The Creating Pros Podcast: Recent Episodes
James P. Nettles
Creating Pros blends creativity with business. Being a professional isn’t about the money you make, the position you hold, your level of expertise, or fame. It’s the motivation and attitude you bring to your work, a desire for always improving, and balancing your creative output with getting the business done.
The phrase "Fear is the mindkiller..." from Frank Herbert's Dune is as popular a quote in sci-fi as in personal development. Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of being on stage with Kevin J. Anderson talking about Dune, and thinking about some of the questions and feedback from other panels that were more oriented towards marketing, and the business of creativity.
The root of most questions boiled down to... fear.
Join me for a dive into the mindkiller.
Improv is a great tool for inspiring creativity, improving cognitive function, developing social skills, and supporting mental health.
Join me for a chat on the benefits of improv for your creativity, your business, and your life!
Adversity is just a part of life - it comes to us through business, creativity, and our personal relationships. How do we handle it? How do we face it? How can we learn to manage it? I recently appeared on an upcoming episode of "Amputate to Amplify" with John Register, and got to meet him in person and hear him speak last week. I go into a few takeaways from that talk, and some other thoughts.
Knowledge is power, but we can't know everything, even within our own specialties and expertise. What do we do when someone asks a dreaded question where we don't have an answer?
Join me this week to talk about the power of, and next steps to, "I don't know!"
Creative output requires research. Being a writer often leads down the "research rabbit hole."
How do you collect all that info? What do you do with it when you're done? When is it "enough?"
You can't avoid AI generated content anywhere at this point on social media. We see platforms starting to filter AI generated content, but do users care? What does this mean for creators? Has AI finally made social media useless for creators, or is there a correction coming?
Dungeons and Dragons hits 50 years this year, and launched the modern era of RPGs. Building on thousands of years of gaming and storytelling, This week we celebrate D&D being eligible for AARP, and the influence it's had on society, technology, and creativity!
Perfection is a lie, but how do we know when we've gotten to good enough? And in the world where we compete with AI and and mass produced work, is imperfection the key to creative success?
Change is always a little scary. Whether it's changing jobs, companies, or even starting a business, our mindsets and emotions will both be excited - and anxious. What can you expect to go through your mind, and then once you've made the decision, how can you take the leap off the cliff to your next adventure?
Security basics aren't an option, especially in the digital space. Cybercrime is big business, and only growing. This creates bigger challenges for creators to balance personal safety and security against building brands, marketing, and getting to know your community. This week we touch on some of the basics to keep you secure!
When stress becomes burnout, our personal, professional, and creative lives pay the price.
How can you tell if it's just stress, or are you burning out, how can you recover, and how can you prevent it in the future?
Fear is primal. It's an instinct that is there to keep us alive, but it often won't let us thrive. Why do we often fear success? Why do we not take often even the "safe bet," much less the big gamble? How do we learn to manage, and even learn to harness fear and anxiety?
Believe it or not, coffee shops may offer more than just free WiFi.
Is there benefit to creatives for getting out into public places? It turns out, for most of us, the answer is yes. At least sometimes.
I haven't touched on it here lately, but there are a few important movements in the Gen AI landscape this week. We're seeing leaps forward in Gen AI video quality, which raises more concerns about deep fakes.
More importantly, we are starting to see the various lawsuits work through the court system with much of the Sarah Silverman case which include Chris Golden and Richard Kadrey, plus many others have a number of the complaints dismissed, but open to refile. Other cases from creators are being pushed to consolidate according to the "First Case" rule.
The Times case looks to have more possibilities based on the terms of the case, but all in all, I think we're seeing the direction of the courts and how these platforms have been trained.
Lucienne Diver (LucienneDiver.com) is an agent with the Knight Agency(KnightAgency.net), and a young adult and adult novelist. We do a deep dive into how you find and connect with an agent, the query process, what an agent does, and how to find a good one. We also discuss avoiding the scams in the business.
Then we shift into what it's like to be an agent and an author!
We all love to be recognized for our work, especially nominations, much less winning an award for our work. But when are the awards legitimate? There are a lot of scams out there. And what happens when even some of the biggest awards in the business come into question?
Learning is a lifelong process, or at least should be. The act of learning helps mental health and mental acuity, creates personal and professional opportunities, and encourages creativity.
