S6 Ep 3 - Leave Your Mark on The World

Summary

True Fiction Project

Episode: S6 Ep 3 - Leave Your Mark on The World
Host: Reenita Hora
Guest: Erica Silverman
Release Date: March 18, 2025

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Introduction

In this compelling episode of the True Fiction Project, host Reenita Hora welcomes children's author, estate planning attorney, and mother Erica Silverman. The conversation delves into Erica's journey as an author, the inspiration behind her children's books, and the profound themes of legacy and making a meaningful impact on the world.

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Erica Silverman’s Journey as a Children's Author

Erica Silverman opens up about her transition from a logical, estate planning attorney to a passionate children's author. With 14 books under her belt, most of which are geared towards inspiring young minds, Erica shares her motivations and the personal challenges that fueled her creative endeavors.

• Inspiration from Personal Life: Erica reveals, “[...] my children are the biggest inspiration for all my ideas” (10:51).

• Starting as Therapy: Writing served as a therapeutic outlet for Erica, allowing her to escape the stresses of her demanding day job and channel her creativity into something positive and uplifting.

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Achieving Recognition and Success

Erica recounts the unexpected honor of being featured in the New York Times for her first book, How to Become a Superhero. This recognition not only validated her work but also propelled her into exciting opportunities, including negotiations to have her books distributed in major retailers like Walmart and Barnes & Noble.

• Pulitzer Prize Nomination: Erica shares the astonishing news that her book, How to Be Human, has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize Award, highlighting the impact and quality of her work (04:58).

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Themes and Messages in Erica’s Books

Erica’s books are diverse yet unified by their inspirational messages aimed at helping children navigate real-world challenges.

• Overcoming Obstacles: Themes such as never giving up on dreams, overcoming disabilities, and building self-esteem are prevalent. For instance, her books It's Raining Lemons and Lemon focus on turning negatives into positives (05:43).

• Inclusivity and Acceptance: Stories like Enzo's Treasure Hunt emphasize enjoying life’s little moments and embracing differences, fostering a sense of adventure and acceptance among young readers.

• Inspirational Examples: Erica mentions, “You have to make a difference” (16:58), underscoring the importance of leaving a positive legacy.

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Reading: "Leave Your Mark on The World"

In the featured reading, Erica presents a heartfelt story titled "Leave Your Mark on The World". The narrative revolves around a selfish marker pen who desires to become a permanent marker. Through various acts of kindness and selflessness—such as helping reconcile families and preventing crimes—the pen learns the value of contributing positively to the world. This transformation exemplifies the core message: making a lasting, positive impact through helping others leads to a meaningful legacy.

• Key Message: “If you make a difference in people's lives, you’ll never be forgotten” (16:58).

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Philosophical Connections: Karma and Legacy

Reenita Hora draws a parallel between Erica’s story and the concept of Karma from Indian philosophy, highlighting how meaningful relationships and actions leave a lasting impact. Erica agrees, noting that making a permanent mark involves selfless actions that benefit others.

• Erica's Reflection: “You have to make a difference. Letting the world know you were actually here” (16:58).

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Exclusive Content for Subscribers

Erica teases an additional story titled "Peanut Butter and Jelly", which explores the theme of embracing differences and the beauty of opposites attracting. This exclusive content is available to paid subscribers, providing an incentive for listeners to engage further with the podcast.

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Connecting with Erica Silverman

Listeners interested in Erica’s inspiring work can find her books on major platforms such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and soon in Walmart stores. Additionally, Erica illustrates her own books, showcasing her multifaceted talent as both an author and an illustrator.

• Where to Find Erica: Visit Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Walmart.com for Erica’s books.

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Conclusion

Erica Silverman's heartfelt dedication to inspiring children through her books embodies the essence of the True Fiction Project—transforming real-life experiences into meaningful fictional narratives. Her stories not only entertain but also impart valuable life lessons, encouraging young readers to leave their own positive marks on the world.

Reenita Hora wraps up the episode by inviting listeners to share their own stories or connect with writers eager to be featured on the show, fostering a community of storytellers dedicated to impactful fiction.

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Connect with True Fiction Project:

• Website: reenita.com/podcasts/true-fiction-project
• Contact: renita.com/contact
• Newsletter & Subscriptions: substack.com/reenitahora

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(Note: Timestamps correspond to the transcript provided and are used here for illustrative purposes.)

