In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews award‑winning author Terri O'Dell. Terri shares the story of how she began writing later in life after a chance encounter with the TV show Highlander, which led her to fan‑fiction and eventually to publishing 26 books across mystery and romance. She emphasizes the importance of flexibility, recommending authors distribute their work in print, ebook, and audio formats on all major platforms to reach readers wherever they are. Terri advises new writers to focus on what they love and do well, and to outsource editing, cover design, and marketing to professionals. She cites Linda Castillo’s The Shadowside as a pivotal book that showed her how to break conventional publishing rules. Her personal philosophy highlights trying new things, not fearing imperfection, and finding happiness by focusing on the positive and accepting setbacks. Terri’s favorite quote, about ice‑cream scoops, reflects a light‑hearted approach to life. Finally, she directs listeners to her website terriodell.com, which links to her social media, Amazon, Audible, and blog for reader engagement.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by WagsMedia. WagsMedia provides you with everything you need to generate more customers and grow your brand. Head on over to wagsmedia.com, W-A-G-S-M-E-D-I-A dot com, to enter a contest where you can win a free, done-for-you custom website valued at $2,500 for a limited time only. Now let's jump into the episode. All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Terri O'Dell with us. She is an award-winning, multi-published author of mystery and romance. Although she refers to all of them as mysteries with relationships. So welcome to the show.
Thanks. Glad to be here.
Of course. Grateful to have you here, Terry. We'll dive in. The first question I have for you is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
I would say that it's never too late to try something new. I've got 26 publications now, but I never aspired to be a writer. I didn't write my first book in crayon like so many other authors. In fact, my AARP card was well worn before I even thought about writing. And it was more of a mistake, actually. My son was visiting, and because he's a guy, he's flipping through the TV channels and he stops on one. And he said, "Oh, Mom, this is a cool show." And I, thought, well, I better be a good mom. So I started watching it. And it was Highlander. And it was fun to watch. And from there, I got into fanfiction. I found an author I liked. I tried writing. She encouraged me to put the story up on a fanfiction website. People liked it. And I found out I liked writing. So I tried original fiction. The Funny part of this story is that later, a year later, maybe more, I asked my son what he thought about a particular Highlander episode. And he said, I never watched the show. I just thought it was cool. Are you still there? Yes, I'm still here. Okay.
That was awesome. I laughed and then I heard a pause. Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. I appreciate it.
Sure.
The next one that I have for you is, what is the most valuable piece of information that we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Well, I would say, given my late start in all of this, you have to be flexible. You can't really get locked into anything. There's no right answers. You find out what works for you. And somebody's great advice might just totally not work. I believe that spreading myself as wide as possible was my best business decision. I've got my books in print, ebook, and audio. They're available across all platforms, just about anywhere you can buy an ebook or an audiobook. You just never know where that one reader is going to find you and spread the word.
And what is your best piece of overall business advice? So let's just say in terms of you, like if somebody's just getting started in like writing, let's say, and wants to become an author, like, what would you tell them? Like, what should they start with?
I would say, do what you love to do. Do what you're good at and hire out the rest. Your job is to put out a professional product. And if you're like me, you're an independent author, you have to write the book, you have to have it edited, you have to have a cover made, you have to do all the marketing. Doing all of that well is impossible. So just find out what you enjoy doing and then set out to discover people who could help you with the rest.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Don't worry about being the best at everything. Don't be afraid to try new things.
And in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
Oh, if we all have our own definitions of happiness, And those can change from day to day, hour to hour, minute by minute even. You just have to look at the positive, do what you love to do, and accept the setbacks as temporary.
And this will be a good one for you. What is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
All right, Tyler, that's like asking me which of my kids is my favorite.
Well, that'll be my next question.
Career-wise, I think it was reading a book called The Shadowside by Linda Castillo, which she wrote before she got into her bestselling Amish mysteries. Everyone had told me that there were rules I had to follow if I wanted to write a book and get it published. And when I read her book, I saw that she'd broken many of them, and it gave me the confidence to know that there were alternatives. I didn't have to have my hero and heroine meet on the first page of the book.
And which one of your kids is your favorite?
On any given day, I have two wonderful children.
I gotcha.
Yeah, I happen to have three kids. Oh man, that's funny.
I like— that was the best answer you're gonna get. Um, and what is your favorite quote and why?
My favorite quote "Age does not diminish the extreme disappointment of having a scoop of ice cream fall from the cone." And that's from Jim Phibig, or Feebig, I'm not sure how he pronounces it. And why it's my favorite is because it reminds me it's important not to take things too seriously, that there are things that bring all ages together and to embrace them, both the happy and the not so happy moments.
Yes, I love it. Thank you so much for coming on. The last question that I have for you before we let you go is where is the best place places for people to find you online?
My website, which is terriodell.com, and from there you get links to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Amazon, Audible, and my blog. And I love to hear from readers either via the contact form on my website or just leave a comment on my blog.
Perfect. Thank you again for joining us. We appreciate it.
It was my pleasure, Tyler Wagner. The podcast you just heard was published with Anchor.
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