This week we talk about the benefits and struggles of learning to learn, and some tips for how you can learn to learn!
It's tax time 2024!
Money works differently in a business than it does for your personal finances, and tax time is when you get to see a lot of the differences. Whether you are a freelancer, have a side business running, or it's your full time creative business, you have to deal with the second certainty of life.
Join me for a quick primer as you go into tax season, and some ways to help you prepare for this year, and beyond.
Ada Lovelace is a pioneer in computing, having worked with Charles Babbage and having innovated on his mathematical calculations engine to propose new and innovative uses, including creating music. We take a look at Ada Lovelace, and how her parents greatly influenced her, and ultimately set her up to influence the world. A case for STEAM is showing how despite her mother's attempt to shield her from anything of the arts, how they shaped her approach to the world.
January 1 is Public Domain Day in that ever year this is when thousands of works Copyrights expire and enter the public domain. This year, it was Mickey Mouse's turn. Being that Disney has been a significant influence on Copyright Law and extending out Copyright dates, it's worth taking a look at what this means for the Mouse, how trademarks are still in play, what other famous works entered the PD. and what does this mean for creators?
This one was supposed to drop last week, but technical issues!
Every year as we head into the holidays, most of us begin reflecting on the past year, and come up with resolutions for the upcoming year, only to usually push them aside by the end of January.
In this process this year, I've seen and heard (and might have uttered myself) some flavor between I didn't get anything done, or I did a lot, but....
As we look into the new year, how can we change and get the tools to be more successful in 2024?
John Ryan is a mental health expert and advocate and half the team of happytohealthyou.com where they blend humor and comedy with mental health. As a comedian, John performs in clubs and cruise ships, has written and performed for the BBC, Irish Times, Liberty Radio, and more. Join us as we talk about his early days in mental health work, often for people at end of life, transitioning into comedy, writing for the Teletubbies, and we dive into a number of the mental health programs they’ve developed, the power of humor, suicide prevention, a career in comedy, and the post-apocalyptic children’s book series he’s working on!
In college, after being diagnosed with Dyslexia, Ariel Burgess (ArtistArielBurgess.com) painted the Wheel of Time playing cards and has since branched out towards film, story-boarding and concept art. She was an Official artist for The Wheel of Time from 2012 to 2019 and has been published internationally. Her first publication was in “Stan Lee’s How to Draw Comics”. Ariel has won a Geeky award for “best licensed Toy/product for the Wheel of Time playing cards”, was published in “The Wheel of Time Companion” which was nominated for a World Fantasy award, and Won a Gold Award for Digital Expression in 2019 from International Film Festival DC Web Fest. Ariel has also Won People’s Choice and Best in show at several conventions over the years. The was Guest Artist of Honor at Balticon 57 in 2023.
We talk about her career as an artist, her time working on “The Wheel of Time,” the impact of Generative AI on art and artists, and her creative process. She has a new fantasy calendar out for 2024!
For most creatives and freelancers, "strategy" is throwing stuff at a wall to see what sticks. Are you trying to figure out why ads aren't working? Social media engagement sucks?
One big factor is not treating your creative process and output like the commercial enterprise it is. Most people confuse taking classes in ad tactics as a strategy. It's not.
Find out what is it, and why it's important for you!
Randee Dawn reports on entertainment and lifestyle stories during the day for publications including Today.com, NBCNews.com, Variety, The Los Angeles Times and Emmy Magazine, and is a speculative fiction writer by night. We talk about her career, what the media side of life is like, covering celebrities and entertainment, and how it influences her fiction!
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone celebrating in the States.
This week, I'm building on the last few. I want to touch on Gratitude. Real thankfulness. What is it, and how can it help us? How can we find it, and build it in ourselves?
It's gratitude, not platitudes.
Humility may not be a term often used about me, but this week we build on last week's exploration of Imposter Syndrome. What is humility? Where did the term come from, and what does it mean today in the world of social media? How can we be creative, run businesses, and yet have humility?
Why is humility a tool in the Imposter Syndrome toolbox? What does it mean for our mental health?
Everyone faces imposter syndrome at some point, some more than others. This week we dive into what it is, how it manifests, and techniques to manage it.
