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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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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Episode 456 - Jenny Sanders - Driving A Tank Bucketlist Item, Polished Arrows and Helping Kids Write

For the last few years I’ve been living wherever I hang my proverbial hat, currently between the UK and South Africa.

I’m a writer, speaker, imperfect follower of Jesus, wife, and mother of four grown-and-flown children, and a thousand other things besides.

My passions are for authenticity, integrity and justice. I love to ‘see the lights come on’ for people when they grasp truth that makes a daily difference.

These days, I have more time and write for a number of magazines as well as working on book projects.

For twelve years I had a monthly column for a local newspaper. I’ve also written a series of four devotionals around the themes of the sea, the city, the countryside and the mountains – each with six weeks of material. Contact me if you’d like to order a copy (details below).

MY BOOKS:

Spiritual Feasting (Instant Apostle May 2020), explores Psalm 23:5, asking how it’s possible to take our assigned place at God’s table and ‘feast’ even when life serves us a bitter or sour ‘menu’. It’s written for those who ‘recognise that Jesus never promised a trouble-free life, but want to experience the reality of living life to the full with Him.’ With Biblical and contemporary examples of those who’ve done just that, it’s a book that will challenge assumptions and comfort zones while encouraging you to pursue authentic intimacy with the Host of the banquet. ‘Taster questions’ alongside each chapter give an opportunity to dig in to the nourishment of the sections more fully – ideal for small groups or an individual reader. Published by Instant Apostle, it’s available through good bookshops and on-line; you can find it here: https://instantapostle.com/books/spiritual-feasting/

Polished Arrows (Instant Apostle May 2024), is based on Isaiah 49:2, it unpacks the arrowsmith’s art of taking an unpromising stick and crafting it into a lethal weapon; a powerful illustration of the journey of faith and discipleship. God, both Master craftsman and skilled archer, shapes us for His purposes so we can be fired with impact into our culture and contexts. Are we willing to be arrows in His hands? Each chapter of Polished Arrows closes with ‘Target questions’ followed by a biblical example of the process described in the text. Great for personal or small group use. Available from good book shops, on line and here: https://instantapostle.com/books/polished-arrows/

https://jennysanderswriter.co.uk/

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Episode 455 - Meredith Ritchie - Author of Poster Girls - A Historical Fiction Focused On Women's Empowerment

Hello, I’m Meredith Ritchie

I’ve lived many places, but Charlotte was the first I called home. After discovering how my hometown forgot its own amazing WWII herstory, it became the perfect setting for my first novel.

I have made a career in business communications and wrote my first novel, Poster Girls, as a cure for acute "empty nest syndrome." I live near the heart of the Queen City with my husband and two cats, who encourage my curiosity of the forgotten triumphs of the spirit, especially those found in our own backyard.

After an unwanted southern migration, an upside-down world in 1943 offers military wife and mother, Maggie Slone, a job at Charlotte’s largest wartime employer––the massive and dangerous Shell Assembly Plant.

Meanwhile, military wife and Alabama native, Kora Bell’s steadfast determination enables her to navigate the challenges she faces as a Black woman seeking employment under Jim Crow.

A shared love of literature spurs an unlikely friendship between Kora and Maggie, and the two work together to unify the plant’s workforce. Stringent rules are necessary when the air is charged with gun powder and polite society, until Maggie and Kora must break them in order to support their families, end the war, and bring their husbands home.

Told from two perspectives, Poster Girls is driven by the true but forgotten events and accomplishments of a diverse group of ordinary American women, both relevant and necessary to stop modern cycles of misunderstanding.

https://www.meredithritchie.com/

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Episode 454 - Desiree Petrich - Agressively Friendly Podcaster and Author of Taking Intentional Action, How to Choose the Life you Lead

About the author

Desiree is a speaker, best-selling author, corporate trainer, and host of the Lead With Confidence podcast. She is the founder and CEO of ‘Intentional Action’ which provides training programs in the form of team building experiences, leadership workshops and personality assessments specifically for teams who want to continue to grow together. Desiree will help you to build a life you love by taking control of what you can control. She will share her story of love, loss and leadership to inspire and encourage you to take responsibility for your own happiness!

Book: Taking Intentional Action: How to Choose the Life you Lead
We all have good intentions.

To eat healthier, exercise, read more, and scroll less. To have better relationships with our spouses, children, friends, and co-workers. To live a life we are proud of and that we love to live.

Unfortunately, most of our daily actions feel urgent rather than intentional. We can't keep our head above water, we struggle to get ahead, and we're always waiting for things to slow down.That's when our good intentions are overshadowed by excuses, and circumstances that are out of our control.

Fortunately, our busy lives are not mutually exclusive from living lives of purpose and living out our passion.

