Have you ever wished to equip your children or students with the ability to navigate their feelings? Well, our distinguished guest, Julie D'Ann, a dream builder life transformation coach, TEDx speaker, and author, will show you how. Anchored in the pages of her inspiring children's book, "Which Would You Choose?", Julie emphasizes the power of choosing better thoughts and how they can transform feelings and ultimately change lives.
Our enlightening chat with Julie traverses the terrain of emotion-management in children, advocating for a "time within" approach during challenging situations. Just picture the peace that a few moments of deep breathing and positive visualization can bring to a distressed child. We dissect the profound impact our thoughts have on our reality and the magic of asking the right questions when dealing with difficult emotions.
Venturing into the world of book writing and publishing, we unpack the hurdles and joys of the journey, from the research to finding the right illustrator. We emphasize the significance of valuing the journey and the indelible mark a book can leave beyond your lifetime. We also explore the indispensable role of reviews in catapulting authors into recognition and attracting new readers. And to sweeten the deal, Julie teases her upcoming events and gives us a glimpse into her next book. Grab this opportunity to immerse yourself in a wealth of insights for writers, parents, and educators alike. Let's transform our thinking, shall we?
✨🎙Subscribe to our channel to join our writer community for tips, tricks, author interviews, and more. We can't wait for you to join us as you embark on your writing adventure!✨🎙
🎙📖✒️ 👉 All episodes are available to view on YouTube and listen anywhere where podcasts are played every Wednesday!👈
➡️ Check out our website to learn more about us, our mission, podcast episodes, be a guest on the show, and follow us on social media. ⬇️ https://thewritersparachute.com
As always, we hope this podcast is a helpful landing on your unique, creative journey. 🪂
Have you ever wished to equip your children or students with the ability to navigate their feelings? Well, our distinguished guest, Julie D'Ann, a dream builder life transformation coach, TEDx speaker, and author, will show you how. Anchored in the pages of her inspiring children's book, "Which Would You Choose?", Julie emphasizes the power of choosing better thoughts and how they can transform feelings and ultimately change lives.
Our enlightening chat with Julie traverses the terrain of emotion-management in children, advocating for a "time within" approach during challenging situations. Just picture the peace that a few moments of deep breathing and positive visualization can bring to a distressed child. We dissect the profound impact our thoughts have on our reality and the magic of asking the right questions when dealing with difficult emotions.
Venturing into the world of book writing and publishing, we unpack the hurdles and joys of the journey, from the research to finding the right illustrator. We emphasize the significance of valuing the journey and the indelible mark a book can leave beyond your lifetime. We also explore the indispensable role of reviews in catapulting authors into recognition and attracting new readers. And to sweeten the deal, Julie teases her upcoming events and gives us a glimpse into her next book. Grab this opportunity to immerse yourself in a wealth of insights for writers, parents, and educators alike. Let's transform our thinking, shall we?
✨🎙Subscribe to our channel to join our writer community for tips, tricks, author interviews, and more. We can't wait for you to join us as you embark on your writing adventure!✨🎙
🎙📖✒️ 👉 All episodes are available to view on YouTube and listen anywhere where podcasts are played every Wednesday!👈
➡️ Check out our website to learn more about us, our mission, podcast episodes, be a guest on the show, and follow us on social media. ⬇️ https://thewritersparachute.com
As always, we hope this podcast is a helpful landing on your unique, creative journey. 🪂
Welcome back everyone to the Writers' Parish, where we are guiding author and writer dreams to a perfect landing. Today we have with us another very special children's author guest. We have with us Julie Deann. We're going to be talking to her about her book which would you choose? But of course, we always have a little bit of housekeeping to do up front. We want you to go ahead and smash that like button, go ahead and subscribe here on YouTube or whichever podcast platform you are listening to us from. We would also love for you to go follow us on social media. We are on Facebook, instagram, twitter, tiktok and now threads. So go find us at Writers' Parish. That's Writers' Parish without an S. So, and of course, we have something new for you guys. If you would like a weekly updates in your inbox, you can go sign up for our weekly newsletter at sendfoxcom. Slash the Writers' Parachute. We will have that in the show notes for you, of course, and go check that out and make sure you sign up, get reminded of when new episodes go out and see your favorite author and their books. Of course, we always start off the show with our topic of the week, and I want to thank Julie Deann for giving us the topic of the week.