Melisa Todd joins me to talk this week about her move to becoming a full time author and publisher, what it's like to complete a series now that she is completing her second series, her popular "Twisted Luck" urban fantasy series and how it's different from wrapping up her Sci-Fi series "The Kaylid Chronicles," the grief process you experience as an author when you complete a character's journey, and her upcoming talk at '20 Books to 50K' on grief and the creator's journey. This one gets deep and personal.
This episode brings us up on a year since the relaunch of CP! This week, I touch on the three things I think are the biggest learnings for me, and some of the most meaningful conversations of the last year!
Creative businesses, like all businesses, runs by the numbers. Rachel E. Carr (RachelECarr.com) is an accountant and auditor by day, and an author by night. She joins me this week to talk about accounting, royalties, taxes, budgets, and the benefits of creativity in your professional life.
This week is a short, but important one.
Have clarity and intention in what you say, and do.
I recently taught a workshop at DragonCon 2023 on side hustles. With a full room, we ran through the fundamentals of a business, starting your ideas, and ideas around marketing. A common factor to all of these is the question, 'What's your why?'
The reason you look to go into business, especially starting creative ones, often is your motivation behind the work. Join me for a deeper conversation on how your why is one of the most important questions.
Cleveland was home to Superman's creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. To celebrate Superman's 85th anniversary, locations all over Cleveland are hosting talks and events from September through November 2. Co-director Valentino Zullo joins me to talk about Superman’s Cleveland, and event for everyone: comics fans, families, scholars, history buffs, and all lovers of the culture of the greater Cleveland area. He is also co-director of Superman's Cleveland, a city-wide Superman Celebration, American Editor of the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, co-editor of Rust Belt Studies, and has written articles on comics and psychoanalysis for various journals. Valentino Zullo is Assistant Professor of English, the Anisfield-Wolf Fellow, and a member of the Rust Belt Humanities Lab at Ursuline College. He is the co-director of the Get Graphic program at the Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library where he was the Scholar-in-Residence. He is also co-director of Superman's Cleveland, a city-wide Superman Celebration, American Editor of the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, co-editor of Rust Belt Studies, and has written articles on comics and psychoanalysis for various journals including The Journal of Popular Culture, INKS: The Journal of the Comics Studies Society, and American Imago: Psychoanalysis and the Human Sciences.
This week I chat with Anne D. Bartolucci, Ph.D. about the relationship between sleep, productivity, and creativity. We also talk about the relationship and connection between our creative selves, professional, and personal lives.
You can find out more about Anne, and her alter ego Cecelia Dominic at:
Practice: https://sleepyintheatl.com
Fiction: https://ceciliadominic.com
Psych Up Academy: https://psychupacademy.com
Better Sleep for the Overachiever: https://overachieverbook.com
Check out the quiz and upcoming workshop: “What kind of procrastinator are you?” https://bit.ly/podcast-procrastinator
Sponsored by BGSU's Department of Popular Culture, the Browne Popular Culture Library, and School of Cultural and Critical Studies, the Spider-Man in Popular Cultured Conference is an academic and fan celebration of an iconic character from the comics, TV, film, gaming, and more. Join Dr. Charles Anthony Coletta and Dr. Matthew A. Donahue from the Department of Popular Culture, and Tyne. R. Lowe archivist of the Browne Popular Culture Library to discuss Ray Browne's founding of the academic study of Pop Culture in the United States, and an overview of the international presenters coming to celebrate, discuss, and debate the cultural significance of Spider-Man and his impact upon comics, mass media, and our society at large.
Last week I talked about self-censorship. This week I look at the meaning of creative work, and how is can affect not only the creator, but the fans and consumers as well.
Self-censorship comes in a lot of forms, and for a lot of reasons. Fear of how your ideas will be received, of ridicule, and rejection. Will you be 'cancelled.' Have you been told it's something you shouldn't write about? What are the costs of self-censorship, and how do you decide what's right for you?
All of us are called on to be creative at work, at home, school, organizations, and every facet of our lives. But being A Creative is more a way of living and being. A way of looking at and approaching what we do. What does generative AI technology mean to being creative? How do we continue to be Creatives in this world?
Time is the answer to the universe. We only get so much of it, and never really know how much that is. How do we use it? What's important to us? How do we set the boundaries to make sure we put aside time for what is important to us?
Often, we think of gatekeeping being the process by which people are kept away from centers of power and influence to prevent the average person from reaching some goal. Agents and editors are the age old gatekeepers of publishing and entertainment. In my experience, it's more about making sure you and your product are ready to be considered at that next level, and that you're delivering what they're looking for.