Transcript

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[Erica Silverman]

My daughter one time said, and this is very, very sad, she said, mommy, if I'm not pretty, will people like me? I thought, oh my goodness, that's a hor. Why is a four year old telling me this? You know, I thought this is something obviously that she must be hearing on either on YouTube or school or society in general. I thought I got to find a way to inspire her and let her know that of course, what's matter? What kind of insider beauty is more important, her outer beauty and all that. But I thought she's already having self esteem issues at such a young age. And then of course she didn't like reading very much either. She didn't like reading. I thought, I mean, if I can write some books that maybe she would like to read, maybe she'd actually get more into wanting to read, hopefully. And, and so I try to write things, hopefully, that she liked and hopefully the characters that she liked that she would relate to and that could have helped to inspire me wanting to write books as well. Welcome to the True Fiction Project, a.

[Renita Hora]

Podcast series that explores the origins of fiction.

[Erica Silverman]

Every week we begin with an interview nonfiction followed by a creative piece, fiction inspired by something from the interview.

[Renita Hora]

The idea is to demonstrate, of course.

[Erica Silverman]

That fiction is born out of our life experiences. Now here's your host, storyteller, author, public speaker, health and wellness expert, Renita Hora.

[Renita Hora]

Welcome back to the True Fiction Project. I'm your host, Renita Ahora, and I am here to bring you stories, story, story and more story from all walks of life and all parts of America and the world. And today I bring you Erica Silverman. She is multifaceted, she is a wife, she's a mother, an estate planning attorney and an author. She has written about 14 books and most of them, if not all are children's books. So let's get straight into it. Hi, Erica. And welcome to the True Fiction Project.

[Erica Silverman]

Oh, thank you for having me. It's an honor to be here. I appreciate having me.

[Renita Hora]

Great to have you. And so to ask you right off the bat, you are a children's author specifically or not necessarily?

[Erica Silverman]

Yes, I enjoy writing children's novels. Inspirational books, of course, inspire my. Of course, a mother of two small children. So they inspire me to write course books for them and of course their friends. And I just enjoy writing that kind of genre.

[Renita Hora]

Fantastic. And you've been covered by the New York Times, is that right?

[Erica Silverman]

I have. I had a featured article written about me. I was very honored with that. Very unexpected. And that was my first book I ever wrote, which is called how to Become a Superhero. It was an amazing moment in my life. I didn't expect that.

[Renita Hora]

So, yes, my goodness. I mean, that is every author's dream. So tell us how that came about. How did you manage to get their attention?

[Erica Silverman]

I really don't know, honestly. I mean, what happened? They actually, they approached me. They emailed me after. I was actually a joke. This cannot be real. There's no happening. And my publisher verified the email and said, yes, no, that's authentic. That is definitely them. And they somehow must have discovered my books through Amazon, Nate, Barnes and Noble. But they are looking for the up and coming authors. They read my book, they liked it, and they had write a whole feature article about me. And I was just. It was incredibly shocking and it was amazing and all different types of motions going through my head, but actually helped to validate the fact I'm actually doing hopefully good work and people actually like it. I was just. I was overjoyed by that. So that's how it happened. It was completely by accident, a great accident.

[Renita Hora]

Congratulations. When did that accident occur and what has been happening since then?

[Erica Silverman]

It happened, I would say three or four months ago. And a lot has happened since then. I'm right now in negotiations of getting out my books into Walmart stores and also Barnes and Noble all across the country. I'm really, really excited about that. And recently something really incredible happened. Actually just last night, my publisher said that he had about 2,000 different books. He selected one of my books to be nominated for the Pulitzer Prize Award. I can't nomination. I haven't gotten anything. But I couldn't believe that they were even considering my books. It's called how to be Human and they're going to nominate me officially for that potential amazing opportunity. And that I was, I was explored by that.

[Renita Hora]

That is just amazing. So tell us about your books and which one. They all sound so special. So firstly, are they all related? Are they linked? Are they the same theme?