Speaker 1:
Now, I kind of hinted at this and we've been focusing season two on reviews. We're talking about author reviews, or author swapping is what Amazon declares it as, you have to be very careful, especially when we're talking about reviews going on Amazon. You need to carefully read their community guidelines regarding reviews. So I would just always say best practices is anytime you're leaving a review, whether it's on Amazon or any other platform, sign out of your social media. They don't need to know who your friends with, so sign out, then post a review. Secondly, amazon particularly does take a very dim view of author swapping. From their point of view, they feel like you're just gathering up all your author friends and go, hey, we're all going to write good reviews about our books and help promote it. Now, that may necessarily be not true. It may be genuinely another author who enjoys your books who would like to write a review. That's perfectly fine, but be very careful reviewing a book of someone who has reviewed your book or vice versa, having someone review your book that you have reviewed their book. Now, there are some exceptions in all cases, but this is an area where I really want you to carefully tip toe within the boundaries set out by Amazon.
Speaker 1:
If you are concerned and you feel like this might be a question with Amazon, don't forget you have other platforms that you can use reviews for. You can always use them on your social media. You can use them on your website. Don't forget Goodreads, which is actually a division of Amazon, but they don't have as strict of guidelines around reviews. So make sure you do well with your reviews. Make sure you optimize the use of your reviews. Make sure that you're placing them everywhere and promoting them so other people can see them. I mean, it's amazing just to see a post about somebody getting a great review. How many books do you think that gets people to look at yours for? So don't forget that is one of the things that you can do to optimize your reviews. But again, if you're swapping with another author again this would also go with maybe someone you're in a close relationship with, maybe a family member, a cousin, something like that Again, tiptoe, make sure you go read those community guidelines from Amazon before you attempt to post that. So I hope that's helpful.
Speaker 1:
I know there is so much more we could talk about on this subject, but we can't cover it here. If you would like to hear more on this particular topic, you can always reach out to us to here at the Writers Parachute. We have a website listed and an email address listed in the show notes. Also, you can leave a comment in the show here for us or you can email us at info at thewritersparachutecom. So let's get on with the show. Of course, we have with us the beautiful, the amazing, best-selling children's author, tedx speaker, life Transformational Coats and Elimination Guide, julie DeAnne. We're going to talk about her book, which is behind me. She's going to hold it up for you. It's called which Would you Choose. It's a children's book guide to choose their own thoughts and emotions.
Speaker 1:
Julie started practicing meditation and yoga over 15 years ago. As a certified dream builder life transformation coach, she began adapting her knowledge and skills in the best health, meditation and breathwork practices to apply to children. Her passion for teaching meditation to children in schools is expressed in her TEDx talk, available on YouTube. We'll have the link for that for you. Julie's most recent book, which Would you Choose, available on Amazon and worldwide, guides children and adults to explore choosing better thoughts, to change one's feelings and emotions, which can lead to better results in a person's life. This book and the time within program she created were born from years of intense exploration and study. Sharing her experience while bringing these life changing practices into classrooms has become Julie's mission and, of course, she asked you to follow her on her website, which we will include in the show notes. Welcome to the writers. Parachute Julie, how are you today?
Speaker 2:
Thank you so much, Donna. It's a pleasure to be here. I'm doing phenomenal. It's a beautiful day.
Speaker 1:
It is a beautiful day, it's a bit warm here in Northern California, but you know we're fighting through cranking up the air conditioner and trying to just, you know, stay indoors, kind of like I'm melt out there right now. You know I read through your book quickly because, you know, got it to us here, we're doing some stuff for you, but I did like it and it's focused on, you know, everyday challenges for kids in contrasting their different mindsets, and I want to know why you felt like this was such an important topic and this was the way that you wanted to present it.
Speaker 2:
Well, I have to start by saying I I did start practicing meditation daily about three, four years ago, and it was through meditation that I was divinely inspired to write this book in that exact format. It's not any format that I've ever seen anywhere. I've never seen a book like this, even those Choose your Adventure books or the books about you know which would you choose and you go through a path. It's still a story. This book is scenario based. Each there are 12 scenarios and the scenarios are based on situations, circumstances based on my daughter's life, my own personal life and stories that I've heard through the years, but they're designed to be something that could resonate with anybody, that any adult or child reading it could say oh yeah, I can think of a time similar or a time when I was in a similar situation, faced with a similar decision to make of.
