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Madilynn Dale describes herself as “an author, blogger, freelancer, podcaster, producer, reader, mother, outdoors enthusiast” and so much more. I met Madilynn when I was invited to be a guest on her podcast, “The Chapter Goddess”. Of course, I also had to have her as a guest here. She consented and here we are. She always wanted to write, but never did anything seriously about it until after her son was born. She will tell us the story and describe why writing has become so important to her. To date, Madilynn has written and self-published 19 books with at least two more on the way to come out this year. Prolific by any standard since she has only been publishing books for three years. Her story and insights are not only inspiring, but Madilynn offers some good advice using her life experiences. She offers us all some good ideas of how to live and function better. About the Guest: Madilynn Dale is an author, blogger, freelancer, podcaster, producer, reader, mother, outdoors enthusiast, and overall creative. She's a host for several shows featured under Go Indie Now's wide umbrella, hosts a podcast channel of her own, and loves to travel. Madilynn enjoys chatting with creatives from all areas of the field and letting her viewers see the authentic side of each one of them. Madilynn is an Oklahoma author and holds several different degrees. She has a bachelor's degree in Kinesiology and an associate degree in Physical Therapy Assistant Sciences. Her creativity stems from something deep within, and through her bond with the creative flow, brings her stories to life. She never envisioned herself as a writer but took a leap of faith while pregnant and began a new journey. She enjoyed writing short stories as a kid and has been an avid reader since grade school. Madilynn's hobbies, when not writing, include reading, baking, crafting, hiking, playing with her son, caring for her rescue pets, gardening, teaching, and horseback riding. She loves to travel and explore. One day she hopes to expand her travels and see the world, but in the meantime, you'll find her working on her next novel. Ways to connect with Madilynn: https://www.thechaptergoddess.com/ Facebook https://m.facebook.com/MadilynnDaleAuthor https://m.facebook.com/groups/2693867800852468/ TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@mdwriter?lang=en Instagram https://www.instagram.com/madilynndalewrites/ M.D. The Chapter Goddess Www.thechaptergoddess.com About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children’s Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association’s 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes
Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Michael Hingson ** 01:20 Well, Hi, and welcome once again to unstoppable mindset. And today we get to chat with Madilynn Dale, I have to tell you the story. Because Madilynn has a podcast called The chapter goddess podcast, right? Yep. And I was interviewed for that a little while ago. And of course, as I am prone to do, I told her it'll cost her she'll now have to come on unstoppable mindset. That's the price, you know. Anyway. So she agreed to do that. And so here we are. Madilynn is an author. She's a freelancer, she is a podcaster and a whole heck of a lot of other kinds of stuff. And I'm not going to give it all away. Because then she wouldn't have anything to talk about. And where would we be if we let that happen. So Madilynn , welcome to unstoppable mindset. We're really glad you're here. Madilynn Dale ** 02:16 Thank you for having me. I am really excited to be on and very thankful for this opportunity. Michael Hingson ** 02:22 So Madilynn lives in Oklahoma City. My father was from Dewey, Oklahoma. And, and so he is no longer with us unless he is hovering around Dewey somewhere. But I'm not sure that that's happening. But anyway, I've never been to Dewey, Oklahoma. I've been to Oklahoma and various places, but never to where he was born. But one of these days I hope to get there. Meantime, let's start with you. Why don't you tell us a little bit about kind of the early matalin and, and adventures and what it was like growing up and all that kind of stuff. Madilynn Dale ** 02:56 Oh, well, definitely life was definitely full of adventures. So they kind of backtrack a little bit. I've always been an avid reader and dreamed of being an author. But I never actually thought I could go for it. But growing up, I loved reading and pretending using my imagination to free up creative stories and act them out, get my siblings involved. I have a little brother, a little sister. And we would always have these fun adventures going to the creek looking for worms playing in the mud climbing trees, just stuff like that. And it kind of gave me different experiences that I have used now that I'm actually pursuing my dream of writing. It's given me lots of story inspiration and real life experiences to plug into my characters. So yeah, that's kind of like growing up life in a nutshell for me. Wow. Michael Hingson ** 03:57 So were you born in Oklahoma? Madilynn Dale ** 03:59 I was not. I was actually born in Dallas. So my mom's family is from Oklahoma. My dad is from Texas. And they can't remember exactly how they met. I want to say it was through my Uncle Bobby. But we lived in the Dallas Fort Worth area until I was about five before we moved back to Oklahoma to be closer to my mom's family. Michael Hingson ** 04:24 Okay, and so you. You did most of your schooling then in Oklahoma? Madilynn Dale ** 04:31 Yep. Pretty much. Michael Hingson ** 04:33 There you go. Did you go to college after high school? Madilynn Dale ** 04:37 I did. So I graduated in oh nine and went to undergrad at Southern Nazarene University in Bethany Oklahoma, which is right outside Oklahoma City. then continued on and after getting my bachelor's of Kinesiology went to physical therapy assistant school through Oklahoma City Community College and curiam I have the degree have the licensing since stuff but I don't practice part as much. I do it on occasion. And I'm focusing on my author career and all the moms stuff that goes with it because I am also a parent to an amazing little five year old, who kind of drives me insane sometimes, but you know, what's parenthood without? Going crazy? Michael Hingson ** 05:22 Going Crazy, right? Is there a husband involved? Madilynn Dale ** 05:25 Oh, yeah, he the hubby is awesome. He is the whole reason I get to pursue my dream of writing. He's been very, very supportive. We've kind of butted heads on a few things. Because as a creative, you don't bring in a lot of income right away. But somehow we've managed to find a way and just keep moving forward slowly. So very huge shout out to my hubby for being amazing and supporting me. What does he do? He works in the restaurant business. So right now he's kind of like the GM or general manager for the restaurants he works for. And