Cara Brookins's Blog, page 3

Will This Path Take Me To My Goal? – Raise My Roof With Ben Lieberman

You may be more sure of your goals than anyone in the world. And if you have the determination to get there, it seems like there’s no stopping you. Everyone believes you’ll make it. Until something major comes along to scramble everything. Maybe it’s something good, or something tough. Or maybe it’s a tragedy of the worst degree. A nightmare. ... Read More

Loving Your Day Job – Raise My Roof With Joanna Penn

Look me in the eyes and tell me you love your day job. I can tell if you mean it, and not because I have super powers. Things just change when you talk about the thing you’re most passionate about. It sounds like a ridiculous cliche, I know, but your eyes really do light up. You become more animated. You ... Read More

Confidence Changed Everything – How I Borrowed Until I Could Buy

Fake it ’til you make it, they say. And it’s sound advice for many times in our lives. (Like ordering lunch in a foreign language, or one of those fast-moving coffee shops for experts.) But most people misunderstand what exactly they’re supposed to fake and how to do it. And even after you finally get the idea down–unless you’re a ... Read More

Hosting a Podcast – Why I Love It

I never planned to host a podcast. This is surprising since I’ve been a fanatical podcast listener since before most people had even heard of them. The truth is, I’m an all-around huge fan of spoken story in all forms. Live storytelling, audiobooks, and the shorter clips shared in podcasts. If you’re one of the rare sort who hasn’t explored ... Read More

Cover Quotes Sell Books – How To Get A Great Author Quote

The publishing process is so much more complex than most people imagine when they begin writing a book. After adding dozens of unnecessary words to high school essays to reach a target word count, I started my writing career believing the most difficult thing was just to put an entire books worth of words on paper (without including things like: ... Read More

Our First Thanksgiving – Building Inkwell Manor

We started small. Over the Thanksgiving of 2007 my kids and I gathered twigs, pine needles, and acorns to build a small model of a house. It was pitiful and crumbling with no thought of plumbing or electricity. The mini-house wasn’t much to look at even after we added doll house furniture and glued it all together. Our early sketches ... Read More

Just Say Yes

With Rise weeks away from release, each week I’ve been thinking about where we were in the building process back in the fall we decided to build our own house. That November was a terrible time for me and my kids. Not because awful things were happening though. In fact, we were finally free of so many things. Well, we ... Read More

Speaking on Stage – Tell Your Story Out Loud

There’s no substitute for live events. Radio is powerful, and so are podcasts. Video is a step better, and I imagine VR will take us almost all the way there when it becomes more widespread. But there is nothing like seeing and hearing a person stand in front of you and tell their story. Seeing someone’s eyes and hearing their ... Read More

How to Find Your Big Goal – And Achieve It

Some people seem to be born with a singular passion and goal. Though knowing where you want to be and figuring out how to get there are two distinctly different things. And some of us spend years trying to figure out what our big goal is. Maybe you’re still working this out. If you’re not exactly sure where you’re headed ... Read More

Why Should I Pre-order Your Book?

I’m not a big shopper…okay, full disclosure I don’t like shopping AT ALL. This means Amazon prime is a dream come true. And as soon as grocery delivery is a real option where I live, the only stores I’ll ever step inside are Lowe’s and Home Depot. (Because project shopping is the best thing ever!) For everything else, I can ... Read More