SPEAKER_08 0:07

Each and every day, learn and live your way. Your very best, learn and leave today. The best you can. It's your life. Take a stand to live.

SPEAKER_04 0:27

Live.

SPEAKER_06 0:31

Come on and live your best life.

SPEAKER_07 0:38

With Dr. Julia Royston.

SPEAKER_09 0:43

Hello, I'm Dr. Julia Royston and welcome to another episode of Live Your Best Life, where I'm always seeking to bring you people, places, tools, information, and resources to help you live your best life. And y'all know my favorite part is always when we start talking about books. Because y'all know that's my whole world right at this moment. I have a few other little worlds, but y'all know. It's all about uh books for me, literacy, publishing, promotion, all that good stuff. And so if I have an opportunity to introduce you or reintroduce you to some uh authors that you may not know, but definitely they're putting out new stuff and uh new releases and then publishers too as well to really kind of tell their vantage point of this publishing world. So um you're gonna be uh getting the inside scoop and especially if you always thought about writing a book and you listen to Julie Rose and often and you're like wonder what what do I get to the vantage points of two publishers and really get the you're you know you're I always say it's always safety and a good counselor. So, you know, as old folks say eat the meeting out the balls, whatever, whatever done apply to you, just let it go. But what does, and I'm quite sure in this conversation, you are going to receive some boulders, and I just nuggets with some boulders. So if you're old school, get your pen and paper out, get your notebook out, whatever that looks like. If you're new school, because I'm old, I have pen and paper always in hand, and my phone is right next to it. Um get your phone out so you can follow her on social media and support her businesses, support her her authors, and everything else she has going on. So uh I I want Dr. Ringstaff to introduce herself formally, tell us where she's from, um, tell us how we can find her on social media and her website. Take it away, love.

SPEAKER_02 2:52

Hey everyone. Uh, thank you for having me, Julia. I'm very excited to be on your podcast. So thank you so much for this opportunity. I'm Dr. Titiana Ringstaff, and I'm the uh CEO and founder of Honey Tree Publishing, and we focus on Christian-based books for intergenerational community. So we have books for children, teens, and adults. And uh very excited to share more with you all. You can visit us and find out more on www.honeytreepublishingus.com. You can also follow us on Instagram at dr dot titiana ringstaff, and you will be up to date with upcoming events that we have and books that are upcoming as well.

SPEAKER_09 3:34

Okay, so spell Titiana for the uh audience so they'll know there's two N's, there's a Y there, there's an I there. Go ahead and spell it.

SPEAKER_02 3:44

Go ahead and spell it. So it's D-R dot T Y T I A N N A Ring Staff, R-I-N-G-S-T-A-F-F, and uh you would just reach me that way. Um, I have all types of events that are upcoming. I have uh opportunities for aspiring writers if they want to become an author, um, if they want to publish their own books. I work with various clients and help them to move forward their book um at their timeline in a in a way that you know works for them. And I I just love the work that I do. Thank you.

SPEAKER_09 4:17

Awesome, awesome. She's done uh amazing work over the years. She started off with her own book. So so let's take it back all the way back. Um, how did you first um start writing or fall in love with writing?

unknown 4:32

Period.

SPEAKER_02 4:33

Yeah, so um I'm originally from Detroit, Michigan, but I was raised here in Louisville, Kentucky. Went to school through, you know, through JCPS, um, was writing back then as a kid, loved to write, love storytelling. Um, so whenever I would be around my elders, around my family members, they love telling stories, they love entertaining. And so we're constantly, you know, I'm I'm around that, you know, that love, that passion, especially for our history, right? Um, our family history. And so being surrounded in that environment, surrounded by people who have such a love and desire to learn more about their history and to tell the history that they know, um, I was immersed into it. And so I naturally began to write. And it began with poetry. Well, it began with short stories, and then it evolved into poetry, and then it evolved into a potential um opportunity to creatively express myself through various issues and experiences that I was going through throughout my young adult life. Um, and I was able to, you know, um profit really off of the experiences to help other people through uh publishing my book. Um, it was just a really beautiful testimony to be able to utilize what I love the most, which is writing, reading, telling stories, family, community, um, and you know, inner interweaving all of those different components into one and not only producing my own work, but helping other people. And that was something I didn't realize that I was gonna end up doing, right? I did not end up doing that. I remember going to you, Miss Vanessa.

