This week I’ve got Chris back on the podcast, and we’re talking about the topic that’s dividing everyone right now. AI.

A friend of mine told me this week she doesn’t want to use it. She thinks it’s cheating. It scares her. She just doesn’t feel comfortable with it. And I told her straight, she has to. Because her competitors are. And every day she doesn’t, that gap gets wider.

AI is here. Love it or hate it, it’s a bit like Marmite. You can’t ignore it, because ignoring it isn’t a neutral choice. It’s a decision to fall behind.

So Chris and I are setting the record straight. Chris is a software architect and AI expert, he gives you the tech perspective in plain English, no jargon. I give you the author's perspective. Together we cover what AI actually is (it’s not the Terminator, I promise), what it genuinely can and can’t do, and why using it to write your book is no more cheating than using a calculator, a sat nav, or spell check.

The short answer? AI didn’t write our books. But it made the process faster, cleaner and a lot less overwhelming. It’s a tool. The book is still yours. The voice is still yours. The story is still yours. AI just does the grunt work.

We also talk about how AI can help with your title, your subtitle, your chapter outline, your transitions, your resources, and even your social media once the book is done. And the best bit? ChatGPT is free.

Next week we’re back with a live demonstration, actually using ChatGPT to start building a book from scratch. Don’t miss it.

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You’re not too late. You’re right on time.
💬 Quotes

🗣 From this episode:

“AI has intelligence but not wisdom. The wisdom is yours, and that’s what makes your book worth reading.”

— Chris Williams, Episode 6

✍️ This week’s writing inspiration:

“The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.”

— Steven Pressfield

I'm dedicating this episode to Sue.

She wasn't a close friend, but she was one of those people you knew well enough to know how special she was. She lit up every room she walked into. She was glamorous, funny, full of energy. Her brain never stopped and neither did she. I always thought of her as a butterfly, always beautiful, always moving.

Her funeral was this week. She was four years older than me. Just one year into her retirement.

I remember saying to her once that she should write a book. She had the most extraordinary life. It would have been wonderful.

She never did.

This episode is for everyone who has been putting it off. Because your story deserves to be written, and one day isn't a date in the diary. It doesn't arrive on its own. You have to choose it.

I talk about memoir writing today, and I want to make it as easy and un-scary as possible. Because memoir isn't a CV with feelings. It isn't chronological. It isn't starting at birth and working forwards. It's about what your life means. It's about sitting around a campfire with friends and leaning in to say "right, so there I was, and everything was about to change..."

I share five different ways to structure your memoir, none of them starting at the beginning, and three things that will make your story genuinely captivating to read. Your memories don't have to be perfect. The dates don't have to be exact. It just has to be true to you.

We don't get to choose when our time runs out. But we do get to choose whether we write our story before it does.

So write one memory this week. One moment. One page. Just start somewhere.

💜 Join the free Skool community + The BLOOM System: https://okleaf.link/LateBloomer
📖 The Ultimate Retirement Guidebook: https://mybook.to/Ultimate-retirement
📖 The Ultimate Retirement Workbook: https://mybook.to/Ultimate-retirementWB
🎙 Subscribe — new episodes every Sunday

You're not too late. You're right on time.

QUOTES

🗣 From this episode:
"We don't get to choose when our time runs out. But we do get to choose whether we write our story before it does." — Wendy Williams, Episode 5

✍️ This week's writing inspiration:
"Start before you're ready." — Steven Pressfield

I was halfway through my next book, part of the Communications De-coded series, when something stopped me in my tracks. Not writer’s block. Not life getting in the way. A realisation.

A book gives you information. But it doesn’t give you accountability. And I think accountability is everything.

So I stopped writing. And I built something better.

In this episode I’m sharing exactly what the Late Bloomer Author Skool community is, what’s inside it, and why I think it could be the thing that finally gets your book written. It’s free to join. I’m in there every day. And it’s built around you, not at you.

I walk through the BLOOM System, five free training modules designed to take you from blank page to book blueprint, and I talk about why AI is your best writing assistant, not your ghostwriter. It does the grunt work. You bring the voice. The story. The experience that nobody else has.

I also talk about something I don’t want you to do. Don’t do this alone. Whether it’s an accountability partner, a question posted in the community, or just knowing there are other people in the same boat, it matters more than you think.

I’ve already pinned a thread inside the Skool community asking what you need.

What’s stopping you?

What would you like me to focus on?

Your answers will shape what I build next. So come in, introduce yourself, and tell me.

The door is open. It’s free. And I’ll be waiting for you there.

💜 Join the free Skool community + The BLOOM System: https://okleaf.link/LateBloomer

🎙 Subscribe to the podcast, new episodes every Sunday

You’re not too late. You’re right on time.