Beautiful Writers Podcast

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, I wanted to share the momentous occasion of my audiobook birthday with, the answer was crystal clear. Kelly is not just a dear friend but also someone whose life and career have been profoundly shaped by Rhonda's work, starting with The Secret film that captivated the world in 2006. As you'll hear, I don't think I'd have ever seen my name on the New York Times bestseller's list (in 2008) without Rhonda's influence, so I had a strong feeling this conversation would be particularly intimate, spiri

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—or something like that.Write on!Linda xo

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 traditional publishing and run straight into self-publishing, but that was the vibe. Within months, Jody had sold so many pre-orders for Kids These Days: A Game Plan for (Re)Connecting with Those We Teach, Lead, & Love that she funded her first two printings. A quarter of a million books later and a second in the series (Teachers These Days: Stories and Strategies for Reconnection), Jody was approached by a top-five publisher for her latest book, Feeling Seen: Reconnecting in a Disconnected Wo

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 agent rejections! Say what? I'd just gotten started sending him out! But thankfully, Hal followed his instincts.It's been a show highlight for me to cover the topic of self-publishing—something I haven't yet done here. Stay tuned if you've ever thought you couldn't make a fortune being your own publisher. Hal (and Dr. Jody Carrington, the author in the second episode) have wildly exceeded anything I thought possible without a traditional publisher's support, earning millions of dollars

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're the F-ing Worst.Y'all, this one's a mood booster! And a total love match, as you'll see. If you're in the mood to laugh and shake off the funk from your Doomscrolling, this is the show for you.This may be Laura's first book, but she's one of the most successful career writers I know, starting in TV writing for NBC, HBO, USA, Nick at Night, Nickelodeon, TV Land, VH1, and others. Let's just say the girl gets around. Her blog and newsletters at Talking Shrimp are wild

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 for me to have Mark on the show finally. As you'll see, despite his success, he's still a humble guy. Quick to laugh and talk freely about the crap we creatives all experience. Including some extreme things few of us will face that he and I share. As a former ghostwriter (who co-authored a NYT bestseller with a man who experienced a tragic public fall), I've wanted to take Mark aside and ask him a few things confidentially. Why Mark? He was Will Smith's writer for Will, the 2021 memoi

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 a refresh, let's dig into these mindset-changing concepts to get you in your writerly flow. Topics covered include: — How to finish your manuscript like a pro. — Marie’s “hackathon” method to write her book proposal in 48 hours.— The #1 trick to writing faster and having more fun.— What successful authors have in common.— How to banish “writer’s block” for good.— The secret to landing a huge book deal. (It’s not what you think!)— A story on writing the hard stuff about others, with nearly unbelievable

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 this group of brilliant humans and what they've each meant to me on my writing path.For the quickie bios, we've got Martha Beck, NYT bestselling author of a bunch of books, the most recently, The Way of Integrity, a 2022 Oprah Book Club pick.There's the legendary Steven Pressfield, author of a bible in our field, The War of Art, and other massive hits, including his new riveting read: Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Wants to Be, and a few movies, too.The incredible novelist, writing teacher,

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 authors and miraculous human beings. Why now? Because I couldn't get their missions or memoirs out of my mind. Zibby's Bookends: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Literature and Silvia's In the Shadow of the Mountain: A Memoir of Courage (Selena Gomez will soon play in the movie) stole my focus and my heart.Sometimes the best thing to do when you're busy is dive into a great book—or TWO! I'm so excited to share this episode of the Beautiful Writers Podcast with you, where we get honest about

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 share the backstory with YOU!Because, like us, you’ve been trying to write something valuable, right? Something that, dare I say, stands the test of time?! (That’s the hope, isn’t it?) We know you know. We raise our glasses to you for endeavoring to attain such a lofty goal:).Thank you for listening, sharing, commenting, preordering, and helping us celebrate this milestone on the platform that started so much for us both. Dig deep with us as we cover: Networking chutzpa (naive much?). Wrangling celeb permissions & blurbs

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 when you keep showing up.I had full-body goosebumps several times during this conversation. With NO idea when I imagined matchmaking for this episode that Patricia and Tosca would have such outrageously mysterious stories BEHIND their stories or that they’d have shared such unbelievable synchronicities, I'm still in a bit of a daze.Patricia joins us at the start of her tour for Autopsy, the 25th novel in her #1 bestselling Scarpetta series. Forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta has returned to Virginia as the chi