SPEAKER_09 6:17

Yeah, we had a whole lunch about it. No, she kept saying, No, no, I'm not, no, no, no. I'm like, okay.

SPEAKER_02 6:28

Exactly. I was like, I need to talk to women who have already been through this process, and I hadn't even started a publication yet, a publishing company yet. Um, I had worked on publications, but not had I did not have an actual company, so I didn't know how to go about getting the LLC. I didn't know the business registration. And that's when Ms. Julia came in, Miss Vanessa came in and helped show me and tell me, okay, this is how you start your business. So that was super informative. And then also the work that they've done, I wanted to hear their experiences, um, of how they've worked with their clients. And so it really helped to expand my mind. I wasn't exactly sure how my company was going to evolve. I just knew that I wanted to publish my own books. I was in school at the time and undergrad, I believe, and um working on my graduate degree, um, uh, my master's degree at the time in Pan-African Studies. And I was just like, okay, you know, what's the next step? I'm working on all these papers. I want to go into the creative writing field. It was, it just felt better for me. It felt more intuitive, it felt more natural to write from a creative standpoint, but then also to interweave again that academic component. And so that's when that social justice, um, academic research-based writing came from. And it really evolved my work, it evolved my craft, and it evolved my publication, my publishing um journey, um, as well as my publishing company and my work with other authors. So it was a wonderful um, you know, experience, whirlwind experience, but world uh definitely a well-rounded experience that allowed me to come full circle back into okay, what it is that I do desire um for my publishing company, for myself, and then also for our community, especially as we begin to cultivate and inspire and empower other writers to do what they love to do and to tell their stories.

SPEAKER_09 8:26

Right, right. Well, first off, uh uh having the uh wherewithal and even the um I don't know, sometimes I say the goods, because some people just don't ask. They just don't ask. Now I understand there are other people, there are gatekeepers out there who are not going, well, you'll figure that out, you know, and they just kind of look at you and they give you that big eye and blink. Um Vanessa and I, Vanessa Collins is who she's talking about. But Vanessa Collins is and if you've been following me for a while, you know, me and Vanessa Collins are are tight and and uh business besties. And so, you know, we're not that kind unless we just feel like um somebody's really trying to take advantage of us, we're really pretty open for that process because we've learned a lot over the years and we understand the potential pitfalls, the mistakes we've already made. And if somebody has the audacity uh to meet us for lunch and say, Help, I'm thinking about uh I want to know, so I can either say yes or no and make a decision, to me that's wisdom. And to me that's uh seeking to be a a full grown adult. Um, I know people who are stubborn, you know. You can try to warn them, okay, there's a pothole up there and it could tear up your tire. Well, no, I'm gonna go run into it and see what it actually You know that I just I was like, oh, is that what you're gonna learn? Oh, okay. Right, right. But if you can avoid that pothole and go, oh, thank you for telling me, okay, I'll go around this way. There are some things that are very specific and unique to you that God will always bring to your life. With the big boulders, the big potholes, the big no-nos that you won don't want to get in trouble with the IRS, you don't want to get in trouble with uh major players in your life and and risk everything. You should know that. You you should know that. I mean, nobody's asking you to uh I always say this is uh I'm a born and raised in Kentucky. The eleven herbs and spices. Nobody's trying to change you to the vault. The eleven herbs and spices, but the big unique things or general things that all publishers should know, that all people who are even thinking about being in the literary services space. Because some people don't want to be publishers. Some people just want to help people do it, and then they don't want to put their name on it, they just well that that literary services is cool too. And being an editor, I mean there's so many facets to this uh journey and to this uh piece that a full publishing company is may not be for you. But if you're gonna do a full publishing company, uh I suggest like Tatiana and I that you write. Do not try to do publishing without writing. You need to write in the genres at least three to five books. Because, you know, there's one thing to say I have one book and then there's another thing to say I have multiple books and multiple promotion and multiple all of that stuff. So I mean I I can talk for, you know, seventeen years in this game. But um we can really uh talk a long time. But it is amazing how you have intertwined your academic area. And so um I was really looking forward to talking to you because now we have the PhD now we can be in a position to throw the paper down to do even more streams of income. You know, publishing and all of that is one, but when you have advanced degrees and things of that nature, you're able to do a multiplicity of things. So now you've been through the dissertation process. So now you know you can have somebody with a dissertation, with a children's book, with a memoir, with a so how does that feel? So how how does that all work? Um being able to maintain and get your own books written. Because we're gonna talk about the the new books that you have coming out, not just that your company has out coming out, but the new book you have.

