I wasn’t the one with the holiday bug. I decided to feel grateful to be healthy.

Still, I dreaded those envelopes and gifts to wrap.

Last Year’s Baggage

I looked at the box of half finished holiday cards from 2018 that I couldn’t bring myself to toss, a project abandoned when my dad passed away. Um, why was I saving those cards?

This year, I vowed I’d send every card, and not just so I didn’t have to look at them in my closet for the rest of 2020.

Yet, the prospect of wrapping, addressing, envelope stuffing and stamping with no assistance overwhelmed me.

From Dread to Fed

I rushed through labeling and stamping, some stamps and labels going on crooked, as I worked through the first page of labels. I wrote “Happy Hanukkah” “Merry Christmas” or “Happy New Year” on the back of our family card in metallic green ink. Pretty but time consuming. And how meaningful was it, really?

And then something happened.

I paused as I read the next label. I thought about Kelly Attonito whose kids I’ve never met, though they live just one state over. I thought of the gratitude I felt for her in sharing an opportunity for a business school scholarship years ago. I found it remarkable that she’d lower her odds by sharing with others. Yet her generosity worked out well for her when we both won $4,000 scholarships from Digital Equipment Corporation, an expansive lesson for me.

Elizabeth Tener painting — My mom loved to paint in winter and capture the raw trunk and branches of trees amidst the snow.

I thought of Carol Goodman, one of my mom’s oldest friends and a fellow artist who attended Parsons with her. I thought of the beautiful silk scarves she taught mom to make and how mom taught us to pin the silk on a frame and experiment with color.

That memory led me to the many artistic activities my mom shared with us–making cut out paper dolls and clothes with just a few colored pencils, plain paper and a pair of scissors; picking wildflowers and coming home to paint them in a bouquet at our kitchen table; creating raku pottery and silver jewelry in the crafts program at Fundy National Park when we were kids. I felt closest to my mom when we shared artistic endeavors. We got to enter mom’s world.

I fed my soul with my recollections.

Writing and the Gift of Presence

I realized then that doing the job on my own afforded me the luxury of taking my time and thinking about each person or family, what I love about them, lessons they taught me. I thought about clients that I continue to stay in touch with, as I wrote their cards. Such an abundance of goodness in these relationships.

I may not have written much on each card, but I prepared each one with love and gratitude.

I gave myself the gift of presence.

As a writer, sometimes I try to rush through the writing when I feel overwhelmed. Write about this thing I took notes for, or this next item in my outline.

And that’s when the writing stinks!

One has to slow down and be present to write. Sure, sometimes the writing comes fast and furious and you’re taking dictation as fast as you can. But even then, it’s likely to start with a moment of presence before the flow begins.

A Creative Shift

I used this insight for my own creative shift and wrote a few short pieces that may go into my book or blog post.

Tonight, I’m teaching a bonus class to book proposal course participants where we’ll be doing just this: cultivating a sense of presence, taking a few deep breaths and writing in community from a place of “presence.”

I’m so grateful to be writing amidst the busyness and hoopla of the holidays! My creative Muse feels fed!

My Holiday Wishes for You

In the midst of this busy time of year, I hope you make time for your creative spirit. Slow down. Enjoy. Write.

book heart — Photo by Eleonora Albasi on Unsplash

And as we look to 2020, I hope wish you a year of magnificence: Finding your voice as a human and a writer, honoring your wisdom and message by writing, enjoying the fruits of your labor:

grateful comments from your blog or book readers
inspiration from your muse
a book deal
whatever and all your heart desires!

My Gift for You as a Writer

I’ve been experimenting with some fun, creative material from the book I’m working on.

I added a few bonus group calls for Fast Track Your Book Proposal course participants in which we practiced some of the exercises in my book and then spent time writing.

Several wrote me the next day to say how much they loved the format and how it opened up their writing, generated new perspectives in writing their books, freed them to be more creative.

And so, to start 2020, I invite you to a free call on January 2 at 8;30 pm ET, 5:30 pm PT where all we’ll do is breathe, play and write together.

