PinnedBreaking the top 50 — Joe CookeI’ve been writing novels seriously since the turn of the century (that sounds so weird) and my lifelong dream is to hit the New York Times best-seller list. As I close in on that dream, I want to record the journey here for the benefit of any who might be…Writing Life4 min read
May 20Motorcycle LessonsI know there are times when I suggest that someone admit, “I arranged my life to be this way,” that people bristle a bit. I know as well as anyone how much of this life we do NOT arrange. Katie and I spent a lot of years finding our separate…Goals8 min read
Apr 21The Arrangement: Installment OneI had this idea about twenty years ago that I would write a self-help book that combined my belief in what I call “inner-giftedness” and the idea that success could be measured by meaningful personal accomplishments, rather than public achievement. listen to the podcast of this article https://www.buzzsprout.com/1890324/10468822 My agent…5 min read
Mar 2The Writing Life — Joe CookeAn interview with Santa Fe author Joe Cooke on the writing life, the creative process, and the nuts and bolts of transforming ideas to finished products. Cline’s Corner Interview https://clinescorner.libsyn.com/clines-corner-february-25-2022-with-joe-cooke-author Lynn Cline 0:12 Welcome to Cline’s Corner with me your host, Lynn Cline. Here you’ll hear from the characters of the city who…Writing Life28 min read
Nov 3, 2021Getting Close to Getting an AGENTI got my third request for a full manuscript last week. That morning I drew the “You Are the Oracle” card from a deck by author Rebecca Campbell. My question was, What can I do right now to achieve my dream of becoming a best-selling author? The card I drew…Writing Life2 min read
Nov 23, 2020Three commonly overlooked job interview essentialsThree commonly overlooked job interview essentials I sit on interview panels and I have taught job success skills for years, so I have some simple suggestions for anyone who is job hunting and lands an interview. First of all, let me describe the prototypical process that leads up to the…6 min read
Nov 19, 2020The collective unconsciousnessBack in 1976, Julian Jaynes issued a tome based on the idea that the brain once operated as two separate units, what he called the bicameral mind (two houses), and that as man evolved, these two separate units began to work together, creating what we now think of as consciousness…Political Difference5 min read
Dec 12, 2017Taking on the Challenge of the Struggling StudentDecember 12, 2017 Joe Cooke A relatively new and well-meaning instructor facilitated a local diversity training. It started out fairly well. We brainstormed attributes of successful students and struggling students, and our list looked much like other lists from similar seminars, and much like the list Skip Downing has published…Education13 min read
Mar 18, 2016Why Goal Setting Doesn’t Work (and what to do about it)If you took a really hard look at what you do during the day, and then you mapped those actions out until they led to some natural consequence (for instance, if you put $1,000 a month into a 401(k) plan with an average growth rate, you’ll have about a million…Self Improvement3 min read
Mar 17, 2016Radical Action and the DBTsMy Spanish teacher says often, looking from one hand to the other, as if weighing options, “Acción: Consecuencias.” I just had a debilitating sense of failure resulting in complete mental paralysis. It wasn’t from just one thing. It was a compendium of little consequences, some real, some imagined. No need…Entrepreneurship5 min read
