Episode 459 - Jody Hobbs Hesler - A Literary Citizen Residing in The Blue Ridge Mountains

Jody Hobbs Hesler has written ever since she could hold a pencil and now lives and writes in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Growing up, she split time between suburban Richmond, Virginia, and the mountains outside Winchester, Virginia. Experiences of all these regions flavor her writing. She is the author of the novel Without You Here (Flexible Press) and the story collection What Makes You Think You're Supposed to Feel Better (Cornerstone Press). She teaches at WriterHouse in Charlottesville, Virginia, and serves as assistant fiction editor for The Los Angeles Review.

https://www.jodyhobbshesler.com/

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Episode 458 - Annika Rosendahl, Storyteller, Timefinder, Leadership Coach and Consultant

Annika is a result-minded and caring Storyteller, Timefinder and Leadership coach with 20+ years of leadership experience from the corporate world in Telecom, Automotive and Utility industries. She is a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering, a PMI certified Project Management Professional and a certified Professional scrum master as well as a Robbins-Madanes trained life coach. Annika is also a published author of both fiction and non-fiction books.

https://www.instagram.com/annikaslol
https://annikarosendahl.com/

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podcast produced by: https://truemediasolutions.ca/

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Episode 457 - Bella Ellwood Clayton - Her gripping debut novel, Weekend Friends is Unputdownable

DR. BELLA ELLWOOD-CLAYTON was born on Valentine’s Day in Melbourne, Australia; the daughter of avant-garde composer and playwright, Syd Clayton, and enlightenment-seeker, Gwenda Ellwood.

At a young age, Bella moved to Vancouver, Canada, with her mother. They lived in Kits (Kitsilano) in different basement suites. Bella’s mother went back to school, studying IT. Bella had a chaotic childhood with lots of freedom. She loved dancing and being with her friends.

In elementary school, Bella had a bad knee accident and on the way to the hospital, wrote her first poem—a topic fitting a Vancouverite.

Raindrops on the window meet like lovers after a long separation

During her recovery in the hospital, a friend’s mother visited Bella and read aloud Dylan Thomas’ poem, “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night,” as well as gifting her a book of poetry. From that moment on, Bella never stopped writing. She always had a journal and found deeper companionship with the page than almost anything or anyone else.

After high school, Bella moved to Montréal and completed a Bachelor of Arts from Concordia University, majoring in anthropology. Her honours thesis examined beauty historically and cross-culturally. She received first class honours and was the recipient of the Mark Doughty Scholarship. She had a studio apartment in the McGill Ghetto, a long-distance (toxic) relationship, and a desire explore the world.

Her first short story was published, as well as some poetry.

Soon after, with a crew from National Geographic, Bella took to the jungle to explore tattoo and social change in the Mentawai Islands of Indonesia. This documentary continues to air from a wide range of international locations.

Her nonfiction book, Sex Drive: In Pursuit of Female Desire, was published by Allen & Unwin. She published more short stories and poetry and wrote for The Huffington Post and Daily Life, and frequently appeared on radio programs such as Triple M and TV programs including, The Project and Sunrise. She’s given many talks about relationships, including a TEDx talk.

Bella hosted The Science of Sex Drive on Love Destination, a global video-on-demand network on 8 million devices.

Now, Bella is the Head of Editorial at NAC (New Authors Collective) Literary Agency and has a freelance editing business, Dr. Bella Editorial. She was the resident creative writing teacher at Kensington Neighbourhood House.

After writing her first poem about raindrops all those years ago, her debut novel, WEEKEND FRIENDS, was published in November 2023 (Post Hill Press/Simon & Schuster).

https://www.drbella.com.au/

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podcast produced by: https://truemediasolutions.ca/

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