T.A. Thompson: When the Category Is Too Small

What happens when the life that pays the bills is only part of who you are?

On this episode of YES, BRAND, Hersh Rephun sits down with author T.A. Thompson, who has spent more than a decade in commercial insurance while building a very different creative life as a fiction writer.

His novel, The Mark, lives in a post-apocalyptic world where people die by 22 and the protagonist, Alexandra, has somehow made it to 25.

Which means everyone sees her as old.

That premise opens the door to something bigger than dystopian fiction.

Hersh and T.A. explore what happens when a label helps people understand what you do, but also compresses what makes it different.

They get into the difficulty of becoming known for a new identity, why writing the book may be easier than helping people discover it, how rejection changes the way a creator sees the work, and why dark humor can make the truth easier to face.

They also explore the tension between being an insurance professional who writes and becoming an author who happens to work in insurance.

At the center of the conversation is a question that applies far beyond publishing:

How do you help people understand what you’ve created without reducing it to the nearest familiar category?

https://tathompsonwriter.com/

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Hersh's new book, SELLING THE TRUTH: A ‘Semoir’ with Insights for Life & Business is a semi memoir drawing on his adventures as an Authority Advisor and Standup Comedian. It is part business book, part happiness formula for life, and an amuseful read, whether you’re building a business or burnishing your self-image.

You can kickstart your own messaging evolution with a one-on-one 5-Minute Fix.

Take the 60-second Get Off Your Assets Quiz, and find other resources here: https://www.hershrephun.com/selling-the-truth/