SPEAKER_02 12:44

So how does that all work? Oh my gosh, it works so beautifully. It's it's a beautiful marriage. It all works and comes together, you know. It it allows me to um think about so in so many different ways. How does this book, how can I use this book, how can I market this book to a variety of different audiences? What can I use this book for? How can I talk about this book in a variety of different spaces, right? So for me, it's curriculum design. For me, it's how to design lesson plans around the activities, creating activities, lessons, creating uh material, educational material that goes along with them with the book. Um, and so you know, as you're writing your book, as you're thinking about your your next book, it's like, okay, how can I, what are the projects within this one work of art that I have? And then how do I maximize, you know, how do I maximize uh and and build wealth, build, build income with this one particular book? So there's all types of different ways, you know, different ideas that you have, write them all down, put them in a document, a share document, a document in multiple areas that way you don't lose any of your work. Um I I love Google Docs, or if you have yes, if you have Microsoft, you can use Word, Microsoft through their Microsoft Suite. But um, and these are these are all free to you if you have a Gmail account. I recommend saving it on there. Of course, making sure that your email or your email password, your email credentials are all saved somewhere, you know, where no one can get to it. That way no one can get to your private work, and then also have it saved on your computer. So in multiple spaces, but always having like, okay, thinking about it as a business, thinking about your book as a business. How do I use this this children's book, right? How do I use this children's book um in in a in a classroom setting? How do I use it in a setting where there are children in Sunday school? How do I talk about this book with adults? How do I talk about this book with teenagers? So that's how I've thought about my books. Um, Sweet Pea and Sugar Tea's Country Family Adventures was my first book series, was my first book. I only have volume one and two written, and then people were like, Well, where's the rest of it? And I was like, Well, that I mean, in my mind, I'm thinking that is it.

SPEAKER_09 15:10

Uh no, it's time to go.

SPEAKER_02 15:12

If they want more, you give them give the people what they want. Come on now.

SPEAKER_09 15:16

Give the people what they want.

SPEAKER_02 15:17

Right. And I was like, you know what? I do have some other ideas. I do have other stories that I want to write about. And so then I was like, you know what? I'm gonna do four, because there's four seasons, and I want kids to read all year. I don't want them to just read two books. I want, I wanna, I wanted to have a narrative that goes along with why you should read these books because you're gonna read throughout the whole year. So each book represents a season. And so I thought about okay, when I was a kid, I used to love to write in books. I was, I mean, I have my mother still has books with me, and I had written on top of the book, inside the book, anywhere I could. I wanted my name somewhere in the book. So I said, you know what? I know a lot of kids love writing in books. Whether they want to become an author or not, they love to just make it their own and personalize it. So I said, in the back of the book, I'm gonna have some lessons that they can do, some activities they can do. Absolutely. Even in some of the stories, there are some little fill-in-the-blanks, you know, and they can fill it in there so that they can see themselves in the book. Um, there was at one point in the 90s, uh, I grew up in the 90s, I'm a I'm an 80s baby, but grew up in the 90s. I love the 90s, and they had this opportunity for children or anyone a reader to insert their name into some of the most um, you know, uh prominent classic books like Snow White and all of those Disney movies and I and books. And so I had one, my mom had one made for me. It was on Snow White, and my name was in there as Snow White the character, and so you know that meant so much to me to see my name in it, to see that I'm a part of the book, you know what I mean? So, like just that idea evolved into okay, I gotta make sure that these the kids are writing in it. And not only are the kids writing in it, the parents are too. It's just the whole family. So I said, we're gonna add in this family tree, you know, and this family tree is gonna help the child to be able to explore their family history, whatever their family history looks like, whatever their family dynamic looks like. We're gonna write through it, we're gonna explore that so they can have a pride, a joy, a love for where they come from, from who they come from, and the stories that are told about those people. We don't want to forget them. So that's that's kind of how I thought about, you know, how to utilize um, you know, a variety of different aspects of my identities. Um, going into the classrooms, teaching it through curriculum, having um standards connected to the each one of those books. And so that's how I did that and um manifested it on a curriculum standpoint.

