Blog Archives

Meilani MacDonald's Interview

8/17/2018

1: Please explain more what you do.
I am a freelance provider of business services including editing (my fave work), copywriting, graphic design, and wordpress website setup and maintenance. I also teach my WP clients how to use WordPress so they can maintain their websites as needed. If they don’t want to, don’t have time to, I do the website work for them
I have recently also signed up as an online tutor at Wyzant.com. My subjects there are Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign and Using Macs, all for beginners. I especially good at helping older folks and beginners who require a patient tutor who can explain things in easy to understand, layman’s terms. Sometimes the younger folks can be impatient with their older and newbie students’ lack of basic computer skills, whereas I enjoy working with them. I live in the Palm Springs, CA area so I have worked with a lot of older folks and beginners, as this area is a magnet for retirees.

2: What is your biggest life lesson?
Take care of yourself first, or you can’t take care of anything else. I used to do a lot of social media training, as you know, but I got so burnt out on it I ended up dealing with anxiety. It’s a 24/7, never-ending thing. It’s important to close those windows sometimes and play with your doggies, spend time with family and friends, do something you enjoy just for fun.

3: What is your biggest achievement?
Hmmm I don’t think I’ve done it yet! But good ones include moving to CA (I love the west coast!), helping care for my mom when she had cancer, being a good friend to my friends, supporting them as they have me, becoming an award winning Toastmaster, and overcoming anxiety. Public speaking is one of the best and most positively productive skills I’ve picked up over the years. The skills learned serve me not only when speaking in front of an audience, but also in one-on-one or small group situations as well.

4: How people can get in contact with you?
MeilaniMacDonald@gmail.com, I’m also on FB and Twitter, tho tbh I don’t do the socials as much as I prob should anymore, but it’s more important to me to avoid the same kind of burnout I went through a few years ago

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Jen Collings' Interview

8/17/2018

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1: Please explain more what you do. I am an inspirational mindset speaker and coach helping people to believetheirtruth

2: What is your biggest life lesson? Sometimes an opportunity isn’t an opportunity until you open your eyes! ….

3: What is your biggest achievement? My children and getting to know myself

4: How people can get in contact with you? My website Believeyourtruth.com or email jen@believeyourtruth.co

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Tina Ketchie Stearns' Interview

8/14/2018

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1: Please explain more what you do. - After working in hospice and elder care for over 13 years, I educate medical professionals so they feel comfortable having difficult conversations about end of life care.
2: What is your biggest life lesson?  What you have learned does not belong to you. You have to share it with others who would benefit from your knowledge. There are many myths and misunderstanding about what hospice is, both among the general public as well as medical professionals, and it is a joy for me to help them better understand what hospice is and why the national tag line is “It’s About How You LIVE!”.
3: What is your biggest achievement?  Starting my own consulting business so I can educate medical professionals not only where I live, but all over the country. I hosted a telesummit in September 2017 and had people from 25 countries participate. That was completely unexpected and totally thrilling.
4: How people can get in contact with you?  My number is 336-655-0200, my website is https://www.itsabouthowyoulive.com/ and my email is tina@itsabouthowyoulive.com.

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Katie-Ellen's Interview

8/10/2018

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1: Please explain more what you do.

Thank you, Win. I’m delighted to be asked. I’m 55, I’m in a wheelchair with rheumatoid arthritis and I work from home as a professional reader of Tarot cards and runes.

I use intuition and my knowledge of Tarot to investigate questions for clients, accessing insights to support them with guidance or to help with problem solving and decision making. Readings may include forecasting but I don’t issue predictions. Comments about future developments are expressed in terms of probability. The future is not a lump of concrete waiting to fall on your head and Tarot is about finding what is true, supportive and potentially useful to say, and not about fortune telling for the sake of it.

How does one become a tarot reader? The routes are as individual as the reader. How did I, after previously working in colleges, teaching Business Studies, English and Design Theory, and before that in Marketing, Recruitment and Museums.
I was still a student when I was quite badly stung by wasps and about eighteen months later began having joint problems later diagnosed as an auto immune form of arthritis. By my early thirties, I was very unwell and losing mobility. Eventually I could no longer go out to work teaching. This was a great shock, the progression of this thing seemed utterly unrelenting and the doctors could do little. They had a series of medications to offer, and I tried a few but nothing worked, except by providing brief spells of pain relief for which I was very thankful but then the medication would lose its oomph.
It was difficult for my husband too, and I also had two children to care for during this time, one aged eleven, the other still a toddler. Pain and enforced immobility forced me to dig very deep in coping as the years passed. I’d always been aware of a certain ‘psychic’ sensitivity, and pretty much ignored it. I had always been nervous of it but now my intuition began to manifest itself in new , more extreme, and sometimes unsettling ways, and then one night I had a medically diagnostic dream which later checked out by a doctor’s lab test. Did it mean I got better? Did a miracle happen? No, unfortunately. But I had gained an insight into the nature of the problem which greatly assisted and empowered me in discussions with doctors and making decisions about my own treatments.
I decided to see if I could train this capability for practical use by learning to read the Tarot, starting out, as many readers do, by reading for myself, and then for family and friends and finally, reading at a service level for people I didn’t know.
I also teach English Language/Literature, working freelance and I write tarot content, with short fiction, verse and other bits and pieces published here and there. I’ve finished writing a novel about a grieving young policeman who is a psychic medium, and he doesn’t know it yet but he’s about to find out. I plan to publish it but finding a publisher...that’s easier said than done. Debut publishing is a fiercely crowded market and Tarot reading isn’t a magic answer for anything.
2: What is your biggest life lesson?

