Excelsior Journeys: The Road to Creativity

This week on Excelsior Journeys, host George Sirois welcomes award-winning playwright and long-time friend Jonathan Norton. The two talk about the Playwriting class they took together at Marymount Manhattan College, the scene Jonathan wrote that captured everyone's attention, the controversial plays he wrote while in high school that made him an award-winner, his mentors and idols, and his lat...

On February 13, Godwin High's beloved Drama teacher - Mac Damron - passed away over a month before a scheduled ceremony where the school's theater would be dedicated in his name. With several decades of teaching experience, Mr. Damron changed the lives of hundreds, even thousands, of students, one of which is our host, George Sirois. So George decided to reach out to his classmates from th...

For this week's episode of Excelsior Journeys, host George Sirois sits down with longtime friend, director Chris Ethridge. In addition to chatting about growing up in Richmond, Virginia and dreaming of collaborating on big-budget film projects, they also discuss Chris' evolution as a filmmaker, his time creating a Stephen King "Dollar Baby," directing Tiffany Shepis and Nicholas Br...

For the latest episode of Excelsior Journeys, host George Sirois sits down and chats with - for the first time in about 25 years - artist Elizabeth Meggs. They give a much-deserved shout-out to Mac Damron in the Drama department of Godwin High School in Richmond, VA, discuss the moment that made Elizabeth want to become an artist, putting together her first exhibit, working on both coasts in Ameri...

For the latest episode of Excelsior Journeys, host George Sirois began his filmmakers miniseries by talking with screenwriter, director, and film enthusiast Luke Annand. The discussion goes from the sequence that made Luke a devout cineaste, to getting involved in several projects in Canada as a production assistant, to getting his own short film off the ground, to his latest project - a full-leng...

On the latest episode of Excelsior Journeys, host George Sirois sits down with Vancouver's own, artist Lisa Penz. Lisa some terrific stories about how Disney became her inspiration for teaching herself how to sketch (The Little Mermaid, to be exact), the moment when she decided to step away from graphic design and pursue her passion in painting, her first gallery opening, her ideas for a very...

For this episode of Excelsior Journeys, host George Sirois sits down with Natalie Bushnell, an author, speaker, medium, transparency coach, and so much more. Natalie shares her incredible life story with us, from her days as part of a polygamist family to her decision to be a spiritual guide to help others reach their full potential. She also tells us about Soulisious and her monthly Life Made Sim...

#foxrocks indeed! Host George Sirois presents a terrific conversation with LinkedIn content strategist Judi Fox, where they discuss how she decided to turn her years-long career into a prologue for the new life she would make for herself. She also puts our mind at ease about the use of LinkedIn, shares the moment when her first piece of content generated over twelve thousand views, and more! They...

Resolutions Month continues on Excelsior Journeys, and host George Sirois chats with fitness advocate and owner of Wristful Thinking Wristbands Brandi Stewart. They discuss how Brandi played such a big part in his life, her experiences in physical fitness, her tips for those looking to improve their health, what led her to create Wristful Thinking, and more!  Brandi even has a very special gift ju...

The first 2019 episode of the Excelsior Journeys podcast presents Pastor Joe Dobbins of Twin Rivers Worship Center in St. Louis. Hear what he has to say about how we can all find our unique calling in the new year and the greatness Twin Rivers continues to achieve in the community every day. For more information, please visit https://twinrivers.church. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.c...

For the final episode of Excelsior Journeys in 2018, host George Sirois presents the audio of a panel at Archon 42 - Alternate Paths to Publishing. In addition to hearing George's story of how he went from self-publishing to working with small presses to finally getting an agent for larger projects, we will also hear from authors Debbie Manber Kupfer (P.A.W.S.), Brad R. Cook (The Iron Horseman...

On Sunday, October 14, 2018, host George Sirois moderated a panel at St. Louis' sci-fi & fantasy convention Archon 42 ( www.archonstl.org ) called "Storytelling: A Modern Take on the Oral Tradition." His fellow authors on the panel were Brad R. Cook (The Iron Chronicles), Camille Faye (Voodoo Butterfly), and Jennifer Stolzer (Threadcaster, Dog Park), and they were gracious to allow...

