Episodes

---

When I asked him why it was hard for writers to draft query letters, Mark explained: "The nature of storytellers is to be expansive in terms of how they tell their stories. You know, working with a novel form, you have a very big canvas ordinarily; however, [with] the space of just a letter to tell about the book is difficult. At the same time, it's a very important skill to learn because as the literary agent, you want to be in business with an author who knows how to speak about their work in a very concise and interesting way. " Episode 4 

Faith shares why character development and stories are important: "[Some] students had a lot of trouble when they were creating things, saying, 'I'm not doing anything important,' but that's so untrue. Stories save people. It's an escape. It's a security blanket. We need films and novels and plays because sometimes we just need to escape." Episode 16

I asked Brian what prompted his incredible book Ant in an Eggshell: The Fragile Fortitude of a Black Man. Here's his answer: "My need to be cathartic, that's what really brought the book around. My dad's passing was a catalyst for expressing myself and exercising my emotional demons and all that baggage. I needed some type of avenue to express myself and be open. I felt like it was time to talk about my abuse, but I didn't have the courage to say it out loud or confront my abuser. I thought a book was the best conduit to let my voice be heard." Episode 17

Celeste and I discussed depression and why she created the journal 365 Days of Intentional Living: "I wanted to get people the nuts and bolts because I truly believe that if we could start to identify how we are feeling, we can work on combating it.  When we can identify how we're feeling, we can actually be strong. We will have more control over the way that our emotions manifest." Episode 14