An Interview with B Alan Bourgeois, Author of The Sacred Connection

B Alan Bourgeois is an award-winning author and speaker. He created the Top Ten Author Series, which is currently a series of thirty books designed to help authors succeed.

Alan Bourgeois began his writing career at the age of twelve, writing screenplays for the Adam-12 show. Despite not submitting them for review, this experience sparked his passion for writing. However, he followed the advice of his generation and pursued higher education to secure a stable job. It wasn’t until 1989, after taking a writing class at a community college, that Bourgeois wrote a short story that was published. Since then, he has written over forty-eight short stories and published more than ten books, including the award-winning spiritual thriller Extinguishing the Light.

Bourgeois has become a champion for authors and founded the Texas Authors Association in 2011 to help Texas authors better market and sell their books. This led to the creation of the Texas Authors Institute of History, Inc., and the first online museum of its kind, the Texas Authors Institute. He also created several short story contests and fundraising programs for Texas students and consolidated small-town book festivals into the Lone Star Festival, promoting Texas authors, musicians, artists, and filmmakers. In 2016, he founded the Authors Marketing Event and added a Certification program in 2017, allowing attendees to gain accreditation for their hard work in learning book marketing. His recent focus has been on assisting authors of all levels to become successful Authorpreneurs through the Authors School of Business, which offers programs to help grow their careers. He is currently working with NFTs for authors to help them increase their income channels.

You can buy The Sacred Connection here.

Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

In the many years of working with authors in a variety of genres, one of the key factors I have heard along the way is that many authors believe their work is inspired most importantly by the spiritual sense. I wanted to explore this connection and show how being an author is tapping into something greater than oneself.

As an author of many books, I have always considered my writings to be inspired and written by a force greater than myself. The Sacred Connection is one of those inspired books.

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

In every job from my early years in fast food to insurance and publishing, I have always been a teacher for others. It is a position I have enjoyed over the years, as I always work hard to help others to be better at their job, giving them the tools to be their best. Being an author advocate embraces this concept and it allows me the pleasure of helping authors to be successful.

In my role as a restaurant manager, it was clear that better educational and training programs were needed. I created one that is still being used thirty years later. Through this training, I was able to help train and promote staff members into positions of management.

The most recent aspect of personal gratification comes nearly monthly when I get an email from an author seeking help and guidance. With my twelve-plus years as an author advocate, I am able to guide new or established authors through the publishing maze and help them find their best path to success.

Helping anyone who wants to grow and become the best at what they have chosen to do is rewarding on many levels.

How did it feel when you first saw your book cover? Or when you first held your book in your hands?

The cover for this book took on four styles. Each had the coloring of the spiritual chakra concept but in different ways. I was indecisive, so I asked for help from the social media world of readers. From their responses, I was able to fine-tune the image, thus creating something that can be universal and spiritual.

If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?

While I worked on this book, I listened to many songs that were spiritual in nature. It ranged from Enya to Yanni and even some modern pop songs that had spiritual teachings in them. Thus, I would say that the New Age style of music would be the main soundtrack, but at times, pop songs would appear to emphasize a thought or concept.

What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?

Authors are my true perfect readers for this book, for I want them to know they are not alone in their endeavor of creating something for generations to enjoy. No matter what their spiritual belief system is, this book helps them to see and feel that they are on a path that has a helping hand guiding them in some way.

Readers are clearly a secondary audience for this book in the aspect of helping them to understand what an author may be feeling and understanding as they create their novel. It does not matter what the genre is for that book, guidance from another source is there to help the author create something wonderful.

What was the most rewarding/meaningful part of publishing your book?

There is nothing more exciting for me as an author advocate than helping a fellow author along their path. When this book was published, it clearly gave me a special glow of satisfaction by knowing I gave authors another tool to help them understand their path and to know they are not alone as they journey through the process of publishing. It doesn’t matter if it comes through the voices of their characters, or the feeling of something greater, they are on their path to create something great that can be enjoyed by those who read it.

What new writing projects are you currently working on? Or, other projects that are not writing?

I have had the pleasure of writing forty-plus books and none of them are in audiobook form. That is the next challenge for me—taking the Top Ten for Authors series and creating audiobooks to help authors succeed in many ways. There is no doubt that, along the way, I will find another book to write, another story to tell. It is the not knowing what will come along, that I find exhilarating, for I know the Universe will give me something to write about.

Are you a writer, too? Submit your manuscript to Atmosphere Press.