257: How to Write Historical Fiction w/ Sid Balman, Seventh Flag author [Main T4C episode]

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Sid Balman, author of Seventh Flag, due to be published in October 2019, is a former Pulitzer-nominated national security correspondent and specialist in behavior-change communications. Sid has covered wars in the Persian Gulf, Somalia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo for news outlets like UPI and Time magazine, and travelled extensively with two American presidents and four secretaries of state on overseas diplomatic missions. With the emergence of the Web and the commoditizing of content, Sid pivoted away from journalism and moved into the business side of communications. Over two decades, he helped found a news syndicate focused on the interests of women and girls, served as communications chief for the largest consortium of U.S. international development organizations, led two successful progressive campaigning companies and launched a new division at a large international development firm centered on violent radicalism and other security issues on behalf of governments and nonprofits. A fourth generation Texan, Sid is a climber, surfer, paddler and benefactor to Smith College and lives in Washington DC. with his wife, three kids and two dogs.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT IN THIS EPISODE:

• Why Sid decided to write his first book, “Seventh Flag,” and what the process of writing and publishing was like
• How a journalism background can help an aspiring novelist write clear and concisely and learn how to tell a story
• Why you should journal about your life experiences and how that can help you when you start writing non-fiction
• How the book “On the Road” made Sid want to become a writer
• How a year and a half trip around the world changed Sid’s life, and why you should do it too
• How Sid learned that you need to take risks in your career in order to get lucky
• What lessons Sid learned from the lowest points in his career, and what happened to lead him to start writing his book after 30 years of planning
• Why you should click here if you want to pre-order Seventh Flag