The magical duo of Rhonda Byrne & Kelly Noonan Gores are rounding out a bucket list week here at the Beautiful Writers Podcast. After years of dreaming, writing, podcasting, and, more recently, recording my latest book, the audiobook for Beautiful Writers: A Journey of Big Dreams & Messy Manuscripts—with Tricks of the Trade from Bestselling Authors (aka the guests of this show!) pubbed just before posting this episode. When I thought about who, among all the writers in the world...

What happens when your dream comes true after years of work? What happens when that dream twists into what feels like a career-killing nightmare?In this episode, I'm telling the truth like never before—solo, my first in nine years—and it's the most real, vulnerable, and perhaps ill-advised show I've ever done.Catch it quick before my Vulnerability Hangover kicks in, and I decide to take it down . . .Book Mama, over and out. I love you, my book family. Doin' the hard work so you don't have to—...

I can't with this soulmate client. I'm pressed for words to share how much I love this woman, author, and communicator. I promise you've never met anyone like Dr. Jody Carrington. I call her Canada's Brené Brown (mixed with some Jerry Seinfeld), so that's close. But, well. Just see for yourself.When I met Jody at one of my Carmel retreats at the start of her writing career, it only took two minutes to know that I was sitting with a superstar. I'd never before encouraged someone to forgo tradi...

Ever feel like you need a miracle to realize your big dreams? Let me introduce you to my miraculous client and friend Hal Elrod, author of The Miracle Morning: The Not So Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life Before 8 AM. With over 3.5 million books sold, you'd think he'd have started with a top-five publisher. Instead, he launched a worldwide movement (the book series, a daily app, and a documentary featuring some of your heroes) on his own, self-publishing after his first two age...

It's open books all the way with these two TMI queens and their no-holds-barred, hilarious ways. They're the perfect duo to break my 6-month hiatus from the show. What a hoot to be back with three-time New York Times best-selling memoirist Jenny Lawson (Broken, Furiously Happy, and Let's Pretend This Never Happened) and her blogtastic comedic twin, Laura Belgray, joining us here while on book tour for her debut memoir, the national bestseller, Tough Titties: On Living Your Best Life when You'...

Three #1 New York Times bestsellers. Nearly twenty million books sold. One of the most popular self-development blogs in the world. What more could Mark Manson take on? As of this week, movie stardom. Suppose you're a fan of Mark'sThe Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck (or his follow-up book, Everything's F*cked: A Book About Hope). In that case, I predict you'll LOVE how Universal Pictures depicts this beloved counterintuitive approach to living a good life from page to screen.It was a blast fo...

Marie Forleo is back on the show! HER show, actually. Say what? In a rare move for each of us, this is a replay of my recent appearance on MarieTV while touring for my latest book, Beautiful Writers. Since Marie and I LOVE this episode and 80% of the population say they want to write a book, we're doubling up to help you beat those odds. You can also catch us on video on YouTube if you'd prefer to see and hear us.Whether it's your first time listening to this episode or you're here for ...

It's finally here! Pub Day for Beautiful Writers: A Journey of Big Dreams & Messy Manuscripts—with Tricks of the Trade from Bestselling Authors. To celebrate this happy day, I invited a few of my fave writers to join me for a writer's roundup for good vibes as we talk about the things we did that WORKED. The details we want to remember to do next time. There’s always resistance, sure. But so much magic, too, and that's what I wanted to focus on today.You'll hear on the show why I chose th...

New York's # 1 book influencer, author, DAILY podcaster, and publisher, Zibby Owens, is here! Joining her is Peruvian mountaineer, humanitarian, and social entrepreneur, Silvia Vasquez-Lavado, the first openly gay woman to climb Everest and all seven summits (who happens to be one of Zibby's favorite writers). Welcome to another literary love-fest!Hello! With only seven days until pub day for my Beautiful Writers book, I couldn't help myself. I had to record a podcast with these fantastic aut...

We’ve missed you, Danielle LaPorte & me! Our season of book delivery kicked our asses. (How to Be Loving for Danielle and Beautiful Writers for me, both available now for preorder.) But that’s what it takes, often, to create our best work. So, since we know we’re not alone in this endeavor to leave a legacy, we’re back together to dish, deal, and laugh about the absurdity. The hours! The focus! The OMG never-ending details! Now that we’re on the other side, mostly, we couldn’t wait to sha...

