Hi Reader!

I just got back from a two-week vacation in Belize ⛵🌴, and about halfway through week 2—as I was trying to find the tiniest shade to huddle away in from the ☀️ brutal UV—I had an Aha Moment... about myself.

I wouldn't call it a good realization. 😰

But it was an important one.

And it explains so much about why I've been so unhappy for so long.

Not like, miserable unhappy, but this low-key feeling that I'm just not good enough.

I've always felt that way. I just assumed it was normal, that this is how people live.

But sitting on the back deck of that catamaran, sharing dinner with an old friend and watching all our new friends chat around us, I realized...

I have been hiding in plain sight. 🛡️

I put on a good show, outwardly. I seem confident, like I know who I am and where I'm going. And that's true professionally.

But personally, I'm always waiting to be rejected. To be talked over. To be ignored, dismissed, shown yet again that I'm not enough. 😩

So I rush my words to cram all my thoughts in... before they stop listening.

I fumble my sentences, trying to get just the right phrasing... or I'll lose their interest right from the start.

Or I keep quiet when I want to speak up... because they probably won't care anyway.

This ☝️ is NOT the path to happiness.

This ☝️ is a Protection Pattern that is keeping me stuck feeling worthless.

And worthless is one thing I NEVER want to feel.

If you've listened to my 🎧 Story Sorcery podcast, you know I talk about myself sometimes. I use my own life moments to teach. Because a hero's journey is a human journey.

And this month, inside Enemies To Experts, is when we're talking about the Protection Pattern your hero uses too.

🖱️👉 You can log in right here, right now, to do that exercise.

Even if you're busy, try to find a spare hour in your day to sit down and really look at how your hero is protecting themself too.

Because that ☝️ could be the missing detail that unlocks your own Aha Moment.

🔍

That feeling of worthlessness I mentioned earlier is an important clue too. It's one of my personal Root Fears.

👻 The Root Fear is the most important discovery you'll make about your entire manuscript.

And we talk through ☝️ THAT in Enemies To Experts too.

Hope to see you inside the program soon.

Because the world needs your story now more than ever. And you're the only one who can truly make it shine. ✨

💡 PS: This vacation inspired a book, ✍️📖 and I'm writing it now. That's something I've wanted to do for a long time, and I've never had the words, never knew the focus and tone and all the details that matter before you design the story. Well I have those words now. And they are pouring out at the most inopportune times. (So much for my relaxing nightly 🛀 ritual.) And I am feeling a LOT. That's how I know this book is the right book to spend time on. It won't be romance, but it will be something FOR romance writers. Because we are on the same journey of self-discovery, and that is a powerful tool for a storyteller to harness. More details coming soon.

🤔 Do you want to get updates as I write this book? Do you want to hear about it in emails like this? What are you most interested to hear about? Hit reply and let me know. 🥰