Is It Finally Time to Make Your Dream a Reality? (w/Author, Bianca Sloane)

Is there a dream or goal you would  pursue if you knew you couldn’t fail? Many of us shove things off to the side because we don’t have the time, energy, or bandwidth to go after them.  However, as technology and working from home has changed the way we do things, and the pandemic has re-ordered priorities, it may be worth re-considering. Here’s a story of someone who did just that! We think you’ll be inspired by this interview with a best-selling author who once thought trading in the 9-5 grind for writing novels was just a pipedream! 

We first talked to Bianca Sloane in 2019. She told us about how one day she decided to dust off some old manuscripts that she’d written, enroll in a writing class, learn about the art of publishing, and simply believe in herself. Fast forward years later, she now has a collection of sizzling, successful, suspense novels and is herself a resource for aspiring writers!

Whether it’s a new career, a side hustle or your retirement vision, the steps Bianca took will inspire you and give you ideas for your journey!

Don’t wait until tomorrow to make your dreams come true, and don’t wait until tomorrow to listen in on this thrilling podcast episode—we have a guest who shares her story of how she got started and how you can make your dreams happen-- today! The road wasn't always easy Bianca ; but she made it happen and learned so much on her journey! Now she wants to share that with you!
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Imagine Yourself is hosted by Lanée Blaise and Sandy Kovach. Lanée is a TV writer and producer, motivational speaker and podcaster. Sandy is a radio personality, voiceover artist and podcaster. They come to you from the Detroit Metro area and invite guests from all over the world to help encourage you in your health, career, faith journey and more!

Transcript

Biance Sloane [00:00:03]:

It was not just the light bulb moment. It was that the light bulb exploded Yes. Over my Yes. I said, look. I can do this.

Sandy Kovach  [00:00:13]:

Have you been revisiting your old dreams lately or maybe getting some new ones? Changes in our world are making more things possible, so we decided to revisit our chat with best selling author, Bianca Sloane, who only a few years back was working a 9 to 5 and had all but given up on her dream of becoming a novelist. Spoiler alert. Her dreams came true, and we think you'll be inspired by her story. I'm Sandy along with Lanee, and we welcome you to Imagine Yourself, where we help you imagine the next chapter of life with race, gratitude, courage, and faith.

Lanée Blaise [00:00:47]:

We have here today the thriller author of successful whirlwind novels, an author who She actually keeps me up late, kinda messed me up because I'm reading and I'm quivering and I'm shaking. I'm trying to figure out how are these folks gonna get out of what they have gotten themselves into in these psychological thrillers. We would like to welcome Bianca Sloane.

Biance Sloane [00:01:07]:

Oh my gosh. How am I gonna possibly live up to this wonderful introduction?

Lanée Blaise [00:01:12]:

You oh, you already have because, like I said, you kinda messed me up because you had me up at 3 AM, and I'm shaking. And I'm by myself, and I can't The bathroom's wow.

Biance Sloane [00:01:20]:

Oh, it's done then. So yes. Well, thank you. That's wonderful to hear people say that they couldn't put down the book, this thing that you created, these characters that you had. I take that as the ultimate compliment. Opponent.

Sandy Kovach  [00:01:34]:

And I can't wait to read 1, but Bianca wasn't always like that. It's a story of and we'll get more details on it. But, Basically, at one point, you were just doing your regular job and just kind of dreaming of being a writer. Right?

Biance Sloane [00:01:49]:

Absolutely. I, like So many. Did everything you're supposed to do right. Went to college. I got a job in corporate America and kind of dutifully was doing that, but It really, in my heart of hearts, wasn't what I wanted to be doing. I had always, as a kid, was always kinda head in the clouds. I guess you could say, you know, I was dreaming up story ideas and I would write fan fiction. This was Back in the eighties before, you know, we knew what fan fiction was.

Biance Sloane [00:02:18]:

You know, I was reading books and writing, watching TV shows or movies and you know, I could do that better. I could do that. So I had my little notebook where I'd write down my ideas and rewrite scenes, and that was just really where my heart was, my passion, my fire. But like I said, you know, you go to college, you get the job, you do the things that you're supposed to do, but it really wasn't what I wanted to be doing. And So every night after work, I'd come home and I would be writing. Doing that every night and every weekend.

