We recently connected with Rebecka Vigus and have shared our conversation below.

Rebecka, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I learned by trial and error. There was nothing I could have done. I had a college professor tell me, I had talent but she didn’t know how to help me develop it. I started reading everything I could get my hands on about writing. I studied that between other college classes. I should have taken the study more seriously, but because it was on my own, I didn’t. Perseverance. I stuck with it and learned from the masters. Life got in the way. I had a child, I started work. I only wrote in my spare time. Sometimes I went weeks without writing. My writing didn’t have a support group.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I was ten-years-old when my reading teacher handed me back a paper I’d written and told me that with my imagination, he would one day see me in books. I believed him. I went home and told my parents I was going to be a writer. Then never discouraged me even though the only thing I wrote for the next year and a half was non-sense poetry. We moved two weeks before I started seventh grade. Then I spent the next six years writing about teenaged angst. In 1978, I self-published a book of poetry titled Only a Start. I did all the typing, yes on a typewriter. I took all the pages to Kinkos Printers and they printed me 75 books collated and ready to go. I marched them to Reigle Press in downtown Flint, MI and they printed them for me. I think I sold two and gave the rest away. I entered poetry contests in the following years and had poems in about a dozen anthologies. One won an editor’s choice award. I started teaching full-time in 1989 after finishing my Masters degree. In 2005 I discovered National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) Kamikaze writing from midnight Nov. 1 to midnight Nov. 30. I finished my first novel in 21 days. It was published in March 2006. I wrote several more books. In 2012 I opened a small press. over the six years I published books for four different authors. While the company closed, I still manage the books for a former author. In 2016 I began a new venture and became Rebecka Vigus, The Writer Whisperer(R). I started coaching anyone who wanted to write. I have one author published and two working on novels. I am currently working with people who want to write Legacy Stories. Short 32 page books for their grandchildren to tell them the family stories. I’m still writing and not I’ve added the coaching. I those who want to publish a book ready for submission to an agent or a publisher. I am most proud of my belief in my abilities, I have an award winning poem and an award winning book. Crossing the Line was voted Mystery Book of the Year in 2013 by Turning the Pages Magazine. I’m looking for people who believe in themselves and have a story to tell. It could be a short story, a novel, a book of poetry, legacy writing. People who truly want to be in print and make an income from it. Readers of my books are begging for more, I cannot seem to write fast enough. Followers know I am brutally honest. I love meeting fans in person. I have met many.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My writing journey is to serve others. I have thirteen charities who benefit from my books. Every book I sell gives $1 to a charity I support. I am also building a scholarship fund for local students who graduate and wish to pursue a career in writing. I could be journalism, copy writing, literary, non-fiction, broadcast writing, ghost writing as long as it is in the writing business. I want writers to know how to protect their Intellectual Property (IP). In the long run I want to write stories and use the money to give back to my community.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I have had the honor of working with Dr. Kary Oberbrunner who owns two companies, Igniting Souls where I first met him in 2019 and was blown away by his teachings. The other company is Instant IP. I have read most of his books, sometimes it’s hard to keep up. Several have influenced me, Your Book is NOT Your Business Card, Blockchain Life, Day Job to Dream Job, You are an IP Company. If you are a writer, everything you write is Intellectual Property and you need to protect it. I took his last Mastermind where we learned more things that I can even count. We only met four times a year. Kary has taught me so much I wish I’d known 20 years ago. This from someone who has been writing for over 60 years (it’s okay to do the math. I know I was 10 when I started). I self-published at 25 and I have a daughter 12 days older than Kary Oberbrunner. I’d use him as a resource. I have also used books by S.A.R.K. who is Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy and is the biggest promoter of creativity I’ve run across. You have to experience her on Facebook or read any of her books. Just the colorful covers will get you. Another wonderful resource and I have many of her books, too is Julia Cameron the author of dozens of books on writing. I started with The Artist’s Way and The Artist’s Date Book. I also enjoyed The Sound of Paper. Have you ever written on paper with a pencil, listen to the sound. Then write on the paper with a pen and listen to the sound.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rebeckavigus
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rebecka.vigus
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecka-vigus-6b638117/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@rebeckavigus
• Other: Also: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=stacey+chillemi+with+rebecka+vigus

  https://rebeckavigus.medium.com/

Image Credits

Mark and Shelley Thomas Photography, for the first three, Angela Vaught Photography for the red, and blue photos, a selfie for my alter ego, Lady Rebecka, Duchess of Lilac in purple. The photo with Dr. Kary Oberbrunner at the 2019 Igniting Souls Conference was taken by a friend with my phone.