The world is wide. As one door closes, another opens. Stay curious and keep opening doors, life keeps on getting bigger. I hear so many stories but people rarely fail to impress me with their courage, their responsiveness, and their warmth and grace under pressure even when they are distressed and looking for a bit of help for themselves. So long as someone can keep some kind of perspective, and laugh at themselves even just a little, they may get bent in the storm, but you see they’re not going to break, never going to be absolutely overwhelmed by despair.

Little things can help you when things are dark. They have helped me; a robin outside your window asking to be fed, an early flower, a smile from a stranger. You can feel completely worn out one day, but better the next.
3: What is your biggest achievement?

I’ve done a few things I’m thankful for, and glad I did, and proud of, but I don’t tend to think in terms of achievements. It’s funny how things work out sometimes. I have learned so much from working with the Tarot, things I might never have learned if it had not been for becoming so ill and having to change direction. I would never have volunteered for this experience but I couldn’t wish it undone either, for all the things it has taught me. I can’t just go a walk when I want to, but I’ve seen things that have changed the way I see the world, and the world comes into my home through my work.

I was once featured for my work in a national circulation magazine called ‘Fate and Fortune’ but actually, this was a bit frustrating. I had to do two readings for volunteers invited in straight off the street and it went very well, but I could not say everything I really wanted to say to them. It would not have been fair to them, not with a journalist listening in and taking notes. There was sensitive stuff going on with both of them and it would have been completely unfair for me to have said everything I saw for it to have ended up in public view in a magazine article.

4. How can people get in contact with you?

I’m easy to find on twitter @truetarottales. Or I can be contacted via my website at www.tacticaltarot.co.uk or via my blog at www.TrueTarot Tales.com

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Armand Rosamilia's Interview

8/10/2018

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1: Please explain more what you do.

I am a full-time author, podcaster, owner of a podcast group (Project Entertainment Network), family man and someone who doesn't sleep all that much.

2: What is your biggest life lesson?

I have two... Patience is a big one, as it has taken me thirty years from the time of my first short story published back in 1988 to get to this point. Writing is a journey and the business moves so quickly you sometimes lose patience and want everything to happen yesterday. It is a very humbling career choice. The big breaks you think you're going to get tease you but never come, but then the smallest thing gets you what you need to sustain the career. Six years ago I lost my job and tried my hand at writing full-time while going on endless job interviews but got to the point where I could live (and live well) as a full-time author.

The second life lesson I learned the hard way, which was dating/marrying/living with a significant other who didn't share your dreams, didn't like you spending time away from them and writing, and hated what you wrote. I lost many key years of writing and promoting my work because of fighting and having to sneak writing stories. Luckily my wife now is awesome and totally supportive with not only me writing but in the business aspect of this career.

3: What is your biggest achievement?

Writing full-time. It's something I dreamed about since I was twelve. While all the other kids wanted to be police officers or football stars I wanted to be the next Dean Koontz. I'm still trying to get there. The fact I can earn a living doing what I truly love and feed my family is amazing and I am very blessed to be able to write and promote and travel so much to book signings and conventions.

4: How people can get in contact with you?
I am all over social media. Just search Armand Rosamilia. I am Author Armand Rosamilia on Facebook. On Twitter I'm @ArmandAuthor and @ArmandHelps. Check out my two podcasts, Arm Cast Podcast and The Mando Method Podcast (with co-host Chuck Buda) on http://projectentertainmentnetwork.com

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Tiffany Hawk's Interview

8/6/2018

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1: Please explain more what you do.
I’m a novelist, editor, and writing mentor. Basically, when I’m not writing my own stuff, I help other writers who want to see their books in bookstores. I give advice, moral support, and edit/advise on submission packages or full manuscripts.And when I’m not doing that, I’m chasing my kids or flying around the country with my pilot husband!

