Inside the Mind - Dr. Trina Boice

I always knew I’d be a writer when I was a little girl. I just didn’t know exactly what I’d be writing about! I started collecting inspiring quotes and ideas for my books when I was only 6 years old. I kept them in a little box, which grew into dozens of filing cabinets full of content. My husband said I would be buried in a filing cabinet. Thank goodness we can now scan documents into our computer! I've always loved clever wordplay, foreign languages, and different ways of communicating. Would you believe I actually liked diagramming sentences in my middle school English class? My kids think I'm such a nerd. They’re right. When I was a little girl, I won a contest in my 2nd grade class for reading more books than any other kid in the class, more than triple!

I write nonfiction, although I'm absolutely impressed with fiction writers who can create complete worlds and characters that come to life on paper! My nonfiction books are all about YOU and how to make your life even better! Many are self-help, but I also have religious topics.

Getting that first book published traditionally was the hardest. The ideas fly out of my head way faster than I have time to write them down into books! I have dozens of partially finished manuscripts and am always working on more. I have yet to get writer’s block!

I absolutely love movies. Going to a movie theater or paying for videos on demand can be expensive, so my goal is to give people the head’s up on filmmaking quality and content so they can decide whether or not they want to spend their time and money watching a specific movie. In my movie reviews, I share what I liked, didn’t like, tips for parents, themes worth talking about, interesting and funny lines, and even recommendations for other movies that are somewhat similar that I think they’d also like!

It was much harder when I had all of my young children at home. I thought I would be drowning in diapers forever. When I got my doctoral degree, I would sit at the kitchen table with my kids and we would all do our homework together. I didn't want to just talk about the importance of education but show them how much I valued it for myself too. Whenever I worked on a project or job, I tried to include them so that they saw we were a team. Every accomplishment could then be celebrated as our team success. I want each of my kids to be a published author, so I invited my oldest son to write an LDS dating & marriage book with me. It's called "Base Hits and Home Run Relationships." I love having projects I can do with my kids. He has since gone on to create the fastest growing & most popular LDS dating app on the market. It's called Mutual. Check it out! It's awesome! (Shameless plug by a proud mom.) A few years ago, I was invited to go on a speaking tour in China. I asked the sponsoring company if I could bring my two youngest sons with me and, to our delight, they agreed to pay for all 3 of us to go! My sons ended up being part of the speaking events, giving a short presentation to the audiences about American culture and then performing a Hip Hop routine they choreographed (they're both break-dancers). They were the best part of the entire speaking tour! I absolutely loved sharing that amazing experience with them. One of them fell in love with China so much that he has since married a lovely girl from Hong Kong! The other one returned to teach English and Hip Hop dance for a year and a half! Finding balance is always a challenge. When my kids were young, we would do "MnM time" every week where I sit with each child individually and we talked about all of their goals while eating MnM's. MnM stands for "Me and Mom." I know! I know! It's grammatically incorrect, but it makes for a great excuse to eat my favorite candy. I discovered that if they eat candy and stay up past their bedtime, my boys would become very chatty and finally open up about their lives and challenges. To show them the importance of life balance, we divided their life and goals into categories: physical, spiritual, financial, intellectual, social, and emotional. We're certainly not perfect at being well-balanced every day, but we're trying.

Success is unique and personal. Everyone’s definition is different. Overall, a success is if each day you’re making progress: you’re better in some way than yesterday. MH Alderson said, “If at first you don’t succeed, you’re running about average.” Comedian Jonathan Winters, said, “I couldn’t wait for success, so I went ahead without it.” I agree with author/poet Robert Louis Stevenson who described it this way: “That man is successful who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much, who has gained the respect of the intelligent men and the love of children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who leaves the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who never lacked appreciation of earth’s beauty or failed to express it; who looked for the best in others and gave the best he had.” We have all heard “The Big Lie.” We’re told that we “Can Have it all.” You CAN have it all, just not at the same time! When I lived in California, I attended the Governor’s Conference for Women. It’s excellent. Some of the speakers that year were Maria Shriver, Oprah, Dr. Laura, Dr. Wayne Dyer, Sheila Johnson: Female Founder of Black Entertainment Television, and Queen Noor. I even got to meditate with the Dali Lama! In a panel presentation, someone asked the question of the speakers if “having it all” was attainable or a myth. I’ll never forget what CEO of EBAY, Meg Whitman, said. “You CAN have it all, but on different days. One day you might be a fantastic mother, but your house might be a mess. The next day you might focus on your career and be awesome at that, but you won’t be able to spend as much time with your husband. It’s a balancing act. Don’t expect to be perfect at everything all at the same time. That’s not realistic.”

My father for his energy, entrepreneurial spirit, and sense of humor. My mother for her unconditional love and support. My twin sister for her passion for learning that rubs off on me. My husband for his tenacity. He never gives up and is the hardest working person I’ve ever known. In my life I have been surrounded by several people who literally glowed because of their goodness. It made me feel good just being around them, and I want to be good like that. I also love going to conferences where I can meet speakers who inspire me to reach higher and dream bigger. I absolutely love going to Expos too. I love all the free swag they pass out at the booths, but I especially love talking to people about their products, because they are people who had an idea and then successfully took it to market. They’re on fire with their dream and that enthusiasm is extremely contagious. Surround yourself with people who elevate you. Life is too short to spend time otherwise.

Just do it! If you truly believe in your project, don't give up. Writing a book and getting a book published can be hard work, especially in today's economy. Persistence in this industry definitely pays off.

My list of ideas never runs out! Most of us usually don't have the luxury of writing when we want to or when the creative juices are flowing...we have to grab quick snatches during our busy days and nights! Some writers get creative while listening to certain kinds of music or when it's completely silent and everyone at home is asleep. The trick is to write when you can and just let the pen flow. Give yourself permission to write garbage to keep the ideas flowing freely. You can go back and edit later!

Always! I'm always working on another book! My next one hits store shelves in just a few months! Yay!