I'm not going to plug the name in because I will be scolded if I do. They're really particular about me sharing like that, because it's some of the stuff I write. Um, but oh, we'll do that offline. Yeah. hands full with a bunch of different restaurants. He basically travels all over Oklahoma. He goes in installs new technology sees what he can help with them improves, make their business become more efficient, run better workout better for customers, and just, he's got his fingers in so many things in the company. I don't know how he keeps up with it. Michael Hingson ** 06:42 It is like herding cats, sometimes very much so. And then you are at home and you're writing and you're momming and everything else. And I can imagine that that can drive a body crazy after a while. But also, I bet you would say it's well worth it. Madilynn Dale ** 06:59 Oh, yeah, definitely. Absolutely. Michael Hingson ** 07:01 So what is kinesiology? So Kinesiology is Madilynn Dale ** 07:05 basically like exercise science studying how the body works with exercise. And I got a funny, fancy crazy name, because it's just kind of studying how the body works. Another term they called it was like sports medicine. But can you kinesiology sounds fancier party Michael Hingson ** 07:27 does? It sounds a whole lot more sophisticated than sports medicine. Yeah. Well, that's cool, though. So you graduated. And then what did you do? Madilynn Dale ** 07:41 Um, so I worked as a physical therapy assistant for a while until my hubby and I decided we were ready to have kids. And this was kind of where life took a huge turn. We were ready. We planned it like, as close to possible when I got pregnant and stuff, but it also kind of fell on the same year, my sister was getting married. So there was all that craziness. And then after having my son, I had a lot of postpartum depression, anxiety and stuff, and kind of came to a point where I'm like, Okay, I have to do something different with my life. This is not the path I need to go because I was working, trying to work part time trying to do all of the things with motherhood, and it was just too much trying to do that and find the postpartum I did finally get help and get on medication, which made a huge difference. But it was also I needed to make life changes, like what I wouldn't do pursue in life. And I gave my writing an opportunity after some encouragement from some friends. And it just kind of kicked off and I fell in love with it. And my mental health and everything improved from there who's writing kind of made a huge impact on that I was able to write out my thoughts through characters, and it helped a lot. So Michael Hingson ** 09:15 you know, I've said before for me after September 11, if there's one thing that helped me, deal with everything that happened, it would be that I allowed myself to be interviewed by the media so much after September 11, literally hundreds of interviews, and they asked every kind of question that you can imagine, even some intelligent ones. But the point is that it forced me although I didn't think about it at the time to talk about September 11 and all the things that happened. And I think that it was invaluable to do and it became essentially my therapy And then also people started reaching out and saying, We want to hire you to come and talk about September 11. And I chose to do that. So again, talking about it, in even those arenas was helpful because it made me think about what happened and my personality is such that I tend to want to analyze, and fix. And as far as September 11, I can't fix what happened directly. But I realized that whether it's September 11, or anything that occurs in our lives, there may very well be lots of things that we don't have any control over happening. September 11, I am still not convinced that we could have predicted it, I don't think we would have had enough information to be able to predict it. And I got that from reading reports, like the 911 report from the government, so on. But anyway, the bottom line is, what we do have control over is how we choose to deal with whatever happens to us. And it's the same thing with you. And so you had the opportunity to sit down and begin to write and really think about your life and your world. And that has to have helped a lot. Madilynn Dale ** 11:14 It did, it definitely did. And like talking with my husband a lot too. Because he and I both neither one of us realized until at least like three months in what was going on with the postpartum and everything sweet. We didn't know what it was, we hadn't ever known anybody that had dealt with it. And I mean, now that I have, I feel like more people are coming forward about having struggled with it, because maybe people are more educated about it. But I didn't know what was going on. I was like, Okay, I'm supposed to be a mom, like, I was supposed to give all of myself to my child, which I was. But I also like, mothers need to realize that they can't give all of themselves because if they don't take care of themselves first, they can't provide for those they care about. And that was a hard lesson for me to learn and it just didn't want to stick until after I started taking anxiety medication and stuff. Michael Hingson ** 12:11 It's postpartum, more of a physiological thing or neurological or, or mental thing, or is it a combination? Madilynn Dale ** 12:20 I'd say it's more of a combination. Cuz, man, so many things in loons, that is part of it. i The hormones that came with breastfeeding made mine a little bit more, kind of, I wouldn't say worse, that may not be the best fitting word for it. But I got a little bit more most a stable after I quit breastfeeding, and all the stuff that came with that the fear that I wasn't producing enough the stress and everything just kind of I didn't have that. But I still had a whole bunch of other stuff going on. And it's just it. It's so many different things wrapped into one. Michael Hingson ** 13:02 Yeah, I understand what you're saying it can make life a challenge. I have heard of it. And I've known people who have said that they had it and work through it. But it is kind of one of those things that does come up often. And I'm glad that you found ways to deal with it, especially since she started writing. When you hadn't written up until that point, although you you would wanted to be a writer growing up you say Madilynn Dale ** 13:31 I did and I I was always told that because it wasn't the best money making career that I should put all of my work and my education and stuff behind something else, which is why I ended up going pretty much into the medical field and becoming burnt out and pregnancy everything just kind of like snowballed into this crazy mental health circus. I was at that point. Michael Hingson ** 14:02 So how long after you began writing? Was your first book published? Madilynn Dale ** 14:10 Oh, man. So I started writing before I quit working part