Sandy Kovach  [00:02:49]:

So you're spending all this time writing, and what do you do as far as try to get published?

Biance Sloane [00:02:56]:

That's the rub, as they say. So I spent because this is just kind of who I am. I'm someone that is I wanna figure out how to do something. I read every book and every article that I can find on it. And, really, at that time what the kind of conventional wisdom was that you get a literary agent. And you do the query go round, I call it, because you send out And with query or pitch letters to literary agents hoping that they'll want to represent you. And then Once you land an agent, they will then turn around and then try to get you published by a traditional publisher.

Sandy Kovach  [00:03:32]:

Okay.

Biance Sloane [00:03:32]:

It's a long process because you have to learn how to promote yourself and also promote your story, and that can be difficult for A lot of people I mean, I think for me, I had a little bit of a leg up because I was in marketing. I was in advertising public relations. So That part of it wasn't quite so difficult for me, but it's grueling because you just have to keep doing it every day. Another batch, another batch, another batch.

Lanée Blaise [00:03:59]:

And deal with possible rejections

Biance Sloane [00:04:02]:

well, not possible. Reality. Real and actual rejection. I went through that process with 2 of the manuscripts that I had written, you know, psychological thrillers. I would get some that would say, oh, sure. Send me the first 50 pages or, oh, send me this. But you get a lot more of, no. This just isn't for me.

Biance Sloane [00:04:21]:

Or you don't even get that. A lot of times, you will just get blanket. Thanks, but no thanks. You never get any feedback as to what you might actually need to work on.

Sandy Kovach  [00:04:31]:

Thank you, drive through.

Lanée Blaise [00:04:32]:

Yeah. Or that's it's no response at all. Yeah.

Biance Sloane [00:04:35]:

Right. Exactly. So it can be very demoralizing. I got discouraged, And I put those dreams away, as I like to say. And

Sandy Kovach  [00:04:46]:

How do you put dreams like that away though? Oh my gosh.

Biance Sloane [00:04:48]:

It's hard because especially when you're seeing people who have kind of been in your position going on and, oh, I'm getting published or, oh, I'm this. And you're like, well, I'm no. I'm pretty good writer. Like, you know? Yeah. Why is it not happening for me? But you really do get discouraged, and you really do start to question, well, maybe I'm not as good as I thought I was or all of these emotions that you go through. So 7 years.

Sandy Kovach  [00:05:16]:

I had them years.

Biance Sloane [00:05:18]:

Okay. 7 years. I had those books, as I like to say, collecting dust on my computer.

Lanée Blaise [00:05:24]:

Mhmm.

Biance Sloane [00:05:25]:

And I had continued working in corporate America, and then I had gone out on my own. And The revelation, if you will, the epiphany came. This was 2011 or 12. I was doing some work for a client. I was writing a press release, and it was, like, 2 o'clock in the morning. And I was waiting for the client to come back with final approval on this press release.

Sandy Kovach  [00:05:52]:

At 2 o'clock in the morning, you're waiting for a client?

Lanée Blaise [00:05:54]:

Interesting things happen at 2 AM. Yeah.

Biance Sloane [00:05:57]:

I know. Isn't that crazy? I was sitting here, and I'm like, This is not how I saw my life unfolding at all. I did not grow up saying, oh, if I could only sit up until 2 o'clock in the morning waiting for approval unimpressed relief. And I said, I've gotta do something. That that whole idea of if something's not working, you have to ask yourself, what can I do that's different? What can I do to make a change? Right. And so I said, okay. Let's look at these stories that I've written. So I first step that I took was, I'm gonna go take some writing classes And see maybe where some of my deficiencies might be.

Biance Sloane [00:06:36]:

See where I can become a stronger writer. So that was kind of my first step. And that can be hard. Right? Because we all think we're per I mean, I'm perfect, but, you know, it can be really hard to have that kind of like, okay. What do I need to do to get to the next level? I started I I took some classes here locally, and then I had an opportunity to take a writing class with one of my writing crushes. Her name is Joy Fielding. She's a Canadian author, and she writes psychological school suspense. And I'd read every one of her books, and then I saw on her website she was offering writing course in Toronto.

