The Paul Lemley Episodes 001
So I’m adding something to the Mindsoak podcast. It’s something I’ve thought about since one of my earliest update posts. The idea of following someone who is just starting a new project, or a new career, or a new startup, and walk with them through their trials and tribulations. To learn with them as they deal with setbacks and grow with them as they find success. A transparent view of someone going for broke. But I needed it to be something raw. Something new. Something genuine. So I sat back and waited for something to click.
Recently Paul Lemley and I started to reconnect in the virtual world. Paul had left Dubuque a year or so ago (a.k.a. abandoned me) and we hadn’t seen much of each other since. I recently heard, through his Instagram video project that he was going out on his own to start a new venture, Lemley Media.
Click.
I reached out to Paul with the idea. At first he hesitated. No one likes being the center of attention. Especially genuine guys like Paul. But once I explained it wouldn’t all be about him, that it wasn’t a normal interview like I usually do on the podcast, that it would be a 50/50 discussion about ideas, dreams and process, with a good sprinkling of tangents, Paul was all in.
And this is what I’m releasing to Mindsoak today.
In this first episode we merely set the table for what’s to come. We talk about what Paul’s been up to, his strategy and goals for his new business, and freestyle on the idea of having multiple Paul Lemley episodes on Mindsoak.
We also dive into me a little, as Paul turns the table and begins asking me questions about my private practice and how and why I work on my creative side projects. This conversation is the exact conversation Paul and I would have if we were sitting on my back deck or sitting in a coffee house. It’s just us talking about being creative, productive and inspired.
I hope you enjoy this little side street we’re wandering down on Mindsoak. In the future Paul and I will tackle subjects and ideas that include; the five most influential books we’ve read, the products and services we can’t live without, the websites we visit on a daily basis, the five ideas that are sitting on our “backburners” and much more.
But overall we will keep Paul’s episodes fluid. I like to live in “the tangents” of life…so if we get side tracked, we get side tracked. The tangents are where all the good stuff is.
I’ll continue with the normal podcast interviews as I’ve got some really exciting guests coming up and I’m giddy to talk to them too. I’ll keep putting out around 5 to 6 “normal” episodes a month.
Anyway, I’m excited about this new adventure Paul and I are taking and hope you enjoy it.
See you in the tangents.
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The Todd Tavolazzi Episode
I am grateful to Todd Tavolazzi for taking the time to come on the podcast to talk about his new novel Looking into the Sun: A Novel of the Syrian Conflict, his time serving our country in the military and his goal in raising money for the Save the Children fund to help the children of Syria.
Todd takes us through the tales of his life; graduating from high school and joining the Marine Corps, to serving as a Surface Warfare Officer, to earning his Navy “Wings of Gold” for flying helicopters (a lifelong dream), to earning a Masters of Arts in Diplomacy. Todd eventually finds himself serving with the U.S. Sixth Fleet in Naples, Italy where he studies conflicts in the Middle East and learns first hand the horrific conflict taking place in Syria.
Through his research and involvement as an operational planner, Todd watches as the Syrian crisis worsens over five years. This drives him to putting pen to paper and publishing his book Looking into the Sun: A Novel of the Syrian Conflict. Todd writes a fictional account of what it’s like for the brave journalists who risk their lives to smuggle themselves in and out of Syria to report the atrocities. It’s because of these journalists that the world slowly begins to intervene to help the Syrian people.
But there is, of course, still a long way to go in Syria and every little bit helps. For that reason, Todd and Pandamoon Publishing are both donating equal percentages of the proceeds to the Save the Children Fund. So know when you purchase Todd’s book, you are adding to the donation. So buy two books. Or maybe three or four. It’s a great book and an even greater cause!
To find out more about Todd you can follow him on @ToddTavolazzi, his website toddtavolazzi.com and find Looking into the Sun on Amazon.
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The Chiara Townley Episode
Sometimes being vulnerable leads to the greatest growth a person can achieve. This is certainly the case with Chiara Townley, who came on the podcast to talk about her memoir, 2 Years 4 Months 2 Hours: From Italy to the World. A Memoir of Love and Travel. Chiara was gracious enough to let me ask some deep and emotional questions about her experiences from her memoir and answered with sincerity and grace.
Her story is one of love, perseverance, hope and forgiveness. It’s as anxiety provoking as it is hopeful. It’s as heartbreaking as it is joyful. I was reading her book and having knee jerk reactions to certain parts that frustrated me, worried me and had me jumping for joy. It’s the most honest book I’ve ever read.