SPEAKER_09 17:59

Excellent, excellent. Um, you know, and I think um one of the things too about going to events really helps too as well, because the some people are looking at it from fresh eyes. I mean, we've had our hand on the story, we've been looking at the images. If it's especially a children's book, we've been if it's fiction, we've been fighting through the characters, what's gonna happen next. I I'm I'm in fiction right now, trying to figure out what's gonna happen next, how what's a twist and turn. It's it's uh it's it's a hard subject line to even fool with, but I've gotta I've gotta keep fighting with it because I got a deadline to reach. But it's the whole point of when somebody sees it with fresh eyes, they go, ooh, wait a minute, what is that? And they come to it with a different vantage point. So um that that's really it an awesome thing. And if you're creative like you and I are, we take the creative ideas and then we run with it. You know, like, whoa, thank you. Thank you for that idea. But what has been one thing that in this process that we didn't talk about at that at that lunch, or one thing that you really uh learned since being in the publishing space? What has been one just one because I know it's a multiplicity, believe you me. I I know, but um what has been one really um serious lesson that you've learned in this process?

SPEAKER_02 19:25

Yes, the the serious lesson just came to me recently, and I was like, this all makes so much sense. It was writing can be super quick, you can write the story very, very quickly, but the editing is going to take way longer. The editing and the revising is going to take completely longer, and also editing and revising are two different things.

SPEAKER_05 19:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:47

So that was something that I had to understand when I was working on the dissertation. Was okay, how do I edit? How do I revise? I'm still using the same work. Editing is the grammar, you know, fixing the punctuation, the revising is moving it around, the organization component, the categorization. How does it make sense? How does it tie back into what you said before? So those were some areas that I recently I hadn't really thought about it until, you know, I thought about it during the dissertation, but not with the other books. I was just kind of writing and editing as I needed to. But with this last book, and it's been five years since I've written my since I wrote the last, the previous book, which was Am I Next? And it was a um, it was a poetic social protest book that was written in 2020. And I didn't think about, you know, I wrote that book really fast, but with this particular book, Entity, I wrote it in seven days, was not expecting to write this book, and I was like, oh, I got the book, you know, like it was coming, like the ideas, this the characters, everybody. I knew everybody, knew what they looked like, everything. It was just the world that I had created was there. I was just writing it down, flowing, right? And then once I'm reading through it, I'm like, oh, I need to do this, I need to fix this, this, this. I mean, it took it took a long time to get through. It took a month, and and most of the time it takes way longer than that. But I was really putting in a lot of extra double time, triple time hours at night, you know, looking through it again, reading it out loud to the family, you know. Yeah, oh, I just caught something, let me go back.

SPEAKER_09 21:21

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 21:23

Yeah, so I had written the story, it took seven days to write it all out. But when it came to the editing and revising component, that took way longer than seven days.

SPEAKER_09 21:32

Absolutely, absolutely. Yeah, well, when it's in your head and you're getting the ideas down, that makes all sense. But uh it's like, yeah, that's good. But when you hear it, yeah. So this is this is another major thing when you're um writing, especially when you're writing fiction, the flow, what happens next, the transitions. Uh wait a minute, I got lost. Where were we, you know, and and the whole thing of know all of a sudden I know people who do this all the time and I as as someone who writes fiction I catch it quickly even though I'm not the editor. I'm usually the the first person and then I I still love the format. I know I people like you steal what are you doing I'm like girl BK Royston is still my name I want to know what went out. I'm not on that level I know some people who do that I don't I don't know how you work but I know people who just like somebody overseas did it I outsourced it. Yeah and they were like well you just a work I said well I guess I'm just gonna be a working CEO because I tell you what I gotta if my logo's on the back even if my name is not on the front my logo's on the back I still want to be responsible and that's how you hear just as a sidebar that's how you hear of all those tragic stories of businesses that grew and they trusted the wrong person. The finance person the branding person the that person and then you have a mass on your hands now you decided it and you made the decision then you suffered the fallout but when it comes back around with your line of tell the truth when it comes back around that you trusted someone else and you didn't fully know they kind of told you half truth they kind of ooh half truth lies whatever and then you realize what did I sign off on I can't do it.

