The Muse & You with Mark David Gerson (#9): Radio About Writing, Creativity & Life

Episode Nine: Thursday, March 18, 1pm ET

(click here to listen live or to the archived version any time after the show airs)

• Ask the Writing Coach (your questions for me about writing and creativity)
• Feature interview with singer/songwriter Teri Wilder.


If you have Sprint Mobile, Teri Wilder is already a familiar voice when you check your phone messages. She's the sound of Sprint voice mail. But if that's the only place you know her from, you're in for a surprise on The Muse & You #9. Because Teri's also an accomplished singer/songwriter whose music has inspired congregants in New Thought churches all over the U.S for more than a decade.

As I'm not a Spint customer (sorry, Teri), I first heard about Teri when a mutual Facebook friend insisted that we connect. Once we did, I discovered an even more significant connection: my friend Rev. Carla McClellan, who interviews me most months on her unity.fm Spiritual Coaching radio show, is one of Teri's best friends. But it wasn't until I heard Teri perform her own songs at Albuquerque's Unity Spiritual Center that I knew I wanted her on this show as my first songwriter guest.

Each thought is new, each word is new / Every sound you thing you’ve ever heard is new / The sky is new, the earth is new / Every instant brings another birth of you
~ Forever New, Teri Wilder

A warm, vibrant voice coupled with uplifting, heart-centered lyrics have made Teri Wilder a favorite with many New Thought congregations. As Rev. Chris Michaels of the Kansas City Center for Spiritual Living put it, "Teri Wilder sings with her whole body, spirit and soul. She can change your life with a song."

In this episode of The Muse & You, Teri may change your life with her songs. She'll share what inspires her, how she writes and how she got started. We'll also play some selections from Magical Moment, the latest of her three CDs, and maybe from the others, too. But there's more to Teri's creative life than her music, as inspiring as it is. We'll hear how she's expanded the reach of her lyrics by including them in a line of greeting cards. And we'll hear about some of her non-writing pursuits, including acting, comedy and jewelry-making.

I am the change that there must be / The road to peace begins with me / It starts with love — it starts with me / I am the change I want to see.
~ The Change, Teri Wilder (inspired by the words of Martin Luther King Jr and Gandhi)

As usual during the first segment of The Muse & You, I'll offer some writing tips and inspiration and take your questions about writing and the creative process and about me and my books, The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write and The MoonQuest: A True Fantasy. Teri will be on right after that.

Please tune in, and bring your questions -- for me and for Teri!

There are three ways to ask questions of my and my guests or to post comments:
• Post your questions in the show's chat room (free Blog Talk Radio account required)
• Post your questions directly to me on Twitter (@markdavidgerson)
• Post your questions directly to me on on my Facebook wall

The Muse & You with Mark David Gerson, is all about writing and creativity, and it's for writers and readers alike -- an opportunity to listen to writers and creators of all sorts talk about how and why they create and, of course, about what they create. It's also an opportunity for you to ask your questions -- of me during the first segment of the show, when I offer writing tips and inspiration, and of my guests during the interview portion.

Listen to The Muse & You with Mark David Gerson on the third Thursday of every month at 1pm ET (10am PT). April guest: TBA. May guest: author Lev Raphael.


The Muse & You Show Archive
If you miss any live broadcast, you can listen to the archived episode, which is available immediately after each show on the show's web page. You can also download any show directly into your computer for later listening.

• #8 ~ Feb 18 ~ Penny Sansevieri, author of Red Hot Internet Publicity
• #7 ~ Jan 21 ~ Cristina M.R. Norcross, author of Unsung Love Songs

• #6 ~ Dec 17 -- Karen Walker author of Following the Whispers

• #5 ~ Nov 19 -- Dan Stone author of The Rest of Our Lives

• #4 ~ Oct 15 -- Kristin Bair O'Keeffe author of Thirsty

• #3 ~ Sept 17 - Joanne Chilton and Jeanne Ripley co-authors of Wings to Fly

• #2 ~ Aug 20 -- Jared Lopatin, author of Rising Sign

• #1 ~ July 29 — Julie Isaac, founder of Twitter's #writechat, and Malcom Campbell, author of The Sun Singer and Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire

Living a Creative Life

If you're looking to live a more vibrant life, you can't do better than to listen to Spiritual Coaching, a weekly online radio program from the Unity online radio network hosted by Rev. Carla McClellan of Unity of Independence, Missouri.

Mind you, I'm not entirely objective. I just appeared on Carla's show on October 6, and it was one of the most fun interviews I've ever done. We talked about writing, creativity, spirituality and life -- and it was so enlightening, inspiring and entertaining for both of us that we've agreed to have me return monthly, on the second Tuesday of each month (4pm ET).

For now, though, please listen to this week's show...and post your thoughts and comments below!

The Gift of Your Words

"Everyone of us has a gift to give. And when we give that gift, we really co-create Heaven on Earth."
— Rev. Mary Omwake, Leadership Council, Association for Global New Thought

Among your many gifts, if you're reading this today, is a gift to create...an ability to communicate, to weave worlds of wonder with your words.

Of course you possess that gift. We all do. But you have chosen to let that gift possess you, to devote at least some hours of your week to a pen-and-paper or keyboard-and-screen communion with your Muse.

Or have you?

When you allow the voice of your Muse free access to your heart and mind, writing becomes a transformative act, one that transforms you and, through you, the world...one that, through the simple act of surrendering to your passion, helps co-create Heaven on Earth.

How are you giving that gift today? How are you honoring your gift, your Muse? If you haven't yet, take a moment -- today, now -- to give the gift of your passion, to free the voice of your Muse onto the page and into the world.

For help acknowledging and unleashing your creative power, listen to "You Are a Writer," one of the tracks from The Voice of the Muse Companion: Guided Meditations for Writers.

The 2-CD set, recorded by Mark David Gerson against a backdrop of Michael McDade's original music, is available online from either Amazon.comor LightLines Media.