Speaker 2:
You know, am I going to have this negative feeling thought or am I going to look at it from more of an empowered standpoint, more positive thinking? And you get to choose it, and that's why. That's why it's designed the way it is, because you realize that in any moment, you always have the only choice you always have is how do you want to think about this, what are the thoughts that you're going to think, and you can change that at any point. You can start going down the negative path and then realize maybe I don't want to go this way, let me check, let me choose the fun path, and then you switch over and you switch into a positive mindset and the results are going to be very different. But it all depends on how you choose to think, because when you think a different thought, you're going to feel different and that's going to change how you choose to take action in the world and action, as we know, produces our results.
Speaker 1:
Right.
Speaker 1:
So, and it is amazing and you know. You know the book which was you choose is a learning guide for readers to explore their feelings and confusion and choices. And at the top of the book, you know, the first example you get is you know, a little boy trying to decide if he wants to go rock climbing or not, even though he's afraid. And you give you know, basically telling the story from him choosing yes and from him choosing no, and how it affects you know his mood and his thoughts about himself and the people around him, which I thought was pretty amazing to kind of give children that contrast, because we often see where they're brought to that choice.
Speaker 1:
Then, of course, usually in the book they always choose right, you know, and we don't have that exploration of well, if I go right, where does that lead me? If I go left, where does that leave me? I mean, we do have that a little bit in the choose the adventure, but it doesn't really explore the emotional part of it. So can you explain how this guide, laid out in this way, particularly helps children?
Speaker 2:
So this takes me back because I thought about how, growing up, we have these emotions and we don't really understand where they come from or how to deal with them, and how you know thoughts and emotion, how it all works together, and it's actually a feedback loop. You know, our emotions are telling us whether we are thinking about things in a way that is expansive, that helps us to grow, or if we're thinking from a lack and a victim mindset, which is constrictive and isn't helping us. So there's always a lesson to learn, and so, whenever you're feeling a negative emotion, it's not that we want to get rid of them or we don't want them. That's actually feedback. We need to ask ourselves why am I feeling this fear? Why am I feeling the anxiety? Why am I feeling jealousy or whatever the emotion is? What is there for me to learn here?
Speaker 2:
Maybe the lesson is that I need to look at it from their perspective, or I need to shift my thinking and consider what good could come of this. And that's when I say inside of all of these scenarios and throughout the book are infused brave thinking principles, and brave thinking is simply having the courage to stop and say I don't like where this thought is leading me or I don't like how I'm feeling. How can I shift this into something that is more empowering and expansive and is going to be a better experience for me and for everyone? And so and it takes courage to do that, especially when we're brought up in a certain way or pattern of thinking or we observe other ways of thinking, but then to choose to say you know what I don't actually like, that I'm going to stop and I'm going to make the decision now to change that, and that's a brave thinking principle. Well, right.
Speaker 1:
And what I did love about your book was the fact that you're bringing the children's thoughts and internal self-talk, which is often ignored, because the things I mean, even as adults, the things we say to ourselves, we would never say to our worst enemy. And it's even worse for children because they don't have that discernment, they don't have the experience, they don't have that kind of built-in stop sign that says you're really heading down a very dangerous path. And so I did like the idea that you were bringing, you know, the negative and the positive thoughts that these kids were having, and they were kind of all jumbled together so oftentimes I felt like it was about them, sorting through them and giving them kind of a priority, which I thought was kind of ingenious, because we don't really talk about these sort of things with kids. We just assume that you know that they think of sun, shines and roses and you know football and swings and video games and stuff like that we don't stop to think about. You know they have their own internal critic that's constantly going off the rails.
Speaker 2:
Absolutely, and you probably already know this. But I listened to a lot of Joe Dispenda and have studied him, studied his work, and it is a known fact. Scientists know that up until the age of seven, pretty much all of us children have no filters. Everything just goes in, so they're just taking, they're absorbing it like a sponge. So all of the thinking processes are kind of set. And that's why this book, I think, is targeting children ages like six to 12, because that's when they start to develop that faculty of discernment, of questioning, of starting to think about things in a more you know, leading towards adulthood in a more mature way. And so that's why I think it's really important that not only you know reading a book and seeing how things turn out it's great, it's very important, but to actually be able to this is what I call almost future pace.