SPEAKER_02 23:37

I can't so I just yeah neither can I I do everything on my own um there's been times where I've asked my husband because he's really good at editing and he doesn't he's like oh you know he'll do it but that's he's really good at it but he you know he's got other things that he's doing too I was gonna say yeah he got a whole nother life yeah yeah but he'll he'll look at it and so I'll there'll be times where I've done that but um yeah for I mean 100% 99.9% I'm the one who's doing it all and then but if they have their own let's say if they have their own company then they may outsource somebody who is separate from my publishing company like a illustrator or something like that or a cover designer. Right right I'm like oh yeah that's that's what you're doing that's that's separate from my publishing company we have our own specific contract and when I say our even though I know that I'm the CEO and founder I'm the only one who kind of really works it's God who's allowing me to always say our yeah hour so um I'm I put together the contract and then I always have my clients to you know have their lawyer or their attorney to look over absolutely I have no problem I'm gonna have it you know like that scares me.

SPEAKER_09 24:49

I'm gonna have my lawyer look right feel free to do so. Yeah I just recommend it in the beginning I recommend you look at that's the reason why you see it honey that's the reason why I don't sit there while you sign it I let you see it but you know but usually what ends up happening is they don't realize like I tell people all the time I'm usually 10 or 15 books deep so while you doing what you're doing I got other stuff to be doing I'm writing something I'm always I can't do it. I'm addicted to it I cannot I cannot stop speaking of writing so what we so first off I've been seeing a lot of clients from your uh publishing company and I'm like what happened I mean like we go from none and then like we roll around and this next and next next and so what happened?

SPEAKER_02 25:42

Yeah you know uh God happened I I think he just was like it's time to you know bring you some more people and and you know and I was like okay well I think that's what happened and you were ready to receive the people I received the calling yeah and it happens every once in a while a lot of times it's it's um I don't do a lot of promotion that is not really my area of marketing I think a lot of times it's um like word of mouth or if somebody has written a book then they will um they'll share that they've written the book and then people find out okay it's through honey tree publishing and I don't like to put my name all the way out there you know I I I I I like being behind the scenes but um I like to peep for people to know that the book that the publishing company is there right yeah I was gonna say how's that gonna work yeah yeah I well I you know it takes a lot of time for promotion and marketing especially in today's day that's the life of the book is it's it's long term I mean you know books are evergreen they they're not getting ready to like I tell people it's not gonna get stale like bread so it's just every time I mean it it just rolls out but sometimes the sometimes the publisher has to be ready for the book. Mm-hmm yeah and and I you know whenever people come to me I've always been ready whenever whenever people reach out I just tell them you know I ask them what is your you know schedule because I always make time to help people I love helping people and just like how you all helped me you and Miss Vanessa Collins you know I've do I do the same thing even when people are just like I have a question about publishing I'm interested in publishing my book you know and I'll tell them about Honey Tree Publishing and I tell them about the printing company that I use which is Ingram Spark for those who are interested in in um publishing their own book Ingram Spark is a really great um distribution and printing company that you can use um and so I use them as a printing and distribution company they're really amazing and uh but a lot of times people need that extra assistance with layout editing they need post writing you're gonna need it with Ingram Spark though you're gonna need you need you need you almost really need a company if you need a company with ink for Ingram Spark KDP is a little more easier or whatever but for that big global distribution you need you need somebody walk you through you really do and and I I I share that okay this is the Ingram Spark this is kind of like the basics of it but then I also follow up with you know there are certain programs that you have to do that you have to use you have to be competent in in order to get your book even available in their database and so that's the company comes in to help absolutely and you have to be and and for for Ingram Spark too to me is that I gotta hear your vision I gotta hear your heart I gotta hear your are you just doing it on dare I gotta I gotta be able to hear bigger even before we deal with Ingram Spark because I'm like you're gonna need me you're not gonna be able to just and go it's not it's not that easy because of the vast distribution they have the vast options and if you don't understand the the book business just like you said earlier you don't understand the business of books you will be like what happened where where yeah because it's a business yeah and you don't want your book to sit because you've you know you've hit a barrier in that process of trying to do it on your own it's okay to ask people who know and to you know hire somebody with their company to work with you um and and I found that that's been super helpful for a lot of my clients because they'll see certain things I'm like I don't I want this this experience to be seamless for my clients I want to make have any struggles with it I will walk you through it and and there'll be times when I'll do it for you and then I'll show you how to do it because of the time frame that we want to absolutely absolutely so it's a lot of sometimes it can be a little bit of hand holding and that's okay that's good needed that's what's necessary absolutely absolutely that hand holding it comes and you know I I have people who have everything some people come to me and they just need that part I I got stuck here and and so fortunately and that's good to know with you because some people are like all or nothing I either do the whole package or I don't help you at all.