FREE TO WRITE

WHAT? A FREE online workshop by ZOOM conference call
WHEN? January 2, 2020 at 8:30 pm ET
HOW? Press the orange button below and register! Instructions will immediately appear!

If you’ve been looking for the inspiration and a little push to get going on your book, or to reignite your writing, or want to set a vision for the new year and decade, this is your golden ticket.

Comment below if you plan to join me. Schedule it now in your 2020 calendar and I’ll see you on January 2!

27 Brilliant Holiday Gifts for Writers—Unique, Book-ish and Beautiful!

December 11, 2019 by Lisa Tener

[bctt tweet=”Gifts For Writers: Sourced from Writers #WritingCommunity #giftguide” username=”LisaTener”]

Lisa Tener with gifts for writers — Here I am with my creativity enhancing essential oil blends.

Buying gifts for writers in so much fun. One for your recipient and one for you!

As I wrapped holiday gifts for the writers in my life, I decided to reach out to my Facebook community for additional ideas to share with you. And our writer’s gift giving guide wouldn’t be complete without a few ideas from my assistant Geri Lafferty who gives THE BEST gifts!

essential oils for creativity — I love essential oil blends to induce a creative mood.

My Favorite Gifts for Writers

Let’s start with one of my favorite gifts for writers—essential oils. The creative muse responds when we slow down and nurture ourselves, making space for creativity to bubble up. Spraying a light mist or rubbing an oil blend on my wrists transports me to my happy place where the writing flows.

My favorite blends are Sacred Presence Mood Mist and Empower Body Oil from Essential Rose Life. I discovered these oils while working with owner and creator Jenn Stone Goldman on the book proposal for her self-help memoir.

Jenn says, “Aromatherapy balances our mood, supporting self-connection, relieving stress and providing mental clarity. This enhances your ability to write with focused awareness and communicate clearly from a place of truth.” You can find tips and rituals for using the oils and blends on Jenn’s blog.

Let’s have my assistant Geri and our Facebook friends weigh in too!

Writing Essentials

Geri discovered this techie gem, LiveScribe. Write with the pen. “When you’re done, you’ll have an ink copy of your writing and a digital copy saved to the pen’s memory which you can then synchronize with your computer, phone or tablet. Several services will perform this task, including the SmartPad from Wacom.

Visit Deborah Monk Books and you’ll find inspirational books, journals and beautiful jewelry. Geri especially likes these Inspirational & Motivational Greeting Cards with Envelopes, Refrigerator Magnets. I love Deborah’s mini notebooks. And her novel, Well Behaved Woman Coming Undone is fabulous!

Do you get some of your best ideas in the shower? Geri discovered AquaNotes with pages you can detach and file, or this waterproof whiteboard from Shower Thoughts. The whiteboard comes with an eraser so that you can wipe down and reuse your ShowerThoughts Board as many times as you want. “Your thoughts are portable,” too. You can easily remove the pad from the hooks. “Get those ideas down before they wash away!”

Being an old schooler who loves writing by hand, I LOVE journals, and our gifts for writers list would not be complete without them. How about “doing good” with your shopping? Ten Thousand Villages offers an array of beautiful, handcrafted journals that are ethically sourced and provide income to help break the cycle of generational poverty throughout small villages all over the planet!

Gael Johnson just bought herself Michelle Obama’s Journal Becoming “Delicious,” Gael says. I also enjoy Peter Pauper Press Journals.

Stephanie Chandler recommends the Hemmingway pencil holder.

I recently bought these tote bags as a thank you to clients who came to a brainstorming session, “design thinking” says my strategy consultant. Everyone loved the bags. And guess what we put in them? Journals, pens and chocolate—more great gifts for writers!

For Ambiance, Quiet and Hunkering Down

My assistant Geri Lafferty suggests this retro plastic door knob hanger sign: Do Not Disturb Writer at Work. “Your writing room is your sanctuary. Impossible to overlook, the colorful design will deliver your message clearly.”

Jennie Nash recommended this blanket from Restoration Hardware. “It is amazing. It’s soft and HEAVY and is perfect to drape over your lap when reading or writing. It’s oddly affordable for what it is and where it’s from. I would not want to be without mine—and I live in sunny Southern California!”