Now we see it as just slang for sitting on information or ideas.
Have we lost sight of the job of the gatekeepers, and with the changes in the business, do we still need them? How do we need them to change?
Funding a project can be hard, we look at self funding, crowd funding, but what about one that has fueled the arts for centuries? What are grants, and are they really free money?
What is risk? What does it mean to running a creative business? A creative life? How do you manage and mitigate it?This week is all about understanding what risk really is, and how to handle it!
Over the weekend, I moderated a panel with John Scalzi and John Hartness, discussing working with professional organizations for writers, such as SWFA, HWA, and the RWA. This week I recap the discussion, diving into the benefits, and sometimes challenges of being a member in these organizations. I also touch on the current writers & actors strikes, and a couple of the key points.
As people, we rely on the opinions and experiences of others. In the digital age, it's no longer friends and family, but online monikers and avatars. How do we deal with fake and toxic reviews? Do they even have any real meaning any more?
David Ekrut is a PHD scientist, researcher, mathematician, science reporter, and fantasy author. We dive into the winding path of his career, his process, disciplines, and how his scientific background influences his work, and how his creative outlets support his career!
Plus some introvert survival tips!
Hi all, This week's episode is a little late, I was overseas for the last few weeks touring the UK. It's been a number of years since I've been over, and I reflect on how writers and creatives are remembered, and even revered. I toured the neighborhoods where Brahm Stoker stalked and Oscar Wilde lived; the writer's museum with Robert Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Sir Walter Scott's lives and works are remembered. How JK Rowling was inspired and the Potterverse brought to life. How thousands of years of history shape who we are.
And how we can learn from our past to shape our future.
Developing your skills is critical in any endeavor, and being a writer is no different. Join Valerie Heller and Katherine Penndorf, the duo behind Much Ado About Writing where we talk about writing groups, writing critique, and the programs they offer!
David Taylor II is an award winning author, songwriter, producer, and playwright, having written books, comics, and games, in music he's written rap, gospel, adult contemporary, and musical theater for for Justin Bieber,Usher, Cuba Gooding Sr., Dave Koz and the James Taylor singers. He has done commercial work for McDonald’s and Disney. He is a co-composer for the smash hit theater production, Eye of the Storm:The Bayard Rustin Musical. We talk about all this, plus dive into his writing children's books, novels, comics, and creating his own RPG. There's a lot packed into this one!
This is one we've been trying to get scheduled for almost a year (and been talking about it longer than that). Tom Flemming got his start designing for the World Wrestling Federation (Now the WWE).
Tom has painted covers & trading cards for almost every major publisher in the comic book industry such as Marvel, DC, Dark Horse and has illustrated for some of the most popular gaming companies in the world such as: World of Warcraft, Magic the Gathering, and White-Wolf Publishing.
We talk about art, the business, Tom's landmark IP lawsuit, and some really fun stories!
We're seeing a lot of churn in businesses right now, and the publishing industry is being hit hard. What happens if your agent, publisher, artist, or services company goes out of business? The owner can't handle the business for one reason or another? What happens if you work for one of these companies?
It's a hard discussion, but you need to know what your options are, and how to prepare. And if you were affected by any of the recent closures, what are your options?
The USPTO has found works of generative AI to be public domain, we have a writers strike facing streaming and AI in the writer's room, and the Supreme Court found Andy Warhol didn't meet the "Fair Use" standard, and should have paid licensing fees. What do these three events have in common, and what might it mean for creators?
There's a trap all of us have fallen into at some point, personally and professionally. And while it's not entirely unavoidable, there are things we can do to understand when we're falling into the trap, and ways to mitigate it.
This week, we will talk about the Sunk Cost Fallacy. What it is, why we fall into it, and how to manage it.
When the pandemic struck in 2020, The Internet Archive launched the National Emergency Library program. Which then set into motion a lawsuit by Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, John Wiley & Sons, and Penguin Random House accusing the Internet Archive of "mass copyright infringement."
The finding of the court is in, and this may direct the next phase of copyright law in the digital age, affecting users, publishers, and creators.
This is one for which I have mixed emotions, but I agree with the court. What will happen in the appeals? Will it bankrupt the Internet Archive?