SPEAKER_09 30:03

Well no I'm a la carte and I'm quite sure Tatiana's um a la carte too as well if you just need one thing done we can send you an invoice of that one thing and send you on your way if you just need to be walked through if you need because um the uh the publishing industry and the journey is a living breathing expanding moving money profitable uh um organism period and it changes all the time and you know uh me and Mr. Vanessa we still on the phone girl did you see girl did you know did you see that are you in that you know are you made up for that you know you have to keep up with it and yeah yeah and sometimes self-publishing is just for that book girl child I just did one book I'm not interested in nothing else yeah yeah I know I know but later on they may come back and be like I'm interested they'll come back around they'll come back around I I I just don't want to do it myself I I prefer you do it Julia I prefer you help and I've I've had that often I had a mess I tried it on my own it was a mess I was like okay you ready now I know part of me says are you ready now you know whatever I know it is what it is I I'm just glad that we have the opportunity to be in this space and um I'm always uh uh thrilled to bring other black female publishers because people you know they consider me and Miss Vanessa like unicorns like I know I so honey I I know at least 20 publishers because I I don't have a problem being friends with them. I don't have a problem because there's nine billion people on the planet I'm not publishing nine billion books I'm gonna tell you that now and 62 years old no no no I've done a lot 500 is a lot but uh but 62 no nine billion no not right now no not in this lifetime maybe the next one but not in this lifetime but there are plenty of there are people out there reputable that I know that that I've worked with that have asked me questions that have not asked me questions that I know that are in this space so people are out there and if you do want to learn please learn from a reputable one that has made mistakes that has succeeded and and write and learn from people who don't write they're in it for the money only and unless you go through the pain and the agony of writing from the white page from the Google Doc from the um a 365 Microsoft WordOffice doc from whatever that looks like you're using it is very very difficult.

SPEAKER_02 32:50

Okay so I gotta get into um no I'm not taking a break I'm gonna keep I'm gonna plow right on um so tell me about the latest books you've been working on yeah so before I get to that I did want to mention the names the titles of the books that I recently published for my recognize them too because they have some really great books um and they are these books are all owned by them um they they you know they reserve the rights to the copyright and so whatever they whatever whenever you purchase their books it goes directly to them but one by Mr Peter A. Witt it's called Wimps Don't Build Kingdoms a really really great book another book is by Mondre Moffitt Black Music Footprints the Jazz Experience he is a guru in jazz and musician and he's a professor at Simmons College of Kentucky uh we also have a new book that has been released by Shashray McCormick an amazing woman um she has written a book honoring Diane Porter a uh leader in education and social justice absolutely yeah so it's a children's book it's titled Honoring Diane Porter don't take no for an answer and then we have another book uh The Hunter Head Game by Coach Carroll which is DJ Carroll and he's given us the ins and outs of how to be a successful business person. I mean it it's an incredible book he has an incredible story um he is a uh millionaire CEO and he has a lot of really great wisdom to share so make sure you check them out grab their books too um they have some really great uh material to share and and uh wisdom to share with you all and so yeah I wanted to share some more about my book as well um I did not expect to write this book it is titled Entity it is a horror novella I grew up watching scary stories and I love spirits and things like that but my background comes from uh being a Christian woman a follower of Christ and thinking about um you know God's love and God's spirit and his lessons through biblical teachings and so I thought okay how can I interweave you know how can I how can I make uh a book that teaches lessons about uh about God godly lessons and how to follow God and what does it look like to have a personal relationship with God so on the surface you think this is a just a scary book right this is just another scary book something that doesn't have any real connection but it really does um it is based on scripture and when I first came up with the idea I was thinking of writing a book that was only for the church and then I thought you know what I want this to be larger I want that because not everybody goes to church not everybody um has a connection to a spiritual practice or to religion and I said I need this to be larger so that I can reach more people that's what Jesus did he didn't stay in the church he was out there okay preach there preach there he was out there so I gotta go out there okay and and I'm a I'm a follower of Christ and I gotta do this I gotta do some of those same things to the best of my ability to get his word out there and to go into these spaces that many times are uh don't seem as though oh my gosh going into that yes I am okay I'm gonna have to talk to groups of people all types because I want this lesson to be learned and the lesson is about choice the lesson is about choice so I'm gonna read a little bit of the back of the book just to give you all a uh taste of what the um spirit is of you know that represents this book how far would you go to uncover the truth a dark sinister spirit lives at the Victorian style 1847 mansion once the most prominent plantation in Kentucky marked by its sinful nature in an obscure ancient text scribed on the ceiling this house has garnered attention for generations for its lore but as four friends Evelina, Jameson Chelsea and Frederick venture into the old house to put to rest the urban legend they uncover something even more nefarious introducing entity a horror novella originating from the mind of Dr. Titiana Ringstaff complete with madness mystery and magic this book of fiction is sure to haunt its readers for eternity now that don't make you want to go find it and go buy it is it at honey tree publishing it is and it's also on Amazon it's on Barnes and Noble so it's on a variety of different distribution networks you can find yeah I love it I love it okay now I'm mine is uh the men of Roberts Junction really not so much them being the main characters but it it's going a little bit to the next level into the human trafficking thing.