Speaker 2:
You imagine you have this scenario and you imagine if you, if you did this, if you think this way or you take this action, where might that lead, versus if you take this action, where could it lead? And that isn't something that we're typically taught in schools and even a lot of adults don't even think about that, and that's why I thought this is an important lesson because, you know, had I grown up understanding how thoughts and feelings really work together, I think I would have felt so much more aligned and confident and connected and less loneliness and less and being more self confident. That, hey, whatever the situation is, I know I've got some tools, I've got some ways of trying to, you know, figure this out, and I think that's important for kids to learn too.
Speaker 1:
Right and I like the fact that it's empowering them. So we aren't constantly saying well, you know, if you get confused, go to ask an adult, because that's not always optimal. And I do like you know the fact that you are using storytelling, which is familiar to children, to teach something very valuable and to teach those tools to process their thoughts and emotions in, you know, maybe a better, more healthy way whether they're positive or negative, that's their choice, but it is, you know, a better, healthier way of processing than just going. You know, I don't want to think about it, I'll just pick this. Who cares?
Speaker 2:
Right, and kids do tend to do that, right. I mean even adults. You know you ignore something, ignore something and then it blows up. And then you're faced, you can't ignore it anymore. Let's try to get through that so that that blow up doesn't happen, right? And this also feeds into why did the TEDx talk about what I call a time within.
Speaker 2:
You know, timeouts don't really work.
Speaker 2:
A time in where you're talking with the parent or the teacher and they're walking you through, trying to help you work through emotions, that's good, but it takes a lot of time and resources from the adult and it takes you away from any other children you might have in the classroom or at home.
Speaker 2:
So if we start teaching kids how to take a time within which is essentially in the moment, stop, separate yourself, recognize that your emotions are out of control and your thoughts may be going crazy.
Speaker 2:
Start deep breathing. It's the one thing that science has proven deep, slow breathing, when you extend the exhalation and you breathe in deeply and slowly, it will immediately calm the body down. It's just the one thing scientifically proven that does work instantly. So if you start doing that, then you can observe your thoughts and then, if they've been reading this book if they've been practicing a time within every day, just deep breathing and visualizing, feeling love and joy and golden light, just healing you and lifting you up in connection, and you're making positive statements about how you are enough, I am enough, I am absolutely lovable, just as I am Statements like that, because that raises your happiness. Set point, it raises the feeling of background happiness so that you can choose those better thoughts in the moment and then maybe look at the situation with a little more clarity and decide okay, let me try this or let me ask this question, instead of just reacting and hitting or yelling or some other negative sort of behavior.
Speaker 1:
Well, and I think that's great. So I wanna know what it is that you're hoping that parents, educators and kids take away from your book.
Speaker 2:
My biggest hope would be that number one. Children and parents recognize, in any moment, in any situation, we always have control over how we choose to think, and that is the most important thing, because when you change a thought, you can instantly change the situation. I mean, you just think about any situation you've ever had where, all of a sudden, you think well, what if it's not like that? What if this is the issue? What if it's not that they forgot to say hello? They were actually overwhelmed because they just had a death in the family?
Speaker 2:
Oh my gosh, it completely changes your whole feeling. You don't feel upset at them, you don't feel angry and in an instant you feel compassion and you feel like you want to go help that person. That's what I'm saying. Whatever we expect to see or whatever we're looking for, we're going to experience. For us, it's real. For us. It may not be the truth, but it's gonna be your truth, your reality, because you chose that in your mind. So that's the number one thing is, you always can change your thoughts and you can have the negative thoughts and emotions. Just understand that when you feel that, that's the kind of energy you're putting out and that is the experience that the world is going to reflect back to you, because thoughts are energy and our feelings are made new.
Speaker 1:
I absolutely agree. And when I run into this a lot with authors, we are talking about this kind of sense of self-worth and the self-value that this is building, and I get this question a lot and I'm like, well, just go ask. And they're like, well, I don't know. I'm like you already are expecting no, what has it hurt to ask? And that's a different mindset. And then they're like, oh well, yeah, I guess I am, so I'm not gonna be surprised. I'd be surprised if they say yes, which is a good thing. So it kind of takes that away and I find that a lot of it is just like fear and roblox that we put up as children and as adults. We're constantly reacting to our own fears. Like you said, walk into a room and somebody doesn't come up and say hi to you. Well, maybe it's because they're shy or they don't know you and they're not good at introducing themselves, or they fumble and stumble. It's like maybe they're looking for somebody like you to walk up and go.