On the podcast we talk about her goal for the book (never give up on your dreams), the intensity of writing your love life down for the world to see, and I ask pointed questions about certain parts of the book. Chiara answers honestly and gracefully. The conversation gets pretty deep in a lot of areas and I appreciate Chiara for her openness and sense of humor.
She also talks about becoming the “pink sheep”…but I don’t want to spoil that part for you. 🙂
I dare you to read the book and tell me Chiara’s story wouldn’t make a great movie.
To learn more about Chiara you can follow her on Twitter @chiarabtownley, read her blog and of course get her book on Amazon.
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The Alisse Lee Goldenberg Episode
Author. Screen writer. Playwright. Oh, and mother of 5 year old triplets. These are just some of the ways you can describe Alisse Lee Goldenberg. I had the pleasure of sitting down with Alisse and exploring when she tapped in to her creativity at a young age, how it was encouraged (and in some cases discouraged), how she continued to explore her creativity, how she became so productive and her plans for her future.
Alisse explores handling rejection, both from teachers and from publishers and how she managed to survive the gauntlet of the first several rejection letters. She also hands out of some great advice to would be authors, exploring the reasons to keep going and believing in yourself and your creativity. She also let me explore, something I am fascinated by for some reason, how she establishes a creative space to get all her goals accomplished.
Alisse has published 6 books in the last 4 years and that doesn’t include her short stories or her work on a children’s show and on stage. That’s a pretty amazing level of output and she’s not even close to being done. She has a multi-book deal to continue publishing her “Sitnalta” series and is currently working on books four and five of the series.
As always, make sure to follow Alisse on Twitter @AliLGoldenberg so you’re always up to date on what she is releasing. You should also check out her website www.alisseleegoldenberg.com and her author page on Amazon, where you will find all her books!
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The First Ten Episodes
Mindsoak is a project. Nothing more. Nothing less. And now that I’m ten episodes in, I thought I’d take some time for a little public reflection. I’ve always said I will do this until the 20th episode for sure, just to see where it goes and how I feel about my progress as a host. Not that I will quit at 20 if I’m not liking my progress, but that I will reassess if things aren’t getting better.
First off, thanks to all my guests who have come on and been more than gracious with their time and talent. You are all amazing and I’ve loved staying connected and watching from a far. Whether that’s lamenting losses of the Patriot’s season and reading Elysia Regina’s first chapter of her upcoming book, firing Facebook messages back and forth with the great @bonafidejoe, setting up an actual, honest to pete, in person coffee with the wonderful Jeanne Kolker or reading @JoeKellyMOA latest comic book goodness…it’s been a wild ride.
On top of that I’ve been able to go on the Art Jones show, I got a Daredevil/Kingpin commission from the great Manny Cartoon and I continue to use Mentegram (hi Igor!) in my private practice. And this isn’t even mentioning the most recent podcast guests I’ve had on…Don Wettrick, the great Dana Faletti (not a day goes by where we aren’t talking about something or other through Twitter DM’s), the wonderful Jessica Reino and last, but certainly not least the Rhewination crew1.
Now on to me. I have to say, I’ve been pleased with my progress. Anyone who knows me, knows I am my biggest critic. And I’m picky when it comes to getting things right…to the point where it usually ends up making it wrong. But with Mindsoak, I have taken the idea of it being a “project” to heart and have just left it all out there on the floor, so to speak. To quote a great American philosopher2, LIAHO…or Let It All Hang Out3.
Mindsoak is a project and I knew I was going to change things from the start. And I have changed a good amount of things. For instance, after the first couple of episodes I realized doing a post-recorded introduction of the guest is both repetitive and douchey. Why repeat what the guest and I are going to discuss in the interview, why make the listener hear more of me instead of the guest and why speak information the listener can gain by reading the show notes, my website or the guest’s Twitter bio?
I was trying to be too “show-like” and I really think it came off as too self important. So I stopped doing that. Now I just play the uplifting, ukulele intro music, fade in to me welcoming the guest and get right to the meat of the conversation. No long winded, useless introduction from yours truly.
I’ve always wanted Mindsoak to be a conversation between the guest and I. But not a normal conversation where things are 50-50, a conversation where I shine the light on them and take a step back in to the shadows. I want to promote these people and their works…because they are truly cool as hell. I feel like I have nailed this. I find myself being patient to respond. Not in the sense that I am bored, because everyone has been awesome, but in the sense that I don’t “walk on” the guests to get to the next question. I’ve been most proud of that.
And I knew I was going to get better as a host. I knew, especially at first, I would be nervous about getting my questions just right, or sounding just perfect. But I’ve come to realize what I like most, when I play back the episodes, is I like when I mess up. I like when the guest and I chuckle over something we said which was unprompted, out of touch or just play wrong.
