The Confident Fiction Author

In 2024, I developed a habit I'm still using called "5-minute fiction." I did a podcast episode on this powerful writing hack, and I'm bringing it back for you this week. My "5-Minute Fiction: New Habit for the New Year" (episode #10) is my most downloaded episode, and for good reason. This little hack is helping authors around the world write more consistently, and i...

You know that weird thing your phone does—when you write a word and it offers you an emoji instead? That happened once when I wrote the word broken. It offered to change it to a sad or angry face which caught me off guard. But it’s a true reaction, isn’t it? Sadness, anger. Those emotions do happen when we’re broken in grief, frustration, overwhelm.  This week’s podcast episode, “ The Broken Emoji...

Have you ever met a fan of your work and walked away wondering… Was I a letdown? I’ve been there (more than once). It’s a weird space to navigate. As fiction authors, we pour years of emotion, imagination, and experience into our books. Readers get to know us across thousands of words. And yet, when they finally meet us in person, we’re just… human. That brief moment can never live up to the world...

If you’re a fiction author who hasn’t felt like a reader in a while… you’re not alone. Between writing deadlines, life demands, and constant distractions, it’s easy to fall out of the habit of reading for joy. But if you want to write powerful fiction, you need to feed your creative well. In this week's podcast episode, I walk you through simple, doable ways to fall back in love with reading—...

Let’s face it: crisis doesn’t knock—it crashes in. Maybe it's a family emergency, a health scare, or some other chaos that pulls you away from your writing desk. I’ve been there recently—seven intense weeks deep after a car accident—and I finally feel like I’m coming up for air with my fiction writing. In this week’s podcast episode, “How to Make Mental Adjustments in a Crisis to Keep Writing...

Most authors are concerned about getting it wrong when writing about other cultures or anything they've not personally experienced, including disabilities and traumas. When it comes to cultural differences especially, many authors are feeling the pressure to hire a sensitivity reader. But should you? That's the question I'm going to answer in this episode, because I get this questio...

There’s a candle on my stove that I once treated like treasure. I’d light it only on “special” days—afraid that once I'd burned it down, I'd lose that treasure. One day, I realized something simple but powerful: I could burn the candle, enjoy it fully, and then… buy another one. There is no shortage of lovely candles, but I was subconsciously stuck in thinking that I needed to be careful...

If you're a regular listener of my podcast, you know I love to dictate my fiction, and you know I love to teach my fellow authors how. And that's the key. I heard so many authors gush about the huge wordcounts they were racking up simply by speaking their words. They were doing it while out on hikes or loading groceries into their car. It sounded like the coolest thing, but every time I...

In January of this year, I flew an airplane. As in, a real airplane. How? Because I was able to borrow a skilled pilot’s confidence. And I needed to borrow it, because I had no confidence in my ability to even try (I know, because this was a second-chance for me to be daring!). I wouldn’t have even tried, except for one thing: The pilot was confident I could do it with his instructions. So I borro...

Are health issues holding you back from living your best creative lifestyle? When I first started teaching authors how to dictate their novels, I thought the main reason authors would want to learn dictation would be to write faster.  But now, after teaching dictation to thousands of authors, I’ve discovered that writing faster is taking a backseat as the number one reason authors want to dictate....

Remember the days when places of business were closed on Sundays? That was in my lifetime. In the days before pay at the pump when you had better make sure your tank was on full Saturday because the gas stations were closed on Sundays. Even now in the small country town where I live, some businesses are closed on Sunday, including the hardware store and even restaurants.  Sunday was once that stan...

Be honest—when was the last time you updated your author headshot? If the answer is “I don’t remember” or “I had bangs back then,” it’s probably time for a refresh. As fiction authors, we want to show up with confidence—whether it’s for a book launch, podcast feature, or guest blog post. But if your only headshot is a blurry crop from a family reunion, you’re probably cringing every time someone a...

