Some things I’ve been learning throughout the month of August:

• The Harry Potter books are even more fun the second time. I’m currently reading Order of the Phoenix again, which is my fave! We knew since The Sorcerer’s Stone that Dumbledore was a badass, but then this book happened. As Kingsley says, “Dumbledore’s got style.”
• Meditation works wonders for the writer’s brain, and for every other part of the brain, too. If you haven’t tried the Headspace app, give the free trial a go. It’s awesome for stress, for focus, and there are some really fun animations to watch.
• There’s something incredibly fun about hearing your audiobook for the first time.

Yes, you read that correctly! I’m so excited to say that THE CARVER is now available to listen to on Audible!

Thanks to Blaze and to the vocal talents of Kit Karlyle, all of the characters of The Carver have come to life in roughly eleven hours of audiobook awesomeness, and I have to confess I’m very happy with how it turned out. There are a lot of characters at play in this story. I found myself wondering, how is one man going to do all of these voices? But then I started listening to his rendering of Pietro. And then Hansel. And Rosana. Snow. Liam. The dwarves. Avoria! Bellamy!!! It’s so much fun, honestly.

In the meantime, I’m hard at work on the sequel, and I’m consistently blown away by how well Krystal and the Blaze team understand my vision. We’re about to crank it up and really forge it into the sequel I dreamed of sharing with you. In psychology, there’s this idea of “flow,” where you lose your sense of time and become completely immersed in what you’re doing. It happens when the level of pleasure meets the level of challenge and reward, and I can honestly say that when I’m writing and revising these books, it’s the ultimate flow experience.

One more thing I wanted to share with you this week: check out this amazing banner image! It’s my official “brand” now, and the artist made it even better than what I saw in my head! I’ve always been drawn to stories that start in mundane places, and then branch out into extraordinary worlds. (Think LOST, Kingdom Hearts, the Marvel movies, etc.) This is the image I strive to paint in your head, and I love the image the artist just created for me!

Do what you love, and love what you do! Go find your flow this week 🙂

Jacob