Myth is the foundation of society, culture, and our belief systems. As creators and storytellers, we depend on and build upon the stories that came before us. As creators and business owners, myth is an important part of creating not only work, but our brands. Find out how you can use the power of myth to build your brand, your reputation, and how you can set off in your own journey!
Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of being on a panel at Jordancon about the influence of STEM and STEAM programs on science fiction, and how fiction can inspire new technologies. This week, I dive into the benefit of STEAM programs, and the importance of arts and creativity for those in the science and technology fields, and how improving your hard skills can benefit you as a creative.
I do a lot of events - sci-fi and fantasy cons, business and technology conventions, workshops, and more. I get a lot of questions - how do they work, what are the benefits of doing them, and is it really worth it? It can be a lot of time, money, and resources. I'll talk through the top ten reasons I do them, and how you can decide if it's right for you!
Do you know the old quote, "Information wants to be free."
As creators, and business owners, we're always looking to balance how and where to spend resources - from creating to marketing, and building our brands, there's a lot of tools out there. What does it mean to use these "free" resources? And what has this meant for our fans and customers?
Find out what the quote really meant, and how you can navigate the big upcoming changes!
I got a chance to meet sociology professor Tanya Cook and clinical psychologist Kaela Joseph on Hot Off The Press with their release of Fandom Acts of Kindness: A Heroic Guide to Activism, Advocacy, and Doing Chaotic Good, and needed to dive deeper. Their work takes a deep view of the value of community through fandom, and how it can serve to help one person with a life saving transplant, create social movements, or even save thousands of lives in a crisis.
Every business has it's tools, especially creative ones.
There's a set that every business needs, especially creative ones.
This mini workshop kicks off looking at a few of the main ones everyone needs, including commercial and open source (free) options!
In the few months since Chat GPT hit the public consciousness, a lot has changed. Business, creators, and the publishing industry are responding. In the conferences, conventions, and industry meetings I've been in the last few months, this has been the top point of conversation.
I'll run through what I'm seeing, hearing, and how you can expect things to continue to change!
Just home from teaching workshops at the SAGA writer's convention. I brought home a lot of great experiences and conversations. One of the workshops I taught was on pitch sessions, and how to pitch your book in query letters to agents and publishers. In this week's mini-workshop, we cover the big points, and some of the questions that came up over the weekend. The session was recorded, and we plan to make it available soon!
It's another mini-workshop. Over the weekend, I was teaching a business fundamentals workshop for a writers group, and after, a few of us had a deeper conversation about managing money as an author, and the power of understanding cash flows. This week, I give a recap of the discussion, discuss the power of cash flow, and how you can calculate it.
Marketing is the foundation of every business. For creatives, it's also about who we are. But what is it, really? In this mini-workshop, it's all about marketing, and an overview of the STP Method, and how you can start to use it!
No matter what business you're in, or what kind of work you create, the most valuable resource any of us have is time. Are you taking advantage of the time you have? Are you trying to fly before you know how to walk?
Jonathan Maberry (JonathanMaberry.com) joins James P. Nettles this week to talk about the business of publishing in 2023, working in different mediums including novels, short stories, comics, and licensing rights for film and TV. We also go into the workshops he'll be teaching at the Saga writers conference in March (SagaConference.com).
Jonathan offers a lot of free material for writers on his website!
What does it take to be successful as a creator? A creative? In the creator economy? We often hear that it takes ten years to be an "overnight success," and luck is still a big part of it. This week we talk about being in it for "The Long Haul." How do you approach the work? What are the key elements that give you a better shot at success? Do you chase trends? How do you deal with the frustration?Join me and find out.
Linda Robertson Reinhardt is an artist, musician, and novelist. This week we dive into her career, her creative process, using different technologies in the creative process, being an introvert on stage, and how she combines all three mediums as a storyteller. Find out more about Linda and where you can get her work at AuthorLindaRobertson.com!
The social media landscape is changing by the day. The big players are giving ground to decentralized networks, large platforms are offering more AI, CR and AR tools to content creators as they also look at going to subscription models, the move to entertainment platforms instead of social media, and much more. Many of the old rules are out the window, and what fundamentals are the same? What are we to do to promote ourselves and our work? What will it take for you to get your fifteen minutes of fame?
