If you are a creative entrepreneur, then you’ve likely run up against whether you need to protect your work through a trademark or copyright, or both. To distinguish between the two can be confusing. Both are considered “intellectual property” or “IP,” but protect different types of IP.

I was recently attending a screenwriting webinar when the presenter introduced the concept of adding a moral dilemma to your character’s story in order to heighten the stakes and build tension within the story. The idea of a moral dilemma is when one is faced with a choice with no good answer; when either choice or direction is fraught with difficulty; or when your inner guide and external forces are pulling you in different directions. 

In the way that ebooks and then self-publishing upended the publishing industry, NFTs will have a similar disruption and force publishing companies to adapt or become dinosaurs.

Let’s all let out a collective exhale as we say goodbye to 2021. I know we thought the same thing at the end of 2020, but for this year I have reason to believe we can be hopeful for the year ahead.

As soon as you write something original down on paper, or into your computer, you have made an idea into a tangible medium of expression. Congratulations! You have a copyright. However, proving you are the owner of the copyright is another matter. 

This week we have a New Moon in Aquarius that sets the stage for the Lunar New Year that’s celebrated around the globe. If you’re looking for a week to set intentions for the year, this is it!

I know we’re all feeling on edge with the state of the world, from natural disasters to politics to staying healthy. Our days of enjoying a casual spiritual practice are over. We’re in the game now. All of the preventative medicine, meditation practices, decluttering, positive thinking, and other spiritual tools you’ve learned are for now.

We are over the halfway mark of what feels like a strange experiment. The theories of who holds the strings run rampant. Regardless of the answer, this movie is a projection of our collective conscious and unconscious in coordination with the cyclical nature of the five elements and the challenging alignment of planets reverberating down dissonant notes.

I know the idea of wearing a mask has caused a lot of division with those who feel like their freedom has been infringed upon. I personally see it as a polite gesture that communicates: I will not add more fear of possibly infecting you with a virus, be it coronavirus or even a cold.

Chances are the current state of your life was not on your vision board, in your 2020 goals, or anywhere in your new moon intentions, unless it included spending more time at home. With little, if anything, under your control right now, you may be wondering whether you have any control over your destiny?

It’s no wonder the meteoric popularity of the Pop show Schitt’s Creek is hitting its high right now. Even though the show premiered in 2015 and is now in its final episodes, it didn’t find its audience until Netflix picked it up in. As it comes to a close, we’ve all fallen in love with the Rose’s. Just in time to learn from them.

Even though we will not be quarantined forever, there is a collective knowing that life will never be the same. I wish I’d had more time in the old world. I regret not enjoying it more.

Saturn has moved in Aquarius giving us a bootcamp in using technology as our primary means of connecting to the world. We’re getting an exaggerated glimpse of what’s to come in how we do business in the future. We’re moving into an Aquarian era and this strange time is helping us prepare for it. I hope this email will give you some insights in how to use this time.

While being stuck at home puts a strain on our sense of community, perhaps taking a step back from our extroverted lifestyles gives us a needed reprieve from the going, going, going mentality we’ve become accustomed to.

This week I was shocked when I woke to pictures on Facebook of my former neighborhood in east Nashville ripped to shreds by a F-4 tornado. The last two of the homes I lived in were in the direct path. The night before, at the exact time it was happening, I was extremely dizzy, nauseous, and disoriented.

I just returned from the San Francisco Writers’s Conference. It was four days of panels on anything and everything you could imagine related to writing and publishing. I felt like a kid in a candy store.

If you’ve been reading my newsletters, you know I’m branching out into publishing. My real dream is to be a legal thriller novelist and, of course, my day job is that of a self-help author. You can imagine how I was pulled in so many directions.

The other day I was sitting at a restaurant bar and overheard a conversation of two guys to my right. One had just moved out of his house as part of the divorce process. Soon thereafter, two other guys sat down to my left, also fresh from divorce.

A designated workspace is often overlooked for writers, not to mention a feng shui-ed workspace. But alas, a high-powered office isn’t only for the exec types. You too can (and need to) have a workspace set up for success.    

I’m usually a glass half-full person who veers towards seeing the positive in people and situations. But something is amiss. And I don’t think it’s just me. In talking with friends, acquaintances, and even strangers, there is a general malaise upon us that has the familiar scent of depression