Books, Of Course!

From Kathy Dodson: “It’s totally dorky, but I love my indestructible CMS (Chicago Manual of Style) cheat sheet.” Now, that would come in handy. While technically not a book, this gift is book-derived. I’d never seen it before but it’s now on my list!

Jody Lisberger declares: “Unquestionably: ON WRITING by Stephen King.” And we concur.

In addition to all the wonderful fiction I’ve received from Reading with Robin Salon (more info on the Salon below), I’ve been reading Fearless Writing. by William Kenower, another great pick.

Is your author friend looking to start a new career? How about Jennie Nash’s terrific book for writers interesting in becoming a book coach, Read Books All Day & Get Paid for It. Book coaching is a fulfilling profession and Jennie is a perfect guide. Her courses are comprehensive and cover a wide variety of aspects of this exciting career.

Another great gift for the female writer, from the founder of She Writes: Write on, Sisters! Voice, Courage and Claiming Your Place at the Table.

What’s your favorite book for writers?

Gifts That Empower Writers: Subscriptions and Such

Stephanie Chandler suggests a gift memberships at the Nonfiction Authors Association Among its many services, the Nonfiction Authors Association provides education, resources and support for authors.

I often recommend that even nonfiction writers read fiction, for the many powerful lessons well written fiction teaches about compelling writing and voice. Check out my friend Robin Kall’s Reading with Robin Salon gift membership. Give a monthly membership subscription (at $7.99/mo) for unparalleled access to exclusive content, giveaways and gifts; discounts to your favorite events; and interaction with Robin and her authors.

I have received 1-2 free books each month–often hot off the press and pre-launch—as part of the book giveaways. These are usually new releases—fabulous writing, mostly novels, one memoir and one cookbook with a writerly theme. Favorite highlights include This Tender Land, Stay and Fight and Wyoming, which I’m in the midst of. And Geri’s waiting for me to read Queen Meryl which I’ve promised to pass on to her.

I tend to write in quiet. I find most music intrusive when I’m writing. An exception? The holiday jazz of Trio West for mood-making background. Check out their second holiday jazz album for writing ambiance. This light, jazzy selection from my neighbor Tobias Gebb and his band offers inspiring background music for writing.

And if you’re looking for to give big to that writer in your life, email me to explore gifting a book concept consultation, book writing program, course or other empowering gift.

Note: With the exception of my own programs and services, I do not receive any remuneration for recommending these gifts, or for items purchased.

“If You’re Not Prepared to Write the Truth…”

November 19, 2019 by Lisa Tener

books: write the truth — Photo by Julia Joppien on Unsplash

Today, I spoke with a writer whose editor told her, “If you’re not prepared to write the truth, you shouldn’t write.”

On the one hand, there’s some powerful advice in there. If you’re hiding something, if you focus only on a pretty package with your writing, such hesitancy to dig deep and write the truth can dilute your writing or prevent you from writing powerfully.

However, in my experience, there’s another side to the issue. If you’re afraid that you have to tell everything, it can keep you from writing anything. Or just hold you back.

You may need a middle ground. Perhaps you can share the deep, dark, vulnerable truth about one experience, but leave out another.

[bctt tweet=”Authentic Writing is Possible When You Give Yourself Permission to Censor Later” username=”LisaTener”]

There can be room for nuance. If you give yourself permission up front to censor later, it may free you to write your most authentic and true writing, knowing that you can decide not to contain everything in the end.

Genre plays a role, too, in how much to reveal. Self help and how-to books leave the most room for omission. Memoir may require more experimentation to see what you can omit.

However, if you leave the decision making for later, and truly give yourself permission to write your truth, not only will you likely find more creative freedom, deeper expression and truer writing, you’ll likely find healing in the process as well.

My advice? Write the truth, then decide what to do with it.

What are your experiences about writing truth? What have you been telling yourself about the requirements of powerful writing? Is it true? Is there room to experiment? What feels most freeing to you?