Chat GPT and tools based on AI are proliferating. We're seeing the rapid spread of Chat GPT and AT Driven content solutions being pitched as replacing writers, copywriters, programmers, customer service and more. What is Chat GPT, how does it work, is it violating copyrights, and is this the end of writers?
JD Estrada is a poet and fiction author, but is also a professional translator of marketing materials into Spanish. We take a deep dive into the power of language, and how you go about translating into a different language, working with regional context, idioms, and dialects, and crossing the barriers of storytelling across languages. How do you change a language, but keep the message and the experience?
Happy New Year! In Creating Pros 10, I reflect on a few college football bowl games, and the lessons creatives can take from them. This one is especially if you're not a sports fan!What inspired this episode was something I heard from a player right after the stroke of midnight on NYE, and I end this with eleven takeaways for anyone trying to build or grow a following.
For the last creating pro's of the year, I'm going to touch on some of what I learned from 2022, and the last few years, but also dive into setting goals and intentions for 2023. Often we look at New Years Day as that great chance to do a big reset, and commit to huge changes, ones that fall away within weeks, or even days.
In this episode, I touch especially on the interviews with Alex Simmons and Joelle Reizes. In both of these shows, we talked about the importance of creativity, and and facilitating it in our lives. As you go forth into 2023, it's not about picking one day and hanging all of your life changes on it. Make every day a day of change.
See you next year (you know I had to get the bad joke in).
Joelle M. Reizes writes as herself and as J.D. Blackrose. After setting aside her love of creating writing in lieu of family and corporate career, she returned to it in her 40's with a blog, urban fantasy, romance, horror, and children's books. We talk about her passion for creating, how she started, and how she restarted her life and creative passions!We build on a lot of the topics discussed with Alex Simmons on the importance of creativity, and that it's never too late to chase your passions.
Alex Simmons has written for numerous publishers, including Disney Books, Penguin Press, Simon and Schuster, Marvel, DC Comics, and Archie Comics, and is the creator of the Blackjack comics series. He has also written for animation, stage plays, film, educational documentaries, and has led master classes internationally. Today we talk about the importance of creativity through life, and his work with educational youth programs.We cover a lot in this one.
Fan Fiction has proliferated with the internet, and consumption of it exploded when the pandemic began. Many writers got their start in fan fiction, both to build up their craft and even an audience while also exploring a favored fandom. This week we'll explore the risks and rewards of fan fiction, both for it's creators, and for those who own the inspiration. We'll also look at how to manage your IP safely, and determine how fan fiction creators can be permitted to play in your sandbox, or not!
This week's show came about because of questions I'm getting from friends and clients. We're seeing a proliferation of new Artificial Intelligence systems analyzing and producing creative content. AI created Digital Art engines are available to everyone on desktops and smart devices everywhere, and the product is winning competitions. Beyond that, we see AI's writing, creating music, and with robotics, creating physical mediums.
What does this mean for the future of creativity, and for artists to make a living? What are the legal implications? Copyright infringement?
In this episode, we take a look at Indie publishing. In the industry, self-publishing and indie publishing mean the same thing, but do they really? We also explore seven things any creative business needs to consider, especially writers.
Happy NaNoWriMo!
This week, I'm joined by Oriana Leckert, Director of Publishing & Comics Outreach for Kickstarter! (Kickstarter.com) (Oriana-Leckert.com) She takes us through how to build your campaign, tips and tricks for funding your project, and best practices for working with Kickstarter. Then we dive deeper into the process!
In Episode 2 of Creating Pros, it's a mini workshop where we walk through the question: Do you have a hobby or a business? Why does it matter? It's important for 2 primary reasons, it's about what you want and your goals, and the IRS (and other taxing entities). We will talk about the differences between a hobby and a business, how the IRS makes a determination, and how you can make that decision for yourself.
Welcome to the rebooted Creating Pros with James P. Nettles. We timed this episode to kick off with NaNoWriMo 2022 to talk about the creative mindset, and why it's so important. I'm joined by my spouse, Adrianne McDonald. We talk about creativity, how to focus your creative energy, how creative output can affect and improve all areas of your life, and some great tips as we head into NaNo! Adrianne McDonald owns a personal and professional development company The Mindset Strategist (AdrianneMcDonald.com) and hosts a daily morning show Speak the Language of the Universe and a weekly show The Mindset Strategist. This show will air on both channels!