time. So at least a year and a half. Yeah, you're gonna have to two I think is roughly about the time period because I finished the story and tried to do the whole traditional publishing route. But it didn't quite work for me because I couldn't afford to have an agent. And then I decided to give indie publishing a go and it kicked off and I've just been trucking along and writing and it's been a lot of work keeps me extremely busy. But it's I love it. I love getting to share my thoughts through characters and my experience through characters and stories that pile up in my head. Michael Hingson ** 14:58 So you To publish your own books? Madilynn Dale ** 15:01 I do. Yes, they're professionally edited, because I do go through that whole editing process. I edit like crazy before I send it to an editor. And I have two really good editors that I work with with different manuscripts. And they kind of they provide a lot of good feedback and criticism, and helps me improve. And I'm slowly eking my way into the proofreading, editing kind of field. But I've still got a ways to go, because I'm still learning there. But I don't think I will ever, like edit my own work, because it's good to have another set of eyes. Michael Hingson ** 15:41 Yeah, I absolutely agree. I have collaborated on the books that I've written so far. And we're working on our third one now, which is called tentatively a guide dogs Guide to Being brave. And it's about learning to control fear. But I find that editors can be extremely invaluable. When we did thunder dog, it was extremely helpful. Because the editor was a person who said, My job isn't to change this book. And to tell you what you should I shouldn't say, but my job is to help you make this book the best it can be. And, and he did, he made some really good suggestions that we took to heart and took back to finally finishing thunder dog. And it became a number one New York Times bestseller. So I can't complain about his suggestions. But he didn't try to change the book. He just said, here are weak parts of the book, or here's what needs to be improved to make it a stronger read. And he was absolutely right. Madilynn Dale ** 16:48 Yeah. And they always it fascinates me how much extra stuff they can give you like ideas and whatnot. And a lot of times I'm one of those people that goes up with manuscripts so many times, if a word is missing, like a simple like a or have or the or something my brain plugs it in. But it's not actually there. It's not Michael Hingson ** 17:11 actually there. Yeah. And that's what the editor can, in part bring in to point out those things, which is what therefore, yeah. So what was the first book that you published? Madilynn Dale ** 17:23 Oh, so my first book was releasing her power with him. It is book one of the phase shifter series. And this one, it's kind of based off the main character, she's a lot of who I was at the time. She's a physical therapy assistant, she's burned out. And she's struggling to deal with her mother's passing. So she moves back to the country, which is based off of the area I grew up round Idaho, Oklahoma, a lot of people if you've heard of Broken Bow or hold your town, like the state park there, it's very much based off of that scenery, because I grew up working in the park for five years as a trail guide and stuff. And she's diving into this cabin with all her mother stuff, her grandmother's stuff. And she discovers a huge family secret. And things just kind of explode around her. She finds out magic exists. She also finds out that she's not human that she can change into an animal. And as the story continues, she finds out more and more about her heritage. And her bloodline actually connects to someone from the beginning of people in general, and it's something that's been hidden and it's also dangerous, because it's tied to a whole other world of problems. Michael Hingson ** 18:57 So it's kind of a fantasy book. Madilynn Dale ** 18:59 Yeah. I dabble a lot in fantasy and romance stuff. And her she loves to kind of get a crazy chaotic family has a half sister that tries to kill her several times and fails. Michael Hingson ** 19:13 mean old half sister? Yes, yes. Well, so from a standpoint of publishing and selling books, I understand the whole concept of there's not necessarily a lot of money to be made, but how successful was the first book? Madilynn Dale ** 19:33 It did, okay. Um, I learned a lot of lessons along the way. Starting out, I didn't have a lot to put into funding so one of the things I ended up changing was like the cover I think it went through three different covers before I finally found something that stuck and was good for the rest of the series because there's four books with some spin offs and work yeah, had the You had a hard lesson of why you need to go with a good professional looking cover instead of doing it on your own when you don't have the skills to do that. Michael Hingson ** 20:09 So, yeah, I know that. For me, personally, I don't do pictures and art very well. So I am very glad to help others do that. Yeah, that's because it isn't going to be the thing that that works well. So you have five books in that series all together, Madilynn Dale ** 20:26 um, for that with a spin off in the works. And then the spin off stuff is going to be more of a short on the shorter stories. They're kind of I'm trying to finish the trilogy, that's going to be done this year, before I go back to do the spin off so Michael Hingson ** 20:45 well, so how is all your training and your upbringing and other things like that? How does all that feed into making your books and what you do better, like you had postpartum depression, and so on. So you've obviously dealt a lot with health care, or health care is certainly something you focus on, how does that enter into what you do as a writer. Madilynn Dale ** 21:11 So as I write my stories, all my characters, there is a couple of scenes and stuff where they have to kind of question their own personal mental health and their sanity, like, how they can work through something I want to use live as an example, in the phase shifter series, she does not know how to do any self care, she doesn't know how to get herself out of a burned out state to get back where she can function and go back to working and enjoying life. And then in the inverse series, she has so much emotional trauma dumped on her from where the story starts to where book three picks up, that she has to figure out how to work through it, how to deal with all the grief or the loss, and all of the weight of so many important decisions, crushing her to keep moving forward. Because if she becomes stagnant and doesn't move, the world's gonna fall apart, literally. Michael Hingson ** 22:18 So you're using these books, also to convey life lessons that you've learned along the way? Madilynn Dale ** 22:27 Yes, and they totally didn't start out like them. But that's how they've kind of come