Born To Create

When we talk about writing on the podcast, we usually do it in the context of writing books. But writing can take many forms, and today I’m excited to welcome a guest whose writing and creative work has taken shape in many different ways over the years. Andrew Greer is an eight-time Dove Award-nominated singer/songwriter, producer, author and television/podcast host who is known for his old soul sound and thoughtful conversations. Andrew’s fifth and newest collaboration with Parable Christian Stores, Tune My Heart 2…Songs of Goodness & Love, follows last year’s Tune My Heart…Songs of Rest & Reflection—which debuted at #1 and spent 23 weeks atop Parable Christian Stores National Retail chart. In addition to writing and recording his own music, Andrew is a producer as well. Just last month, we saw the release of Bellsburg: The Songs of Rich Mullins, co-produced by Andrew. The album featured recordings of classic Rich Mullins songs by Christian artists, including Amy Grant, Derek Webb, Cindy Morgan, Andr

I recently attended the amazing WriterFest conference in Nashville. I met some amazing people there, including the renowned romance author Jenny Hale! (Many thanks to Honorée Corder for the introduction.) Jenny Hale is a USA Today, Amazon, and international bestselling author of romantic contemporary fiction. Her books have sold worldwide, have been translated into multiple languages, and adapted for television. Her novels Coming Home for Christmas and Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses are Hallmark Channel original movies. She was included in Oprah Magazine’s “19 Dreamy Summer Romances to Whisk You Away” and both Southern Living’s “30 Christmas Novels to Start Reading Now,” as well as “Beach Reads Perfect for Summer 2020.” Her stories are chock-full of feel-good romance and overflowing with warm settings, great friends, and family. When she isn’t writing or heading up her romantic fiction imprint Harpeth Road, she can be found running around her hometown of Nashville with her husband, two boys, and their

My guest today is Mary Click. She is the National Intergenerational Tutoring Director for the Oasis Institute, a nonprofit educational organization that promotes healthy aging through lifelong learning, active lifestyles, and service. Oasis Intergenerational Tutoring has positively impacted over 525,000 children since its inception in 1989, and has been implemented in more than 100 school districts across the country. The award-winning volunteer program pairs older adults with children in grades K-3 to work one-on-one each week not only as tutors, but as mentors and positive role models. In her role with Oasis, Mary is responsible for developing resources to support the tutoring program in nine Oasis centers and independent sites in twenty cities. Mary collaborates closely with school district administrators, school district facilitators, and the Oasis network tutoring staff to serve volunteer tutors participating in the program. She previously served as the St. Louis Tutoring Manager and held other project m

My guest today is Professor Anne Sheridan, and she’s going to help take the intimidation factor out of reading classic literature. Anne is an educator, a pastor’s wife, and a mother of three girls living in Davenport, Iowa. She has undergraduate degrees in Piano Performance and English, a graduate certificate in Biblical Studies, and an MA in English. Anne has several years of experience teaching at the college level, with courses on Speech, English Composition, English Literature, and Christian Fantasy Literature. She enjoys reading in community and helping students to discover and appreciate the joys of reading. Anne and I talk about what makes a classic a “classic,” why you shouldn’t feel intimidated by literature, how to distinguish between different genres, why Shakespeare was so great, how to make time to read, and of course… Star Wars, a topic that seems to make an appearance on my podcast every few interviews or so. You can connect with Anne on Twitter @A_L_Sheridan.

Today we have amazing opportunities to create, publish, and distribute our self-published books. One of the greatest tools created for self-publishers in recent years is the Vellum app, which is software that helps you create ebooks and print books that look amazing. I’ve been a heavy Vellum user for years, so I was excited to chat with one of the co-creators, Brad West. Brad has been in the world of indie publishing for over ten years. Before that, he was a senior software developer at Pixar Animation Studios. In this conversation, Brad shares the fascinating story of how and why he and his co-creators developed Vellum. He also shares his thoughts on the future of self-publishing.