Here is where we will share resources linked from my book, Creating While Caring. Several resources are linked directly from the book, but some were directed here so we could comment on them, plus we can keep adding to this list, making the book somewhat of a “living document.”

Linked from the book

• David Newman’s website. David Newman, CSP is a marketing strategist, speaker, and bestselling author who helps professionals—especially coaches, authors, consultants, and speakers—turn their expertise into influence, income, and impact. He founded Do It! Marketing, a firm that works with executives and entrepreneurs to generate more leads, attract better prospects, and close bigger sales.
  
  David is the author of Do It! Marketing: 77 Instant-Action Ideas to Boost Sales, Maximize Profits, and Crush Your Competition, which has become an international business bestseller. (HubSpot) He also leads the Do It! MBA mentorship program, hosts The Speaking Show podcast, and has worked with dozens of Fortune-500 companies.
  
  Known for his high-energy, high-content style, David gives audiences tools they can use immediately—with a no-fluff approach to doing what works.
  
  I’ve had the privilege of being in several of David’s webinars and taken one of his courses. I want to give credit where credit is due, and at least two bits of wisdom in Creating While Caring came from him.
• When I Say No, I Feel Guilty: How to Cope, Using the Skills of Systematic Assertive Therapy. I first read this book when I was in college back in 1975. It went out of print for a long time, but I was happy to see it reissued. It may be an “old” book, but it is still one of the most practical books for learning genuine assertiveness. Here’s my take on it: most people assume you are either polite or pushy. Few people want to be pushy, and so that go for polite, which is practice may mean keeping your mouth shut, even when something bothers you. Psychologists would call this being aggressive or passive. The goal of both is to control the “other person.” Obviously, aggression intends to force compliance. Less obviously, passivity tries to gain compliance through pleasing the other person. Assertiveness is not in the middle; it is a higher third alternative. Assertiveness does not seek to control the other person. Its goal is simply clarity. Therefore, not only is it the least stressful way of dealing with other people, and arguably the most effective. It is also the most respectful of other people. While helping you to understand that difference in practice, the book also gives you in-depth practical techniques to foster assertiveness.
• The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron has become a classic guide for unlocking creativity, and it offers tools that can be especially valuable for caregivers who often feel drained and disconnected from their own creative spark. Cameron’s practices, like Morning Pages (a daily ritual of freewriting) and the Artist Date (intentional time set aside for play and inspiration), are flexible, low-cost, and deeply restorative. For caregiving creatives, these practices provide a structured yet gentle way to reclaim small pockets of time and energy for themselves, helping them nurture their inner life even amid constant demands. The book doesn’t demand perfection or large blocks of uninterrupted time. Instead, it emphasizes consistency and compassion toward oneself, which aligns beautifully with the realities of caregiving.

Additional Resources

In addition to things we talked about in the book, here are more resources of various sorts.

• The Creative Spark Companion. This is a custom GPT, a gentle, caregiver-aware creativity buddy that scales prompts to your energy, celebrates tiny wins, and treats creativity as self-care, not another chore. It is in process, and will continue to develop and add new functionality. There are lots of writing prompt tools out there, but this one is designed to work with the demanding schedule (or lack thereof) of caregivers. Requires a ChatGPT account, but it works fine with the free one. Note: Creative Spark Companion cannot see your conversations. Everything you write stays private to you.