Spooky smart. Miraculously mystical. Devilishly delightful. Listen in as two prolific bestselling thriller authors, Patricia Cornwell (over 100 million copies sold) and Tosca Lee (award-winning NYT bestseller), sweeten up our Halloween with this perfectly low-cal, high magic treat. And I'm not just throwing the M-word around. The true tales shared here are nothing short of supernatural and will help you BELIEVE in a universe that wants what you want. One that can't help but clear the path whe...

Today's a very good day! This Book Mama is giddyhappy. Since meeting Jenny Lawson over five years ago, I've ached to have her on the Beautiful Writers Podcast, and it's finally happened on this, my post-book-delivery return to the show. After taking months off, I couldn't be more excited to be back with this literary lovefest! Jenny, who's on tour for her latest #1 NYT bestseller, Broken, and I are joined by the great Martha Beck, whose recent immediate NYT bestseller, The Way of Integrity, i...

"I'm glad I'm not competitive," Elizabeth Gilbert said when listing her dear friend Marie Forleo's assets and calling her a "quintuple threat" before adding how incredibly loyal, decent, and giant-hearted she is. It's with that kind of feel-good sisterhood that we kick off this first episode of the Beautiful Writers Podcast for 2021. Two #1 New York Times bestselling authors, celebrating their healing from the same major surgery, their recent paperback releases (Marie's Everything is Figureou...

It's here—our 4th annual Beautiful Writers Podcast "Best-Of" episode! Just in time to save your creativity in the New Year from all that binge-watching and doomscrolling. It's been a year—2020 (hence why this Summer episode's dropping in Winter). I don't have to tell you what kind of havoc the pandemic has unleashed on our best-laid writing plans and schedules. Fortunately, my interviewees dish all about their time and focus challenges and share their best workarounds. Okay, not Deepak Chopra...

Two of the top-selling YA Fantasy authors of ALL TIME give us a master class on earning, output, and living as epic a life as the stories they’re writing. On this fifth birthday of the Beautiful Writers Podcast, these #1 New York Times bestselling novelists—Nigerian-American Tomi Adeyemi (Children of Blood and Bone and Children of Virtue and Vengeance) and her dear friend and mentor, Pakistani-American Sabaa Tahir (An Ember in the Ashes series)—astound with their frank, nothing-is-sacred admi...

Chris Jackson, legendary publisher and Editor-in-Chief of One World, an imprint of Penguin Random House, is here with Valarie Kaur, one of his star authors—or, as he prefers to see his writers, who include Trevor Noah, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Jay-Z, and Mira Jacob, “superheroes.” After all, changing the country is not for the faint of heart, and Chris looks for formidable fighters. Kaur’s unique superpowers as a civil rights activist, lawyer, filmmaker, and author—with degrees from Stanford, Harvar...

The world feels like it’s exploding. With Covid-19 and anti-racism protests both raging through our streets, I had a sensitive, maybe even a bold question to ask Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Patchett, two longtime literary idols of mine. How are a couple of white women so audacious as to write books where the majority of characters are not their race or gender?How does a woman, sitting alone in a room, put her mind and heart into the soul of a man? Or an African American (enslaved, or modern-day). O...

Jane Goodall, Ph.D., DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, and UN Messenger of Peace, is with us from the UK for a special eco-edition of the Beautiful Writers Podcast. I’m excited to celebrate the release of the Nat Geo film The Hope—showcasing Jane's lifetime of jaw-dropping conservation—with the use of stunning audio from the movie.Joining us is our longtime mutual friend, Keely Shaye Brosnan, a fearless activist. Like Jane, Keely has been a leader in conservation for decades—involve...

In THE interview of my life so far, Joy Harjo, Poet Laureate of the United States (the nation’s “official” poet!) is here. She’s the first Native American to hold this position, and I’ve been a weepy mess since she agreed to chat with us. As someone who lived on raw land in Northern New Mexico and studied with Native Americans, I'm deeply moved by her talent and activism on behalf of tribal peoples and vulnerable female populations. For some reason, I had a strong intuitive sense that Joy wou...

These New York Times bestselling authors on tour meet here for the first time. Laura Munson is promoting her first novel, Willa's Grove, while Terry McMillan is about to share with the world her tenth or eleventh novel, It's Not All Downhill from Here. (She doesn’t keep count—“They’re not like children, you know.") Both women have decades of butt-in-chair know-how with which to enlighten us and make us laugh.When I say enlighten, boy, do I mean it. Does anyone else need to learn how to put he...