 Mitch Russo’s public life began onstage as the lead guitarist for the rock band Absolutely Free. But the real work began after the amplifiers went silent. Mitch co-founded Timeslips Corp., which grew into the world’s largest time-tracking software company before being acquired by Sage PLC. He later partnered with Tony Robbins and Chet Holmes to build Business Breakthroughs International into a company with annual revenue approaching 30 million. After Holmes’ death, Mitch experienced a quiet but decisive shift. What followed was a decade-long evolution that produced six business books, a new software platform, and a growing realization that success alone was no longer enough. That realization led him to an unexpected place: magical fiction. His debut novel, Sacred Crossroads, emerged from a period of profound transition, an in-between space where old identities dissolved and certainty vanished. The story reflects that threshold moment when nothing makes sense anymore, and something entirely new begins to form. Today, Mitch continues to write, speak, and build software platforms for coaches and entrepreneurs. His nonfiction works, including Power Tribes, Coach Elevation, and Sacred Profits, blend practical strategy with lived experience. An award-winning photographer, Mitch’s landscape work has appeared in JETGALA Magazine and earned first prize in the Sierra Club’s Image of the Year competition. When he’s not writing, he’s often chasing the northern lights in Iceland or disappearing into the wild with a camera, still curious, still exploring, still crossing thresholds. Sacred Crossroads centers on moments that whisper rather than shout. What made you want to write a novel about the quiet thresholds we often overlook? I didn't want to write a novel, I was compelled to. After an intense immersion into plant medicine in the jungles of Costa Rica, something profound happened. I was free. Finally free of the constant chatter of thoughts and unwanted emotions. But there was a consequence. I felt as if I had merged into the universal light of life. Now, in this moment when my mind was clear of distraction, I realized that I no longer wanted anything to do with my past life focused on making money. But the problem - I didn't know what to do. I was stuck in an "in-between" place, somewhere I call The Void. And it was scary, filled with uncertainty, making me wish I had not arrived here. Yet, something called me forward into the silence, into a place of deep contemplation and quiet. I journaled, I walked the beach, I stared at the ocean for hours. I stepped into the uncertainty hoping the path would appear, and it did. A voice emerged inside me, not a speaking voice but a presence that felt like a deeper, wiser version of me. And I listened, I journaled, I asked questions. What emerged was the core framework of the book you hold in your hands; Sacred Crossroads. Six weeks later, I fully embraced my new life living in the creative wave that came through. I read what I wrote, I reread, rewrote, adjusted to help me to express what I truly felt and with that a message, a story, a cast of characters to bring my message to life and say what I had felt in a way to enable others to take their own first step, when everything seems too scary to even start. That's the quiet threshold I had to cross and the whisper that invites you to take that first step. Noble’s journey begins when certainty fades, not when disaster strikes. Why do you think those subtle moments are often the most transformative? Noble Manning's life was built on certainty, because certainty is comfortable… until it isn’t true anymore. When certainty fades, we’re left with ourselves, without scripts, without guarantees. That’s where choice becomes real. Disaster forces change from the outside. Loss of certainty invites change from within. Noble isn’t pushed; he’s unsettled. And that discomfort: that quiet disorientation, is often the doorway to something far more honest than what we’ve been clinging to. The book feels spiritual without preaching. How did you balance honoring mystery while keeping the story emotionally grounded and human? By resisting the urge to explain. Mystery doesn’t need instructions, it needs space to unfold and invite the reader into a world by self identifying with the people who they begin to care for. Am I Noble? Am I Elizabeth? Maybe I am a little bit of all of them. And so are you. I trusted the characters’ emotional truth more than any spiritual framework. Grief, longing, love, confusion: those are universal experiences. When they’re treated honestly, something sacred naturally emerges. I didn’t want to tell readers what to believe. I wanted to sit beside them and say, I don’t have this figured out either… but l'm here, walk with me, we'll get there together. Time and memory seem almost alive in the novel. What do they represent for you in the context of awakening and choice? They represent the way the past never really stays in the past. Memory isn’t static, it’s a living current that shapes how we see the present and imagine the future. When the emotion is discharged from experience, it becomes wisdom. Awakening, for me, isn’t about escaping time; it’s about seeing how we’re in conversation with it. Every choice we make is layered with memory, inherited stories, and moments we thought were gone. Sacred Crossroads asks what happens when we become conscious of what most don't see, and choose anyway. Rather than giving answers, the story