Speaker 2:
Hey, I'm.
Speaker 1:
Donna, how are you? What are you doing here?
Speaker 2:
There you go.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, it's like you know I am a total extrovert, so, but I have my introverted moments too. I think we all have a little bit of both. But I find a lot of the situations where people think I overreact or I lead is just me pushing the fear aside and just going. You know I'm just gonna be me and you know I can't control how everybody else thinks or reacts. All I can do is be me, and I think that's kind of what you're trying to teach here.
Speaker 2:
Yes, yes, and in a lot of ways, yeah.
Speaker 1:
All right. Well, I wanna know what it is that you think that readers and parents will see in your book in 10 to 20 years from now. 10 to 20 years from now.
Speaker 2:
I'm hoping that in 10 to 20 years from now, people see this book as an essential classic guide. That's something that every child should be reading and grow up learning Because, like I said, these are brave thinking principles. This is a mindset shift that gets embedded, and these are lifelong skills that will help children start to think more bravely, more courageously, throughout their entire lives, and it can completely. A single book can impact a person, can change their lives forever, and I'm hoping that that's what this book will do At least, even if it's just one scenario or one incident or instance. But that is my hope that this would be seen as an essential guide for all kids.
Speaker 1:
Well, I agree with you. I think that this should be part of the curriculum, especially for some of the lower grades, as you said, when they're transitioning from that seven to eight year old range, they're starting to figure out who they are and they do need the tools and the toolbox about how to do that effectively instead of just following the herd, so to speak. Right, all right. So I want to know if you could go all the way back to the beginning, before you started your book and before you wrote it and published it? What do you wish you had known or that somebody had told you?
Speaker 2:
Well, I wish that I had been taught meditation as a child, but not only meditation, this whole feedback loop like how we do have the power to choose our thoughts and when you choose thoughts, you have different feelings and then you get to label the feelings. You get to label them as, for example, excitement and fear are experienced physiologically exactly the same in the body. You get sweaty palms, your heartbeat goes really fast, you get tingly, you get goosebumps, but it's your mind that decides if you're about to jump off that high dive, for example, is this fear or is this excitement? Exactly, and that's the power of your thinking, of your thoughts and your perspective. So that, yeah, I wish I had learned that.
Speaker 1:
Well, that's amazing. So I'm glad you answered that way, but I'm going to answer the question again what do you wish you had known or that somebody told you about writing and publishing a book?
Speaker 2:
Very good question. Oh, my goodness that. Well, my biggest hurdle was what do you do once you've written it? Writing it I felt pretty confident about because I've been a good writer. I've done a lot of writing in my life and I feel like I'm a pretty good writer. But it was the rest of the process.
Speaker 2:
How do I get it out there? How do I get it out to the masses, let alone into the schools? And I think I would have wished that someone could have offered me some guidance on, first of all, to recognize that it is a process, it is a journey, and to really enjoy the journey, like, don't get discouraged and don't let frustration take hold, because you're reaching out to people, you're talking to people. You're not getting the answers, because it's someone that said a long time ago you know, when you produce a book, this is a work of art, it's creation from within you. It's like giving birth, you are producing a baby and it takes us our body's nine months to produce a baby. I mean books are. You know.
Speaker 2:
It's not something that happens all the time, and especially the first one. You know, unless you're working directly with an author who has written and successfully produced and gotten out into the world a book, and probably one that is in a similar genre to the one that you're writing, because even genres are very different. Unless you have that, most people don't. It is going into the unknown. It is an adventure, and look at it as an adventure because the people you meet and the person that you become in the process is an amazing transformation and is well worth it. So enjoy that process, go step by step and do a lot of research and, just, you know, take a couple deep breaths and feel into it, listen to your guidance and you know, just be, just, persevere and know that the work that you are producing and presenting into the world is going to change lives and is well worth all of the effort.
Speaker 1:
Well, yeah, and I'm going to add a little bit to it. It's like I always say you know, writing a book and publishing a book is a marathon, not a sprint, and you know it doesn't have to be perfect. And here's the thing that we all forget Once it's published, it's out there for your lifetime and beyond. So if you don't hit that bestseller list in the first six months, the first year, the first five years, you still have that ability. If you don't win this award this year or that next year, you still have that ability. That book is going to be out there.