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, is my new bible. I didn't know how well they'd hit it off ahead of time, but the pairing is pure beauty.We cover so much here! Mothering and writing and life-ing with depression and OCD and all the crappy things that make mothering and writing and life-ing so much more complicated (but with odd benefits). We cover truth-telling and how it makes for all kinds of mayhem and magic. (Of course, I had to ask how that works precisely with telling an unbelievable story on the page.) We talk abou

"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 Figureoutable and Liz's City of Girls), jaw-dropping manifestation tips, warp-speed book proposal-wrangling, and a chopping-block editorial practice that Marie's book and Glennon Doyle’s Untamed benefited from that may leave you sprinting for your delete key. You mean there are secrets to opening your page-turner? Holy smokes. But don’t take my word for it. “Auntie Liz” is layin’ it down and you'll want to take notes. Also to be had? A whole lot of laughter, good-natured

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. He meditates practically all day and has penned ninety books, so whatevs. But the rest of us mere mortals could use a Writer's Survival Guide.We've got mega-bestsellers, often paired with their dear friends, even besties. Cheryl Strayed & Nia Vardalos. Terry McMillan & Laura Munson. Humorist Joel Stein. Dr. Jane Goodall & Keely Shaye Brosnan. Dani Shapiro & Gabby Bernstein. Sue Monk Kidd & Ann Patchett. Anita Moorjani & Kelly Noonan Gores. Poet Laureate of

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 admissions. Still only in their twenties and thirties respectively, these women have nevertheless learned to stay disciplined and committed to a story long after it’s lost its spark, faced brutal rejections and failed deal-making, and even stared down the “evil eye,” giving them fierce determination. Homeschooling during a pandemic while on deadline? No problem. Who says you can’t write a battle scene while setting the table and yelling at the kids to wash their hands?TIME Magazine’s list of “100 Best Fantasy Novels of All Ti

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, Harvard, and Yale—have helped her win policy changes on the multiple fronts of hate crimes and racial profiling, immigration detention and deportation, solitary confinement, surveillance and Internet freedom, and more. But it was her speech in Washington DC at the Metropolitan AME Church in the wake of the divisive 2016 election—a speech where she invited us all to midwife a new nation waiting to be born from the darkness—that catapulted her into the spotlight. It garnered 40 million views and led to this stunning new book, See

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). Or an Amazonian tribesperson. A Japanese business mogul. A Peruvian general. A terrorist. An American soprano. A brother and sister over the course of five decades. Or—as in the case with Sue’s new book—the wife of Jesus? And, in today’s tumultuous times, amid discussions about cultural appropriation, would they even attempt to tackle these topics if they were starting over?Do you remember where you were when The Secret Life of Bees came out (Sue’s first novel that sold 6m copies and became a film starring Alicia Keys, Que

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—involved in some of the most dramatic environmental wins of our lifetime (think Dolphin Safe Tuna Act, for starters). Excerpts from Keely's latest offering—the award-winning film, Poisoning Paradise (illustrating how agrochemical companies are treating the islands as pesticide-testing grounds for genetically engineered crops)—help bring this interview to life.If you're like me, you fell in love with Jane as a kid, watching her climbing trees and grooming (and being groomed by!) wild chimpanzees in the Gombe forest

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 would have a perspective on the global Corona pandemic currently sweeping the globe that would bring a higher vision and comfort—and boy, did she! Her thoughts on this topic surprised us both and remind me why I love talking with visionary creatives; you never know what magic awaits!Joy is the author of nine books, including one of my favorite memoirs, Crazy Brave. Her many honors include the Ruth Lily Prize for Lifetime Achievement from the Poetry Foundation, a PEN USA Literary Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. She&a

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 healthy boundaries around their writing practice—like, for instance, to keep family and pets at a respectful distance during storyline crunch times? Terry doesn't mess around, which is probably why long-term publishing success seems to come so easily to her, both on the page and in the hit movie adaptions of her books. (#StellaGotHerGrooveBack #WaitingToExhale …) You might want to take notes. I did.Terry and Laura also share other similarities. Both novels find their lead characters in a midlife shake-up