Biance Sloane [00:07:15]:

And it was one of those things where I was like, oh, I'd have to go to Toronto and oh and the money and oh and the this and owe and the that. And I remember I I was saying this to my stepmother, my late stepmother, and she said, you know, there will always be a reason not to do something. So you just find a way to do it if you really wanna do this. And she passed away not too long after that. And I saw that the class was being taught again, and I just said, you know what? It's like she said, there's always a reason not to do something. So I figured it out. I went, and it was just an amazing week. It was, like, a life changing week.

Sandy Kovach  [00:07:50]:

And you met your, writer crush? Yeah.

Biance Sloane [00:07:52]:

I got to meet my writer crush. Exactly. Who gets to say that they spent a week glurting at the knee of someone whose books they've been reading and loving for years?

Sandy Kovach  [00:08:02]:

And I think we can probably think of that for any career. Exactly. You

Biance Sloane [00:08:05]:

can spread that out.

Sandy Kovach  [00:08:06]:

Yeah. Yeah.

Biance Sloane [00:08:07]:

It happens so rarely. And when you have those opportunities come around, I mean, you just have to jump on them. So while all that was going on, I so really where the true kind of light bulb moment happened was I had come across an article about an independent author by the name of Amanda Hocking who was in a similar position. She wanted to be published. She had tried going the traditional route. Then she found out that Amazon was actually offering the opportunity to upload manuscripts and sell them. And I'm reading this article, and it was not just the light bulb moment. It was that the light bulb exploded Yes.

Biance Sloane [00:08:47]:

Oh my Yes. I said, what? I can do that. So I took my new found confidence in my writing skills from having done these writing courses and reworked my stories, And I learned everything that I could about this new burgeoning industry of indie publishing. And I released my 1st book as an independent publisher at the end of 2012.

Sandy Kovach  [00:09:15]:

And how long did that take To take off, was it immediate, or did you have to wait a moment? Or

Biance Sloane [00:09:21]:

Yeah. I waited a few moments. Okay. So more waiting. Yeah. That one took a little while To really kind of find its legs, what I wound up doing was I had reached out to quite a few book bloggers And asked them if they would be willing to review the book in exchange for me giving them a free copy, and I didn't know these people from Adam. They didn't know me. I just, you know, 1 book, totally not proven, and they loved it.

Biance Sloane [00:09:49]:

Oh. And it was one of those moments of, oh, Maybe I've got a shot here. And so I released my next book about 6 months after that, and that one took off immediately. And then the next one took off immediately as well. And it's been such a crazy ride, but I have to say I think it's happened the way that it was supposed to happen. I'm a believer. Things do happen for a reason. Things happen.

Lanée Blaise [00:10:17]:

Yeah. And people are also seem to be nicer than We often give credit for people in this harsh, cruel world to be. You said that these bloggers were willing to take a look at your work

Biance Sloane [00:10:29]:

Mhmm.

Lanée Blaise [00:10:29]:

And give honest and excellent reviews based on the interest and the kindness of their art.

Sandy Kovach  [00:10:35]:

And then having that background that you had in public relations and marketing, That kinda helped you too. Right?

Biance Sloane [00:10:41]:

Yeah. I think it did help me just even having my package, I call it. Mhmm. So just it's that whole idea of being ready when opportunity strike. Yes. Right? Oh. For sure. Put that 1 in for the day.

Biance Sloane [00:10:53]:

Right?

Sandy Kovach  [00:10:54]:

Write it down.

Biance Sloane [00:10:56]:

Write it down. Yes.

Sandy Kovach  [00:10:57]:

Have that website updated. Have your social media looking good. All that stuff. Yeah.

Biance Sloane [00:11:02]:

Absolutely. I had an opportunity I live in Chicago with a local contest. They were looking for local authors to promote and we had to enter and blah blah blah. And it was an opportunity to be featured in libraries across the state. So I made it to, like, the semifinals or quarter. Don't know. I didn't win. Okay? That was that was the important thing.