Speaker 1:
It may take it a while to catch fire. Some do ride away, some are slow building, you know, and you know you have to be prepared for that. But again, it is a marathon and usually with your first book. I had a literary agent tell me one time she goes writing your first book and publishing it. Especially if you're self-publishing. It is like earning an MFA in creative writing Because you're doing so many things, there's so many tools and skills that are called upon to do that that it really does take time. And you know it's like trying to handle a big legal case while you're going to law school.
Speaker 2:
Very good analogy.
Speaker 1:
Yes, Very, very hard to move that along quickly. So you know and you know, just give yourself grace, it's. You know you. You have to remember it's your journey and you can't compare it to anybody else's, as you said. You know, yes, comparable genres. You know people have to understand the why. You know it's like when you get to a fork in the road. It's like I always ask the question why would I go this way, why would I go that way? Because sometimes it matters, sometimes it really doesn't, but you have to know why one would choose one or the other. And and this is you know, this is where you get into. You know other authors and stuff like that. So I want to know what obstacles specific to your book or challenges did you experience when you were writing and publishing this book? I mean, you hinted at a little bit about what was next, right?
Speaker 2:
Honestly, the biggest challenge number one was how do I proceed with getting this out into the world? And then the next thing was well, how do I find an illustrator? Because I wrote the words, but I'm no artist and I had in mind what I wanted, but I didn't know how to do that. So I started reaching out and I was really not getting what I was looking for. I went through a lot of drafts or, I guess you know, talked to a lot of different potential illustrators, and that was after I found the platform, which was brought to me by a different coach. I didn't even know where to start to look for illustrators.
Speaker 2:
So once I got past that hurdle, then it was well, am I going to self publish? And we're going to look for a publisher. And I talked to a lot of you know researching that whole aspect and what's your goal, your end game. And then, of course, you know going through the whole self publishing process of actually getting it onto KDP and Amazon and then putting it into Ingram Spark, which is where your advice came in, extremely valuable, and I wish I had met you earlier in the process, because I'm sure you could have helped me much more early on, but I mean it's you know, it's like I said, it is a process that people we meet along the way and steps that we take, and anyway it's you know, hey, success it's there, it's out there. Like you said, it is going to be out there indefinitely now, which is phenomenal. So it's just a matter of getting the word out, and I'm excited to be doing that.
Speaker 1:
Right. Exactly, it's about finding your audience and I do love that. And you're living proof that even if you do it wrong to begin with, you can write the right. You know you can correct it along the way, you can fix those problems. There is no absolute. You know it's like I love to say that in writing and publishing there really aren't any rules, there's just guide rails and if you're going to go over the side, make sure you know why. Good point. But so I want to know what advice do you think would be helpful to other authors and writers?
Speaker 2:
I guess I have to go back to saying just trust that everything is going to work out. If you just hold to your why, to your reason, your mission for actually publishing and writing your book, hold on to that and cultivate your relationship with that vision and things will start to line up for you. And that did happen. I had those serendipitous moments, things that popped up, people that reached out out of the blue. But also, do do your research and be prepared to take your time and do that research. Ask the questions that you need to ask and make the decision and don't compromise. Don't compromise your integrity or what you feel is right, because I did have people question the design of my book. I had people question the way that I wrote it.
Speaker 2:
I tried to make every scenario, except for two. I made every scenario androgynous. In other words, I used a name that could be a unisex name and I did not use he or she because I wanted to appeal to the widest audience, irrespective of race, religion, color, gender, any of that, to take away any sort of bias. I did create two scenarios One was a female name and one was a male name, because you know just the scenarios themselves. It was kind of hard to get away with that without it, but by and large I tried to do that and I had some people question that, but I felt like that was very important because I do want to address and try to appeal to the widest audience and I felt like that was the best way to do that. Right, and I'm not going to be true to what you believe in for your story.
Speaker 1:
Right, and I'm going to add to that less. You know, sometimes you have to be without compromising your integrity or your mission, but you do have to be sometimes flexible. It's like you know, you and I had a conversation one day. I invited you here on the writer's parachute and you were very flexible in finding a date and coming on, even though you already had an interview earlier. Sometimes you do have to be a little more flexible. You have to recognize those opportunities when they come up and grab ahold of them and just, you know going to, you know I'll write tomorrow or I'll, you know I'll sleep tomorrow or whatever it is you need to do Sometimes, but I do appreciate that. So we want to also know what keeps you motivated. What keeps you motivated in this arena of writing and publishing and being an author?
