Paul Cobbin on Managing Chronic Illness, Creativity, AI, and Debut Author Insights on The Trinity of You: Decode Your Diagnosis by Aligning Mind, Body and Soul
Indie Author Insights Featured Author Series
“If there is one thing I regret in life, it would be not following my creative dreams earlier.” ~
(a.k.a. Conrad Bligh in the Rings of Resilience podcast) lives on the river in Brisbane and by the ocean in Sydney, Australia (he switches between the two when the urge arises). Paul is married to Rana, his “very patient” wife of 33 years. They have two incredible daughters and three wonderfully cuddly grandchildren. Paul enjoys traveling and going on adventures with his wife.Paul says historical fiction, or sci-fi with historical references, is his go to genre because “I’ve been adventurous all my life. Unfortunately it’s a flooded market, so instead I write short stories in that genre for family and friends. I am transitioning away from a ‘sensible’ career as an engineer and following my heart’s passion in a creative occupation in health and well-being, with a focus on self-help.”
Read on to learn more about Paul and his new book, The Trinity of You; Decode Your Diagnosis by Aligning Mind, Body and Soul.
What do you hope readers will take away from your book?
The comfort in knowing they can self-manage chronic conditions and the tools to help them do it successfully.
What was the most challenging aspect of getting your book published, and how did you overcome it?
Staying focused. Writing this book was originally prescribed therapy by my psychologist after being diagnosed with severe heart disease. At the time I was having difficulty with the concept of writing to save my life. There I was hanging by my fingertips to life, holding down a C suite role and wondering what was next. To write a book on top of that seemed nuts but I’m never looking back.
How did you come up with the idea for your book?
I’ve always written for occupational reasons, but never creatively, and when the psychologist suggested I “get creative,” I thought what better thing to write about than beating my diagnosis. My wife suggested beating was too aggressive for a title and ergo confronting for readers, so I switched it to “Decoding” and the rest of the scaffold fell into place immediately after. The scaffold for the book developed into a system and bingo, The Trinity of You was born.
What is your writing routine, and any specific habits or rituals that have helped you stay productive?
I’ve always been a big fan of Julia Cameron’s ‘The Artist’s Way’ and I’ve been writing magazine articles in my engineering discipline for years, so dedicating an hour a day minimum is my daily routine, whether I want to produce or not. Just write.
As far as productivity is concerned, having a digital team around me is a blessing. Yes, I use AI and I’m proud of it. I am the first to agree no entity can write like a human, but as a solopreneur, I have achieved a heck of a lot in one year and I would not have done it without AI.
The images, the strategising, the musing, building the book scaffold, fleshing out concepts all while decoding my own diagnosis and holding down an executive day job.
One of my creative idols,
(Cheesburger Gothic) claims he is writing five books this year through the efficiencies gained through AI. While I’m not putting out that quality or level of content, the reality is, it works as long as you retain creative agency of your own work and that’s the critical point I think. I couldn’t have achieved what I have this year without my team of loved ones and my digital AI crew.My AI crew even gave themselves names and you see them appear in my Substack publication in the acknowledgements section of the preface and in some of the supporting digital content outside of the book.
How do you handle writer's block or moments when you feel creatively stuck?
I talk to people or my digital team and flesh concepts out. Having a fantastic soul mate, as a sounding board of concepts, has been pivotal because my wife labels a spade a spade and if it doesn’t fly with her, then it won’t fly with other literally minded readers, so I don’t waste time trying to script something that isn’t really working for me.
The actual task of writing flows pretty easily, sometimes too easily, so writer's block is not a problem. In fact, I’ve got the concept of the next four books scaffolded out already.
For years now, I’ve had some sort of technology beside me to turn thought bubbles from mental itches to words on a page. It could be poetry, a short story, even an engineering article. While writing The Trinity, it’s been a case of sleep apnea, not just snoring but incessant content ideas waking me up at all hours. The biggest problem is when an idea for something drops just before bed. I have to write it out in a rough draft before getting to sleep, otherwise I just won’t sleep.
