Interview with Nickolas Martin

Author of It’s Your Ego–Stupid!-Fix It to Fix Your Life

Where are you from originally and where do you reside now?

I grew up in Pittsburgh and moved what is known as the Mon Valley area in 1979. I currently live in Belle Vernon, PA and have done so since 1980.

If you currently reside somewhere besides where you were born, what’s the story that leads from there to here?

My second job gave me the opportunity to work at the Mon Valley Mental Health/Mental Retardation Clinic in January 1979. This was about 45 minutes from our apartment in Whitehall, PA at the time. My wife (Linda) and I wanted to be closer to my work so we moved to Charleroi, PA which was ten minutes from the clinic, and lived there until moving to Belle Vernon, PA.

What made you decide to write and publish your first book?

I explain this at the very beginning of the preface of “It’s Your Ego–Stupid! (my 4th book). After 5 years of very rigorous study in order to obtain my psychologist’s license via passing the national exam. I didn’t want to read another book on psychology and didn’t for 6 years from 1986-1992. It was during this time that unknowingly I was spending a lot of time “reading” people during my clinical work which led to the epiphany that ego and more specifically ego energy was having a profound effect on people’s lives, in different ways and for different people. I felt this needed to be unearthed which led to my first book, “The Ego Unmasked: Meeting the Great Challenge of Your Life” (which took 14 yrs to unearth and write) in 2010) and was re-written/edited and re-titled as “Ego Therapy: A Method to Heal Your Whole Self.” I had to see to if there was any “there-there” upon which to build a comprehensive theory and model of ego and its connection to lives and problems of living affecting all of us, at least at some part of our lives.

How would you describe your books to first time readers?

My books are about taking you inside a profound and pervasive influence on our lives, both humanly and spiritually. It is an opportunity to get to better know the ego energy that is fueling your life for better or worse, in many important life areas such as relationships, achievement, stress, being able to experience genuine happiness, etc. working to heal it with the use of what I refer to as “ego medicine.”

Who do you feel is most likely to connect with the topics you write about?

I have 3 audiences I would like to appeal to: 1) Lay people who are looking for a self-help approach that speaks directly to them, because as I say in my books, “you are the only one living you.” 2) People who consume “spiritual” literature who may be looking for, or open to, writing that makes an attempt to reconcile and synergize our humanity with our Divinity. 3) Mental health professionals who receive little, if any, training/education on the topic of ego. Of the 3 the spiritual group may be the most receptive. The most important task will be to help people realize they need something they don’t realize they need, a better understanding of ego that can be manifested in the “stupidity” that we can get caught up in thoughts, words, behaviors, and feelings we create to manage our lives. And that little if any of this is due to intellectual stupidity, the absence of spirituality, or mental illness. Just a better understanding of our stupidity rooted in our ego energy.

What unexpected or surprising thing did you learn during the process of writing and publishing?

Overall, I think I have taken a realistic approach to the process influenced by looking at the stories of people in the public domain who spent many years toiling in obscurity before reaching a public presence. Probably, the idea that no matter how powerful the truth is in what I am putting forth, it takes time, a lot of time, before it can truly see the light of day.

If you could, what advice would you give to your past self before embarking on this journey?

I don’t think there would be anything. The person I was in my 20’s and 30’s could have never dreamed of writing these books and didn’t. I had to pay attention to life, and get rid of any “noise”, often in professional literature, to make a tighter connection to what I believe is the “truth” about our ego and the energy it is. Something that no one has ever done, and yes I am including Freud. My content is both evolutionary and revolutionary, which I would be glad to speak to at the appropriate time.

How many people would you ideally like to reach with your books?

I know this sounds grandiose, but tens of millions. Why, because everyone on a planet of 7.7 billion has an ego/ego energy impacting them, just like they all have a face, a heart, a brain, etc.

What has been the biggest challenge and frustration during the process to date?

I think it would be cultivating “reach.” Getting my work out in a sea of other writers and having it stand out. By the way, other writers who are also writing some good and interesting stuff.

What’s your biggest strengths when it comes to book a) writing, b) publishing and c) marketing?

I think I have progressively become a better writer, with some assistance from my eldest daughter Melanie, who is a writer and editor, for activism involving the environment and wildlife. I use to be an author and I believe I am becoming a writer, in being able to say things more concisely, effectively, and less technically. I believe the blogs on my website: egoandspirit.info are  testimony to that growth.

What’s your biggest weakness when it comes to book a) writing, b) publishing and c) marketing?

Marketing. I don’t come from the , forgive me, Wayne Dyer School, of effectively selling yourself and being willing to travel the country with books (great books such as “Your Erroneous Zones”)in the back of a station wagon or fill up my garage with thousands of self-purchased books to amp up the appearance of great sales.
My current game plan is to launch a radio podcast with OM Times Radio with the same title as my current book. I am currently working from the approach, that the best thing would be for people to see and hear me, but failing that I have been rehearsing a program where people can at least hear me on a weekly basis.

When do you think you will write your next book?

The answer to that question is conditional. I do have a book in my head that will complete the circle of the message I have to share. But, now is the time to see if I can cultivate greater reach involving the work I have already done.

Are you self published or did you use a hybrid publisher, or a traditional publisher?

I am self-published with Balboa Press.