If you’ve spent any time writing fiction, you might be laughing at the idea of it being effortless.  After all, there is:  Writer’s block. The struggle to find the right words. The frustration of making stories come alive. Fiction writing is hard, right? That’s the perception I had—until I came across the book Effortless by Greg McKeown. His ideas challenged me. Could writing really feel less like...

I want to start off with acknowledging that you may not be a morning person. That's okay! When I read the book, "Miracle Morning" by Hal Elrod, he shared that some 75% of his readers come into his book as declared not-morning people. That changes for them once they read this book. While I’m not here to convince you to become a morning person, I can say that developing a solid mornin...

Time for a deep breath. Then come in close, my friend.  The past few weeks on The Confident Fiction Author podcast, we've talked a lot about decluttering your life to make room for creativity, and flat-out quitting on projects because you may be approaching burnout. But today, I'm tackling one of the most difficult conversations we can have as authors. It all starts with a question you m...

Have you heard the saying, "Mama didn't raise no quitter?"  I think we all grow up hearing, “Don’t be a quitter!” But what if there were times and circumstances when quitting was a good thing?  The truth is, you most likely have too much on your plate. But "quitting” a project takes courage.  I’m going to give you tools you can use to decide when it's time to quit and how...

In a world of information overload and analysis paralysis, what if I told you there was a formula to help you decide which things were most worth your time?  I’ve said it before: creative confidence starts with clarity. But how can you find clarity, especially when evaluating your time?  Today I’m going to share a remarkable tool for evaluating anything - from time to energy to the money you inves...

This week's podcast episode is a deep dive into three Rs of the author life. Because living a confident fiction author lifestyle is not just about confidence in your productivity…it's also about feeling confident in your downtime! Many writers don’t feel confident in their downtime. You may feel guilty for taking time off, confused about how to spend your time when not working, and ultim...

What if I told you the key to doing more is actually doing less ?  You may be struggling to find time to sit down and write… or you may feel scattered and distracted when you do sit down to write. Maybe you’ve carved out time through other methods like time blocking, but you find yourself simply too drained to be productive. If so, it’s time to take practical action to help you reduce stress, fati...

You’re likely familiar with the concept of "minimalism." While I’m not a die-hard minimalist myself, I am working to pare down my possessions...and also get to just the essentials in my author life. Today I'm covering 19 ways to practice "Essentialism" as an author -- the power of paring down your life to the most essential tasks and stop being overwhelmed by all the to-do...

What if I told you there’s one method you can use to overcome any obstacle?  Since you listen to this podcast, you’re probably at least a little bit of a perfectionist. You like goal-setting, self-improvement, and learning the best way to do things. But when the “best way” isn’t clear, do you ever just feel… stuck?  If you've ever wondered... -How do I pick the “best” idea?  -When to stop res...

When it comes to technology, we always tend to feel a little behind. But with the advent of generative AI, discussions within the author community are bursting with passionate debates and the topic is even banned in some writing groups. If you feel overwhelmed by the topic of AI and how it impacts you as an author, especially if you dictate (or have thought of dictating) your fiction, you don&apos...

The first few weeks of a new year can be tough, especially for authors. We're feeling the creative slump after the holidays, and we feel our goals and New Year's resolutions already bearing down on us. What if there was an easier way to gain momentum for 2025 and truly strike at the root of our goals? In this episode, I cover: How to identify your Limiting Beliefs. Why it's importan...

As an inconsistent writer, I've still managed to publish 19 books, but I've never been satisfied with my lack of daily fiction writing. My 5-Minute Fiction habit has changed that and brought the joy of fiction writing back into my life. In this episode, I pull back the curtain on this daily exercise that I started in the summer of 2024 after a fiction writing sabbatical. I break down eve...

The holidays are a great chance to do mega tons of reading, and you most likely have books on your Christmas wish list! But what if there was a way to actually read those books you want to before ringing in the new year? I have a method for you to increase your reading speed while still experiencing the pleasure and joys of reading a good book. In this episode, I cover: -Why you might want to read...