Nothing makes me happier than when I’m assuming something, ask the guest and then find out I was assuming wrong. It makes for a great conversation. And in the vain of Chevy Chase, a la Fletch, I can just take a step back when I’m wrong and snort out a well placed, “I thought so…” as I nod my head and laugh about just how wrong I was.
So I keep moving forward, working to get better but not being too hard on myself. I’m giving myself patience and freedom. I just need to do it and get out of my own way.
The feedback I’ve received has been really positive too. A lot of people say my voice is great to listen to (tell that to my wife and kids) and I’m starting to believe they are telling me the truth. I kinda do have a good voice for this, if nothing else I hope it’s warm and compassionate.
People have also really taken to the idea that I just want to talk to interesting people. Sure, sometimes the people have a book to plug, or an app to talk about or even some art, but we get to peek behind the curtain and really get to know what makes the tick. I’m more enriched with energy and inspiration every time I finish recording.
So where do I go from here. Well, I have another nine episodes to record (only 9 since I recorded #11 with the super-duper fabulous author couple planning the Rhewination)4. I will get those recorded and out and continue to drive the site into the hearts and minds of as many people as possible.
Speaking of “as many people as possible” the site is growing nicely. I’ve been impressed with the steady incline in numbers after every podcast. I certainly wouldn’t be able to do this without the help of all the guests who have come before as they tweet it, share it and converse about it all over the place, leaving a long tail of attention and clicks. That is cool.
What I’ve also been really excited about is that former guests continue to interact with me and promote the site and podcast even when it’s NOT about them anymore. That’s really cool. That’s something I see growing significantly as I double the number of guests in the next couple of months. I love how it feels so organic…both the growth (stats and analysis) and goodwill (lot’s of DM’s, PM’s, IM’s and iMessages with past guests continue to this day).
Mindsoak is becoming much more than what I imagined it was going to be. I imagined a decent interview show where we learn more about people from around the world. But it’s also becoming a connection hub for me to learn from everyone I come in to contact with and continue to experience their inspiration and positivity in my life on a daily basis. It’s almost like I should be paying them or something…to have all these mentors in my life just because I put a MP3 of them up? You can’t buy these kind of connections and friendships. And I hope I can keep sending them your way as well.
Wow. This is starting to sound like a rant. Yes. Yes it is. This is how I think, so this is how I write. It’s the first time I’ve really been able to write like this for a long time. The past couple of projects I was a part of were so restrictive for one reason or another. But now I can rant. And I love it. It’s who I am. And if you were sick of it you probably wouldn’t still be reading. 🙂
So whether you were a previous guest, a listener, a newcomer, or my mom, thanks for stopping by and reading this. If you like this, even a little bit, I guarantee you will like the podcast…the great folks I talk to are less ranty 5 (it’s my blog, I can make up words) and more intelligent.
Here’s to another 10 episodes and to another great 3 months!
If you’re interested in hearing a little 5 minute update I did on this same subject, take a listen to the audio version below. It’s unscripted but from the heart. 🙂
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Even though technically they are the 11th episode…but they are too great not to mention in this list! ↩
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My high school track, cross country and basketball coach…Mr. John Riggins! ↩
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In 1990-1994 that saying didn’t sound as gross as it does now… ↩
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From Wikipedia: “Ranty is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Wydminy, within Giżycko County, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It lies approximately 6 kilometres south of Wydminy, 22km south-east of Giżycko, and 103km east of the regional capital Olsztyn. Before 1945 the area was part of Germany. The village has a population of 200 and just as many geese.” Ha, ha…go read that last sentence again. ↩
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The Rhewination Episode
How appropriate that the week after Valentine’s Day I got to sit down with Erin and Deek Rhew, a husband and wife tandem looking forward to the “Rhewnation” of the civilized world. Erin is the young adult author of the trilogy, The Fulfillment Series, which includes the books The Prophecy, The Outlanders and The Fulfillment. Deek is the author of Birth of an American Gigolo and is currently working on his next title “122 Rules”.
Erin and Deek talk about how they met one another from across country (Awww!), what it’s like to be married and working with each other as writing partners and they both give us insight into their writing style, their works of fiction and their characters. It was fun hearing about their different writing styles and their tips for writing productivity, which may or may not include their cat. It’s apparent they enjoy working side by side and their passion for their writing is contagious.
Working together Erin and Deek are looking forward to the Rhewnation, an event you can follow by checking out their Twitter profiles; @ErinRhewBooks and @DeekRhewBooks or by visiting their websites at erinrhewbooks.com and deekrhewbooks.com.
Oh…and I call my wife a “crazy cat lady” while recording. And it hasn’t come back to bite me…yet.
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