Biance Sloane [00:11:25]:

But I was able to leverage that to reach out to my local branch and say, hey. I was just in this contest for libraries. I came close. I didn't get it. But what would I need to do to have this book the on the shelf at Chicago Public Library.

Lanée Blaise [00:11:43]:

Yes.

Biance Sloane [00:11:44]:

And they said, well, here's the steps. Here's the process. So I had my little package, my little media kit, my bio, a quote sheet of positive reviews of my books, other things that people immediately, when they see, they're like, Oh, okay. You're actually legitimate. No.

Lanée Blaise [00:12:01]:

Right? Like a portfolio.

Biance Sloane [00:12:04]:

Right. It was an actual professional package, and it wasn't something I had to scramble to put together. I already had it. Right. So I sent that along, and, like, 8 weeks later, the book was on the shelf. Nice. Main Chicago the main one that, like, everybody goes to. I remember I went with 2 of my girlfriends because I had seen on the cuter, okay, yes, on the shelf, but I wanted to actually see it.

Biance Sloane [00:12:28]:

Yes. And so my 2 girlfriends, I corralled them into going. So We go we find it on the shelf and we're silent screaming in the, you know, Jackson, Chicago Public Library. But, Sandy, to your point, it was using the skills tapping into what I had done for all those years and applying it to what I'm doing now. It's just always being ready because you never know when an opportunity is gonna come up.

Sandy Kovach  [00:12:53]:

Preparation meeting opportunity and okay. So you're a PR person, But somebody listening might be in some position that they will end up being able to use in whatever to make their dream come true. It could be writing like you. It could be music. It could be baking cookies to sell on Amazon. It could be anything.

Biance Sloane [00:13:12]:

Absolutely.

Lanée Blaise [00:13:12]:

Yeah. And they can use their current back because you're not Saying for people to totally give up their day job right off the bat, you're saying that you can

Biance Sloane [00:13:23]:

Don't do that.

Lanée Blaise [00:13:24]:

But but ease into it and prepare for the other side, your case, the creative side that you have, and have it be professional, have it be prepared, Have connections that you make. Make use of the skills that you already have, whether some people are in sales currently or some people are In other facets of business or communications or whatever, use those to push it along for whatever this dream shot is.

Biance Sloane [00:13:53]:

Absolutely. Use everything. That's something that actually, if you are a writer or a creator of any kind, They always say use everything because you just never know what that thing is that's gonna hit.

Sandy Kovach  [00:14:05]:

And in this day and age, you mentioned ebooks. Musicians. I think that there are things that are harder about the music industry now as far as people getting paid for their music because of streaming and all that. But on the other hand, that my son, who is in college, is also a musician, and I think someday he would love to be a rock star. But he he's actually very And I'm not saying not to belittle him at all, but he, you know, he and his band of the kids in high school, they're called Boys in Ties, because they wore ties in high school. Yeah.

Sandy Kovach  [00:14:39]:

Yeah. They put out an EP, and it's on Apple and Spotify and all this stuff. And back in the day, you used to have to have a record deal and all that just to get your stuff out there. So

Biance Sloane [00:14:51]:

Absolutely. And

Biance Sloane [00:14:51]:

that's same with publishing too. So publishing yeah. Self promotion, self publishing, all these different things to get out. Maybe this world has made it a little easier to do things Through your own means.

Sandy Kovach  [00:15:04]:

Yeah. Wasn't, Shawn Mendes who got discovered just be by doing those? Were those, 6 second videos? They don't exist anymore.

Biance Sloane [00:15:11]:

The Vine.

Lanée Blaise [00:15:12]:

Vine. Yeah. It was going up last year. Yeah.

Biance Sloane [00:15:15]:

Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran

Sandy Kovach  [00:15:17]:

Right.

Biance Sloane [00:15:18]:

Chance the Rapper. You know, Chance the Rapper has never been with a record label. He has done everything digitally streaming, and he has said I will probably never be with a record label. I will probably never go that route. And he's done phenomenally well.

Sandy Kovach  [00:15:34]:

Oh my gosh. You know? he was not chasing the offer.