Choosing How to Tell a Story: A Conversation with Mitch Albom

November 13, 2019 by Lisa Tener

[bctt tweet=”Mitch Albom on How to Tell a Story #FindingChika” username=”LisaTener”]

When it comes to telling a story, whether fiction or memoir, Mitch Albom is one of the most effective writers I know of. If you’ve ever read anything by him, you’ll know why it thrilled me to interview Mitch for Jewish Rhode Island. Mitch’s books have such heart and soul.

Mitch’s new memoir Finding Chika is one of those rare books that you finish and know that you will be carrying the characters—in this case real people—around in your heart for life.

I had so many questions for Mitch about his new memoir, Finding Chika: an Earthquake and the Making of a Family that it wouldn’t all fit in one blog post! So, here on my site you’ll learn about the writing process of the author of the bestselling memoir of all time (Tuesdays with Morrie), an author who’s sold over 40 million books worldwide to date! Mitch shared details about his process for how to tell a story, discovering the starting place, finding the voice for a particular book, and the thinking behind his writing decisions.

You’ll find the rest of my interview—about Chika’s influence on Mitch’s life, the role of faith in his journey and how to “revel in the funny business” in the midst of life’s biggest challenges—at the Jewish Rhode Island website.

“Tell Me My Story.”

Lisa Tener: Chika asks you to, “Tell me my story.” And then you start talking to her like a child and she interrupts to ask you not to speak to her like a child. What happened in that moment when your voice shifted?

Mitch Albom: I figured, she’s really in heaven now, as I believe she is. Language isn’t a barrier anymore and I also wanted to be able to tell the reader the story and not the way you might tell a six or seven year old. It made sense to shift: If you really can understand everything I’m saying, I’ll speak like a grownup.

On Finding the Voice

Lisa Tener: And how did it develop to tell a story in three distinct voices, to Chika, to the reader in the reading present, and to the reader but going back in time?

Mitch Albom: I felt that there are three parts to making a family member – you, me and us, us being what happens when you and me come together. I thought, as I shift between perspectives, I would call it you, me or us.

Lisa Tener: It’s hard to pull off three distinct voices or points of view, from the same narrator. Yet it seems seamless in your hands. Did that take a lot of work to place things or figure out which of the three voices it was in?

Mitch Albom: It wasn’t difficult. I could shift around to perspective. When I though it worked better addressing her in second person, I would do it that way. When it felt more historical, I’d tell it in the first person.

It’s a rhythm thing—the rhythm of the book, the rhythm of conversation.

Lisa Tener: So, telling the story this way was intuitive, organic.

Mitch Albom: Exactly.

“How Do I Tell This Story?”

Lisa Tener: Chika helped you slow down and see the miraculous in the ordinary. How did that impact you as a writer?

Mitch Albom: Well, at this stage in my career, I sort of know how I want to tell a story and the different ways I have at my disposal to tell a story. It’s more about, “Which method am I going to choose for this particular story?”

So it was , “How do I tell this story? What tone I want to take. Do I want to use flashbacks?”

I’ve written about a lot of themes of this book in my other books, like Tuesdays with Morrie– life and even death. But writing about a child, how a child talks, how a child looks, how to describe her, impressions, how to get across to readers how she sounded…it’s easier to play a video.

It’s hard to write about cuteness. Hard to write about how a child sings without just hearing it. I had to work on my writing skills about how to get a child across to a reader.

“I Had to Get Personal About My Own Story.”

Lisa Tener: It seems Chika is the heroine of this story; yet she is also a muse. Would you say you have an experience of a muse when you write each book?

Mitch Albom: No. This was a very distinct book—a conversation between sort of a father and his daughter. Though we were not father and daughter, it’s the closest thing I can relate it to.

I had to get personal about my own story. The way a father speaks to his daughter is different from how he speaks to a business associate or a friend over dinner.

This was a unique voice I had to settle into, and then let the world in on our conversation.

Lisa Tener: Chika directs you to write the book to her—to tell her story to her. Did that make it easier or harder to write? Is that how you started or is that something that developed later?

Mitch Albom: No I foolishly dove right into it. As I wrote in the book, I made myself physically sick towards the end. I thought I was having a stroke at times but I felt so anxious about getting the story right, it was causing panic attacks.