Speaker 2:
I am just every time I imagine the children and I see pictures from some of my readers sometimes showing their kids reading the book, and I hear from readers oh, I love that story, I love the picture, that one slot that we had the head over his head, and I imagine how all of these children and the adults to are having their minds opened and their their thought processes open to the possibility that there is another way of thinking and choosing and that we do have the power within us to choose our thoughts and create results in our reality. I just and imagining teachers and schools teaching this and then the discussions, because when kids start to think about why might do this or I might do that, you never know what kind of genius thing is going to roll out of their mouth and and I love that when they come up with the interesting stories or solutions to things that we as adults would never have thought of.
Speaker 2:
I think it's beautiful?
Speaker 1:
Well, absolutely, and that just confirmed that you connected with them. So that's always a wonderful moment. So here on the writer's parachute in season two, we've been focusing on reviews, because reviews are king for authors and writers. It's how we get noticed in the world, it's how we find new readers, it's how we draw readers to our book and let them know what it is that they will be purchasing. So we would love for you to write a review. For which would you choose?
Speaker 2:
All right. Well, I review, I suppose, would be with this which would you choose, is a beautifully illustrated, artfully crafted guide designed to spark discussion, to open the mind to the world of infinite possibility and convey brave thinking principles to the reader. It's an essential book for all children.
Speaker 1:
Absolutely five stars. I love it. And you know the reason that we're doing this we're putting our guests on the spot about writing reviews for their own book is because it's not easy. Talking about yourself or talking about your baby, as you describe your book, is not easy, and but we want to do that to show our listeners and our viewers that it is possible.
Speaker 1:
Reviews don't have to be complicated. They could be simply I like this book, or I didn't like this book, or I think this book would be great for this audience, or I recommend it to this kind of reader, or anything in that realm. It can be as long or as short as you would like it. It could even seriously be a thumbs up, but we do want to encourage all of our listeners to, next time you read a book whether it is which would you choose or any other book we presented here on the writer's peer-to-peer issue that you leave a review.
Speaker 1:
Reviews are incredibly important to authors there, how we know how we're doing with our readers. So the next time you read one, don't forget to go leave a review where you purchased the book. Or, if you can't remember, just go on Goodreads or contact the author direct. I'm sure they would love to hear from you. So we want to encourage all the authors here on the writer's peer-to-peer issue. We have all of their contact information for you in the show notes, purchase links and everything, so we make it easy for you. All right, so we want to know what's coming up next for Julie Dianne.
Speaker 2:
After this in November I do have a showing on in New York City to read my book live on kid lit TV, so I'm very excited about that. I also have some book signings coming up locally. I'm in the northern Virginia area so you can check out my website. Julie Dianne, author calm, and that's Dan, without the apostrophe. I'm going to read the show notes and I'm hoping to have some school book signing and presentation events coming up, but more more on that.
Speaker 1:
All right, awesome. So do you have any more follow up books for this, for this series or this style that we could be looking forward to?
Speaker 2:
This will be a second volume. I can't say for sure when at this point because I'm still, you know, this one just came out and still promoting it but I would say within the next couple of years I would like to follow up with a second volume, hopefully with scenarios. From some of the readers you know sending me emails, sending in suggestions on why don't you write a scenario about this, and that would be great to get some reader input and then I can create a scenario and then your scenario could be in my next upcoming book. It would be awesome.
Speaker 1:
It would be amazing, of course, when you're ready to have that come out, we of course would love to have you come back on the writer's parachute so we can talk about that. So, where can find your book? I kind of handed at it at the top of the show, but where can we find your books?
Speaker 2:
My book is on Amazoncom. It's also in Barnes and Noble, so you can go to any Barnes and Noble and order it if it isn't already on their shelves or Barnes noblecom. And if you Google it, it should now be available in Walmart and basically worldwide, because it's it's available on all the platforms and in some local libraries as well.
Speaker 1:
Yes, it is available worldwide If you would like to go to your local independent bookstore. Again, as she said, if they don't have it on the shelves, they have the ability to order it for you and also a lot of times they have online presence where you can order direct. So do go check that out. We'll have links for you in the show notes to her books. We also know that you're active on social media, so what platforms can they find you?