For the latest episode of Excelsior Journeys, host George Sirois sits down with Rebecca Jaycox, author of the YA / Fantasy novel "The Other Inheritance" and editor-in-chief of Aelurus Publishing. In addition to sharing her personal story that led to her becoming an author and editor, Rebecca has various dos and donts for aspiring authors to keep in mind, she makes sure you know what to do...

For the final installment of the NaNoWriMo miniseries, host George Sirois chats with multi-award-winning and USA Today Bestselling author Amalie Jahn. They talk about her journey to write and release her YA time-travel Sci-Fi novel "The Clay Lion," introducing her stories to students, working with other authors to make their successful run at the USA Today bestselling list, and more! Amali...

It's Episode 10 of Excelsior Journeys, and host George Sirois gets to enjoy this milestone by speaking with author Katherine Bogle. In addition to a healthy amount of name-dropping (Hello, Sell More Books Show!), they discuss Katherine's early fan fiction that pushed her into pursuing writing as a career, her experiences with National Novel Writing Month, the rapid release plan she put int...

For the latest episode of Excelsior Journeys, host George Sirois takes a trip into the McHughniverse and chats with prolific award-winner author & playwright Jessica McHugh. They discuss the early stories that pushed Jess into being an author, her experiences - good and bad - with various small presses, her different genres from horror to young adult, and more! Jess is all over social media an...

For Episode 8 of Excelsior Journeys - presented by the Write Pack Radio Podcasting Network - host George Sirois continues National Novel Writing Month by sitting down with two-time Dragon Award nominated author RR Virdi. They discuss the inspiration that led to Virdi's successful urban fantasy series - The Grave Report - as well as his writing process, the experience of being nominated alongsi...

This week on Excelsior Journeys, host George Sirois sits down with author / musician / humanitarian EC Stilson to discuss her experience with National Novel Writing Month, the various events she has hosted, causes for which she raises money, her time when she was homeless on the streets of Hawaii, the tragedy in her life that she has used to inspire others, and more. To follow EC and her journey,...

For Episode 6 of Excelsior Journeys, host George Sirois presents the Prologue to the month-long NaNoWriMo miniseries, in which he will be speaking with different authors who have conquered the National Novel Writing Month challenge, which is to write a 50,000-word draft of a novel in just 30 days. George will not only share the origins of this global phenomenon; he will also talk about his own NaN...

For Episode 5 of Excelsior Journeys, host George Sirois speaks with bestselling and multi-award-winning independent authors Sheri Fink & Derek Taylor Kent. This literary power couple met George in person at the 2017 Missouri Writers Guild Conference, where Sheri was the keynote speaker, and during this conversation, they talk about what led both of them to write children's books, their jou...

For Episode 4 of Excelsior Journeys, host George Sirois welcomes actress / writer / director / producer / yoga instructor Kristina Erikson. They talk about their time together at Marymount Manhattan College, Kristina continuing on her journey as an actress after graduation, how yoga played a major role in regaining the confidence in herself, how the highs and lows in her life prompted her to creat...

For the inaugural episode of Excelsior Journeys, host George Sirois sits down for a lengthy discussion with Douglas Rousar, a multi-award-winning West Coast Swing dancer, instructor, event director, and founder of the Global Online Open. They talk about how each of them found and fell in love with the dance, how Doug rose from the novice ranks to becoming an instructor for many others, his experie...

For Episode 2 of Excelsior Journeys, host George Sirois welcomes voiceover actor, sports announcer, and founder of Linacre Media, Mark Fratto. They talk about how Mark began his path way back in St. Mary's Catholic School, acting as a media director in college, and working all the way up to standing in the middle of a boxing ring for HBO Sports in the World's Most Famous Arena, Madison Squ...

For Episode 3 of Excelsior Journeys, host George Sirois took some time from his weekend at the authors & readers convention Penned Con ( www.pennedcon.com ) to chat with USA Today Bestselling Authors Michelle Lynn & Michelle Bryan. They talk about how the two authors found each other through the muck of negativity known as Goodreads and how they made the decision to collaborate on a story...

For the Write Pack Radio Podcasting Network, we hope you enjoy this brief look at what is to come with our new show "Excelsior Journeys with George Sirois."  Each week, we will post a discussion with various creative people that are currently on their path to success. They're trying to make their dreams come true just as you are, so we hope by telling their stories, we will inspire you...