Bracha Goetz, Children's Book Author

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And joy, I think, exudes from you, Braca. Welcome to the show. Thank

Thank you so much.

eally, let's start with that [: 00:01:00

How did you really find this passion for writing? How did it really come to you that you wanted to explore this realm, especially children's literature?

I think when I was little, I remember maybe third grade, I wrote a poem about how books can take you anywhere. You just sit in one spot and you are in outer space, you're any place in the world.

This is way before. The technology of the internet and the web and everything. Books were like that magic carpet for me. And they read this poem at the assembly, like in front of everybody, and it was really exciting. And I feel like I loved picture books then. And I love them to the same degree today.

re still my favorite kind of [: 00:02:00

I love this metaphor of the magic carpet. That it takes you someplace. Where are you trying to take your readers?

I love that question. I love it. Where am I trying to take my readers? I am trying to take them into their invisible essence. In other words, we all look like we're physical beings. I am trying to remind everybody that in essence, they're a spiritual being, even though they don't look like it.

That's the invisible part of them, but it's their core essence. And all my books, what they all have in common is about helping souls to shine. Recognizing that you're a soul and then giving it the nourishment it needs to shine. I

love this description. I actually read that and saw helping children's souls shine.

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out the soul. Yeah. So what's interesting is even when I was at Harvard, I was taking courses at the graduate school of public health and Harvard medical school. Cause I'm, I've always been interested and I went to medical school too.

stand that parents will want [: 00:04:00

They want to feel safe in this world. So it's been amazing. So there's books about prevention of abuse, books about learning disabilities, teaching children how to interact with who are usually the loneliest children with learning disabilities. Because if you don't learn the guidelines, You don't feel comfortable interacting.

So I teach that to children. Basic guidelines, books about swimming safely. This book is for toddlers because it's a really high drowning rate with toddlers. They have to be watched and they need to know the guidelines themselves and they really learn them. And then books about let's stay healthy, which I wrote during the pandemic, teaching children the why.

ortant and even why sleep is [: 00:05:00

There's our feelings, our thoughts. There's electromagnetism. How does a magnet pick up a paperclip? There's so many invisible forces. We see the effects of them, but we don't actually see the forces, the same things. That's why it's not farfetched to understand that we too are invisible. We too are in essence [00:06:00] spiritual, invisible spiritual beings.

So strong. These air, weighty, important topics, and yet you've made them very approachable in a Children's book. But what was your, technique or method that you said? I need to get an important message across, but I need to do it in such a way that would be not only just approachable, but you describe Children embracing the

story.

Beautiful. Exactly. It takes 400 repetitions to form new synapses in the brain. It's very hard to create a new habit. But when done joyfully, 10 to 20 repetitions, and we've got the new habit down. So joy is what's critically important in learning a new habit. And that's how we can ingrain habits really quickly.

the prevention of abuse. The [: 00:07:00

And that's how I present it. Oh,

very good. Do you have one of the books handy that you could read from?

Haha. Oh, okay. That's interesting.

Yeah. Just to give us a flavor of this style and tone that you

have. Okay. Don't read this book is my newest book.

all have this book actually [: 00:08:00

It teaches you the tricks that it uses so you can outsmart it. But this book, it took me 30 years to write. Some books I could write really quickly. This book I had the title, I had most of the book written, but I didn't feel it was ready. I kept going back to it, and finally last year I got the surprise ending that I was waiting for.

Then I could, and here's the surprise ending. That little voice in our heads, it really doesn't want us to. Listen to it. And it really, at the end of the book, you find out that it was really hoping you would read this book because it doesn't want you to listen to it. It's like those barbells that we push off to gain muscles.

off those thoughts of who I [: 00:09:00

Yeah. Don't read this book. You can still close it fast, or soon you may know way too much. You're still reading? Oh no! This book should be marked DO NOT TOUCH! You won't put it down. Please, just don't turn the page. My secrets will be out. Oh! And if you read this entire book, you may learn to get rid of me.

you're here, and you see the [: 00:10:00

It's a

fantastic message and you deliver it with such enthusiasm. And I noticed on your website that you've got some new multimedia, versions of the books too.

o away a fly, it comes right [: 00:11:00

And that's what these thoughts are like. So the voice is fantastic. You could read along with the book with the. It's either a CD or downloadable, either way, the audio book. And we're also making animations now. It's actually my children got me, they said, stop giving your books to all the publishers.

And they started publishing my books now. With the 40th children's book. Is published by my children. That's the gets bookshop up until then. It was published by mainstream publishers. So now it's a whole shift where it's a family business now.

I love that. Let's shift a little bit to those kind of logistics.

We love the creative process, but we also know that to get our work out into the world. There's some nuts and bolts. There's some logistics. What have you learned across this process on nearly four dozen books.

things I learned is when you [: 00:12:00

People think it's the last step. It's really just the beginning. It's the beginning of what some people call marketing. And I call it... Sharing or revealing. Revealing the gems, the treasures that are in your books. So you have the rest of your life to do that once your book is out in the world. And what I tell people is, There are probably an infinite number of ways to market your book, and you can't do all those ways.

but I only do it in the ways [: 00:13:00

It's annoying. Forget about that. Why should I feel like I'm wasting any time at all? So I'm successful no matter what I do, because I'm having a great time. Yes.

I can see a listener of this podcast nodding right now going, yes, she gets me. Because we've had those 101 marketing tips for authors and whatever.

But when you shift it. From sharing, from, to revealing. All of a sudden, that doesn't sound like pushing books. That doesn't sound like publicity. That doesn't sound like, book marketing. And it's a real different approach.

