Trisha Traughber
Write a book that will set you apart: María ...

If you’re a creative, teacher, trainer, or coach, should you write a book? 

And if you do want to write a book, have you asked yourself why?

I’ve worked with many online writers who decided to write books--and when they start asking me their questions, I often respond with a question too. 

“Why do you want to write a book?” 

There is no right answer to that question--only your answer.

And, yes, you’re allowed to have many reasons for wanting to write a book—from being passionate about the subject, to wanting to share something with the world, to ‘just having a book in you.’

Today, I’m really excited to share an interview with María Ortega Garcia on the many reasons she wrote her book.

Write a book that will set you apart: María Ortega Garcia
Trisha Traughber
What keeps you inspired in uncertain times?

Sometimes, when the world seems like too much, I pull a heavy, fuzzy blanket over myself and disappear into a novel. This month, as the world spins, and wobbles, I’ve been reading The Paris Network--our creative community’s book of the month. I invite you to pick up this story (or another great book) and see what happens when you forget your surroundings, your time for a minute…

Suddenly you’re in France, World War II, the occupation. You pop into a bookshop. The owner writes “poetry prescriptions” to keep the townsfolk strong, runs a resistance book club with banned books. Poetry falls from the sky in airdrops. And it’s all based on true events: the banned books, the resistance publishers, the literature and poetry woven into the novel, like “Liberté” by Paul Eluard.

Under the story, there’s a truth that will, no doubt, resonate with you:

Sometimes, literature (or art) is more important than food.

What keeps you inspired in uncertain times?
Trisha Traughber
Writer profiles: Sofia Polykreti: Cultivating ...

Are you someone who works with words? Maybe you teach or translate, write copy in one or more languages?

Are deadlines something you’re familiar with? Do they add a certain rhythm to your days?

If so, you know that time to create, to express yourself, to work on your own projects is an issue.

And you’re probably intimately familiar with that feeling of working all day on a big writing, translating or teaching project…and the challenges that come with transitioning into your creative self at the end of a long day. Even if you love your work.

If that sounds like you. I think you’re going to really enjoy reading this interview with Sofia Polykreti. Sofia is an active and inspiring member of our Tip of the Iceberg Writing Community. She brightens our book chats with her insights, brings her energy to writing workshops and shares her unique work in our forum.

Writer profiles: Sofia Polykreti: Cultivating time to create.
Trisha Traughber
Reconnect to your body--and your creativity.

When is the last time you stopped to think about your body?
As a writer, a creative…a human.

At our Vagabond Voices Creative Community, our inspiration revolves around creative seasons. And…there’s a ‘season’ that is just about the body—remembering you have one and reconnecting to it.

So, whether the season is one where it feels like winter is melting all around you, or summer is going to sleep--whatever side of the globe you’re on, join me today for a celebration of your body. It’s healing, it’s good for your creativity (and good for your writing).

This year, as we enter the creative season of ‘the body’ I’ve got a blog post for you with ideas for tapping into your body for healing and creativity.

And I’ll have a few words of wisdom from a fantastic book I finally finished reading: The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, brain, and body in the transformation of trauma. by Bessel Van Der Kolk.

How is a book on healing trauma relevant to our writing and creativity?

Here is what I know:

So many of our artforms, our modes of creative expression actually help us heal.

They are a part of what helps us survive as individuals and cultures.
Even when the unthinkable happens. Or when it’s all around us.
They make us strong. They make us whole.
They bring us together--and they are our human tradition.

Celebrate these with me--whether you’ve experienced trauma or not.
Help keep these creative acts alive and share them with others.

For all of us.

Here are a few ways…

Reconnect to your body--and your creativity.
Trisha Traughber
When there are no words: peace, creativity + ...

Have you been sleepless lately?
Me too.
There was a night last week when I woke up at 3 AM, and could not accept—anything.

It’s the kind of thing that will leave you asking the ceiling overhead, the rafters, the roof creaking in the wind, the sky:

Is it worth being angry at the world?
Does it help anything?
Does it put bread on the table?
Stop madmen in their tracks?

So many questions and one thing I know for sure:
This is what the first creative step looks like sometimes…

When there are no words: peace, creativity + doodle prompts.