SPEAKER_09 37:37

So I'm like girl I it's taking me forever. Yeah I know oh yeah I'm trying not to go down into it too deep I'm not you know even in the introduction I said don't come for me don't be uh I made up a city I put it in I said does this city exist? No I said I know it's in Kentucky but uh no and so I'm really trying to really kind of get into the mind of everybody so even the traffickers even the you know I'm trying to keep it like they in it for money they just forget humankind and they in it for money. So really you know it's hard this I if I get a paragraph a day I'm doing good because I don't want to go down in it and then I'm haunted by it and not child I'm haunting I know you're plow you plowing it through and that's good. You gotta plow and I gotta plow I gotta it's gotta be done by the first of October so when you said a book in seven days I'm I'm gonna be and and if I get 10 000 words if I get 15000 words I think I can get to 15 yeah I don't even think I'm gonna make it to 25 to a whole novella I'm just it's gonna be like a little bit more than a short story. Yeah that's about all I could get I can actually I like happy stories. I know I know and you know what the funny thing about it that's funny that you say that so this book is a most all of my books most of them are all positive you know they're happy when you're trying to go down in that yeah yeah yeah now that I I just have a lot of material that's deep you know has um some really deep seated struggle yeah but I can do the struggles I can do he mistreated me he done me wrong I can do that but thanks oh no what makes your mind want to kidnap somebody what makes your mind want to even really and all that that happens that you don't know about and that happens and you know what somebody asked me that they said what made you write this book and I said I know it sounds different and maybe even strange but I had such a wonderful experience traveling and my my recent vacation I was not thinking about anything scary yeah and no ideas of nothing like that I was like in a fantasy world and so when I came when I we were we were on a um we were in our we were on the airport and our flight was delayed and when it was delayed I had more time to you know I was thinking about I was reading too so I hadn't been reading fiction in a while for a long time because I'm so used to reading academic work so I was reading for fun and immediately it just came to me and my niece had sent me a an audio recording and it was like a warped sounding I was like my little seven year old niece I was like what the heck is this it sounds yeah right and then it put me in the span of a scary idea for a story and then immediately it came to me the seven deadly sins and that's what this book touches on it touches on the seven sins.

SPEAKER_02 40:41

So each day I was like I want to write about each one of these characters who dealt with one of these deadly sins yeah so I wrote it out in seven days and then I added all the additional to it and then that's how I was able to to come up but I was writing around hummingbirds I was writing as I was walking along beautiful fields of flowers there was nothing deep and scary that was happening. I was just writing it as I could see the characters come to mind so it wasn't nothing scary happening inside of me it was like the message that God was giving me to tell different people and how it's connected to a lot of our stories or people we absolutely and it was like I need for you to tell the story.

SPEAKER_09 41:22

Yeah he's like yeah I need now he said well if you don't you know I need somebody to tell it I need somebody to to understand that and it's gonna be totally fictionalized and and some of the things he gave me has actually happened like you know the the horse trailers I didn't really I was like really I found it you know that they use the head horse trailers to transport people and all that I'm just like I don't even want to get down into it but I'm gonna tell the story I'm gonna be obedient because he told me I can't get to the fun stories until I finish this one.

SPEAKER_02 42:00

That's right you got a you got an assignment to do okay but you know and you know it's just like the um the Queen Esther story come to the kingdom for such a time as this to save alive.