[bctt tweet=”Meet Mitch (and Chika’s Indomitable Spirit) #FindingChika” username=”LisaTener”]

Lisa Tener: Readers, after reading Finding Chika, I think you’ll agree that Mitch got the story JUST RIGHT.

I’ve loved many of Mitch’s books—Tuesdays with Morrie and The 5 People You Meet in Heaven are two of my favorite books. Finding Chika tops the list!

Read the rest of the interview at Jewish Rhode Island for Mitch’s deep sharing about what he learned from Chika and the other children at Have Faith Haiti orphanage, the role of humility in accepting our limitations, coming to terms with the adversity children sometimes face, and the ways his experiences with Chika and the other children have informed his faith and opened his heart.

Join Mitch Albom on November 21 at Temple Beth-El, Providence, an event hosted by Reading with Robin’s Robin Kall Homonoff. General admission tickets are $40 per person and include a book; VIP tickets ($100) include noshes, meeting the author, and a copy of Finding Chika.

All proceeds from the event, as well as all of the author’s proceeds from sales of Finding Chika, go to the Have Faith Haiti Orphanage in Port-au-Prince. So, buying a few extra copies as gifts makes it the ultimate gift that keeps giving!

Buy Tickets Here.

About Mitch Albom

Mitch Albom is a bestselling author, screenwriter, playwright and nationally syndicated columnist. The author of five consecutive #1 New York Times bestsellers, his books have collectively sold more than forty million copies in forty-two languages worldwide. Tuesdays With Morrie, which spent four straight years atop the New York Times list, is now the bestselling memoir of all time. Four of Albom’s books, including Morrie, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, For One More Day, and Have a Little Faith, have been made into highly acclaimed TV movies for ABC. Oprah Winfrey produced Tuesdays With Morrie, which claimed four Emmy awards including a best actor nod for Jack Lemmon in the lead role. Albom has founded six charities in and around Detroit, including the first-ever twenty-four-hour medical clinic for homeless children in America, and also operates an orphanage in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. Albom lives with his wife, Janine, in metropolitan Detroit.

Working on a Health Related Book? Writing, Publishing, and Social Media for Healthcare Professionals

November 13, 2019 by Lisa Tener

Writing a Health Related Book

Dana Corriel, MD at Harvard Med publishing course — One highlight of the course is the opportunity to network with faculty. Pictured here: Dana Corriel, MD

This morning, I heard from a Family Practice Physician who’s been planning to attend Harvard Medical School’s CME Publishing Course for the past two years. She started on her book idea five years ago and feels ready to dive in. Helping her clarify what she’ll get out of the course—and how to make the most of it—reminded me of some of the ways this course is so effective for physicians and other healthcare professionals:

In-depth knowledge in health and self-help genres: The faculty have a deep understanding of the many aspects of writing, publishing, promoting and selling health related books.
Ability to meet and get feedback from literary agents, publishers, book coaches and book proposal coaches, independent editors and others who can help you refine your ideas—and choose the best one.
An immersion in publishing, so you can see what it takes and expose yourself to a variety of strategies for getting your knowledge and wisdom to the people who need it—from writing a health related book to penning articles to blogging and podcasting.
Guidance and coaching to develop a pitch: I always recommend participants sign up for the optional book pitching sessions. It’s an important step in refining your ideas and sometimes new, highly marketable book ideas emerge in the process.
Advanced Workshops: The final day of the course, participants can take more specialized and in-depth workshops on social media, writing a book proposal, creativity, memoir writing and podcasting, for example.

Over the years, publishing has transformed, medicine has changed and the ways we reach people are almost unrecognizable from the how these fields operated 20 years ago. In today’s blog post, Julie Silver, MD, the course director and founder, shares how the course has changed over the years and what participants can expect in 2020.

What to Expect from Harvard Medical School’s CME Publishing Course in 2020

Lisa: How has the Harvard Medical School publishing course—Writing, Publishing, and Social Media for Healthcare Professionals—evolved over the past 20 years?

julie silver, md director of harvard medical school publishing course — Julie Silver, MD, course director and founder

Dr. Silver: When I first started directing the course, most of the content was focused on publishing books. Although the course still covers how to publish a book, there is also a lot of other content such as how to ramp up your speaking career or start a new podcast. Physicians and other healthcare professionals have a lot of creative interests, and so we aim to provide them with the training and networking contacts that they will need to be successful.

