Eight Questions

Today’s guest needs no introduction. You know him as The Walking Dave, and co-author of Yesterday’s Gone among several other Sterling and Stone titles. In today’s very special final episode of Eight Questions, Sean talks with Dave about creativity, his routines, and……… Tell us about the origin of Eight Questions, since you’re the one who started it. Eight Questions started as an interview series; how did it become a podcast? Do you wish you could do more with Eight Questions? What happened to The Walking Dave? Do you have any other ideas for podcasts you’d like to start? Do you think we’ll ever resurrect Eight Questions? What would it take to get it into your schedule again? What are your final thoughts for Eight Questions? The post 8Q52 Horror Author David Wright appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Amy is one of the brilliant people at Sterling and Stone who keeps the company – and the guys – from going off the rails. She was the first actual employee they hired, and one of the driving forces behind Sterling and Stone’s success. How many books do you actually read? Where does that drive come from to know what other people know? What’s the coolest thing you’ve learned? Where’s the most surprising place you’ve ever found advice? What do you think is your superpower? What’s your kryptonite? What’s your worst habit? You remind me of Abraham Lincoln; what is your long term plan? What is the one thing that is holding most indie authors back? The post 8Q51 Sterling and Stone Wrangler Amy Teegan appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

John L. Monk lives in Virginia, USA, with his wife, Dorothy. A writer with a degree in cultural anthropology, he boldly does the dishes, roots out evil wherever it lurks, and writes his own stunts. Do you have a writing ritual, and if so what does it look like? Who do you consider your best source of information about the publishing industry? When you need help or advice about your work, where’s the first place you turn? Where’s the last place you turn? What’s the best marketing tip you’ve ever gotten? What’s at the very top of your bucket list? In a hundred years, what is it you want the world to remember about you? What are you reading right now? Thanks everyone, and if you’d like to find any of my books, podcasts, or more, check out all things Wordslinger at kevintumlinson.com. The post 8Q50 Anthropology Author John L Monk appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Jamie Davis is a smarter artist of a different stripe: he’s a registered nurse and podcaster. Today Sean talks with him about his multitude of projects and where his inspiration and creativity comes from. Most recently, Jamie has taken on writing. You coined the term nurse journalist; what IS that? You’re doing a LOT of stuff; how have you added writing into the mix? What’s the biggest current obstacle to your growth? What is your worst habit? Is collaborating something you thought you’d do, and what do you think about it? If you could have one do-over, what would it be? What is one habit you’re trying to adopt that hasn’t been easy? In a year from now, what are the biggest things you’ve accomplished? The post 8Q49 Podcaster and Smarter Artist Jamie Davis appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Stacy is the author of Write the Damn Book, and today, Sean and Stacy talk about how to get out of your own head and get into creativity. Find her at StacyNelsonUnlimited.com. How do you define ‘next level holy-shitness?’ What is it that stops authors from writing the damn book? Your focus is nonfiction; how do you think it applies to fiction? You have a ton of ideas; how do you decide what’s next? What’s the best creative advice you’ve ever been given? What’s your worst habit? If you could have one do-over, what would it be? What do you want your legacy to be? The post 8Q48 Author and Motivator Stacy Nelson appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Arianna is one of those people who can do more than is humanly possible, and that’s partly true because of her love of automation. Find her at AbyssinianBooks.com. You’re clearly crazy with all you do; how do you self-identify? You know about 80/20 – how do you decide which is which? How do you decide what to take on and what to say no to? Your old new thing is automation for authors; what is it and what do authors get wrong? What is your worst habit? What’s one thing you do that helps you to be successful on a daily basis? You’re a big thinker; what do you want to see from yourself a year from now… …and ten years from now? The post 8Q47 Automation Author Arianna Golden appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Usually, when you meet someone who tells you they’re going to write 50 books in a year, you tend to smile and nod politely, knowing there’s no way that is actually going to happen. That’s what Laurie told Sean. But then, she did it. Today, they talk about books, creativity, life, and productivity. What’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever made, and how was it a good thing? You seem to want to do everything; how do you determine your 80/20? What’s the best creative advice you’ve ever been given? What is your worst habit? What percentage artist versus businessperson are you? What is the one thing you do that has been the biggest contributor to your success? You jumped without looking from business to art; what was that like? One year from now, what accomplishment are you celebrating? The post 8Q46 Ridiculously Productive Author Laurie Starkey appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Bestselling author of the critically acclaimed Feast of Fates, Christian A. Brown received a Kirkus star in 2014 for the first novel in his genre-changing Four Feasts Till Darkness series. He has appeared on Newstalk 1010, AM640, Daytime Rogers, and Get Bold Today with LeGrande Green. He actively writes a blog about his mother’s journey with cancer and on gender issues in the media. A lover of the weird and wonderful, Brown considers himself an eccentric with a talent for cat-whispering. Your work has been described as ‘genre changing.’ How has your work changed the fantasy/speculative fiction genre? What got you into writing fantasy/speculative fiction in the first place? You’ve also had a career in health & fitness—how do you think that experience has helped your writing career? On days when you don’t feel like doing the work, what motivates you to get going? What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given? When you think of someone who is truly successful, who comes to mind, and why? Who do you think of as your biggest and best mentor and/or inspiration? What epitaph would you most want to be written about you, when it’s all said and done? Where can people find you, and do you have anything you’d like to promote? www.christianadrianbrown.com Thanks everyone, and if you’d like to find any of my books, podcasts, or more, check out all things Wordslinger at kevintumlinson.com. The post 8Q45 Fantasy Author Christian Brown appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Chris Fox is a full time author writing books for writers, and novels about werewolves, aliens, giant starships, and mysterious ancient cultures. You have a whole book about lifelong writing habits—why is a writing habit important to you? One of your books is titled ‘5,000 Words Per Hour.’ How important is writing speed to an author? Another book, and one I really loved, was ‘Write to Market.’ What does it mean to ‘write to market?’ In your fiction, how do you balance what you love to write with what you know will sell? How has being an app developer helped you to be a better writer? Would you recommend that other authors take the path you took? Who inspires you—not just in writing but in life? What’s the biggest goal you’ve ever set for your life, and how close have you come to meeting it? Where can people find you? Thanks everyone, and if you’d like to find MY work, you can track down all things Wordslinger at kevintumlinson.com. The post 8Q44 Authorpreneur Chris Fox appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Born in Austria and now living in Hong Kong, Julian Hosp is a medical doctor, a professional kite-surfer, an entrepreneur, a leapfrog highperformer, and most recently the author of ’25 Stories I Would Tell My Younger Self.’ His work includes inspiring people to make the life decisions they always wanted to make, but were too afraid to do so. Out of all of your previous careers, which one do you think taught you the most about life? What exactly is a ‘leapfrog highperformer?’ How does someone get past the fear and take the leap, to make the decision they’ve avoided? When do you know it’s the right time to make a leap? What is your business like, day to day? Have you learned anything since writing the book that you would add to it today? Who inspires you? What do you want your legacy to be? Where can people find you?Julian Hosp Author Page Thanks everyone, and if you’d like to find MY work, you can track down all things Wordslinger at kevintumlinson.com The post 8Q43 Leapfrogging Highperformer Julian Hosp appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Scott Anthony Barlow is the Founder of Happen to Your Career, a company that helps you stop doing work that doesn’t fit, figure out what does and then teach you to make it happen! He has been helping people develop their careers and businesses for over 10 years as a Human Resources Leader, Business Development Expert, and Career Coach. With over 2000 interviews worth of experience from his HR career, Scott interviews others telling their story of finding work they love on the Happen to Your Career Podcast. Scott and his wife Alyssa have 3 children and live in Moses Lake, Washington. So what does it mean to ‘happen to your career?’ What is the dividing line between life and career? Who were your biggest influences five years ago, versus today? If you had to define the biggest goal of your life, what would it be? How do you feel about failure? What is your definition of success? On what subject (if any) do you consider yourself to be an absolute authority? Where do you see yourself and your business in five years? Where can people find you? Thanks everyone, and if you’d like to find MY work, you can track down all things Wordslinger at kevintumlinson.com. The post 8Q42 Career Development Expert Scott Barlow appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

http://internetmarketingparty.com/ David Gonzalez is a ‘superconnector.’ If there’s someone you want to meet, chances are, David can connect you. However, he’s more than just a networker. He’s a thoughtful person who is very good at connecting the RIGHT people. Today, Johnny digs into what make David tick creatively, and what feeds his passion. What do you think of the art of connecting people in such a non-douchey way? Talk about how heart-centeredness? How does your heart-centeredness affect connectioning people. Do you have any other creative pursuits? Do you think the ability to be fascinated is a learned skill? In terms of generalist versus specialist, where do you fall in that spectrum? What do you want your legacy to be? (Johnny had ONE JOB: eight questions. C’mon!) The post 8Q41 Serial Superconnector David Gonzalez appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Today’s guest is Logan Rutherford, a 21-year-old author who is already knocking his career out of the park. If you want to complain about not being able to do it, then listen to this episode and let Logan convince you otherwise. He started listening to the Self Publishing Podcast at age 16 and applied everything he learned. What made you want to do what you’re doing, and when did you realize it? When you decided to write, did your friends and parents think you were crazy? Are you writing to market or writing what you love? What’s your worst habit? What is your best habit? Do you collaborate with anyone, or is that something you want to do? If you could give yourself one habit, what would it be? Where would you like to see yourself a year from now, and The post 8Q40 Upstart Author Logan Rutherford appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