along the way. Michael Hingson ** 22:35 But doesn't that make them stronger? Because you make it personal in a way even though it doesn't necessarily look like it to people who don't know? Madilynn Dale ** 22:43 I think so because it kind of gives the reader more to identify with as they read. They're like, Oh, hey, I get that I've felt the same way. Or I've struggled with the same kind of issue. And it gives them a way to relate to that character to keep them interested in this person in the problems that are going on and move them through the action. Michael Hingson ** 23:07 Well, you mentioned Ember, and in any of your series, how do the characters change over time? So how does Ember change and evolve over time? Madilynn Dale ** 23:17 So Ember is one of my favorites for this kind of question. She at the start of the series believes she's a latent bull. She's stuck in this contract her parents made with their packs alpha because she's grown up at a wolf pack. She thinks she's a wolf, they're shifters there's magic. But on one of her days training, she's with her lover, who she's had this secret relationship going on because she is not as viro feelings for the guy she's in contract to marry. And he doesn't really have feelings for her. Neither one of them want to be in the contract, but they can't break the contract because the Alpha found it with magic. And the only way to unbind it is to convince him to let them go until the one she's bound to becomes the Alpha. But that day in training, they come across a house buyer, her childhood best friend's home is in flames. And she rushed into the thinking she can help them because somebody's stuck under a pile of wood of debris that's fallen down, and it's on fire, but the flames are black, which is different because normally fires not black, and she helps the person out. It's supposed to be her friend's mother, but it's not. It's a demon and him impersonating the person and she touches the flames but instead of burning her, her body absorbs it. And this kicks into gear, the release of her hellhound because her mother has a secret she had a one night stand with the devil and Amber's was the result. But none of no one knows the secret except for her mother and her father that's raised her. And as the story progresses, she has to figure out how to control her magic, how she can unlock it, and she gets taken, kidnap the hell has to escape. And it's just like left and right, she's thrown. All of these changes all of these secrets that have been hidden. And in the process, she gets thrown in the middle of a war that's been happening slowly, that increases in speed with her with rebel Vation, that Lucifer has an heir to the throne. And one of the fallen, the seven deadly sins, you know, one of them is finally makes their move on Lucifer to try to take him down and immerse thrown into this and a wars coming and she's got to be able to lead all of those who are on loose first side against the other side. Michael Hingson ** 26:07 Wow, you are going in a whole lot of different directions with this, aren't you? Madilynn Dale ** 26:12 Yeah, she has to grow from being the small town teenager to the air of hail and being able to lead all of these people, all of these armies, and it's all resting on her shoulders with the loss of different people that are close to her that I'm going to not say, Yeah, it's hard not to because a lot of the grief she has to work through and grow is because several those who are close to her, something happens to them. They don't all necessarily die, but some of them do. And that's a lot on any person. Sure. Michael Hingson ** 26:53 And, obviously, I am presuming that, in the long run that helps her girl. Madilynn Dale ** 27:01 Oh, yeah, she by the end of Book Three, she's going to have more power than any other angel or demon or anyone except her father in hell. Because she's also got other abilities that a lot of the other hellhounds do not have. Because she's got such powerful blood running through her veins because she is Lucifers daughter, it gives her stronger abilities and magical connections that no one else has. Michael Hingson ** 27:38 But I'm presuming that Ember overall is supposed to be a good person Madilynn Dale ** 27:42 she is so and I guess a little backtrack. Lucifer and Hal are not quite the same thing as what you would find like in the Bible. It's not all brimstone and fire, it's actually kind of like another version of Earth. But instead of people going there to be enslaved and be put in chains in step three, go there to heal and be given a second chance to make up for the things they've done in life. Now there are those that are beyond that, that are put somewhere else in hell. But ultimately, the whole point of them in our point of hell in the story is a second chance. Michael Hingson ** 28:23 Now, is there a happen that gets associated with this somewhere along the line? Or is that happening lately? Madilynn Dale ** 28:28 Oh, so in Book Three, on top of the war and everything that embers having to face she's also got to stop this person that's Trump tried to take Lucifer down. She's got to stop them from breaking down the gate that leads to heaven because he wants to do it go through the gate to bring the attack on heaven and bring everybody back up. And with Lucifer, down, injured dead, I'm not gonna say what happens to him, it weakens the power of the gate and makes it worse, somebody else can access it. Michael Hingson ** 29:05 So book three is what you're working on now. Or it's it's not out yet. Yeah. Okay. Will it be the end of the series? Or will there be more. Madilynn Dale ** 29:13 So that's the game plan, there are some spin off series that are going to kind of start to come after with focus on different characters. I have an idea for kind of like a prequel of how Lucifer and her mother Kyra meet and how that kind of leads into things. And then there's a couple of characters in the story that are really close to ember. One being her sister, who I'm not going to say what happens, but she has some stuff happen that transforms her into a creature that has not existed before or one that they've never had record of. And I kind of want to give my readers That story too, because she's going to come back, she's gonna make an appearance in books three as this new creature. And she's only mentioned of becoming this in book two. So Michael Hingson ** 30:16 pretty vivid imagination all the way around. How did you create all this? How did this come up? Madilynn Dale ** 30:21 I honestly, a lot of different things played into this, the idea kind of came from a dream I had. And then it just kind of slowly build, I built from there, I've always really liked urban fantasy and fantasy, in general. And this kind of mashes that all together. So it's just, yeah, I just took it away and let the characters kind of leave me a little bit where they wanted it to go, because I put a rough outline down to follow, and it's just kind of exploded from there. Michael Hingson ** 30:55 I think there is something to be said for letting characters drive the story. Because what it really means is your creativity is coming out. And if the characters really tell the story, and you are the scribe that puts that down, then you're really sticking more to a story that I think Madilynn Dale ** 31:17 needs to be told. Yeah, it would make sense. And my books I predominantly write in first person, so it's actually easy to kind of put out there, what their what their what's actually going on with their thoughts with their mental feelings and everything. Yeah. Michael Hingson ** 31:35 Which makes, which makes for interesting stories all the way around. What kind of challenges do you face as an author, I mean, there are obviously struggles and things that occur. So tell us about that a little bit. Madilynn Dale ** 31:49 So something I feel like is my biggest struggle is time management. No matter how many lists and whatnot, I plan out things, I can never get things done as fast as I want. And I've kind of learned to be a little more forgiving with myself when I don't meet those things. Because as an independent author, I get to make my own deadlines, or when my books come out, when I'm gonna have something done. And that's something I've had to really make myself learn and still have struggled with a little bit on this adventure. And it's just and then, as my son interrupts parenting, while finding all the balance, do this stuff as well, trying to space that out, and to make sure he gets plenty of stuff has been. I see it now. Hey, go. Let me finish. Oh, yeah, that makes more play figures. Okay, go. Go. I'll come back. Okay, I'll come back to when I'm done. Balancing that. Michael Hingson ** 32:56 Part of Yes, yes. Madilynn Dale ** 32:57 Um, and just also finding time to take care of myself with self care and giving my brain like a mental break. Something I've picked up probably in the last year is, which was recommended by another author, friend of mine is just doing nothing like set time aside, like 1520 minutes just to do nothing. Don't look at anything, don't do your phone or book or anything. Just relax, you can meditate or just stare at the ceiling. Like it's kind of a form of meditation in and of itself. Michael Hingson ** 33:31 It is absolutely. And there's a lot of value in that. Because thinking is as much a process and as much an process it can you can use up your energy as anything else. And we often don't slow down and just take time to think if we do we find out how much better our lives really are. Although we, we we may not realize it at the time. But if we start taking time every day to think and analyze, and how, how'd it go? Or what did I miss here? How do I not let that happen again? Or how do I improve what I'm doing? Or why did this go so well. And just think about them without really forcing yourself to and just letting things come as they as they come is always a valuable thing Madilynn Dale ** 34:23 to do. Yeah, and it's definitely given me a different perspective on things. I've kind of started organizing things a little bit better. Like my thoughts are a little more organized as well. Yeah. Michael Hingson ** 34:39 So works out for you though. Madilynn Dale ** 34:41 Oh, yeah, definitely. And it's made things a little, definitely a lot smoother. Michael Hingson ** 34:47 How many books do you publish a year? Or do you have enough of an average to really know that? Madilynn Dale ** 34:53 Well, so the book that's what the editor right now is, book number is going to be I go I story because it's such a like, I don't know, it's quite a controversy about how thick an actual novel is or whatnot. But I have, this is the book 19. That's what the editor, so a year I true, my plan is to do at least three per year, with a couple of short stories here and there if that like, something comes up, and I'm like, oh, you know, I'm just gonna play with this idea and put it out. Because I've submitted a couple of short stories to different anthologies, and those they've been published to so well, that's Michael Hingson ** 35:37 cool. Well, I have so have you been in addition to those stories? Have you have submitted anything else anywhere that's been published in any kind of a mainstream way or part of any other organ that was published. Madilynn Dale ** 35:55 A couple of short stories have been do some blood was with a Warren publishing that just dropped this last winter, beginning of this month, not last month. I'm sorry. It's like Wait still June. And I think when I've got another story with her, I think it's supposed to drop around Christmas it was supposed to do last Christmas. But we ended she ended up bumping it because not everybody got their stuff done. Have a retelling of Red Riding Hood that was with red penguin publishing. I think that might be it. For like, I'm forgetting something. But those are the top like ones I can remember. Michael Hingson ** 36:41 Bear and have had the if any of your books been published in any kind of audio format, or they just all in print, or Madilynn Dale ** 36:50 right now they're in print and electronic only, I'm slowly trying to get into the audiobooks because I listen to a lot of audiobooks myself. But having the right person and having the money to do it, at the same time has not all worked out yet. But I think I finally found the person to do it, I just gotta get the money saved up. So Michael Hingson ** 37:15 there is that. There is there's always that that that gets in the way sometimes of things but it's still part of what has to happen. So tell us some of the other things I know you have a lot of other stuff going on besides writing. Tell us about some of the other things. Madilynn Dale ** 37:33 So as you mentioned earlier, I podcast I bring different creatives on my podcast channel, which goes to YouTube as well. So there's video recording and audio over version of the conversations. And I do that pretty much weekly. I've slowly transitioned to doing them live instead of recording like I was before kind of cuts back on some of the editing time and I've had less interruptions from my son that's kind of the reason I was doing edits before. I also blog freelance I host for go indie now I'm on several different shows. This past spring I have done this week in indies character driven and talking indie mayhem, which is part of the game show go indie now have called indie mayhem, where indie creatives get together and kind of answer funny crazy questions. And in the fall, I'm going to be doing as of right now only character driven in this weekend Indies. Michael Hingson ** 38:46 What is go indie now. Madilynn Dale ** 38:48 So going out is a wide kind of like company, encompassing different independent art artists in general. So this could be indie video, or indie movie makers, indie authors, indie musicians, like anybody in the