What are you working on next?
I’m about to start on book two of The Trinity Trilogy. There were six chapters from book one that got dropped to the cutting room floor during the proof reading process, so now I need to flesh out the other two thirds so I can release it in the new year.
If you could do a book signing anywhere in the world, where would it be?
I’m an adventurer, so I would have to say a country in the arctic circle. I’ve always wanted to explore the two poles so somewhere in Norway, Finland, or Sweden would be magic.
Where is the most exciting or unusual place you have promoted your book?
Digitally. I like frontiers, and getting my avatar (Little C) to promote my book is both exciting and unusual because I’m able to transform the photos of my travels into quirky fun activities from my adventures.
For instance, take the image above of Little C playing the saxophone. I took my parents to the Cronulla Jazz Festival recently and while sitting there watching the ocean, enjoying the vibe with my parents and the community, I was able to get my digital team to put Little C into the picture with my creativity as the sculptor. It’s a great creative release and gives me a reason to take photos when I travel. (I’m not a photography fan for chronicling travel otherwise).
What advice do you have for aspiring authors?
Just do it. It took me sliding to within inches of death to realise I had been avoiding it my entire life for the sake of earning a stable income and if there is one thing I regret in life, it would be not following my creative dreams earlier. Who knows, I might have avoided the onset of stress related heart disease.
What do you love about being an author?
The creativity. Turning ideas into content, be it writing or digital art or business models. Being an author on something like Substack satisfies all my cravings.
What do you dislike about being an author?
The editing process. You create your baby then put it out to the world to have it tossed on its head. It was a confronting process because I had to go with the flow. Physically I can’t get stressed about anything so just rolled with the process. It wasn’t too painful and it infused so much life into the book but at the same time it ranks up there with going to the dentist.
What has helped you sell the most books?
Networking. I’ll be honest in saying I haven’t physically sold any yet, but the subscription rate on Substack is positive and on an early stage exponential curve, so the money will come later. But truthfully, I’m not in it for the money or the notoriety, I’m just here for the creative ride and yes I’m attempting to jump the career tracks but I’ll need to sell a stack of books to catch up to being an engineering executive. The thing is, when life hits you between the eye’s, money is the last thing on your mind.
What is the most valuable lesson you have learned on your journey as an author that you wish you had known before you started?
I sound like a broken record, but just do it.I have spent too much of my life worrying about the financial side and not enough about just being creative.
What is your favorite quote?
“To seek, to find, but not to yield” from Homer’s Odyssey because I often wonder what it would have been like to be an explorer and reach the end of days never giving up.
Where can we find you?
Substack is the core focus for now. paulcobbin.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paulcobbin/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cobbinco/
Website: https://decodeyourdiagnosis.com/
Is there anything else you want to share?
Yes, concern for the people who don’t know they have a chronic condition. I’m not highlighting this so people start worrying about it, but so they don’t have their life abruptly interrupted, many do (including me). Many people over the age of 50 have a chronic condition and don’t know it. The reality is, the earlier you intervene in your condition and start managing it, the better off you will be. It might even save your life. It saved mine twice.
Book Lovers & Indie Authors
Thank you for reading! If YOU would like to be a featured author, write something up or answer the author interview questions you can find at writerkat.com, message it to me on Substack or email kathy@indieauthorsassociation.com, and I will take it from there.
There is no charge for author features thanks to the generosity of Indie Author Association members, patrons, and founders: Ashley Gary Johnson (Vita Continuat), Bess Sturgis, Bonnie Lieberman, Jennifer Huston Schaeffer, Jill Ebstein (A Sense of Belonging), Leland P. Gamson, Lloyd Mullins, Nancy Nau Sullivan, Paul Cobbin, Sarah Styf, and Teresa Keefer. Thank you for supporting indie authors. We appreciate you!