Hi, my name is Brad Swift, and I write fantasy and science fiction. Much of my time is spent these days writing visionary fiction for children and young adults to inspire them to become joyful lifelong readers by introducing them to the pure pleasure of reading. Books like the Zak Bates Eco-adventure series and Spacehoppers. I believe reading for pleasure stretches the imagination of young readers in ways that TV, movies, or video games do not. I also love to encourage young people to write their own stories, knowing that some of them will grow into the world’s future authors as I did.
You see, I became an avid reader of fantasy and science fiction as an eleven-year-old boy when my next-door neighbor, Ms. Crabtree, a children’s librarian, took pity on my single-parent mom. Bored out of my gourd with no one to play with but my mom, I drove her crazy until Mrs. Crabtree brought home a stack of books she knew would hook a young boy’s imagination. It worked. I’ve has been an avid reader ever since, and for the past several years an author as well. But it took an impulse buy that led me to start writing.
One day in 1984 I strolled into an Apple Store and walked out a proud owner of a new Macintosh computer and printer. By Monday, I had a good case of buyer’s remorse as I agonized over my impulsive purchase. To justify this expensive toy, I decided it had to be a “sign”—time to start writing. I’d toyed with the idea for years, but one look at my credit card statement alerted me to the time was NOW! The fuse for a new passion and career in writing was lit.
Since that first spark, I’ve worn out several different Apple computers as I’ve enjoyed a ‘combo career’ as a writer and life coach resulting in:
• 30 years of professional writing experience
• Published over 2 dozen books
• Contributed to dozens of national and international magazines
• Over three decades of coaching including 20-plus years as a Life On Purpose Coach and leading transformational programs for Landmark Education (now Landmark Worldwide).
My own life on purpose is to live a courageously creative life of purposeful, passionate, and playful service, simplicity, and spiritual serenity. I find this purpose to be completely consistent with my greater “Why” (Thanks to Simon Sinek) which is to inspire others to know their true life purpose and to assure them that it fits perfectly with the Grand Plan and Design of the Universe. Writing, reading, animals, nature, science, personal development, transformation, and spiritual development are very much part of my passion for life and living my purpose.
Around 2014, I thought I was done with coaching. After all, I’d devoted close to 25 years to coaching in one form or another, 20 years coaching people in their life purpose. I thought that I just wanted to devote all my time to writing. However, after a few years, I discovered I missed the interaction with people that coaching provides. Retiring from something that I love so much was inauthentic for me. I missed connecting with people in such an in-depth way.
I also realized during this time that not only do I need that interaction with others, but I’m also wired up to make a difference with people. Coaching people provides me with a more direct experience of contributing to people. That led me to what I call my Reese’s Cup moment. You may remember the old commercial that shows two people running into each other while one is eating a chocolate bar is eating from a jar of peanut butter. Crash – Reeses’ was born. What came out of my Reeses’ Cup moment of smushing together my writing experience with my coaching expertise is Write On Purpose Coaching.
My intention is to assist people who have spent years talking about one day / someday writing a book, and helping them to see that it is possible to start now. Not only that but my working with them to clarify their true purpose in life, the finished product, the book, becomes a significant part of their life legacy – their having lived a life on purpose.
So, I’m back, this time as a Write On Purpose Coach.
