We recently connected with Zachary Steele and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Zachary thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Writing is such a solitary profession. We work alone, even in the company of others. We live in our heads, creating worlds, characters, political structures, and even new religions. We carry this journey to the end, hoping to find someone willing to take our story and sell it to a publisher. But it truly can’t be done alone. A writer needs a community. They need programming to learn, to connect, to grow and to improve. I needed it. So I started one. I launched Broadleaf Writers, hoping to create a community of writers helping writers reach their dreams. Through an annual conference, programming throughout the year, and community gatherings, I hoped to nurture and build a thriving group that could carry on well beyond my guidance. And slowly but surely, we’re getting there. Broadleaf now has an engaged and passionate Board of Directors, working hard to embody the mission of the organization and to assist and inspire writers everywhere. We don’t simply want to be an organization for writers in Georgia. We want to represent writers everywhere. We want to help them acheive their dreams of publication.

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

My introduction in the idea of a writing community happened in a strange way. Strange because, well, I wanted to be someone else. I attended a writing conference under a pseudonym and met a featured speaker, a well-reputed author that I befriended without bothering to mention the name he was calling me wasn’t mine at all. Three days later, when I finally got around to acknowledging it, he went to great lengths to poke fun at my odd need for an alter-ego (he still does!) while encouraging me to sim[ly be myself and to be the writer that I was. Through his friendship and mentorship, I discovered a writing community in a city eight hours from home. I went annually to their conference, dropped in for get togethers, and nearly moved on multiple occasions, simply to be a part of it all. But my home was Atlanta. My people were in Georgia. Broadleaf became the dream.

I’m proud of what we’ve acomplished so far, but the work is ongoing. We’ve helped writers turn manuscripts into published books, find agents, connect with other writers and form their own lasting friendships. But the dream, for me, is larger than it ever was. I want to pay it forward. I want to give what I was given. I want Broadlead to help EVERY writer looking for a way to reach their dream. It’s a long journey. A difficult journey. We can walk it together.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Giving my imagination a voice. As a child, I was possessed by the idea of story. I read constantly and began writing stories of my own. Taking an idea and watching it grow, watching it evolve into an entire world of possibility, is a joy unlike any other I have experienced. These characters become my family, my home, my place of refuge when the world I exist within is too much to handle. I can roam distant worlds as if they were real, walk upon ground born entirely of my own desire for it to exist, and go on journeys both adventurous and terrifying. I love it. Yet, it’s nothing in comparison to translating those tales into the written word. To seeing it in book form. To hearing others relish in the read, in the journey. If I could do nothing else for the remainder of my life, it would be more than enough. Life is story.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I wish I had known about writing conferences much earlier in my life. Not simply because they led me to Broadleaf and to my published work, but because I was young and dumb busy with the idea that I was mature and knowledgeable. I had so much to learn about writing and had I gone to conferences, had I connected with others, had I given myself that opportunity to learn and grow as an artist, I would have acheived success far earlier than I did. It’s the reason I preach it so steadily to writers now. Go to conferences. Talk to writers. Connect. Learn from the speakers. Understand that you will never know enough about writing. Keep learning.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://zacharysteele.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zacharysteele23/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zachary.steele/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachary-steele-21284010/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/zsteele
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGN6-Y4IrQYLHy8UarHZWJA
• Other: The Weight of Ashes on Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/Weight-Ashes-Novel-Zachary-Steele/dp/1611883024/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+weight+of+ashes&qid=1618243429&sr=8-1