Feeling stuck creatively? 6 steps to get unstuck.

Counterintuitive advice for creatives who work from home.

If there’s one thing I hear most from people who work from home, it’s the challenge of ignoring household duties to focus on your work. The struggle is real. In my decade of professional creative work I’ve developed a lot of jedi mind tricks for getting in the zone. But today I’m going to offer […]

Putting together a book proposal? Map it out!

Amidst the agony and the thrill of starting new projects, make a plan.

I’m waist-deep in a new memoir book proposal. The juices are flowing, the words seem to be flying off my fingers (my mom, a typing teacher, would be so proud!) and I’ve got that thrilling new project feeling. But I know myself. I am very good at starting projects. There’s little at stake in starting, […]

The conversation that changed everything for me

Why creatives need an entrance strategy, not an exit strategy.

I was sitting next to a Hood River winemaker on a press tour last summer. He and his wife were serial entrepreneurs, the kind of people who spin off businesses like other people eat potato chips. We were talking about businesses — how they start, how they thrive — when I asked him what his […]

You can’t do big creative projects alone

Why you need to get on board with the idea of shared creativity.

I need to tell you about the Garden of Gentle Breeze. A couple years ago, I got it in my head that I wanted to stay overnight in a garden. Surely there was some kind of Airbnb or garden property I could rent for the night for a couple’s getaway. Creative googling gets me very […]