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This week on the podcast, Stephanie interviews her friend, author B.L. Thoma, who shares her unique writing journey from a dream to the screen. It’s the direction so many authors hope their book takes from being traditionally published to being optioned for the screen.

B.L. Thoma’s first novel, Hear My Whisper, in her Morgan’s Landing series was written in an unexpected way, yet it opened up opportunities and helped her discover her gift for storytelling.

And so I got out of bed, I grabbed a spiral book, I crawled back in bed, I wrote and wrote everything I could remember from a dream.

It’s not how you usually hear about a book being written, but what it illustrates is how every writer has their own way.

You approach your writing in a way that works for you. It’s what B.L. Thoma emphasizes during the podcast.

With B.L. Thoma’s series being historical fiction, she did a lot of research to ensure accuracy of the details and staying true to the characters she created.

When you listen, you’ll get a glimpse into B.L. Thoma’s wonderful sense of humor that she integrates masterfully into her writing.

Something would just, it just happens in my brain and I could just insert, and I would just be sitting there laughing at it. And I thought, I hope everybody else laughs, I'm laughing.

The success B.L. Thoma is experiencing did not happen overnight. It’s been a long road with a lot of learning along with some unexpected connections.

What you’ll discover is the power of setting your mind on a goal and continuing to take the next step.

It’s not a story you can replicate, but it’s one you don’t want to miss listening to this week.

There’s so much packed into this episode from hearing about B.L. Thoma’s writing process to multiple rounds of edits to getting the query letter just right.

Connect with B.L. Thoma online at https://midweststoryteller.com/

A little bit about B.L. Thoma from her website:

B. L. Thoma is an award winning author, capturing readers with her original, fun, historical romances as well as short stories and non-fiction. With a background in homeschooling and youth theater, she’s written plays and a children’s book as well. She lives in the heart of the Midwest, just a hop, skip and a jump from where she was born and raised, enjoying life with her family and her chatty cat. She shares her passion here for books, healthy living, creativity and laughter. It’s been said that success is attained when a person is unable to tell whether they are working or playing. That’s what happens when she writes!

We invite you to subscribe to our email list to be the first to know about our weekly podcast episodes and upcoming group programs for writers!

If you prefer video versions of the podcast or want to leave a comment on this specific episode, you can find all of them on our YouTube channel.

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In this week’s episode, Stephanie chats with Book Coach and Editor, Sue Toth.

You’ll get insight into what it looks like to work with a book coach and an editor.

For Sue Toth, who holds both titles in her business, there’s a distinct difference between the two and they’re important to consider as you think about your needs as a writer.

Did you know there are different approaches an editor can take when working with your manuscript?

If not, you’ll get a quick overview this week.

If you’re tempted to use one of the many tools available to writers online, like Grammarly or ProWritingAid, to edit your work, you’ll want to listen to what Sue has to say about the importance of connecting with another human being about your writing.

Sue is not just an editor. She also works with writers as their book coach.

She connects with writers at different stages of their writing journey and adjusts her approach based on individual needs.

It’s very common for writers to find Sue when they’re feeling unmotivated and stuck.

The other big thing that I find with authors is sometimes they'll come to me when their motivation is lagging for whatever reason. They're not happy with the book. They don't like the way it's going. They feel like, Oh, I thought it would be such a great idea to write a book. And now I don't have time. So a lot of Things that I will work with with my clients to our motivational things, um, you know, find a different place to go and write or a different time of day or schedule it into your calendar.

You know, the way you would schedule a doctor's appointment or something like that schedule time for writing into your day. It's, it's not going to get done unless you make it an appointment and you make it as important as every other appointment in your day.

Sue is dedicated to helping authors get to their writing goal.

You’ll walk away from this episode with practical tips and insights into what to consider if you’re at the stage of hiring a book coach or an editor.

Connect with Sue online:

https://suetoth.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/suetoth/
https://www.facebook.com/suetothediting
https://www.instagram.com/suetothediting/
https://www.threads.net/@suetothediting

We invite you to subscribe to our email list to be the first to know about our weekly podcast episodes and upcoming group programs for writers!

If you prefer video versions of the podcast or want to leave a comment on this specific episode, you can find all of them on our YouTube channel.

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It’s time to celebrate!

Thank you listeners, guests and loyal subscribers for your support!

We show up each week for you.

Our hope is you feel inspired to keep taking the next step on your creative journey.

This week on the podcast, we’re taking a walk down memory lane as we look back at our year of podcasting.

When we started the podcast, we had no idea what we were doing, but we knew we wanted to offer valuable guidance to writers and share great stories.

It’s become our favorite project each week.

We keep it authentic and real because we know it’s important.

You want to hear real stories from real writers and that’s what we offer you.

It’s not easy to pinpoint a favorite episode because each one offers something unique to you.

If you’ve joined us later in our releases, we hope you’ll take a look back at episodes that came along earlier.

Many of our early episodes are still being downloaded today.

The behind-the-scenes data gives us insights into our community of listeners and we dig into the details in this episode.

We are transparent about the challenges we’ve faced creating an online community space for writers and how this has led to the creation of courses.

The Memoir Cohort Course led by Elizabeth is a course that will transform your writing. If you’re looking back at your year and you haven’t reached your writing goal for your memoir, it’s a course to put on your calendar for 2025.

Stephanie will be offering a course in January 2025 to help you organize your writing using Scrivener. If you’re overwhelmed and getting lost in Word or Docs, you’ll want to join this course to discover how Scrivener can change your writing experience and productivity.

In December 2024, we’re taking a break from podcasting to allow the pause to rejuvenate us for the coming new year, so if you’re not caught up on episodes it will be a great time to binge listen to ones you’ve missed.

As you listen this week, what can you celebrate?

Thank you again for joining us on this creative journey!

We invite you to subscribe to our email list to be the first to know about our weekly podcast episodes and upcoming group programs for writers!

If you prefer video versions of the podcast or want to leave a comment on this specific episode, you can find all of them on our YouTube channel.