Lanée Blaise [00:15:35]:

Yeah. Money

Biance Sloane [00:15:36]:

too. Yeah. Right. Exactly. He gets I saved all the money. And and, you know, publishing is really one of those last bastions of that. With movies or music, You're kind of lauded, really, for bucking the man, you know, and, you know, go indie. You know? But there has been something about publishing.

Biance Sloane [00:15:58]:

It's been a little bit of an elitist thing, but what a lot of people don't realize is that there are a lot of very successful independently published authors. For example, that movie The Martian with Matt Damon. Yeah. Well, that started off as an independently published book. And, actually, the author, Andy Weir, he used to release on his website Just like a chapter a week kind of a thing. And then people were clamoring, oh, can you make this a book? He made it a book and uploaded it to Amazon, and it's kinda like the rest is treatment

Biance Sloane [00:16:30]:

To an Oscar nominated movie. And some people would say, you know, oh, but that's the exception, not the rule. But we could be here all day. I mean, I could tell you all of the success story.

Sandy Kovach  [00:16:40]:

And you can't say, well, that's the exception of the rule. I mean, well, you could say it, but you gotta get out there and try it. Okay? So maybe it doesn't work out. But if you don't try it,

Biance Sloane [00:16:47]:

But if you don't try it, it's definitely not gonna work out.

Sandy Kovach  [00:16:48]:

Definitely not gonna work out.

Lanée Blaise [00:16:50]:

thinking Bianca, you have a trilogy of books that kind of packaged together, Killing Me Softly, Sweet Little Lies, Every breath you take, Missing You, all those named after songs.

Biance Sloane [00:17:01]:

Yeah. And that's deliberate. Yes. Yeah. But I want one of the I want You know? Yeah. Give him give Andy my number. Yes. I would love that.

Biance Sloane [00:17:18]:

I would absolutely love to see you know, I think almost anybody Who does this? Would love to see their words come to life, if you will, on the screen. Again, it's about opportunity and it's about being ready with the opportunity. And it with each book that I put out, it's another opportunity for someone to find me And then come back and read all of my previous books because that does happen. Yeah. I get emails from readers all the time. Oh my gosh. I just read fill in the blank, And I just went and bought the rest of your books. And I'm like, that yes.

Biance Sloane [00:17:51]:

Thank you. We we like that. Sounds like neat. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Lanée Blaise [00:17:57]:

People too. Yeah. Because now I have all of your books.

Biance Sloane [00:18:00]:

Well Yeah.

Lanée Blaise [00:18:00]:

And I take them to the talk about them at the beauty shop. And It just you know, it's that little word-of-mouth thing. But that just really I'm so proud of you for not giving up. Because it seems like there was a point where you almost could have given up, and a lot of people may be right on that brink teetering. And I hate to say it. Sometimes, there are situations because I always joke about with my kids about watching American Idol and some of those people who think that they are great singers and they just are not. So sometimes, And maybe

Biance Sloane [00:18:31]:

Right.

Lanée Blaise [00:18:31]:

It's it's not for you. But Right.

Biance Sloane [00:18:34]:

How do you know

Lanée Blaise [00:18:35]:

that you need to keep going?

Biance Sloane [00:18:37]:

I think for me, it was No one was gonna believe in me but me. Until I believed it myself, then I couldn't possibly convince anyone else to believe in me. I think also too even though because, you know, as I said earlier, I was discouraged by the fact that, you know, I was doing these query letters to these agents and getting nowhere. But I would take some solace in the fact that Some of them wanted to see Yeah. What I would say. So that was, like, a little sliver that I hung on to. And then even in my corporate days, I would have People say, oh, where did you learn to write? This is really good. So I kinda took both of those things and said, okay.

Biance Sloane [00:19:18]:

I know I've got the chops. I've got the ability. It might just be a matter of working on the craft, and that Is what I would say for anyone in any endeavor, creative or otherwise, is really spend that time learning inside and out what you're doing. I write every day, but I'm also constantly reading articles about character development or story structure or watching movies and examining how they're telling a story and how I could maybe apply that to some of my work. If you want to be that baker, for example, Barefoot Contessa, who I love. I've had several of her cookbooks. You know, she might make macaroni and cheese 6 times in one day to get it right. Wow.

