We were lucky to catch up with Michael LeBlanc recently and have shared our conversation below.
Michael, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
I have so much love for the book I published last year, <i>DinQ: D&D in the Coffin Hold of the USS Enterprise</i>.
As the book is a memoir, it so happened I had started gathering experiences when I was six, though I would not truly appreciate the stories until much later (after both parents my had passed, my first marriage had failed, and the Navy was a distant memory).
By my late thirties (back in 2022), I knew that I wanted to write a book. The idea was to write a science-fiction epic made from ideas I had had brewing for decades. See, writing as always been an on-again-off-again passion. But it was not until after I had settled into my new life and job here in Conyers, Georgia that I found the time and inclination to knuckle down and focus on a book. Right before I started typing for that year’s National Novel Writing Month event, I’d had a conversation with a friend who convinced me that my life leading up to me playing tabletop roleplaying games on the actual aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise CVN-65 was the story I really needed to share.
Though, I have to admit, I was still skeptical after I had agreed with him.
Two months later I had a full rough draft completed. I had done five different interviews with people in my past who had been influential up until 2005 (the year I left the Navy) to help flesh out the reader’s experience. Five months later I had found an editor and was polishing up the fourth draft. One month later, I found a publisher who knew the ins and outs of self-publishing. That person was instrumental in shaping and designing the book’s aesthetic. A month later I was finishing the seventh – and what would be the final – draft.
By October 2023, the book was finished and available on both Amazon and Barnes & Noble, complete with a forward and three instances of stunning art.
Afterwards, as I sold a few copies and made numerous ads on my own personal social media accounts, I began to notice I was harboring much less stress and shame from the mistakes of my past. I was seeing my parents in a different light. I was achieving a moment of catharsis and in that clarity… that’s when I knew I had to go to therapy to unpack the rest of what I had just shaken loose.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
“Hello, everybody. Michael LeBlanc here, sittin’ with you wherever you are.”
That’s how most videos on my socials start if they’re more than a few seconds long. It was that phrase – one that I had started saying back when I was making post-hiking blogs to cope with loss of my mother to COPD – that helped to shape my online moniker.
When I do my videos, my podcasts or even write my stories, the whole idea is I am sittin’ with YOU. The reader. The watcher. The listener. I want to share experiences and jokes with people who need a place to feel both entertained and included. I have pride in having live events online that allow people of every ideology a chance to hang, chill, and just… BE.
I’ve done other services for folks in the past. I’ve edited small videos for celebration events and have edited full television shows for an evangelist. I like dabbling in the digital creative space, and I’m always looking for something new to experience so I can share it with others. I’ve got a sense of humor that’s weird enough to be broad, and all of these pieces of me come together to be approachable.
That’s what I am, what I strive to be.
Approachable.
And hopefully, someone who made your day brighter.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
There are three big things that anyone should consider when they’re looking for someone in the creative space for art, services, or advice.
First, do your research on the creative. Chances are you’re looking at that individual to give you something you’ve been needing. Whether it’s a website, a mural, time with a camera, a buffet supplied with food… you’re going to want to know that they’re able to do to fit your aesthetic. Creatives are a wide and varied sort. Though some may provide similar experiences with differing price points, there’s bound to be someone who will fit your vision. And if you think that what they have to offer will work for you if they changed maybe one or two aspects, don’t be afraid to ask. A creative who is sure in their space will be firm on what they can do or CAN’T do, which is just as important. They’ll also be sure on how much their time costs, which brings me to my second point:
What price the creative asks for is often the baseline which means don’t insult them by offering lower during price negotiation. They’ve taken no-doubt several hours of their time over the years they’ve been perfecting their craft to find out what their time costs. And often, they’re trying to exist in the competitive field. If the price isn’t going to work, it’s okay to shop around. Trust me, they’ll understand.
Last and I say this with as much passion as I can because I’ve been in this predicament too many times: DO NOT BE VAGUE. Please, when you commission any type of creative, tell them everything you need. Tell them all your worries. If it’s food-related, list every problem you’ve thought of, even if you think it’s nothing. Heck, <b>especially</b> if you think it’s nothing. Your creative is going to take all those little permutations and shape the final result to your specifications. And be as responsive as you can when they ask for any clarifications. Not only will that help speed things along for you and them, but it should prevent future disappointment.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
I get two types of rewards when I create something and it depends on the audience for which I’m creating.
If it’s for me, the reward I get is clearing out some of the clutter that’s been banging around in my head. I put out so many little things (short form videos, writing snippets, photography) almost immediately after I conceive them. Once I do, I feel like I’ve got the space to let bigger, more serious projects breathe.
Then, once those are clear, I can focus on projects for the audience on the other side of the screen or page. And my reward there is very simple: I get a little piece of me out there to live on once I’m gone, and they get something to relate to. They get to see life through a different lens. And I think that’s a certain form of magic.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sittinwithyou.com
- Instagram: @SitinWithYou
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