Exactly. And if you're not a business person, like I am so not a business person, I don't deal with the selling aspect.

That's the part that I love [: 00:14:00

Now, your other project is a more candid memoir for adults, so you really had to change voices, I'm assuming to really tell your story and give a glimpse into your personal experiences.

In a way, because You see, so this is the book, Nourish the Soul, but I'm a person that doesn't like to write a lot of words, so I didn't really write this book.

ally you're actually with me.[: 00:15:00

on those horrible binges. I'm very graphic about what it was like. You experience it with me in this book because the entries are real and very raw. So that's what it's called, Nourish the Soul, and the subtitle is Filling the Emptiness Within. Because I feel with food addictions, it's very obvious, but with all addictions, it's about trying to fill the void, trying to fill the emptiness, and we desperately try to fill it with all kinds of.

lly universal message that I [: 00:16:00

I'm so enjoying spreading now. Yes.

And again, the sharing, the revealing. Same. Yes. And thinking about, a lot of people say they have motivations to publish a book for any number of reasons. You've often said the impact is what you're going for, not the fame, spotlight, publicity, whatever, but rather, can these books make a difference?

What is that difference for you?

Exactly. I own, if, sometimes people come to me with ideas for books, they want me to, I'm like known, so they want me to write a book about, a children's book about a certain subject. And I'll go to this person, go to that person, if they can't do it, then come back to me.

writing it. I just want the [: 00:17:00

Because my whole purpose for being here is that I want to uplift the world, make it a more joyful place, fill people's hearts with gratitude, and We all are a part of that. There's no competition. Let's all be involved with it. So yeah, I think Kurt Vonnegut said it's easy to write a book.

You just, split open your vein and drip the blood out. In other words, what I mean is it comes from so deep in me that need to want to help people and get the messages out into the world. It's coming from the deepest place from my vein. The very inside of my being, so that's what pours out when I write a book, and yeah, to me it's all about the message.

n character development? Oh, [: 00:18:00

That's how I see my books.

In this philosophy you have of no competition, I can imagine some people, because we've heard, Hey, if the idea comes to you, you better act on it because somebody else will and quote unquote, take your idea. You're almost seeing in the reverse people coming to you with ideas.

Please write this book and you go maybe somebody else should do

it. Yes, I do feel that way, except once in a while when I feel, I think I could really be, I think I'm really the person to do this, and then I'll just jump on it right away. You know what I mean? I feel like when the person, somebody came to me with the, during the pandemic, please write me.

not exercising. They're not [: 00:19:00

I wake up and I go, Oh my gosh, here's the title. Here's the whole book. I got exactly how to do this book, so I called them up and I said, I've got it. Okay I'm full speed ahead now on this book. I feel that It's like rain coming down. There is a, there's a universal source, one source of creative energy that keeps recycling and flowing amongst all of us.

deas and then I don't have a [: 00:20:00

So I, it's like rain coming down and my pad tries to catch all the drops coming and then I have the message for the book that I feel needs to be in the world.

Yes. And other people can be under that same storm. We all get some of that rain of joy.

Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. Also, I wanted to explain, there's there's a pleasure ladder that I learned about, which is about gravity, which is about gratitude.

ratitude we feel about other [: 00:21:00

And you see here, the second highest level of joy comes from creativity. When we are doing something creative, we are in this We don't feel like eating or sleeping. We're in such a high zone of pleasure. The highest level is transcendence. When we see the oneness of everything, we see how we're all connected.

So this is something I learned that changed my life and I'm loving sharing it with other people. And for, especially for this show how joyful it is to be creative and it actually gives a lasting pleasure and if we do it with gratitude. Then we don't feel that ego strain. Oh, this has to be perfect.

t enjoy the process of being [: 00:22:00

good. And it circles back to your initial point that the joy is the channel to creativity, not if I'm creative and I can produce the work, then I'll be happy.

It's not the outcome, it's the input. Yes, it's so

fascinating. The process is so important. And for sure, it's a joy to create. These are all my babies, too. For sure. It's awesome. But it's that joyful process of creation. We to value that. And not just to get to the end product.

Also, enjoy the promotion. Enjoy the sharing and revealing. That's all part of the process.

Love this. Folks, my guest is Brock, Brocka Getz, and we've been talking about your work and how just prolific it is with 41 or two books. Surely you have something in the works. So look over the horizon for us or tell us what's on your desk now.

Okay. Okay. [: 00:23:00

With gratitude. So that's what I'm teaching. And also one of my classic books, The Happiness Box we're putting that out again. We got, again, we got the rights back from the publisher and we're putting it out a new version for children which is, yeah it's a big thrill because when children understand when they can Take on happiness skills early on in life, they've got them for the rest of their life, which creates an enormous change.

the skills down pat early on.[: 00:24:00

It's very exciting. Thanks for sharing those with us and stay in touch and let us know how they're developing. Thank you. My guest has been Bracca Goetz and she shared an incredible journey of her authorship and creativity.

You can explore all her books, both the children's books and her own memoir on Amazon and libraries and at the goetzbookshop. com. It's been so great talking to you, Bracca.

Thank you so much. Thank you for resonating so beautifully with all these messages.

Your enthusiasm is infectious for sure. And listeners, if you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe to our podcast, leave us a review.

And remember your creativity has this power to impact to change the world. And we've really gotten that kind of inspiration from today. So until next time I'm Mark Stinson, and we'll keep unlocking your world. Of creativity.