independent creative field. And Joe Compton is someone who is the head of it all. He puts together a ton of different shows, a lot of informational, shows a lot of fun shows, gets indies out there, gets their books kind of out there for people to check out lets you meet their authentic personality and whatnot on the shows. And it's just it's been a great way to connect with others in the indie community as well. I have fallen into a group of authors that I bounce ideas and step off of because of the things I've helped with on the show. So Michael Hingson ** 39:54 as an author, who clearly has some visibility, so have you been invited to go speak anywhere like libraries or schools or anything like that, Madilynn Dale ** 40:03 I, so I haven't been asked to speak. But I was asked to mentor other students in college, which I did that for two or three years during undergrad, I can't remember how long I did it. But it was a it was really eye opening because it gave me a different perspective. Some of the other things others struggle with. So for those of you guys listening, I have a TBI, traumatic brain injury. And it's kind of caused issues with my executive functioning because I left scar tissue on my frontal lobe. And I've also had, unfortunately, multiple concussions since then, one second severe head injury in the midst of that, I don't remember exactly the details on it. Because I lost vision and consciousness for a little bit. I was by myself when it happened. And thankfully, it was before touchscreen phone, that before I had a touchscreen phone because I have the buttons memorized and was able to call for help. But I could not see anything for like two or three hours on that one. But it's just kind of like, it makes things really difficult for me to organize. And I'm also ADHD on top of that. So I bounce around move a lot, as you guys have probably noticed, during this interview, I wiggle in my chair a lot. But yeah, just pushing through. Not really so much pushing through as learning how to find the path that works best for me with that has also helped me help others because I'm able to give them hey, this worked for me, maybe it'll help you kind of stuff. Sorry, I went on a tangent, but Michael Hingson ** 41:54 no, no, no, no, that that's what this is all about is having a conversation and conversations do go off on tangents. And that's what makes them fun. So it's okay. Not a not a problem at all. But I do want to go back to something we touched on briefly, but I'd like to explore it a little more. When your characters are literally writing the story through you. And you're in the middle of something. What happens when suddenly they change or something changes, and they go off on a tangent or in a different direction? How does that affect you? And how do you deal with that? Madilynn Dale ** 42:33 Well, if I'm writing, I kind of zone out and sit there for a minute because I'm like, Wait, where's this going? How does this go into the story? And sometimes I have to go back and like rewrite scenes or just review things completely. A lot of times those kind of thoughts and ideas hit me while I'm like doing the dishes or something. And I'm like, seriously, right now I cannot go write this down. Like you're just gonna have to wait. And then it's just, it's crazy. So, but a lot of times, I will try to put it on my phone, like I'll jot it down on a note. Or I have so many notebooks like little bitty notebooks. Where's my other one like this little one right here. stuff gets written down and half the time if you were to look at it, you'd be like, What is this? It'd be like a word or an acronym or something. But it makes sense to me. So Michael Hingson ** 43:23 Well, that's the important part, at least then you can translate it and deal with it. But what if you say, wait a minute, and the character says no, this has got to come out right now? Madilynn Dale ** 43:33 Yeah, then a lot of times easier. I figured out how to make it work. Or it gets lost, which has happened a lot. Michael Hingson ** 43:42 Does it get lost? Or do you put it somewhere and then maybe come back to it? Or that it gets lost? Madilynn Dale ** 43:48 Yeah. And a lot of times I've gotten better about dictating things to a note on my phone. That's kind of going to work Work in Progress still kind of is because sometimes it doesn't like to pick up the words and it puts something crazy weird in there. And I'm like, I don't even know what I was trying to say here. Michael Hingson ** 44:05 Oh, yeah. Voice recognition is not perfect yet. Well, just be careful. You don't want Ember to take over completely. Madilynn Dale ** 44:16 You my life could probably get a little bit chaotic if she did so. No, I don't have magic and I can't turn into this awesome hellhound Michael Hingson ** 44:26 Well, that's okay. You're a different than she. So you you need to be her representative here which is which is still okay. Another thing you mentioned urban fantasy, as opposed to I got well guess what other kinds of fantasy? What is what is urban fantasy and why do you like it? Or are what made you choose it? Madilynn Dale ** 44:49 So urban fantasy for me. And a lot of people may have a different kind of descriptor for this, but it's where you pull in the real world in with the fantasy kind of stuff So with mine, a lot of it, I'm pulling ideas and places and scenery from my hometown that I grew up in. And there's a lot of forest, a lot of trees, different places. In the phase shifters, there's a lot of different places that I name that are actually places but they're not in the spot they are in the real world. Pulling things like that, in our everyday life into this fantasy world, is what I would say is more urban fantasy versus like high fantasy you get to make up everything you get to make up the scenery the world, the religion that believes the magic system, everything. Michael Hingson ** 45:42 It would seem then that something like Harry Potter is kind of a combination of the two. Madilynn Dale ** 45:47 Yeah, I definitely would say so. Because he's got his real world and then the magical world there. Michael Hingson ** 45:57 Yeah, you, you see a little bit of both in there. But fantasy is fun. Fantasy and Science Fiction are fun, because I find that a lot of the times when I read it, the author is really talking about themselves. And they allow that to happen. They just do it in a different kind of, well disguised as the wrong word. But they, they do it inside of another picture. Madilynn Dale ** 46:23 Yeah, I agree. Because as I mentioned earlier, like, a lot of the things in life that I've experienced and stuff working through them, I've been able to process them better by them coming that like the stuff happening to me, coming out through the character and the characters world and the characters live and how I see them processing through a kind of makes me stop and like, okay, like, I can do that same kind of thing minus like