Writer Profile: Adventures for Young Readers with Irina Skibenko

Writer Profile: Adventures for Young Readers with Irina Skibenko

When you were a child did you ever pick up a book that pulled you in, made you walk in the shoes of its characters (or scramble around on their paws)? Did a book ever open your eyes to a culture, a language…or the world? Then I think you’ll find today’s writer profile very inspiring.

I’ve interviewed Irina Skibenko, teacher, creator of the Smart Story Club blog, and author of several beautiful children’s books about a girl and her dog…and their travels around the world. You can learn more about her inspiring book-based speaking courses for kids or follow her on Instagram here.

As a parent of 2 bilingual kids, I cannot overstate how beautiful these books are and how much they get kids motivated to read and write in English. I feel lucky to have been able to work with Irina on some of her books…and discover her books for my own children.

This post is part of a series: What keeps you writing?

I hope we’ll start a conversation around the simple and profound things that keep us showing up at the page. I’m interviewing fellow Vagabonds who have written books, collections…or just put something incredible out into the world.

What follows are my questions to Irina about the process of becoming a writer—and writing her books. And her answers to those questions.

From Bookworm to Wordsmith: 6 Creative Journaling Strategies to Nurture Your Writing.

From Bookworm to Wordsmith: 6 Creative Journaling Strategies to Nurture Your Writing.

In this post, you’ll learn 6 fun creative journaling techniques to help you leverage your reading habit and surprise yourself with what you already know how to write.

If I told you that reading makes you a better writer, you would probably not be surprised. After all, reading builds your vocabulary and gives you better sentence structure, style, and logic. And reading is a great way to pick up the art of storytelling--whether you plan to write a great short story or write to reach an audience for your business. 

But how exactly do you go from reading a great book to actually writing something--that you like? That is the question.

Today you’ll discover 6 favorite creative journaling techniques to help you go from reading to writing—in multiple languages if you like.

These are strategies I began experimenting with in California as an English teacher in a bilingual and a French as a foreign language teacher…20 years ago! I use these techniques myself as a creative writer and copywriter because I want to improve my writing--always. 

And because when I do let go and write for fun instead of ‘to finish something,’ it often turns out to be my best work. It’s a process I love sharing. 

Write a book that will set you apart: María Ortega Garcia

Write a book that will set you apart: María Ortega Garcia

If you’re a creative, teacher, trainer, or coach, should you write a book? 

And if you do want to write a book, have you asked yourself why?

I’ve worked with many online writers who decided to write books--and when they start asking me their questions, I often respond with a question too. 

“Why do you want to write a book?” 

There is no right answer to that question--only your answer.

And, yes, you’re allowed to have many reasons for wanting to write a book—from being passionate about the subject, to wanting to share something with the world, to ‘just having a book in you.’

Today, I’m really excited to share an interview with María Ortega Garcia on the many reasons she wrote her book.

Write—Because You Have to: writer profile with Anca.

Write—Because You Have to: writer profile with Anca.

I love asking other writers the question: “What keeps you writing?” And do you know what one of my favorite answers is? 

“Because I can’t imagine any other way.” 

Have you ever felt that way? Like maybe writing is what keeps you going?  As if maybe you just had to understand yourself and explore your own corner of the world this way?  

This post is part of a series: What keeps you writing?

I’m asking writers in our creative writing community this question.

I hope we’ll start a conversation around the simple and profound things that keep us showing up to the page.

Today we’ll hear from fellow Vagabond, polyglot,  and writer: Anca.  

Anca has a poetry blog and podcast Floating Plushie.  And she recently finished an incredible flip book of her artwork and writing: Marks.

I felt very lucky to get to watch as she created and shared some of these within our writing community.  And, of course, when she shared her final project, I wanted to share it here. 

What follows are my questions to Anca--her answers and a couple of her own suggestions for inspiration.

Your creative journal for self-care: transcend & transform

Your creative journal for self-care: transcend & transform

“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.”

― Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing

Do you have something you need to transcend…or transform? 