Speaker 2:
And this book is the number one platform I'm on, and that's Julie D and D, apostrophe a and N. I'm also on Instagram at Julie, underscore D, a and N, and then I have my website, julie Dan authorcom. And, of course, the TEDx platform, the number one tool that every school needs to teach and every child needs to learn.
Speaker 1:
And that's on YouTube and we will have all of those direct links for you. And I'm quite certain she's forgetting good reads, but we'll make sure we get on there for her and to her author page so you can stay up to date on any other books that she has coming out or events. And so with that we want to ask you have any other events coming up? You mean you kind of hinted at the the kid lit TV where you can be reading your book Newsletters or anything of that nature.
Speaker 2:
You would like to share with the audience. So on my website and also on my Facebook social media platform, I have a private, a free, private Facebook group. It's illuminate your life and Facebook. If you just go to my profile page, julie Dan, there's a button there and you can click to join my free Facebook group and in there I do host private events for my members. I also notify of upcoming events book signings, of school visits, that sort of thing and sometimes I'll just do a zoom webinar where I'll just invite people to come in who want to speak with the author about the book, or perhaps do a vision workshop where, as you know, I'm a life transformation coach. So I host these free workshops to teach brave thinking principles to adults and they're similar the principles that are basically infused in the book as well.
Speaker 1:
And then, of course, we'll have a link for you to go ahead and join direct to her Facebook group, illuminate my life. And so is there anything else that you want to talk about where we go, jump over and do our tip of the week?
Speaker 2:
I think that covers it, donna. I appreciate it so much. It's just been such an honor and a pleasure talking with you here today and sharing all these wonderful things with all of your readers and viewers.
Speaker 1:
Well, thank you, we're always so glad to have you here, but of course, we're going to go to our tip of the week and what Julie mentioned is something that we hear a lot from authors and I don't want to be repetitive, so we're going to kind of try and come at this at a different direction. So, again, her big question was what was next after writing. I hear this a lot, where I thought writing was the hard part and then I finished writing and realize that was the easy part. What I would say is you know, join writing groups. You know those are very helpful and at least, if not giving you the information, guiding you towards where you can get the information. One of the helpful platforms beyond the writer's parachute is Readsiecom. They have a plethora of blog posts and articles and templates and information, and they have an entire list of specialists who can help you with anything from getting an illustrator, getting an editor, getting book cover designer, all of these things. But there are many others out there that you can look for.
Speaker 1:
So next time you're looking for help, maybe reach out and ask your author friends where they got the best advice, where they got the best information, rather than asking them direct. While most authors are trying to be very kind and helpful, they may not quite understand, as I said, why you would do it one way versus the other. Again, as you talked about, your book is unique. It's unique in the way it's formatted, in the way it's laid out, in the way the material is presented. So, again, even if you were working with a whole bunch of children's authors, they may not have been able to give you the exact right advice for your book, and you know your platform and what you're trying to do. So next time you're asking for help, maybe ask for where they got the best advice, instead of asking directly for that advice and then with the what's next. There's a certain order to things but, again, as Julie learned, you know, even if you do it wrong, there's always recovery. You can always go fix it.
Speaker 1:
I've worked with authors where we've had to completely unpublish their books and redo them. It only takes a few weeks to get all of that redone, but it isn't the end of the world and, again, it's a learning process. Take your time and think about what it is, as Julie mentioned, that you want to do. What's your mission, what is it that you're trying to achieve and work towards that goal and make sure that all of the people who are working with you understand and are helping you towards that goal, not pulling you away or blocking your direction. So that's kind of my tip of the week.
Speaker 1:
Of course, there's always so much more we could talk about this, and if you would like to know more about what comes next after writing your book, then reach out to us here on the writer's parachute and let us know that you would like for us to do a special episode about that topic. Don't forget to go ahead and follow us on social media. We have that all listed in the show notes. And don't forget to sign up for the new weekly newsletter that drops in your inbox every Monday with reminders and weekly links to new shows and episodes, and that is send foxcom. The writer slash the writer's parachute, so we'll have that for you in the show notes and it's always. I'm so thankful to be the host here on the writer's parachute, guiding author and writer dreams to a perfect landing. We hope that you find this space creative and helpful and safe for you to find your dreams and land them well too. Until next time. Thank you, julie. We'll see you guys, next time Bye, thank you, bye.