David Wright sits down with horror author Zach Bohannon of the Horror Writer’s Podcast, and talks about his creative habits, obstacles to writing, and the difficulty of finding time to write when you have a full-time job. What is your creative routine like? What are some of your favorite creative tools? What are some of the biggest obstacles you face and how do you overcome them? What makes up your daily creative diet? You do the Horror Writer’s Podcast; how does that affect your work? Is there anything you specifically would like to do in writing that you haven’t done yet? If you could go back in time to before you started writing, what piece of advice would you give yourself that may have made things go better, quicker? What do you want your legacy to be? The post 8Q39 Horror Author Zach Bohannon appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Dan Wood is the Director of Operations and Author Relations at Draft2Digital. Draft2Digital gives over 23,000 authors simple tools to format and publish their ebooks to digital stores worldwide. Founded in 2012, Draft2Digital gained wide acclaim for their premier customer service, rapid sales reporting, and monthly royalty payments. Authors keep their rights and keep writing. Draft2Digital helps with the rest. What brought you to working with authors? Are you able to pick which authors will do well and which won’t? What are the advantages of going wide? What does your typical work day look like? How much do you rely on social media to tap into the industry? What are your personal measures for success? What do you consider the best basic strategy for the authors you work with? What’s the biggest success story you’ve encountered in your work You can track down all things Wordslinger at kevintumlinson.com. The post 8Q38 Draft2Digital Director Dan Wood appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Jonny Andrews is the founder of Author Platform Rocket. He helps authors do the one thing they fear and dread most—actually market their work. For years he’s helped Paranormal Romance authors make more inroads and build bigger mailing lists, and now he’s bringing his expertise to other genres. Why do you think marketing is so difficult for authors? Who is the target market for Author Platform Rocket, and what prompted you to pick them? What’s the biggest challenge that these authors face, beyond building a mailing list? What does your typical work day look like? What’s your best daily habit? Where do you turn for inspiration and new ideas? How do you determine what to work on next? What’s your endgame—where do you want to see Author Platform Rocket in three years? The post 8Q37 Book Marketer Jonny Andrews appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Nick Thacker is a thriller author in the vein of James Rollins and Dan Brown. He’s been invited to write books in shared universes for authors such as A.G. Riddle (The Atlantis Gene). And in addition to his books, Nick is a co-host of the popular Self Publishing Answers podcast, along with Kevin Tumlinson and Justin Sloan. So what does your writing routine look like? What’s the most effective marketing tool you’ve found? Where does podcasting fit in with your business plan? What’s you’re most important daily habit? What’s your worst daily habit? Who are your biggest influences, and why? If you could have one do-over, what would it be? What do you want your legacy to be? Where can people find your work? Thanks everyone, and if you’d like to find MY work, you can track down all things Nich Thacker at www.nickthacker.com The post 8Q36 Author Nick Thacker appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

JB Glossinger, MBA, Ph.D., is an internationally known motivational speaker, author, coach and consultant. He is a modern day life archeologist, bringing esoteric wisdom to the masses. You do so much in your professional life; what’s the best way to introduce you? Your business has been through a lot of ups and downs; what’s your biggest mistake? If you had $100 million dollars, how would that change what you want to do with your business? What’s the number 1 thing the self-help industry gets wrong? You have an amazing ideal schedule; do you want to keep it up? How do you decide what to work on next? What the best advice you’ve ever been given? What do you want your legacy to be? The post 8Q33 Life Archeologist JB Glossinger appeared first on Sterling & Stone.

Christine Niles is a new arrival to the Sterling and Stone team, initially joining for copywriting, and within 90 minutes she was the Marketing Manager. What’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever made, and why was that a good thing? You’re great at time management; what’s something people should never be doing but are, and what SHOULD they be doing every day? What’s the best creative advice you’ve ever been given? What’s your worst habit? What’s your process for deciding whether or not to take on a project? If you could have one do-over, what would it be? What’s a habit you’re trying to adopt right now? If we’re sitting here a year from now celebrating something huge, what would it be? The post 8Q32 Marketer and Copywriter Christine Niles appeared first on Sterling & Stone.