the magic, so well Michael Hingson ** 46:51 as as a writer, and not just your characters. But in general. How do you see character development? We'll say because it's where your expertise is female characters? How are they evolving overall, and the whole genre of writing, as opposed to the way they used to be? What's what's changing and what's changed? Madilynn Dale ** 47:14 So that is a fantastic question. Because when I was young, picking up a book on the bookshelf, library and stuff, a lot of times the main character, the protagonist was always male is the, the males and the men, they all got to go on the adventures, women were typically written as a damsel in distress, needed rescuing. But nowadays, you see more and more of the woman coming in and being the strong person being the hero being the one that saves everybody being the one that rescues the world from falling into chaos. And I feel that's been a huge growth and speaks volumes to, hopefully what's been growth in our culture, with the female position in the world. Especially moving towards more equality. But it's just so much, it's so wonderful to see and write a strong female character. Because putting myself in that strong female characters shoes, I get to be the hero, like I get to be the one that saves everyone. And that's also an outlet for those women who are scared to step out and be themselves and show the world who they really are. Michael Hingson ** 48:30 Why do you think men are reacting to that? Madilynn Dale ** 48:33 I mean, I've had a lot of male readers like the female characters, and I've actually seen a lot of male authors create strong female characters too. And I don't know if that's just kind of like a change that's happened because women are stepping out and stepping up more to do more to claim their strength. But it also creates the raw variety. I mean, there's still books out there with male protagonists that are strong, but there's more variety in the field now than there were before. So hopefully, not all men are of those. Yeah. Michael Hingson ** 49:08 Yeah. Well, I think there's definitely room for strong men, but strong women as well. And it makes sense to, to see that evolution taking place and I go back to Harry Potter again. Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter is certainly as strong as anyone in that series. And she brings a lot to it, and, and others in that series as well. Professor McGonigal is another one. You can tell I've read the series actually more than once. And there are things about that kind of writing that I enjoy because it really helps. I think, especially with kids and maybe shy kids who have don't think they can do things. And then yet they see the characters in those books evolve, and do so many things that gee, maybe I could do more than I thought I could. And I assume that that's kind of somewhat what happens with your writing as well. Madilynn Dale ** 50:16 I think so I feel so now that you've said it, it definitely does follow along those lines, because like, Liz, for example, she discovers there's more to her and she has way more responsibilities put on her than she ever thought she would have had, because she was trying to find an easier lifestyle when where she could like de stress, relax. But it turns out, she's a princess. And a higher person in her clan, both have like different worlds. And it's kind of she has to figure out how to still find what she wants and fulfill those shoes. And she just wants to be the quiet left alone person doesn't think she can do certain things. And here she is, she accomplishes so much. Michael Hingson ** 51:03 And so when our lives and Amber's gonna meet or have Madilynn Dale ** 51:07 oh, man I so I've toyed with the idea of a crossover, because at the end of book four of the phase shifters, I kind of leave it open for things to happen. And I did this before I even wrote the inverse theories, because in the phase shifter series, the portals to all the different worlds all the different kind of like a multiverse theory. Like Dr. Strange and everybody in the MC, there's different worlds different timelines and everything. And in the phase shifters, all of that stuff is they start opening those things again. So Amber's off here in her own little world, and Liz is still often hers right now. But there's an opportunity that they could crossover, the idea has been kind of in the back of my mind, because of the portals opening. Michael Hingson ** 52:02 But the two haven't crossed over and met yet and then come to tell you time to do something different. Madilynn Dale ** 52:08 They've talked about it, I'm not gonna lie, they've talked about it. Okay, do this yet, guys. I'm not there. So my ideas come faster than I'm able to get them down. Well, Michael Hingson ** 52:20 okay, that gives you security of things to work toward. Mm hmm. So how do you evolve as a writer? How are you improving? And what do you do to improve your skills and become a better writer? You've been doing this now? What five years? You said 3x? Well, three. Okay. So since your son was born three years, okay. Well, I Madilynn Dale ** 52:44 guess technically, I started writing before that, but I didn't start publishing journey until three years ago, Michael Hingson ** 52:49 right? So how do you work to improve and become a better writer as you go. Madilynn Dale ** 52:59 So for me, I still read a lot, not nearly as much as I did before I became an author. And obviously, before I became a mom, because that takes more time away from getting to read. But I try my best to include books about the structure of a novel or grammar or stuff like that. And then just talking with other authors being on chat, like this one that we're having now, getting to talk with other authors, there's so much you can take away from the conversation, tidbits of information and knowledge regarding writing, marketing, social media, etc. Like just from having those conversations. also reaching out and getting in groups, or binding workshops, online workshops, going to conventions, which is something I've added in the past year to try to do more of mostly because it's a little bit more pricey on the financial end, yes, going to things like that, and just taking in as much as I can when I can. But more than anything, continuing to read continuing to read other authors like in the genre I write, keeping up with how things change and then doing my best to stick with the changes that come also with social media. Yeah. Michael Hingson ** 54:28 Yeah, cuz it's, it is. Well, it is a process where ongoing improvement ongoing growth is as important for you as it is for your characters, and they can help but there are also parts of it that they don't know how to do, and that's the actual writing part of it. So obviously, it's good that you can grow and improve and that you found ways to do that. Yeah. Which is cool. What do you do when You're not writing and I know you're always