Lisa: Anyone who wants to write a health related book needs to have ways of reaching their intended audience, and so all of these arenas from social media to podcasting to speaking also greatly support the tribe-building that an aspiring author needs to do. Being exposed to this variety of areas also helps aspiring authors think about how they’ll reach their readers and get a sense of what’s involved in each one. And some participants may even find that they prefer their newfound medium to a book. What are some of the skills and knowledge that participants leave with?

[bctt tweet=”Writing and Social Media Skills” username=”LisaTener”]

networking at Harvard Med School CME publishing course — Networking with course faculty, one of many perks!

Dr. Silver: Participants learn how to make the most of print, live, and online communication channels. Individual sessions focus on:

•Best practices for connecting the public with ideas and insights

•Getting a book published in 2020: new challenges and options

•Lectures and workshops to improve one’s writing and “elevator” or book pitch

•Personalized instruction from top-tier writing coaches, editors, and literary agents

•Social media: introductory and advanced topics

•Self-publishing books, blogs, and websites

•Strategies for impacting national and international healthcare audiences

•Workshops to assist in the development of memoirs and narrative nonfiction

•Training on giving interviews and how to start a podcast

[bctt tweet=”Writing and Publishing Success Stories in Health-Related Genres” username=”LisaTener”]

Lisa: That’s a powerful list! Some amazing things have come out of this course. For example, Jon Lieff, MD was inspired to blog after taking a workshop with Rusty Shelton and myself on the subject.

Rusty continued to mentor Dr. Lieff, and Dr. Lieff’s blog, Searching for the Mind (http://jonlieffmd.com/) was chosen by Best World Wide Online Universities in “Neuronal Plasticity”: The Science of Learning – Resources on How Our Brains Work Best. along with large, distinguished institutions including Stanford and MIT. His blog has attracted researchers and armchair scientists across disciplines, translating the latest research on communication among cells. Dr. Lieff went on to sign a book contract with BenBella Books.

Can you share some more examples of the kinds of projects and accomplishments coming out of the course? What are some of your favorite “success stories”?

Dr. Silver: I have so many favorites that it’s hard to choose. Literally thousands of past participants have gone on to do some really incredible things.

For example, Dr. Yvonne Thornton published a bestselling memoir titled The Ditchdigger’s Daughters that was made into a movie, and she came to the course years later to connect with literary agents and editors so she could publish her next book which is titled Something to Prove.

This year we had Dr. Connie Mariano come back and talk about what it was like to be the first military woman to become the White House Physician to the President the first woman Director of the White House Medical Unit the first Filipino American in US history to become a Navy Rear Admiral. She explained how she published her book titled The White House Doctor and the road to this book becoming a television series.

Sarah Allen Benton is a therapist who did an amazing book pitch at the course and then went on to publish Understanding the High Functioning Alcoholic. Her work and book went on to be featured by Oprah.

Vint Virga, DVM is a veterinarian who came to the course and then published a truly moving book called The Soul of All Living Creatures: What Animals Can Teach Us About Being Human.

In the upcoming course, we’re excited that Dr. Rana Awdish who is known for her bestselling book In Shock: My Journey from Death to Recovery and the Redemptive Power of Hope will be talking about her publishing journey.

What Next?

Lisa: Wow! I’m struck by the variety of the topics and also genres—from memoir to self-help to health books. What else would you like people to know about this course, Writing, Publishing, and Social Media for Healthcare Professionals?

Dr. Silver: We will have more content on publishing articles including op-eds, social media, and turning content into products and services. We’re excited to bring all of these creative and intelligent people in the same room to make some magic happen!

Lisa: Dear Reader, do you need any more to know this is a not-to-be-missed opportunity?! If you’re working with me on a health-related or self-help book, I encourage you to attend, even if you’ve attended before. There is so much to get out of this publishing course, year after year!