Author Desiree Petrich believes wholeheartedly that we can build a life that we love, even while feeling a bit overwhelmed. But first, we must choose to find purpose, passion, and gratitude in every day, even on days that feel hard. That requires taking intentional action toward continuously getting to know ourselves better, having positive and productive internal dialogue, and taking control of the things that we can control.

Desiree hopes that others will take the lessons from her failures and successes on their journey to becoming the best version of themselves and be inspired to take action on their goals and dreams!

Through the lens of Desiree's brilliant Foundation of Self framework, Taking Intentional Action will help you build a strong sense of self-engagement, self-worth, and self-awareness, all as it relates back to living a happy life, the life you choose to lead.

"If you are looking to connect on a deeper level to your soul's purpose, this book is for you! The raw, vulnerable, and yet, positive message Desiree shares will be impactful for anyone who has gone through hard things, to remind them that there is always a silver lining, but we have to intentionally look for it. There is always a way we can do and be better."

-Jessica Burgio | Holistic Life and Business Coach

"If you are looking for a book that's got heart + depth, but at the same time gives you the tools and mindset shifts to work through the hard times in life, THIS IS IT."

-Katy Fassett | Health and Wellness Coach

https://a.co/d/dEW9StL
https://intentionalaction.net/

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Episode 453 - Keri Mangis - Embodying Soul, A Return to Wholeness - Mind, Body, Spirit - A Memoir

my mission
I'm a writer, author, and spiritual teacher, focused on raising awareness and consciousness. I dig deeper into the collective consciousness to root out the myths that keep us stuck in the status quo. I am a wholeness advocate who promotes transformation through the three stages of breakdown, reflection, and rebirth.

My Journey
I have often tried to insist that I remain a certain way—defined by a particular label, role, or growth path.

The universe has always decided differently.

In whatever form my work takes, I aim to encourage readers, seekers, listeners, and clients to dive deeply into their own self. Find out who they really are—underneath the labels and the identities, what I call our "skins".

My background is in yoga, Ayurveda, Buddhism, and a little bit of a whole bunch of other modalites. They've all shaped me, and they've all taught me more about who I am. Yet, none of them define me in totality, and that's exactly the way I like it!

Society makes room for people to change. But it doesn’t understand or make much room for people like me — people who make a lifestyle out of transformation.

So, I set out to fill in that gap, and support those of us who see transformation as an interconnected part of the human journey. Whether you're breaking down, going through a crisis, sorting through your beliefs and conditionings, or ready to rebirth a new "you" into the world, there's something here for you.

Book: Embodying Soul: A Return to Wholeness
Mind, Body, Spirit / Memoir

Serene Voyager, known as Sëri in the Soul Realm, reassesses her eternal journey before embarking on her next lifetime in the Earth Realm. For aid and companionship, she has her soul friend, Rasa; her soul animal, a silver-eyed wolf named Endless Curiosity; and distinctive characters that personify her emotions.

Meanwhile, in the Earth Realm, twenty-year-old Keri moves away from her birthplace of North Dakota and, heeding the advice of Fear and Guilt, unwittingly surrenders her self-worth for safety, her personal power for approval, and her intuition for false promises. Later, when her chosen roles of businesswoman, wife, mother, and yoga teacher thrust her into an identity crisis rather than imbue her life with meaning, she forges a relationship with her soul, Sëri.

Through parallel stories, Sëri helps Keri discover that joy derives not from successful role-playing but from knowing who you really are inside your human skin.

https://kerimangis.com/

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Episode 452 - Emrie Oliver - Thera-tainment, Dark Fantasy, Thriller - Chooser of the Slain

E.S. Oliver lives in the northern Colorado Rockies with her husband, a gaggle of rescue dogs, alpacas, and exceedingly noisy ducks.

She is the author of the dark urban fantasy/thriller novel, "Waters of Wyrd: Chooser of the Slain". Now out in paperback, hardcover, audiobook and e-book at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Audible, Kindle Unlimited, several Colorado indie bookstores, and your favorite indie bookshop's web store.

Her other works have appeared in The Las Vegas Sun, Beyond Words Literary Magazine, The Dillydoun Review, Liminal Spaces Magazine, Line of Advance, Alien Buddha Zine, and "This Book is a Work".

In 2021, she wrote a middle-grade Sci-Fi Fantasy novella titled,The Invention of Liberation, which was voted honorable mention in L. Ron Hubbard's prestigious Writers of the Future contest. It has since been published under the pen name RE Joyce—an homage to her late grandmother, Renee Joyce, who quietly got a poem of ES Oliver's published when she was just a teenager. It's available on Amazon or at Shady Grove Creative.

Works in progress: "Waters of Wyrd: Helheim" (Adult Dark Fantasy) and "The Raven Queen" (Adult Dark Fantasy inspired by the true story and not-so-true Croatian folklore of Barbora Celjska)

https://www.esoliver.com/

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