I recently read Ryan Holiday’s new book Ego Is the Enemy. I found it a fascinating read, filled with insight on how to achieve what we want without losing sight of who we are. He uses historical figures to illustrate his points: this one remained true to himself, allowing his name to fade after his […]
I haven’t felt very courageous lately. My book didn’t make the quarterfinals, but that wasn’t entirely surprising. A Square Foot of Calfskin was a long shot, just like every other book that entered that contest. If you’re interested, you can find the list of quarter-finalists here. No, failing is part of the game when you […]
I got the news today: A Square Foot of Calfskin has made it to Round 2 of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. It’s no longer one of ten thousand–now it’s one of two thousand, among the four hundred books left in the YA category. The next round of judging ends on the 14th of […]
The first of Todd Henry’s everyday acts of bravery: Define your battles. When we say choose your battles in the context of life or parenting, we mean we can’t win every time, and trying to is a sure way to accomplish nothing. So we choose which battles to spend our energy on, in the hopes […]
Since I can’t write about courage without occasionally mentioning something I’ve done: I’ve entered my novel, A Square Foot of Calfskin, in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. It’s a contest for unpublished or self-published books, and it might just help me get some eyes on my work. Judging for the first round just started, […]
Move out or grow in any dimension and pain as well as joy will be your reward. – M. Scott Peck, M.D., from The Road Less Traveled I was listening to this book on the way home from work this evening, and this quote leaped out at me. This line captures the essence of […]
Todd Henry is a self-professed “arms dealer for the creative revolution.” The author of two books and a nationally-known speaker and consultant, Todd is enabling thousands of people to claim the lives they want by embracing their creative efforts. In the information age, creativity, whether it’s art or young minds or computer code or delicious […]
Veronica Roth is the author of Divergent, the first book of a teen trilogy about a dystopian future society. In the story, society is divided into factions, each based on values its founders felt could counteract the evils of the world. Those with aptitudes encompassing more than one faction–the Divergent of the title–are seen as […]
Notes to Inspire. Safe is good for sidewalks and swimming pools but life requires risk if we are to get anywhere. Another daily message from Simon Sinek that resonates with me. To win, we must risk. To risk, we must have courage. It’s not optional unless we want to live our lives without really accomplishing […]
Seth’s Blog: Perfection or exploration. If you are in business on the web (or anywhere else), and you don’t know Seth Godin, you need to get to know him. He is probably the Internet’s foremost marketing genius–but his work really isn’t about marketing. It’s about producing great work, surprising and delighting your customers, making whatever […]