Today author/illustrator Vesper Stamper shares incredibly powerful wisdom on the lessons she has learned in four decades of creative work. As a child, she found escape in books, she attended the arts high school featured in the movie and TV show Fame, and then pursued music, illustration and writing. She talks about the long road to success, the role of art in our lives, the power of collaboration, and why relationships need to be at the center of creative work. Her new book, A Cloud of Outrageous Blue is out this month!

Today I want to explore a topic that many writers and artists avoid: money and finance. I'm excited to welcome financial expert Jacquette Timmons onto the podcast. She talks about the psychology and emotion around money, and how it can limit your potential as a creator. I love the way she frames this: "We are talking about money all the time, but we aren't having the right conversations."

Welcome to the third part of my book launch case study with Leigh Stein. A year ago she and I began working on the marketing strategy for her novel, Self Care, which was released a few weeks ago. In this episode, we discuss the many ways the book has been successful, and how a year's worth of marketing work has paid off.