How embracing authentic connections, ambition, and easeful growth (rather than an easy path) can unlock your creative potential and transform your publishing journey.
What’s one audacious decision you’ve made in your creative career that felt impossible at first but turned out to be hugely rewarding?
—Enrolling, attending then graduating college. Granted, the place was a cesspool of false positives and false summits, but before attending, higher education were places set apart for elite thinkers and creative savants who were ordained by God, wealth, or both. After meeting, not only those attending, but those teaching, I realized they were mostly like me. Normal people who were full of wonder, hope, and some ambition to improve their lives. This revelation opened my eyes insofar that with the right amount of work, play, and luck, most goals are possible.
How do you differentiate between ‘easy’ and ‘easeful’ in your projects, and where do you see opportunities to shift from struggle to flow?
—Sadly I don’t. I go into situations prepared and expecting difficulty from start to finish. Admittedly, this isn’t healthy since it’s now evident (in retrospect) that many of these situations failed due to self-prophecy. So, I’m going to give your semantics some serious thought and see how it can be applied to my thinking.
Have you ever found an unexpected ‘key’ from a fellow creator that unlocked a big roadblock in your work? Share your story!
—While attending a writing course here in LA, the entire program was cathartic for me. My creative muses of old [i.e. “Fear” and “Laziness”] would’ve rebuked the idea that anything creative could be learned in a classroom, but this experience proved otherwise. For instance, the first script after finishing this course scored an 8 on the Blacklist and got me into the finals in several competitions. It even garnered some praise from a showrunner. I know full well these accolades mean spit in Hollywood, and my lack of employment is testimony to that effect, but it’s still far better than I had ever expected, and a win is a win.
In what ways do you embrace ambition, and how do you balance the desire to push boundaries with the need for self-care?
—If it feeds a desire to improve one’s craft, it’s invaluable. However, if it feeds envy, external validation, etcetera, then it’s a cancer.
What’s one simple step you can take right now to connect with someone new (online or offline) who might have the ‘key’ you’ve been missing?
—Aside from attending Future of Publishing Mastermind in 2026, I think I’m doing it now by responding to this article.
—There’s also another writing course (offered by a Substacker no less) that will get me involved with other writers since it’s done in person.
Unfortunately, we won’t be doing the conference again in 2026, but our Hapitalist membership takes all that methodology into a virtual space.
I love that you’re thinking about ease vs. easy. It honestly blew my mind when I heard that, and I felt sooo called out, but also in designing my life I think all the time whether something is hard because it is just hard or because it has unnecessary friction.
I kept nodding as I read this. One audacious choice I made was publishing my first book about living with lupus. It felt impossible at the time, but it opened doors I didn’t even know were there. That’s why your point about unlocking doors for others resonated so much with me. Creative work isn’t easy, but I’ve learned to look for what feels 'easeful'.
I love it. That’s the good good chaos magic doing work. The longer your career goes on, the more of that magic has a chance to work to your benefit and amplify over time.
That bit about being angry at a beige book-- now I feel seen! It often feels like everything has melted down into fan fiction of fan fiction. Love the audacity and ambition. Best of luck with everything!
When I first learned about author websites, I said - hell no - I don’t have time, I don’t know how, etc. But then I just did it and it was fun and creative. The mindset shift was most important.
What’s one audacious decision you’ve made in your creative career that felt impossible at first but turned out to be hugely rewarding?
—Enrolling, attending then graduating college. Granted, the place was a cesspool of false positives and false summits, but before attending, higher education were places set apart for elite thinkers and creative savants who were ordained by God, wealth, or both. After meeting, not only those attending, but those teaching, I realized they were mostly like me. Normal people who were full of wonder, hope, and some ambition to improve their lives. This revelation opened my eyes insofar that with the right amount of work, play, and luck, most goals are possible.
How do you differentiate between ‘easy’ and ‘easeful’ in your projects, and where do you see opportunities to shift from struggle to flow?
—Sadly I don’t. I go into situations prepared and expecting difficulty from start to finish. Admittedly, this isn’t healthy since it’s now evident (in retrospect) that many of these situations failed due to self-prophecy. So, I’m going to give your semantics some serious thought and see how it can be applied to my thinking.
Have you ever found an unexpected ‘key’ from a fellow creator that unlocked a big roadblock in your work? Share your story!
—While attending a writing course here in LA, the entire program was cathartic for me. My creative muses of old [i.e. “Fear” and “Laziness”] would’ve rebuked the idea that anything creative could be learned in a classroom, but this experience proved otherwise. For instance, the first script after finishing this course scored an 8 on the Blacklist and got me into the finals in several competitions. It even garnered some praise from a showrunner. I know full well these accolades mean spit in Hollywood, and my lack of employment is testimony to that effect, but it’s still far better than I had ever expected, and a win is a win.
In what ways do you embrace ambition, and how do you balance the desire to push boundaries with the need for self-care?
—If it feeds a desire to improve one’s craft, it’s invaluable. However, if it feeds envy, external validation, etcetera, then it’s a cancer.
What’s one simple step you can take right now to connect with someone new (online or offline) who might have the ‘key’ you’ve been missing?
—Aside from attending Future of Publishing Mastermind in 2026, I think I’m doing it now by responding to this article.
—There’s also another writing course (offered by a Substacker no less) that will get me involved with other writers since it’s done in person.
Stupid question: What the heck is a “VA”?
Unfortunately, we won’t be doing the conference again in 2026, but our Hapitalist membership takes all that methodology into a virtual space.
I love that you’re thinking about ease vs. easy. It honestly blew my mind when I heard that, and I felt sooo called out, but also in designing my life I think all the time whether something is hard because it is just hard or because it has unnecessary friction.
I love all of this so much. A VA is a virtual assistant. I have a team of them for various tasks.
I kept nodding as I read this. One audacious choice I made was publishing my first book about living with lupus. It felt impossible at the time, but it opened doors I didn’t even know were there. That’s why your point about unlocking doors for others resonated so much with me. Creative work isn’t easy, but I’ve learned to look for what feels 'easeful'.
I love it. That’s the good good chaos magic doing work. The longer your career goes on, the more of that magic has a chance to work to your benefit and amplify over time.
That bit about being angry at a beige book-- now I feel seen! It often feels like everything has melted down into fan fiction of fan fiction. Love the audacity and ambition. Best of luck with everything!
When I first learned about author websites, I said - hell no - I don’t have time, I don’t know how, etc. But then I just did it and it was fun and creative. The mindset shift was most important.
I love it.