rearranges questions. What question do you hope readers sit with after they finish the book? What truth have I been quietly avoiding because it would require me to change? Not in a dramatic way. In a gentle, personal way. The kind of truth that doesn’t accuse, but waits patiently until we’re ready to meet it. What is just beyond the threshold that scares me? The fear asks: "Will you be safe?" But courage tells you: "I can handle it, grow from it and evolve into a better version of me" If Sacred Crossroads is truly about choice, what does choosing “truth over comfort” mean to you personally? I was stuck in a role. I was the company founder, the business expert, the teacher and leader. that was comfortable. I knew my role, I earned my reputation. But that wasn't my truth when I emerged from the Jungle. And I had to let go of 40 years of identity that protected me but no longer fit. It means risking uncertainty instead of settling for familiar narratives that keep me safe, but small. Choosing truth over comfort isn’t heroic. It’s often lonely. But it’s also deeply life affirming. And once you’ve tasted that kind of honesty, comfort without truth starts to feel like another kind of ache. Website: https://sacredcrossroadsbook.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mitchrussotravels/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BreakthroughResults/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchrusso Purchase the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Crossroads-Path-Appears-First-ebook/dp/B0GGK5N2RN
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 Kimbra Drake is a fiction writer who is also a certified book coach and developmental editor. She lives and writes in Virginia and Ireland. When not crafting stories, some of her passions include traveling, hiking in nature, photography, and attending gigs and readings at indie bookstores. Where the Heart Meets the Sea is inspired by her time living in Lyngør, Norway. What first drew you to set this story in Norway, particularly on the remote island of Lyngør? The setting feels so vivid and alive; was there something about that landscape that sparked the story? I found inspiration and passion in the wild beauty of the Lyngør landscape: small islands blooming in the sea; toffee-eyed seals; heather-carpeted rocks; nautical, white, wooden cottages that hug the shore; traditional wooden boats with deep roots in Viking history; and the lovely Lyngør community, rich in Norwegian culture. What inspired the initial idea for Where the Heart Meets the Sea? Was there a moment, image, or question that became the seed of the novel? Having spent summers in Lyngør and a large amount of time boating in the southern Norwegian archipelago, I learned through one misadventure or another that the sea demands respect or the situation might turn dangerous, and that inspired some of my story. Ella’s journey intertwines loss, family secrets, and love in a very human way. How did your own life or experiences influence the emotional core of this story, if at all? When I was growing up, my family was very small, and I was often lonely as a child. Luckily, I came to understand over the years that friends can become family, and this inspired one of my story’s themes: chosen family. This novel explores how discovering the truth can reshape one’s sense of self. What was most important to you when portraying that shift in perspective for both Ella and Leif? Perhaps it’s the idea that someone else’s truth might not be your own truth. Or maybe it’s that sometimes the things people are told about themselves and/or their histories can keep them stuck in life. Through my characters, I explored the possibility that if a person decides to rewrite their own story, it might be possible to change their own perspective and maybe even find contentment in moving forward. Many readers will connect with Ella’s complicated relationship with her grandmother Hilda. What was it like to write that dynamic? Did any particular relationships in your life inform their bond? Likely most people have experienced a complicated relationship in their lives, and I guess I was exploring how the bonds of love can still be present despite conflict. The chemistry between Ella and Leif develops amid grief and mystery. How did you balance their romance with the deeper emotional and generational themes of the novel? This was a tricky line to walk because it’s possible that chemistry and desire can blur a person’s view of the world. I wanted Leif and Ella to remain compassionate about each other’s pain and problems, and also to be aware of the difficulties around them, even as their undeniable chemistry grows into deeper romantic feelings for each other. What did you enjoy most about writing this book? Was there a specific scene, character, or research detail that you found especially rewarding? My novel has traces of Norse mythology, Scandinavian folklore, Norwegian culture and customs, and Viking history. I enjoyed researching and writing those parts. As a writer, do you have a favorite place or ritual that helps you tap into the right mood for storytelling? In my experience, writing consistently creates inspiration. Even if life is super busy, I find that carving out short blocks of time to work on certain days of the week is helpful— versus not writing at all and waiting for mood to strike. Who are some of your favorite romance or contemporary fiction authors right now? I have many favorites. To this end, I usually read multiple books at once and switch between genres based on my mood at the time. What are you working on next? Will it explore similar themes of legacy and belonging, or are you headed somewhere entirely new? My work-in-progress is set in Ireland. Similar themes are going to remerge but hopefully in a fresh way. Website: https://kimbradrake.com/
