Blazing Reader,

I recently discovered the works of novelist J. Kevin Tumlinson through his Wordslinger Podcast. I'm surprised I hadn't heard of him before. Unforgivable. He's won two Best Indie Book Awards, been featured on the cover of both Writer's Digest and Indie Author Magazine, and was a finalist for the Book Excellence Award.

Even Orson Scott Card praises his wordsmithery: "I opened one of [Kevin Tumlinson’s] novels and immediately was hooked. I mean, he knows what he’s doing. A writer who, bless him, knows how it’s done."

Heading over to Tumlinson's website, I signed up for his newsletter. In his welcome email, he shares one of the secrets to his success:

Every day, I write down a set of affirmations, and along with them I include my mission and purpose statements. Doing this, and reading it aloud each day, helps me remember who I intend to be. And if I've learned anything in life, it's this: Success means being who you intend to be.

So, here's my purpose statement:

My purpose is to inform and inspire, to educate and entertain, in the service of God and humanity. To observe, contemplate, and express with wisdom and integrity.

Those are the principles that guide my every decision. They're who I intend to be. And my writing is an incredibly entangled component of that.

He then asked: "Do you have any life principles of your own? I'd love to hear them."

To which I replied: "Instead of an affirmation, I made my own invocation to the Muse, which I recite aloud before writing each day."

If you haven't yet read my invocation to the Muse, you can check it out here:

Pray, write, repeat.

John C. A. Manley

P.S. And to check out J. Kevin Tumilinson's "fast-paced, hopeful fiction" (and get a free ebook copy of one of his archaeological thrillers), head over to: www.kevintumlinson.com

John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona, All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of philosophical fiction that are "so completely engaging that you find yourself alternately laughing, gasping, hanging on for dear life." Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber.