Tag

Connection

Fiction, Writers on Writing

Dec 13: Lesley Crewe with Recipe for a Good Life

December 13, 2023

A story of loneliness & belonging. A love letter to the women who’ve kept kettles warm & neighbors fed in rural Cape Breton.

Recipe for a Good Life with author Lesley Crewe

National bestselling, award winning author Lesley Crewe says if she hadn’t moved to a remote island off Novia Scotia she may never have become a writer. Today, Lesley joins us to to talk about her 15th book – Recipe for a Good Life.

We discuss how Lesley adapts ordinary moments and celebrates everyday things. How she develops her characters and who inspires them. What island life is really like, including community, connection, belonging, humor, and how Cape Breton features in her storytelling. And, of course, we share Lesley’s point of view on writing and what it means to be a writer.

About Lesley Crewe

Lesley Crewe is the Globe and Mail–bestselling author of 13 novels, including Nosy Parker, named one of Indigo’s Top 100 Books of 2022; The Spoon Stealer, longlisted for Canada Reads 2022; and Relative Happiness, which was adapted into an award-winning feature film. She has also published two collections of essays, the Leacock-longisted Are You Kidding Me?! and I Kid You Not! Lesley lives in Homeville, Nova Scotia. Recipe for a Good Life is Indigo Book’s 2023 Award Winning Book of the Year.

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Non Fiction, Personal Development, Psychology, Self-help

FEB 22: How to Gain Emotional Freedom with Thomas Sterner

February 22, 2023

It’s Just A Thought: Emotional Freedom through Deliberate Thinking

Podcast with Thomas Sterner, Author of It’s Just a Thought

Today’s 24-hour news cycles, smart phones, and constant digital connection have made it difficult for many of us to quiet our minds and focus, or even relax. In fact, many of us spend as much as 95% of time on autopilot, simply auto-responding vs thinking. Which leads to our discussion today and how Thomas Sterner can help us “think vs being thought.”

The skills Tom teaches prove we’re not the thoughts and emotions that often overwhelm us — and that we have the power to connect to who we really are, and achieve what we really want. We look at the relationship between heart and brain. Explore how our conscious vs subconscious minds interact. And how to recognize unhelpful historical and present-day programming.

About Thomas M. Sterner

The founder and CEO of the Practicing Mind Institute, Thomas Sterner is a successful entrepreneur, and an expert in present moment functioning, PMF™. As a speaker and coach, he works with high-performance industry groups and individuals, including athletes, coaches, and CEOs. The author of The Practicing Mind and Fully Engaged, Tom’s new book is It’s Just A Thought: Emotional Freedom through Deliberate Thinking.

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Essays, Memoir, Non Fiction, Writers on Writing

Nov 09: Peter Orner – Still No Word From You: Notes in the Margin

November 9, 2022

Observations on books, stories, poems, and life by the author of Am I Alone Here?

He’s known as a writer’s writer, a triple threat — novelist, short story master, and prolific essayist. But if you ask Peter Orner what he really wants readers to take away from his work, it’s connection.

Still No Word from You: Notes in the Margin melds intimate stories from the lived life and reading life. We discuss how Peter’s stories are often built around small moments;  how he knows which moments will make a great story. Living the writer’s life. What challenges Peter as a writer, and more.

About Peter Orner

The author of two novels and several story collections, Peter Orner‘s work has appeared in The Best American Short Stories, The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Paris Review, and more. His previous essay collection, Am I Alone Here? Notes on Living to Read and Reading to Live, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism. Peter Orner is a 3-time recipient of the Pushcart Prize and has received numerous awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Fulbright in Namibia. He is currently the director of creative writing at Dartmouth College.

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Journalism, Memoir, Non Fiction

Sep 21: Rebel with a Clause – Ellen Jovin

September 21, 2022

Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian

Ellen Jovin‘s journey of almost 30,000 miles around America began outside her Manhattan apartment, with a folding table, and a sign saying GRAMMAR TABLE. From lawyers , couples, and families, to  writers, students, and rappers, passers-by had questions for Ellen — and she had answers.

But how did this take Ellen to 49 cities and towns, by five modes of transport? We discuss why people stopped by the Grammar Table, how that led to the  documentary film and Ellen’s book. And why this isn’t just about words, language, and grammar, but connection, community and — yes — sometimes just wanting to be right.

About Ellen Jovin

Ellen Jovin is the author of four books on language, and a cofounder of Syntaxis, a communication skills training consultancy. She has a B.A. in German studies, an M.A. in comparative literature …  and studied 25 languages just for fun. Her latest book is Rebel with a Clause: Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian.

 

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Health & Wellness, Non Fiction, Personal Development, Professional Development, Psychology, Self-help

Jun 01: The Human Herd with Beth Anstandig

June 1, 2022

Awaken Your Natural Leadership & Become a Human Whisperer

Part guidebook, part manifesto, part wakeup call, Beth Anstandig wrote The Human Herd during what she calls The Great Pause — aka COVID lockdown — when so many people around the world felt isolated and disconnected.

Even in today’s techno world where we are constantly connected to our devices, and self-sufficiency is the norm, people still want and need human connection.  As a species, we’ve lived in herds for centuries, and need the support and connection of others to thrive. Today we discuss the 4 channels of awareness. How to look beyond project scope, and consider life scope. What horses can teach us about radical selfcare, anxiety, and giving and receiving feedback.

About Beth Anstandig

Beth Anstandig owns Take a Chance Ranch in CA where she provides leadership, culture, and wellbeing programs through The Circle Up Experience. She is a lifelong cowgirl, writer, professor, and licensed psychotherapist. For the past 25 years she’s trained and developed people using “natural leadership” —  a model that she created. Her work has been featured on BBC WORLD, PBS, and in FORBES.

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Arts, Creativity, Non Fiction

MAR 18: 5 Steps to Freeing the Creative Within with Diana Rowan

March 18, 2020

If you’ve ever told yourself you’re not creative, you’re wrong. Everyone — regardless of age, job, situation — has creativity within them says today’s guest, creative alchemist and author Diana Rowan.  Her new book The Bright Way: Five Steps to Freeing the Creative Within provides inspiration and action steps to help you find your purpose and live more creatively.

We discuss creative practices, why it’s important to embrace mistakes, how solitude is necessary, and why creativity and connection are synonymous. We also share Diana’s 5 steps,  and why fulfillment is an essential ingredient of sustainable creativity.

Diana Rowan is the founder the Bright Way Guild a virtual learning environment for a global community of creatives. Diana’s a musician and composer, performing and teaching in the San Francisco area and around the world.

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