Instagram: @kimberly_engebrigtsen Facebook: @kimberlyengebrigtsen Purchase the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Where-Heart-Meets-Sea-Novel-ebook/dp/B0FTKHZHJD/  Mary Curran Hackett is the mother of two children, Brigid Claire and Colm Francis, and is married to Greg Hackett. She received an MA in English Literature from the University of Nebraska and a BA from the University Honors Program at Catholic University in Washington, DC. Born and raised in Danbury, CT, she has traveled extensively and lived in various places throughout the U.S., but her favorite place in the world is home with her kids, husband, and her stacks of books. Like her character Colm Magee, Mary suffers various heart and neurological disorders, but thanks in part to her brother, a physician, as well as her own doctors, she now has a pacemaker and a heart that beats on its own at least most of the time. Every book begins with a spark. What first inspired you to write Proof of Heaven? I had collapsed several times growing up, but after I had my daughter my episodes were more severe and longer. One day while driving my daughter home from daycare, I felt sick and the next thing I knew I was in ambulance and being transported to the hospital. I totaled my car, but my daughter was safe (Thank God). The doctors took my episodes seriously now and discovered I was experiencing cardiac arrest—actual death—and put a pacemaker inside me. After my son was born, he had a single episode in my arms when I put him in the bath. It was brief, but terrifying. We never knew what happened to him (he never had any other episodes thereafter). Nevertheless, I was so afraid I would lose him without warning. So I did what I always do as a writer, I turned my feelings into words. And while doing so, it also sparked a number of other questions I was desperate to uncover myself. Your work explores the idea of the hereafter or where we go when we die. What truth or question were you hoping to uncover through it? When I was a child and collapsed, I never saw “heaven” (or at least the one described to me during my Catholic upbringing). When I was older I could better articulate the sensations and experience. The world seemed black at first, a great void, but there was an odd sensation, a dreamlike quality that was hard to put words around, it was a sense of unconditional love, an omniscient presence of love that permeated through me—drawing me up and out. I could feel everyone and everything and it was all love. It was in me when I returned and remained—forever. What message or feeling do you hope stays with readers after they turn the final page? I hope readers will be open to the idea that Heaven is all around, that love is heaven. It’s inside of us, it literally lives inside of us. We create our own heaven through the love we give and the love we receive. I also think that our religion can be a vehicle for heaven to be revealed to us, but it can also be a hindrance (as it was for Cathleen). I was raised Catholic but I am not practicing. My several experiences in the hereafter like the character Colm have shown me that, at the end of our lives here and the beginning of our lives “there,” no one asks you if went to church or you followed some dogma or prayed to a certain name for God. All we will know and feel is love. We’re here to do that. That is our purpose. I know a lot of people who would step over a fellow human to get to church on time. I think in some ways we’ve lost our way. Colm and Cathleen show us that there is so much to enjoy right here on earth. There is so much beauty and so much love right here, right now, in the present. What’s next for you—another book, a new direction, or simply rest and reflection? Since Proof of Heaven debuted almost fifteen years ago (celebrating it’s 15th year in print) I have written a follow-up, Proof of Angels, had two pacemakers replaced, and raised my children who have left the nest. I also have written some 45 books for others as a ghostwriter. I currently ghostwrite and actively coach and teach other writers, while working on a screenplay and a new novel about an artist at the turn of the 20th century (that I have been working on for the past 5 years). Every day I am so grateful I get to write for a living. I love it. I couldn’t imagine living any other way. It’s all proof of heaven to me! Website: https://www.marycurranhackett.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marycurranhackett/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaryCurranHackett/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-curran-hackett Purchase the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Proof-Heaven-Mary-Curran-Hackett/dp/0062079980 |
AuthorJane Ubell-Meyer founded Bedside Reading in 2017. Prior to that she was a TV and Film producer. She has spent the last five years promoting, marketing and talking to authors and others who are experts in the field. Archives
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For more information contact: [email protected] 917 848 3353
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