“I want to change your life!”

As blogs past will no doubt tell you, I am a massive Harlan Coben fan and although I haven’t entered the realm of his much beloved character Myron Bolitar, yet, I have ingested just about all of his other novels and television adaptations. I just love him!

After deleting all other social media accounts, it took me a long time to curate the one that remained, Instagram, to a place that best suited where I wanted my life to go. As an aspiring author, it felt really important to make sure that I had weeded out some accounts I had moved past learning from/interacting with and welcome in ones that could expand my experience.

When I changed my account handle from my name to a fictional place, I hadn’t anticipated that eventually “my name” wouldn’t show up anywhere else. I know I could change that at any time (and I might) but here we are.

On Wanderwood Lane

Adding the names of people who’s work I admire has been a source of joy for me these past few months. Now that I’ve shaved off some of the intimidation and anxiety of being ‘new’, I am leaning in to absorbing as much from each of them as I can.

It’s incredible to see an author who has published over a dozen novels get just as excited about an upcoming release as they did from the start. Watching them tour different cities, greet their fans and also get right back to writing in any spare moment, is something truly special to behold.

In the spring of 2024 a certain add campaign found it’s way to my feed almost daily. I honestly have no idea how long BBC Maestro courses have been available but their offer of 70% off a year subscription got my attention. By following the account, I got to click through the introductions given by the course instructors and there is quite the selection!

Harlan Coben’s wasn’t the first promo I saw BUT it was the one that prompted me to take advantage of the amazing discount and gain access to a year’s worth of guidance from some of the best in the industry.

As I’ve mentioned multiple times now, I am a huge fan of HC, so when his introductory video started with the declaration that his goal for the course was to change my life, I took it personally and started my BBC Maestro journey with his 4hr course.

Four hours (23 lessons) doesn’t sound like a huge time commitment, and I suppose it isn’t. In fact, I have no doubt there are those that could get through it in only a few sittings.

However, I took the slow and steady approach with my classes. Harlan delivers his instruction in a transparent and relaxed manner, like he is having a conversation with you. That encouraged me to treat each lesson like it was a one-on-one mentoring session, marking my study pages as I went with what stood out each day and pausing when needed, to let bigger messages take root in my brain.

Each session has application and homework to practice. In that practice I exercised neural pathways that desperately needed new stimulation and discovered that, for me, “writer brain” is an almost constant state. I’m blown away at the fresh ideas that came out of pausing, reflecting on the prompt and then writing what came to me. It gives me great hope that all the empty journals I have lying around will be filled to the brim with inspirational bits I can use later.

Speaking of hope, it’s at the core of Harlan Coben’s writing and each of his lessons. His passion for telling stories is tangible and is echoed in his desire for his students to tell their stories. This guy really wants you to succeed and delivers that message in a way that is fully felt and believable!

If you are an aspiring author needing a bit of structure to your workflow and a boatload of encouragement, I highly recommend this course. I’ve read several of the holy grails of writing instruction and yes, they are full of great applications for success, but I found myself needing to really feel like “I CAN DO THIS!”. I needed some wind in my sails.

Imagine getting that feeling from one of your favorite authors!?!?!? I just might let him change my life ya’ll 😉

Thank you Harlan! If you read this, please know how greatly I appreciate your enthusiasm for the craft and your desire to help writers like me find the courage to desperately perspire so that our inspiration gets wings to fly!!! You’ll most definitely be in acknowledgments of my first book and I’ll have a signed copy waiting for you 🙂

One of my bookish friends has graciously let me borrow her copy of Deal Breaker, so, I guess it’s time to finally meet Myron!!! I’m stoked!!!