Fierce Hearted™ Writing Consultant & Mentor.
Author. Speaker.
I help writers and creatives find clarity, claim their stories & Voice, and move forward to complete what matters to them.
I help mend the split between their creative life and their life in the real world.
Together, we shape ideas and content and break through mindset snags. They get tools and confidence for moving forward.
My clients strive to live creatively. They value courage, fierceness of Heart, and excellence.
They want to move forward and fly. They know they can’t go back.
They know mindset is as important as Doing. With a desire to finish the journey, they’re willing to take risks with their writing. Because they’re passionate, committed, curious, and full of stories.
They want to go deeply and connect with themselves and their readers. And often they feel a split between their creative life and life in the real world.
~ Why Fierce Hearted™
I believe connection & using our Voice are the heart of empowerment. You have stories, and they matter. My mission is to help you write what matters to you, and connect with yourself & your readers.
Because from the time I was tiny, the message I got was ‘keep quiet, you’re too much.’ I grew up thinking, ‘watch yourself.’ I engaged with life, had strong connections with people, was known for my passion about life, the world, art. . .and the whole time that message ‘watch it’ hung over me, making me smaller than I am.
When I went back to school for the fifth time for my bachelor’s degree, and vowed to stick with it, something ignited inside me as I heard young women mention date rape as an accepted risk. Studying communication, seeing power structures, I saw a disconnect between men and women across cultures. I became an activist on that huge university campus, using my Voice as a fierce advocate for women. My vision, a Women’s Center where women could gather, tell their unique stories, find allies & support. I felt seen, heard, respected, and empowered with purpose. I didn’t think, ‘watch it, keep quiet.’ I thought, ‘how can I connect with people so they see the Vision, too.’ The Women’s Center opened 18 mos. later, on the eve of my graduation. I didn’t understand I was saving my own life, as well.
It was years later I had to save my life again. From the outside looking in, my life was good. Even one of ease. And as I was walked the streets I loved in Asheville, NC, I felt dead inside. I heard these exact words in my head: ‘I’ve lost my Voice.’ It wasn’t as much about purpose as it was about not being connected to anything larger than myself that mattered. I felt disempowered. And was startled with the realization. I tried what had worked to inspire me before. I took a class at the university. Went to galleries and places I once found stimulating. It did little. And by angels or luck (a story with magic of its own), I met a women who led prompted writing circles. My natural curiosity caused me to ask what she did as we parted. I signed up. Writing was my journey back. . . to my Voice, myself, and my passion.
I know about Fierce Heart, and Fierce Hearted Writing.
Me in the Real World
I’m a novelist, poet, essayist, shift agent and consultant for all things writerly. Always an artist, my passion for creating has focused on words and the language of life in stories for the past 20 yrs. Reading and writing’s like living a good life to me. We settle into the world, get to know folks, ride through their ups and downs, share their angst and triumphs. We’re touched in ways so something shifts inside us. It’s the way I travel the world, too. As a lifelong learner, immersed in the culture and rhythm of place. It’s how I approach my work, whether as corporate advertising account manager, micro-brewery owner building a business, activist doing big things, or helping authors move toward their goals. Creating and connection at the core.
I’m a slow reader and a slow writer. I’m also a mother, wife, friend, educator, advocate, artist, connector, and dreamer. I claim recovering perfectionist, optimistic realist, and a deep connection with nature and the spiritual. Perfect days and beauty in any form make me happy. Highly intuitive, I confess awe, wonder, and curiosity are in my DNA.
Ask me about myself I’ll tell you I prefer tea to coffee, walking to running, sunrises to sunsets, quiet to lively, light filled rooms to cozy caves, exploring to shopping. I need a huge dose of solitude, and love driving through uninhabited landscapes, but you’ll think me extrovert when we meet.
My love for the Appalachians lives in my forthcoming novel Flight. My soul-connection with the high desert of Northern NM lives in my second novel, in progress.
Read what matters to me most here.
And my many lifetimes here: LinkedIn.
My authorly thoughts and doings here: Facebook
Follow me on Instagram
Watch on YouTube
Morning Glory © Heloise Jones
Read My Works
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“The Writer’s Block Myth – A Guide to Get Past Stuck & Experience Lasting Creative Freedom‘
#1 Bestselling Book
“The Altar of Birds” The Wayfarer, Vol.3 Issue.2 – Homebound Publications
2014 Pushcart Prize nominee poem
“Know Yourself Better than You Know Anyone Else” a contributing essay in Patti Digh’s What I Wish for You: Simple wisdom for a happy life
“A Writer’s Life” guest blog on Marginalia with Nancy Peacock
“The Honey Hour,” short story, The Ekphrastic Review, May 1, 2018
If you like to listen, you’ll enjoy this fun & informative audio guide in my voice, taken from The Writer’s Block Myth. The Creative Life for People Living in the Real World
Author Stuff. Life on Earth. Things I Love.
Page Lambert – all things literary, building a creative relationship with the natural world
– In Search of Kinship is beautifully written.
Fresh New Day – seeing each day anew, stories and contemplations
Elizabeth Gilbert’s thoughts on writing
– Her novel The Signature of All Things, quite wonderful.
Jane Friedman – writing & publishing in the digital age
– Her book Publishing 101, a concise overview
Alan Rinzler – everything publishing from a long-time pro
Starlight Illuminates World’s Oldest Trees – trees and celestials, linked in magical ways
– A whole stunning book: Ancient Trees: Portraits of Time
Vagabond Teahouse Pours Camaraderie – oh gosh, makes me feel good.
– Curious about the world, browse The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge
Richard Louv – how nature heals us humans
– Seminal works: Last Child in the Woods and The Nature Principle