[Erica Silverman]

No, they're all very very different. But they're all about inspirational types of messages. Some have multiple short stories, some have just one long story. I tried to every type of topic I could think of that may help young kids help minds things I had to go through as a child. For example maybe help to inspire people with their problems that I have going on in life. I just read like real world type of topics in a way that kids will understand and character supports. They can help the relate to it and hopefully enjoy reading as well and be entertained by all that. So they're all very very different.

[Renita Hora]

So when you say inspirational, give me an example.

[Erica Silverman]

Well, for example, never giving up on your dreams, chasing your dreams. However, maybe you have a handicap disability, you don't believe in yourself. How do you overcome those types of obstacles? For example, I've got two books. One's called it's raining Lemons and one's called Lemon all about taking negatives that turn into positives. I talk about things from death, divorce, bullying, you know, difficult topics. All of us have to go through self esteem issues in a way that gets counter health understand about even discrimination. How we should hopefully accept everybody inclusive, leaving your mark on the world, making a difference in the world. You name it. I probably talk about it somewhere in my books along the line eight things I think are important that people should know about message I want to give out to all people of all different ages. So they're all very different types of books. I have one book for example I wrote on a truth my nephew. It's called Enzo's Treasure Hunt. It's about enjoying little things in life and and taking the life itself as the adventure and then the treasure course what you make of your life. And it's a way of course kids will hopefully understand relate to that kind of thing. I have a book about. Oh, I know about again Again one girl has all kinds of self esteem issues. She's very shy, she can't understand overcome her obstacles at least her biggest obstacle course being herself and have all these fears and anxieties. How do we overcome all those kinds of problems? So it is the way the kids help will understand what I'm talking about and healthy health. And again it's entertaining, it's educational inspirational things I actually believe in. So it's all. I have all kinds of topics so.

[Renita Hora]

So are these fiction or are they non fiction, self help fiction?

[Erica Silverman]

Fiction Fiction, yes.

[Renita Hora]

And the target age?

[Erica Silverman]

Good question. I would say anything from. I have some that are a little more like for more mature people and less mature. So I would say average elementary school ages, probably from kindergarten probably all the way to sixth or seventh or eighth grade. Potentially. Yeah. Some more, you know, more mature for other than other topics. But I think that's general age graph and prevention is harder at this point.

[Renita Hora]

And your first book was Superhero Unlock your power. How to become a superhero to unlock your powers.

[Erica Silverman]

Yes, it is.

[Renita Hora]

And when did that come out?

[Erica Silverman]

When I wrote that? Oh, I think it was about maybe, I don't know how maybe a year ago, I think it was. I don't exactly heard it actually. It's a compilation of several short stories all about the courage, strength and self esteem and self love. All the major categories.

[Renita Hora]

So you've been very prolific. If that came out a year ago and you've done 14 books or 13 since.

[Erica Silverman]

It really is. I just, you know, I kind of got into it. I just started. For me it's therapy. You know, as a mom. I don't know if you're a mother or not, but I have two very young children and they can really stress you out. Love them. But for me it's an outlet. It's just a way of just letting go of any kind of stress I have in the world. Escaping from my life for a little bit. It became really more of like a passion project. And I just wrote a little bit here over there. And for long I wasn't attempting to do 14 books. I really enjoyed it.

[Renita Hora]

Erica, I so hear you. I have two not so young kids. They're young adults. They think they're adults. The young adults, whatever, somewhere. Yes. I just go straight into my writing sessions as a form of relief, escape. That's what gives me the solace.

[Erica Silverman]

Right. And my real. I felt my day job as a planning attorney, it's so different. I mean it's very logical. It's more. I do estate planning. I talk about death and dying and very, very heavy topics. My clients come all kinds of very difficult problems. And that's why I want the opposite of that. This is very light and airy and fun and natural creative everything. The opposite of what I actually for a real living. And I've always been very creative person. But I was always afraid of. I had this thing impractical in my life. I couldn't just be a writer because that's very. How can you make A living doing that. It's very difficult to do that. So I became more of a practical route. And after a while I thought to myself, I've done this for still, I mean, 20 years I worked as a lawyer here. Now it's time to finally find what I want to do that makes me really, really happy. I love helping my clients out, but I just also want to say that makes me feel more alive. And I've always been a creative person who's kind of suppressed, I guess if they suppressed it. But now I'm just kind of going for it. I figured I'm. I'm midlife. If I don't do it now, what am I going to do? This.