SPEAKER_09 42:20

So we gotta save much people alive. We gotta do what we we can do to contribute. I'm not in criminology I'm not in law I'm not I'm not but if if I can really point out and help somebody to do something differently and it's amazing sidebar because this is this is my last name we're gonna shut it down is that um the more I'm I'm very keenly aware of things and I watch things because like okay I was at gaslight festival and I'm like who are you and where's your mama and where are your people at and who's you know I become very conscious because it's thousands of people in this thing and I'm like what you just left them and they let you leave them and roll up in my tent? Blessed come on under my booth like okay it's a safe place but where's your mama I'm like these y'all y'all not and then these these same people my daughter's missing return them I'm like well I know how they got away because you let them get away you didn't put them in the cart you didn't hold them by the hand you didn't you let them run I know they was bigger whatever but okay so I see it now yeah I definitely see it I see it quickly and easily how how it can be done I know they're not small enough to be in the stroller they need to be holding on to the cart they need to be inside it they need to be anyway they need to be holding on to somebody's hand hand or something oh Lord they just get in the way and I understand how the the wrong criminal the wrong day the wrong time that maybe be gone no it's horrible you have to keep your eye on kids and gives you a different insight whenever God gives you that you know that assignment it gives you new insight right it gives oh totally more insight than I ever wanted I mean 22 years of being responsible for kids and and being the teacher of record and and count one two three four five six hold on I'm missing two hold on twenty five okay wait a minute okay wait a minute somebody's extra or whatever you're a conscious of that but once you retire you're like good I can let that go all right it has been a pleasure always and congratulations on everything's going on with you and then the whole um um new horror yeah because you know that's big for movies right now horror stories so the film people I know are gonna be coming for you well this is gonna be a film so I was gonna say I that's the that's the genre right now yeah they won't get your lawyer ready is it get your lawyer ready exactly exactly trademark okay trademark come on too get your lawyer baby get your lawyer I love you appreciate you and all that you're doing congratulations on everything and keep moving forward doing what all you do and um congratulations and and best wishes to you so much and I hope to go on vacation I hope to go on vacation sometime soon I was living vacuously watching your um vacation pictures going okay I gotta be next yeah you deserve it go go yeah I'm gonna give you even more ideas you won't yeah yeah yeah plus bus dude you be blessed um praying for you I'm Dr.

SPEAKER_08 45:49

Julia Royce and praying today tomorrow and always no matter what that you live your best life be blessed until next time bye bye each and every day love and live your weight your very best learn and lead today the best you can it's your life take a stance or live your best life live your best life come on and live your best life with Dr.

SPEAKER_01 46:35

Julia Royston Rand Cameron here inviting you to join me for the rhythm and the praise we play a perfect blend of today's gospel music and we pay homage to legends and iconic performances with our gospel plastic rewind and we interview movers and shakers in gospel music so join me for the rhythm and the praise Wednesday at 1 p.m right here on Envision Radio What happens when God steps in and changes everything flip the coins four times is the powerful true story of Chauncey Turner a life once bound by drugs in prison now transformed by the grace of God through faith redemption and purpose Chauncey's story proves that no past is too broken and no soul is too far gone.

SPEAKER_00 47:39

If God can do it for him my child he can do it for you get inspired today flip the coins four times is available now on Amazon.com Welcome to Linda Ross Ministries where transformation begins and restoration becomes reality founded by Linda Ross Turner this ministry is dedicated to renewing lives through faith compassion and Christ centered action driven by the core value to encourage and build up by being the extension of Christ faith in action is our driving force Linda Ross Ministries meets people where they are without judgment but with love. Many have been left discouraged by a lack of genuine care during their struggle but Romans 5 reminds us that Christ accepts us just where we are and not because of what we've done but because of who he is. Through prayer scripture and compassionate outreach this ministry offers hope, healing and a message restoration and reconciliation are possible for everyone connect with Linda Ross Ministries at wwwlinder com to submit a prayer request or call us at 786 257 8484.

SPEAKER_09 48:49

And don't miss the live broadcast every Monday at 3 p.m on envision-radio dot com linda Ross Ministries faith in action walking with you every step of the way being a business owner is not for the faint of heart easily discouraged are one who quits at the slightest problem or issue on the other hand there is not a business owner entrepreneur nonprofit director ministry leader or author that has not wanted to pause slow down or even quit it is human nature but if you could just take one more step if you could fix that one problem if you could find a friend mentor or coach to talk to about the situation who could point you in the right direction or be the answer you need you can keep moving. There are three things that I want this book to encourage you to do watch your mindset make moves and don't lose momentum Mindset Moves Momentum by Julia A. Royston is available now at juliaystonstore.com that's juliaroystonstore.com