Interviewing Author Lindsay McCarthy

Interviewing Author  Lindsay McCarthy 

Q1. Tell me about yourself? 

A. I have been married to my husband Mike for 14 years and we have two amazing kids and a Beagle puppy. We have a home in Austin, TX and one in Silverthorne, CO, and split our time between the two places. We spend summer and winter in Colorado and spring and fall in Austin so we get the best weather in both places. I was a college athlete and love to spend time outdoors doing active things with my family. I also love to travel. Some of my favorite places I’ve been are to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Japan, Greece, Bonaire, Belize, and Italy. I also love to write, garden, and drink tea. I was a home school mom for 4 years, but have recently decided to send our kids to an alternative school called Acton Academy.  

Q2.What are your favorite books to read? 

A. I love all different kinds of books! I lead 2 book clubs so I’m reading all the time. In one we alternate fiction and non-fiction books and in the other, we read primarily self-help type books. As a family, we still read aloud at bedtime and my kids fall asleep to an audiobook every night. I also love to read the kid's picture books with a positive message. I love reading books with other people to create a shared experience and a common language. I think reading can really bring people together! Some of the best books I’ve read this year are Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell, Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, The Summer of Monkeys by Wilson Rawls, and Personality Isn’t Permanent by Benjamin Hardy. 

Q3. When did you decide you were going to write a book? 

A. I’ve always loved to write and have been making little picture books ever since I was a kid. In 2007, two years before giving birth to my son, I had a vision of interviewing people I thought were excellent parents to learn their best advice. Luckily I waited until I was done having kids before writing a parenting book in 2016. 

Q4. How did you come up with the name of your book? 

A. My book is in a series of books with the same name, so I really didn’t have much say in the title. The original Miracle Morning was written by Hal Elrod and now there are over a dozen books in the series. After we read his book and started practicing the Miracle Morning as a family, we got to meet Hal at a conference and tell him what we were up to. A few days later, we had a contract with him to write a book to help parents and families create their own morning ritual. Since writing the book together, our families have become really close and now we actually live in the same neighborhood.

Q5. What are you working on for 2021? 

A. 2020 has been an interesting year, to say the least. In 2021, I hope we can get back to planning family retreats in person :) 

Q6. How long have you been writing? 

A. As soon as I was able to write, I’ve been keeping journals. I think I was 8 when I filled up my first journal. Most of my writing I still keep to myself, but I do have a blog where I write when I find myself getting the same question over and over again. 

Q7.What advice would you give other authors? 

A. There is no shame in self-publishing! The industry is changing and literally, ANYONE can write a book. If you really want to write a book, I’d highly recommend looking into Self-Publishing School with Chandler Bolt https://self-publishingschool.com/ or reading Honoree Corder’s book “You Must Write a Book."

8. Where can people find you online? 

You can find me on my website, www.gratefulparent.com, or in my Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/TMM4P/ You can find my book "The Miracle Morning for Parents and Families" on Amazon :)

Q9. What is your favorite coffee drink? 

A. I actually rarely drink coffee, but I love coffee ice cream :)

10. What is your favorite coffee shop? 

A. In Frisco, CO there is a little coffee shop inside a book store called The Next Page. It’s one of my favorite places to go when we’re in CO. 

Q11. Do you plan on making a new book in the future? 

A. I’ve always toyed with the idea of writing a picture book version of our book for kids, but haven’t made it a reality…YET. 

Q12. How many books have you written? 

A. Just the one so far. 

Q13. Did you go to college to be a writer? 

A. Nope, I was a business major in college and I strongly believe if you have a great story, it doesn’t matter if you went to college at all, just get a good editor :)