[Renita Hora]

Absolutely. And why did you or how did you decide to do these books based on inspirational themes?

[Erica Silverman]

My children, really my, my children are the biggest inspiration for all my ideas. I mean my daughter one time said, and this is very, very sad, she said, mom, if I'm not pretty, will people like me? I thought, oh my goodness, that's a hor. Why is a four year old telling me this? You know, I thought this is something that obviously that she must be hearing on either on YouTube or school or society in general. I thought I gotta find a way to inspire her and let her know that of course what's matter with Concept Insider beauty is more important, her outer beauty and all that. But I thought she's already having self esteem issues at such a young age. And then of course she didn't like reading very much either. She didn't like reading. I thought, I mean, if I can write some books that maybe she would like to read, maybe she'd actually get more into wanting to read, hopefully. And so I try to write things hopefully that she liked and hopefully the characters she liked to understand, she'd want them to relate to and that could have helped to inspire, you know, me want to write books as well.

[Renita Hora]

So do you illustrate your books?

[Erica Silverman]

I do, I do all my own illustrations as well.

[Renita Hora]

You are an author? Illustrator. A dream just that is everybody's dream.

[Erica Silverman]

Everybody. I learned how to do it. I figured I, I want. It's a very important. I enjoy doing it though. I love doing come to life. I wanted the ones that actually create that, that kind of, you know, feeling for my raider, my Raiders. So I did all that. I learned how to do it myself. I did graphic design. Horses. I'm a very driven person. I have tunnel vision. If I put my mind, I just go for it. I a little crazy that way, but I just do it And I just. That's what I've never had graphic side force in my life. I've never even taken a writing class. I just thought, I enjoy doing this. Let's just see where it goes. And I love it. If people love it, that's icing the cake. If they don't, it makes me happy. And I hope I can share what makes me happy with the course of the world. But if not, it makes me happy. That's why I'm doing it.

[Renita Hora]

I think that is just fantastic. And what a great thing to have tunnel vision for an author. Yeah, I'm only seeing the good in it. I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

[Erica Silverman]

I tell you people, I say turn off. I started sense, turn off the brain. But I just. I don't know, I love it. I keep. I just very focused. That's how I am.

[Renita Hora]

So much inspiration from an inspirational author of, you know, inspirational stories. So, Erica, what are you going to read for us today?

[Erica Silverman]

This one I love is called Leader Mark in the World. And the whole idea about it is while we're here on this earth, make our lives count. Let's just say the meaningful of our lives. Why are we here, basically? And it's kind of like if you don't let control people know that you were here, unfortunately, it's like you're invisible. No one's actually to know that you were here, what contribution you made to society. I think it's important all of us try to find out what makes us happy in life, how we can make the world a better place, leave the world better than how you found it. That's my model, basically.

[Renita Hora]

I have to ask you, does this tie into the idea of leaving a legacy straight from your day job and estate planning?

[Erica Silverman]

I'm hoping so. I'm hoping so. I, like, I think all of us want to be remembered while we're here. I mean, in some kind of way. Like, I want to know that maybe I did a little. Maybe I impact the world in some kind of way. I make my life count for something. I'd like to believe that. I think all of us are wonderful gifts we should offer this world. We're all very special. We say what those gifts are. And while we're here, let's just do something with those gifts because we're here for a very short period of time, unfortunately.

[Renita Hora]

Absolutely. Okay. Before you segue into the reading, let our listeners and viewers and readers know, know where we can find you online, offline, everywhere.

[Erica Silverman]

Well, Amazon, of course, and Barnes And Noble, of course, online stores. And eventually on all the stores as well. Right now Amazon and Barnes and noble.

[Renita Hora]

And also walmart.com Fantastic. Erica. Okay, so let's hear what you're going to read. In your hands.

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[Renita Hora]

And now to the premise of the True Fiction project, which of course is to create fiction out of nonfiction.