Lanée Blaise [00:20:05]:

Actually. Yeah.

Biance Sloane [00:20:06]:

And you just sometimes, You just will have to be willing to sometimes make the macaroni and cheese 6 times in order

Sandy Kovach  [00:20:13]:

Or whatever your macaroni and cheese is.

Biance Sloane [00:20:14]:

Yeah. Right. Exactly. Exactly.

Lanée Blaise [00:20:17]:

People don't necessarily think like that. They think that there's either instant success, luck, or even that they just were born knowing these things. And

Biance Sloane [00:20:27]:

Mhmm.

Biance Sloane [00:20:27]:

There's kind of a theory floating around, at least some of my friends, that Not nearly as many people out there who act like they know what they're doing in these high power positions really knew what they were doing at the beginning. You know, they just kinda have to start it

Lanée Blaise [00:20:41]:

Yeah. They can try to make it. Yeah. Yeah. And they had to they had to get started. They had to learn while doing. Just like you're saying, you are already an accomplished author, yet you still continue to work on your craft, learn more things, learn from others. I really want to emphasize that because many times people quit because Yep.

Lanée Blaise [00:21:01]:

They think that they don't know enough As opposed to diving in and learning more.

Sandy Kovach  [00:21:05]:

And let me bring up too. I used to do a radio show with you guys have probably heard of Kenny G. Right?

Lanée Blaise [00:21:10]:

Yes. The

Sandy Kovach  [00:21:11]:

saxophonist. Yes. Right. So he would practice. He would tell me, I practice, like, 3 or to 5 hours a day. Mhmm. He's still practicing. And how long has he been playing Right.

Sandy Kovach  [00:21:20]:

I love the fact that you're out there practicing and working and learning. And no matter how successful you get, whether You're 1st starting out or you've already kind of achieved your goal. If you wanna stay relevant, if you wanna stay good, if you wanna Keep your craft going. You do have to learn. And you took those actions by going to that class in Toronto, and that was, like, the first big thing did. Right? The writing classes and then sort of snowballed.

Biance Sloane [00:21:46]:

Yeah. Like I was saying earlier, it was refining what I had, And it's one of those things too where there is something to be said for not knowing what you're doing, and there's No pressure. It's true. It's true.

Lanée Blaise [00:22:02]:

I don't even know how hard

Biance Sloane [00:22:03]:

it's gonna be. Right. Do this. Exactly. No problem. Yeah. Oh, this is easy. What's everyone complaining about? I don't get it.

Biance Sloane [00:22:12]:

You know?

Lanée Blaise [00:22:13]:

So use that to your advantage. Yeah.

Biance Sloane [00:22:15]:

Use it. Right. Exactly. But then reading and this is something that I say to anyone who wants to write a book. And whatever your industry or, you know, whatever it may be. You have to kinda find your gurus. But Stephen King, who I'm not someone who's read every single thing Stephen King has written. I've read, like, 2 books of his out of, what, 200.

Biance Sloane [00:22:38]:

But he has written what I think It's probably the definitive book on the craft of writing. It's called On Writing. He talks about the importance of the craft, And he tells a little bit about his own story and the rejections he got. We don't think Stephen King got rejected. Right? No. He did. You

Lanée Blaise [00:22:57]:

know? Yeah.

Biance Sloane [00:22:58]:

A lot. You're probably on. Yeah. You know, now he could write the phone book, and that would hit the New York Times.

Lanée Blaise [00:23:04]:

Stick his name on the front cover. Yes.

Biance Sloane [00:23:06]:

Everyone be like, this is the best phone book that's ever been written. You know, it's a phone book. You know? Can I have the audiobook? Yeah. Exactly. Yes. Only if Morgan Freeman reads the article book. Right? Yeah.

Lanée Blaise [00:23:18]:

Another thing that you had mentioned to me before we started that You're launching a new site, a resource for aspiring writers.

Biance Sloane [00:23:26]:

Yes.

Lanée Blaise [00:23:26]:

And I just have to ask you a little bit about that because that means you're ready to reach out and help those who are burgeoning authors like you once were.