If someone asks me that question face to face, I might say, “Oh, no, I’m good…”

But really, having something to transcend in your life, well, it’s just the human condition.  You know… 

You wake up in a fog because you’re tired, because you have a medical condition, a snoring (and rolling!) sleep partner (sorry, TMI), or because…life. 

Maybe the situation is just a fleeting annoyance. Maybe it’s big and disastrous.  Maybe it feels like the end of the world. Maybe you just woke up to find out you’re out of coffee.
(Which is all of the above).

Then you have something to transcend.  You’ve got to become big enough to take it all in and manage it. Go beyond yourself somehow. Or forget yourself. 

Maybe you need to change what you see, chip away at a reality you can’t accept--transform yourself or the world around you. 

Transformation and transcendence--they sound big, scary, impossible. The way being ‘good’ at whatever form or creative expression you choose sounds scary.

But really, they’re a result of small habits, creative play. 

It’s what humans do all the time--to deal with the human condition. From running out of coffee to feeling the world is unjust and inhumane and wanting to create something that will change it. In small ways or big.

What keeps you inspired in uncertain times?

What keeps you inspired in uncertain times?

Sometimes, when the world seems like too much, I pull a heavy, fuzzy blanket over myself and disappear into a novel. This month, as the world spins, and wobbles, I’ve been reading The Paris Network--our creative community’s book of the month. I invite you to pick up this story (or another great book) and see what happens when you forget your surroundings, your time for a minute…

Suddenly you’re in France, World War II, the occupation. You pop into a bookshop. The owner writes “poetry prescriptions” to keep the townsfolk strong, runs a resistance book club with banned books. Poetry falls from the sky in airdrops. And it’s all based on true events: the banned books, the resistance publishers, the literature and poetry woven into the novel, like “Liberté” by Paul Eluard.

Under the story, there’s a truth that will, no doubt, resonate with you:

Sometimes, literature (or art) is more important than food.

Why you should write about something larger than yourself (+3 prompts)

Why you should write about something larger than yourself (+3 prompts)

Why should you spend time bringing something larger than you into your writing (and your reading)? Why does it matter to you as a creative, someone who wanders the world, travels (literally or in books), who lives in many languages…as a writer?

Maybe the more important question is, why should you bring something larger than yourself into your life?

As writers, creatives, and humans, we lose when we forget to go beyond ourselves…

Writer Profile with Anna LoMastro & what you learn writing with others.

Writer Profile with Anna LoMastro & what you learn writing with others.

I have a question for you:

Do you write because…

  • you love to express yourself creatively?

  • you learn about yourself each time you write?

  • it makes you feel better?

  • you’re a language-lover?

  • you’re a teacher and use your creative writing to teach and transform?

  • All of the above?

If your answer was “all of the above,” you have something in common with Anna Lo Mastro.

Book Club Picks for Readers, Writers and Vagabonds: Summer and Fall 2022

Book Club Picks for Readers, Writers and Vagabonds: Summer and Fall 2022

What does reading look like at your End of the world?

Are you by a Loch on a seemingly unending day?


Maybe it’s autum,
and you’re reading your book in your cozy socks with your little one sleeping under a knitted blanket?

Do you slip your book in your bike bag when you go for a ride?
Or pack it in your luggage as you set out to see the world?

Even if we’re all reading in our own unique ways.
We’re all here together.

And we remembered to do what really matters:


Pick up a great book.

Because each time you read you…

Writer profiles: Sofia Polykreti: Cultivating time to create.

Writer profiles: Sofia Polykreti: Cultivating time to create.

Are you someone who works with words? Maybe you teach or translate, write copy in one or more languages?

Are deadlines something you’re familiar with? Do they add a certain rhythm to your days?

If so, you know that time to create, to express yourself, to work on your own projects is an issue.

And you’re probably intimately familiar with that feeling of working all day on a big writing, translating or teaching project…and the challenges that come with transitioning into your creative self at the end of a long day. Even if you love your work.

If that sounds like you. I think you’re going to really enjoy reading this interview with Sofia Polykreti. Sofia is an active and inspiring member of our Tip of the Iceberg Writing Community. She brightens our book chats with her insights, brings her energy to writing workshops and shares her unique work in our forum.