[Erica Silverman]

This is about a very selfish marking pen. This pen does not want to contribute to the world. This pen only cares about himself. And basically, right now, he's not a permanent marker. He's a washable marker. But he wants to become permanent. So he asks his friends, well, how can I become permanent? And they say, well, you have to say something important with your life. So he tries all kinds of things to make himself. He wants to become permanent marker, but so far he's just watched because he's very selfish. For example, the little girl is trying to draw a picture, and he pushes the marker out of the way to make sure she only uses him again. He only cares about himself, not his friends, nobody else. And as far as he's concerned, the goal the world, revolves around hands. So the next morning, I asked Wynonna. This is of course, the lady who's the marketing pet. She's a girl that owns the marketing pen. How can I become a permanent marker? Your actions and how you leap gentry others with an important impact on the world. The more you help others and make the world a better place, the more of a lasting, positive effect you'll have on others. You will only have a permanent mark in the world that will never be forgotten or raised as long as you do things to help other people. So you have to make a difference. And all of a sudden, he started doing all kinds of wonderful things. For example, Brad's parents were fighting. One day he wrote a letter Saying, sorry, I love you. Try to help again, help that argument, Help those couples hopefully reconcile their differences, their crime. He saw crime happening in the neighborhood. He wanted Marquis. There was a potential crime going on. He's trying to do all kinds of random acts of kindness for people, essentially. And all these things he's hoping will make him hopefully more of a noticeable person, actually make a contribution, not just the world. At first, he did for selfish reasons. He wanted to be a permanent marker. After a while, he actually started feeling good about what he was doing. He actually enjoyed helping people. He actually liked the feeling of knowing, I made a difference this person's life. And then one day, I still note to his owner, Sarah, it's, I'm so proud of you, Sarah. And she spilled water on the marking pen. But the marking pen this time did not erase because he made a difference in people's lives. He became permanent because he actually showed the world that he actually cares about people, made a difference in the world, and he actually impacted all people's lives through his kind acts. He'll never be forgotten. If you actually make a difference people's lives, and I'll ask you whether you're even here, unfortunately, you want to make a permanent impact on the world. Leaving your mark. You got to stay special with it. Helping people, helping people. Remember that this person helped me with this or that. Let the world know you were actually here. And it's an amazing approach.

[Renita Hora]

What a beautiful story. Where I come from is in India, we have a concept which you might have heard of. Karma.

[Erica Silverman]

Yes.

[Renita Hora]

Yeah. And they say that karmically, every person you come into contact with, the longer the relationship or the stronger the relationship, that relationship happens because there is a reason why. Something to learn, something to give, something to contribute, something to exchange. And when that is complete, only then will the relationship break. And by break, I mean either it breaks or the person goes away, or you lose touch. The person may pass away. Once the karmic action is complete, then it also completes the relationship. So that is the belief. So I love your story because I think if you can work your way from being that erasable marker to a permanent marker, that really is the pure example of a complete soul journey.

[Erica Silverman]

Oh, thank you. It's very similar to both. It's like leading your marketing world, literally, and say, your chivalry. That's kind of what I'm talking about with kids. Of course. I understand about marketing pens.

[Renita Hora]

Wonderful, Wonderful, Erica. Okay. Well, we are definitely going to make sure to include links to your books and everything in our show notes, but I know that you're going to offer something extra special for our paid subscribers. So if you haven't signed up as to be a paid subscriber, please do hit that paid subscription button. Erica. Let us know what that's going to be. Just give us a little bit of a teaser so we can be incentivized to go hit subscribe.

[Erica Silverman]

This story is called Peanut Butter and Jelly. It's about that basically opposites do attract and then in forge and we have to understand that people may have differences, but try to embrace people's differences whenever possible.

[Renita Hora]

Okay, so everybody, I hope you were listening. In order to access that story, you will definitely need to go to the paid subscription area. Erika, thank you so much for being on the show today. It has been so much fun to have you on the True Fiction Project.

[Erica Silverman]

Oh, thank you for having me. It's a pleasure. All that and I appreciate you having me. I really do.

[Renita Hora]

That is Erica Silverman. She is a children's author, an estate attorney, a mom, and inspirational author writing inspirational books. And this is the True Fiction Project. I'm your host, Renita Hora. Here at the True Fiction Project, we're always looking for great stories that make for compelling fiction. So if you have a great story or know someone who does, or if you're a writer who'd like to be featured on the show, then please do get in touch with us at renita.com forward/contact. And if you haven't signed up for our newsletter, then you can do so by visiting substack contact.com all spelled out one word. That's substack.come e n I T A H O R A I'll be offering paid subscribers something a little extra special each time, including a video version of this podcast.

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