going to be a mom. But what other kinds of external activities do you like to do? Madilynn Dale ** 55:09 So outside of writing and doing anything other stuff, I am now homeschooling my son. So I do a lot of research on different topics to help him learn and grow. We've been doing a lot more unit studies as of late, just to kind of learn about different topics, like what holiday is going on right now how it's important when we started doing it, things like that. I also like to hike and travel and get outdoors. whenever I can. We spend right now since it's the warmer months, we're kind of outside in the morning. I have a garden, and it's grown a lot over the years kind of took over the backyard. There's like this play area and then garden stuff kind of everywhere else. So it keeps me busy. And then yeah, just traveling and visiting friends and family. Michael Hingson ** 56:03 We're all have you traveled? Um, Madilynn Dale ** 56:05 I have been to see we've been several places in Texas. We went to New Mexico about a year ago. Colorado, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana. Michael Hingson ** 56:22 Someday you'll have to get out here to California. Madilynn Dale ** 56:24 Yes, that's that's on my bucket list. Missouri. We spent. We've been in Missouri, Texas, Arkansas multiple times over the like, every year. That's like a common thing. I'm just slowly getting further and further out there to visit and explore things. Michael Hingson ** 56:42 So do you get a lot of snow in the winter? Madilynn Dale ** 56:46 No, I Well, okay. Sometimes we do. But more often than not, it's ice. Ice storms, and we do snow storms. No fun. are apparently our specialty though. So Oh, isn't Michael Hingson ** 57:02 that special and lovely? Yeah. We had a tornado out here in the Los Angeles area earlier this year. It's the first one in like 40 years. So it isn't like it hasn't ever happened. But still. Yeah, they're no fun. And Madilynn Dale ** 57:19 the weather is all good them in January this year. And I was like, okay, like, what does that mean for spring? And of course, it's kind of been crazy. I mean, they haven't been as bad as the ones we've had in I want to say 2013 are the really, really bad ones. We actually made national news with mourn, and the El Reno tornadoes that had so much damage. But this year, we've had quite a few move through. Michael Hingson ** 57:50 Well, if you were to have one thing that you'd like to advise would be authors or others who might be interested in authoring. If you had one thing you would tell them or advice you give them what would it be? Madilynn Dale ** 58:02 Hmm. Don't be afraid to reach out to authors you look up to you would be surprised because they're just people too. You can always ask them for tips and advice. A lot of times, they'll give it to you, they'll give you thoughts or ideas. Don't ask them to look over your manuscript, because that's a little too much. But you can be like, send them a question like, Hey, if you could? I don't know. Yeah, life, whatever question but don't ask them to look over your manuscript. Do that. BETA readers or an editor? Michael Hingson ** 58:38 Have you reached out to any authors who are famous that we might have heard of? Madilynn Dale ** 58:42 Um, yes. Mary Pope Osborne was the first one I actually like hand wrote a letter to you because I love the magic Treehouse books as a kid, and she actually did write back to me and I was blown away. And now since I'm older and whatnot, reaching out to some of the authors I've read, I've actually got to like, meet in person, or chat with like, we are over zoom or something. And it's been it kind of makes you step back and be like, holy cow. I'm actually living this world. It's no longer just like a fantasy idea. I'm actually getting to meet this person and trying to not have that. Like, star struck fan rambling thing happen. It's kind of funny sometimes. Michael Hingson ** 59:31 Yeah, I hear you. Well, and I would say everyone has a story to tell and more people should be unafraid or not afraid to tell their stories. And even if you feel you aren't a great writer, write it down. You can always find others who would be willing to help but that's why we do unstoppable mindset because I believe everyone has a story to tell that's relevant to bring to our PA I'd cast and that stories will inspire others. And we never know who will be inspired or take something solid from what we did here today or what we ever do on unstoppable mindset. So it's a lot of fun to do. And I enjoy the learning experience myself, so I can't complain a bit about it. Yes. Well, I want to thank you for being here with us. This is great. I enjoyed being on the chapter goddess. And I'm hoping that you enjoyed being on unstoppable mindset and that we we had a good time, if you ever want to come back on and tell us more about what's happening with books. I definitely want to hear when Amber and Liz get together. That's important that I bet it's going to happen at some point. And I think it will be fun, but we really appreciate you being here. And if you know of other people who we ought to have as guests on unstoppable mindset, please let us know. And for all of you out there if you know anyone who wants to be on unstoppable mindset, we'd love to hear from you. You can contact me well let me before I do that, how do people contact you? Madilynn Dale ** 1:01:07 So you guys can check me out on my websites the best place to find me. And I have connections to all of my social media there. It's www dot the chapter goddess.com. I'm on Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok. You can email me there, reach out, check out my YouTube channels. My podcast. I'm on Apple, Google, Amazon with a podcast books are wide and I am very thankful for getting to be on the show today. Michael Hingson ** 1:01:42 Well, again, thank you for doing it. And we do want to stay in touch. And as I said earlier, if you'd like to reach out to us whenever you are listening, please feel free to reach out to me Michaelhi at Accessibbe A C C E S S I B E.com. Or go to our podcast page which is www dot Michael hangsen.com/podcast. Michael Hinkson is m i c h a e l h i n g s o n.com/podcast. And we would appreciate a five star rating wherever you're listening to this. We love getting ratings and especially those five star ones. We hope that podcasts are always interesting enough to to get that from you. We value your input we value your comments and your thoughts. So please don't hesitate to give us a rating and a review. We value it greatly. But again, Madilynn I want to tell you that we're really grateful that you came on today and we really appreciate your time. Madilynn Dale ** 1:02:37 Yes, thank you for having me. Michael Hingson ** 1:02:45 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com. accessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. 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