2: What is your biggest life lesson?
Oooh, though seemingly simple, that’s a really great question. I used to get caught up in what people thought of my writing and my career successes or failures, like whether or not my stories were in big publications or if my book would get a publisher. It wasn’t until I reached those goals that I realized people wouldn’t like me more or less based on any achievement. Of course there are those who will act nicer because they think you can help them, and there are some who will be jerks because they’re jealous and bitter. But not only are those people few and far between, none of them were ever your friends anyway. Those guys worth your time, and the people who are will love you through any failure. I wish I’d known that way back in high school!

3: What is your biggest achievement?
Honestly, it was giving birth to my second child without any medication. I desperately wanted to avoid a second c-section and difficult recovery, so I hired a doula (best money ever spent) and attempted the seemingly impossible. After I managed to get through hours of unimaginable pain and exhaustion, I felt the most intense sense of achievement. I’m a pretty Type A, high-achiever, but I remember thinking– “I never need to accomplish anything else again as long as I live.” I also thought I was insane to have ever attempted that and wondered why anyone ever would! That said, you’re probably after more professional achievements, so I’d have to say seeing my novel – Love Me Anyway – on the front tables of Barnes & Noble stores across the country. Those two accomplishments actually have more in common than you’d think. Writing a book can be just as arduous, mentally and emotionally. You have to pour your heart into the pages and then you have to listen to people’s criticism so you can go back and revise, usually many times over. You have to be vulnerable, and you have to push through even when you think you can’t take any more. But then when you’re done, it’s the most magical, miraculous thing ever. You’ve brought this entity into the world that can affect other people, and it that way it almost has a life of its own.

4: How people can get in contact with you?
Everything about me lives on Tiffanyhawk.com. One of the biggest things I get asked about is how to find a literary agent - https://www.tiffanyhawk.com/blog/how-to-find-the-best-literary-agent- , so if any of your readers are dying to know the answer to that, they can check out my latest post, which is a super thorough dive into the strategy of pitching the right agents, the right way. You’ll find a free toolkit with scripts and swipe files, so it should make the process much easier.If you’re still trying to finish a novel or memoir, I’ve got something there for you, too.

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Emma Steer's Interview

8/5/2018

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1: Please explain more what you do.
I am a semi-professional blogger who writes about the ups and downs of living with a debilitating chronic illness in Diary of a Disabled Person. I’ve discussed the seemingly minor inconveniences that actually cause disabled people, and in particular wheelchair users, a lot of difficulties such as misusing facilities or blocking accessible routes. I’ve also talked about some of the little perks that come with using a wheelchair, such as shoes never wearing out, and getting to watch movies targeted at children in the cinema without being judged.
I would like to think I give my disabled readers relate-able content and perhaps even a little inspiration to do as much as they can with their lives, but my main reason for starting Diary of a Disabled People was to educate able-bodied people who haven’t encountered disability. I want to show people what life actually looks like from my perspective, and to teach them how they can help support disabled people to live their best lives.
Most of all, I just want people to enjoy reading my blog as much as I enjoy writing it!
2: What is your biggest life lesson?
I contracted viral meningitis at age 14 which eventually developed into Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E, a.k.a. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/CFS) so severe that I ended up using a powered wheelchair every time I left the home. As a previously healthy kid with almost no experience of severe illness, it came as a real shock to the system and completely out of the blue. It made me re-prioritise parts of my life as suddenly I didn’t have the energy to do everything I wanted to. It made me work harder to prove that I was never a pity-case in terms of education and employment. It made me realise what friendship really is. It also made me realise that low-level ableism is a real-world problem that still exists today, and that up until I had to learn from experience, I was part of the problem.
3: What is your biggest achievement?
I’m pretty proud of my first class honours degree in BSc Nutrition, obtained from one of the top universities in the country and in the world. I lived independently of my parents for the majority of my time at university, and to get through my degree despite being ill, including one very serious occasion when I needed emergency surgery, was a pretty big deal.
I think though, that perhaps setting up my blog as a life-long aspiring writer, and maintaining it, is pretty special too. It took a lot of encouragement and support from others to give me the confidence needed to put pen to paper and let people see it.
4: How people can get in contact with you?
My blog can be found at www.diaryofadisabledperson.blog, or simply by searching for Diary of a Disabled Person in Google. You can leave comments at the end of each blog post, or there is a contact form on the website that sends me an email with your message.
There is also a Diary of a Disabled Person Facebook page and group where I share interesting bits of disability news and post photos of my day-to-day activities, and you can use the messenger on their to get in touch.
You can also find me on Twitter @WheelsofSteer. I respond to most direct messages pretty quickly, and I a lot of conversations on Twitter.
Don’t be shy about contacting me; I love receiving feedback and I always try to reply!

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Meilani MacDonald's Interview

Jen Collings' Interview

Tina Ketchie Stearns' Interview

Katie-Ellen's Interview

Armand Rosamilia's Interview

Tiffany Hawk's Interview

Emma Steer's Interview

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