Three #1 New York Times bestsellers. Nearly twenty million books sold. One of the most popular self-development blogs in the world. What more could Mark Manson take on? As of this week, movie stardom.

Suppose you're a fan of Mark'sThe Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck (or his follow-up book, Everything's F*cked: A Book About Hope). In that case, I predict you'll LOVE how Universal Pictures depicts this beloved counterintuitive approach to living a good life from page to screen.

It was a blast for me to have Mark on the show finally. As you'll see, despite his success, he's still a humble guy. Quick to laugh and talk freely about the crap we creatives all experience. Including some extreme things few of us will face that he and I share. As a former ghostwriter (who co-authored a NYT bestseller with a man who experienced a tragic public fall), I've wanted to take Mark aside and ask him a few things confidentially. Why Mark? He was Will Smith's writer for Will, the 2021 memoir Oprah called the best memoir she'd ever read. You know, before the slap.

I didn't intend to ask Mark anything about that on the record. Still, I'm glad I got the vibe to take the chance. Same for other topics, from the difficulty of recording our audiobooks to the weirdness of becoming well-known to keeping a marriage strong when one or both people are workaholics. Can I get an eff-yeah!

Happy New Year, friend. Thank you for another great year of shared book love. May 2023 bring us all a whole lot more magic than mayhem.

Linda xo (aka Book Mama)