Biance Sloane [00:23:34]:

Yes. So it's a new site, Bianca Sloane Writes, like writing, writes .com. What I want to do is offer very straightforward, very plain spoken writing advice to newer writers. It is Very daunting when you first jump into this. There's so much to keep straight. There's So much to learn. And sometimes you will read articles or read books, and it's kind of like in the like, you're not, like, quite sure what they mean when they talk about some of the terms, like story structure or narrative thrust. And you're like, what? So I want to present this as just straightforward, plain spoken, trip it back to the essentials In order to really help get over the hump, if you will, and take out some of the intimidation of learning the craft of writing because, you know, as I was saying earlier, There's a a bit of an elitism in publishing.

Sandy Kovach  [00:24:35]:

I can kinda sense that. Although you're not an elitist at all. But when

Lanée Blaise [00:24:39]:

you're trying Pull that away. Right?

Biance Sloane [00:24:41]:

I'm trying to take some of that away. Exactly.

Lanée Blaise [00:24:44]:

It could be good writing. Be good writing. Yeah.

Biance Sloane [00:24:46]:

Yeah. So I wanna try to take some of that out and, like I said, just be very straightforward, very plain spoken.

Lanée Blaise [00:24:54]:

We love it. We I love it. We need it. So once again, that website is biancasloanwrites.com, and that's for the writing resource. But if Someone wants to purchase your book.

Biance Sloane [00:25:07]:

Biancasloane.com. And from there, you can find information on all of my books And links to all of my social media. I'm on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest. I'm on Amazon, Barnes Noble.com, iTunes, Kobo, for any Canadian reader.

Lanée Blaise [00:25:24]:

And Bianca Sloane. That's s l o a n e. So biancasloane.com.

Sandy Kovach  [00:25:28]:

And I'll put your info on our website as well

Biance Sloane [00:25:31]:

as well. Oh, wonderful. Thank you

Biance Sloane [00:25:32]:

so much. Yeah. I appreciate that. Thank you.

Lanée Blaise [00:25:35]:

So now we always have a section of the day where we have takeaway time. And I think if it's okay, I wanted to do takeaway time by a quote by Maxwell Maltz. It kind of reminds me a little bit of your journey and what others can use as their journey. Often, the difference between A successful person and a failure is not that one has better abilities or ideas, But the courage that one has to bet on one's ideas, to take a calculated risk, and to act. And we wanna make sure that we are encouraging everyone to use those gifts that they have within, use that creativity in a productive, lucrative, real way just like Bianca Sloane has, because your creative pursuits can be your side hustle or your real deal day job. You know, just gotta take it slow, but you have to start by acting. You have to get started. You have to do some things.

Lanée Blaise [00:26:34]:

Am I right there, Bianca and Sandy?

Biance Sloane [00:26:36]:

You are 100% right.

Sandy Kovach  [00:26:38]:

Taking step 1, it can be very intimidating. But unless you do it, how are you gonna know? Do you wanna live with the fact that, oh, I coulda, shoulda, woulda. No. You wanna at least try. Right?

Lanée Blaise [00:26:49]:

And reach out to the resources like Bianca Sloan rights Or like all these different fields where there are people who are offering workshops and websites and ideas and books and things to Strengthen your craft.

Biance Sloane [00:27:02]:

Yes. I would say that's where it all began.

Lanée Blaise [00:27:06]:

Well, we would like to thank you so much for being here, And we wanna make sure that everyone can imagine yourself talking and thinking and learning about what it is that you dream of doing, Taking real steps to really get started and make it happen. Use today as your little kick in the pants to make someday today.

Sandy Kovach  [00:27:31]:

Yes. You can do it. And Bianca has been busy even since we last talked tour putting out even more material. You can find all of her suspense novels at biancasloane.com, including her newest thriller, What You Don't Know, And her newest audiobook dropping soon for Killing Me Softly. We'll also put those links on imagine yourself podcast.com, and hope you'll take a moment To check-in with us as well, just pop on over to the show notes to join the conversation. And until next time, when we have something new to imagine, Here's to your dreams coming true.