Where do you get ideas to write your books?
Three practical real world things must occur before I decide to write a book, or even an article, on a topic. First, what I decide to write about must have helped me personally in some profound and lasting ways. Second, my clients, event attendees and/or talk radio show callers have consistently shown me they are at least as profoundly helped by what has helped me. Third, this material does not appear to be widely available through some other author or resource. Whenever these three criteria converge I know I have something to write.
How do you deal with rejection?
After years of not dealing particularly well with rejection, I have gained a measure of grace with this. What helps me immeasurably with rejection is that I am now clear, deep in my cells, that I only want to reach people who genuinely want what I most love to offer. So, what rejection has come to mean to me today is simply that this match didn’t occur. Rejection now simply tells me that I have missed the mark in my matchmaking efforts between what I most love to offer and whom I am trying to offer it.
Do you write mainly by day or by night?
As a night person I do often find myself inspired late at night. That said, I can happily write at almost any time of day. What is far more important to me than time of day is chunks of time. I write most prolifically when I marathon rather than in short spurts.
Do you ever get writer’s block and what do you do when that happens?
I am deeply blessed to rarely experience writer’s block. I only know two writing modes: incubation and writing. When I am incubating I tend to write lots of brief notes to myself. I place them in the best possible place in a system I have devised to keep my notes relatively organized. At some point in my incubation process I feel ‘baked.’ At that point, the writing just wants to pour out of me and my biggest job is simply creating the time for that to occur.
Do you blog? If so, what can you tell my readers about the advantages of blogging as a useful tool in book promotion?
My IntegrityWatch Blog has been an amazing multi-purpose tool. First, I use it as an idea incubator. Second, the reactions people send me about my posts provide me with great market research. Third, I use my IntegrityWatch Blog posts to improve my website’s search engine ranking. Fourth, I refer media and to blog posts that are relevant a topic in which they are interested. Fourth, I refer audiences to specific blog posts as a teaser to get them to visit my site. Fifth, the juiciest of my blog posts become the foundation out of which many of my articles and press releases grow.
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