Adventure Sci-Fi Creator, Christof Laputka – has THE perfect gift for your guy this season

Posted: December 18th, 2010 | No Comments »

We have shared this V-Inspiring guy with you once before. However, his new podcast-download just became available on Itunes this month. In the season of Christmas, and with all the traveling to be done, there is no better way to stay connected to your partner than listening to The Leviathan Chronicles together!

Please visit the website www.leviathanchronicles.com or go to the LC iTunes page at http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-leviathan-chronicles/id304481704. Download it now, and begin listening during those planes, trains and automobiles trips.

Christof, embodies what it means to be V-Inspiring! Leaving a successful career, ex-investment banker, Christof Laputka decided to follow his dream of being an author by ditching his suit and embracing the growing world of podcasting by telling his fantastic stories in a new and visceral way. He has over 15,000 fans worldwide that wait for his new episodes to drop every few weeks to fuel the fantasy of an underwater world of immortals that fight a civil war breaking out across the globe. One woman holds the key to uniting the two warring factions, if only she can stay alive long enough to uncover the secret that lays within Leviathan.

His groundbreaking work in the The Leviathan Chronicles has already garnered praise and awards from the podcasting community. The Leviathan Chronicles is a podcast (just an audio book really) that one downloads and listens to in their iPod. His production features a cast of 60 actors in New York, London, and California and special sound effects that would make Hollywood jealous. I’ve listened to them myself and I can only describe it as a movie for your ears.

They make every commute, treadmill session, or long drive fly by. So cool! What I love so much about Leviathan is that both men and women enjoy it. I am a huge Battlestar Gallactica and Lost fan. If the men in your life love adventure Leviathan is a MUST. It is a really fun thing to do together. My husband and I listen in the car and we love it. Christof is an intelligent, sensitive, and deep thinker. How his mind works is just amazing – he is a man who entertains in every way, keep up the great work!

Name:
Christof Laputka

Job (aka, Career/Calling/Inspiration):
Author and Creator of The Leviathan Chronicles Podcast

Age: 39

Family situation (kids? dating? long-term relationship?):
Married to an unbelievably supportive wife. We started our marriage with me being the primary breadwinner. Now since the recession, our roles have been reversed. Not only has she been encouraging my writing but has asked me not to go back to banking to pursue commercializing my podcast. I’m an incredibly lucky man.

How do you make sure you feel good everyday?
By being mindful and grateful for the things I have. That sounds like a fortune cookie, but I think it’s a serious, approachable, relevant mind frame to possess given the state of the economy and what its done to our culture. To be quite honest, there have been periods of my life where I’ve been materially richer than I am now. But I can’t say definitively that I was much happier. I’m conscious about being grateful for my health, grateful for my wife, grateful for the amazing friendships I have, and the fact that I get to now live my life creatively through my writing. Sometimes it just takes a deep breath and a thought to remember how blessed we are. I think of it like remembering how I felt during my worst hangover. I’m so happy I don’t have to feel that way anymore, and then all of a sudden I feel pretty darn lucky!

I also try to create something everyday. I’m an author so creativity is my bread & butter but anybody can do it. For me, sometimes it’s a sentence or chapter idea or a new character. But other times, it’s noticing something new on your walk to work. Creating can be reaching out to a friend that you’ve been meaning to call for a while. Creating can be trying to cook a dish you thought was over your head or even planning a trip to a place you haven’t been before. Creating is as simple as doing one small thing to break the monotony of life’s routines and remind yourself that our world abounds with possibilities.

What inspires you to do the work that you do?
Giving people an escape. I’ve always loved the idea of hidden worlds that coexist with ours just under the surface. In my podcast The Leviathan Chronicles (www.leviathanchronicles.com), I strive to create the evocative soundscapes of exotic locations (inside of submarines, the slums of Mumbai, high society benefits in London, the mountains of Tibet…) to transport people out of the doldrums of day-to-day life. I used to commute 45 minutes to a job I didn’t much care for. During that time I would listen to other authors that were podcasting their works on an episodic basis. While I loved the distraction while walking to work, it also nagged at me that I wasn’t the one putting out this great content. I truly believed that I had something to add to the podcasting genre by adding movie-level sound effects, original music and a multitude of talented actors to read the work I’d written. It’s like the storytelling of the old radio shows of the 1940’s but using the latest technology and recent themes in science fiction.

My actual inspiration comes from the little bits of mystery that exist all around us. I love walking through the streets of New York or London and staring at old buildings wondering what goes on behind closed doors. I love looking at the Hudson River and knowing that scores of shipwrecks actually lie on its bottom that haven’t been discovered yet. I love pouring over Google Earth and finding tiny little uninhabited islands in the remote Pacific and thinking what might transpired there in the past (for fun: look up Baker Island). It’s all around us if we use our imagination to tap into it.

How did you muster up the courage/confidence/stamina to create the life you have?
It’s hard. I try to reach out on as many friends and family as possible. Friends want to see their friends succeed so not being afraid to ask for support is so key. But also I use social media (Facebook/Twitter) to draw on the energy and encouragement of others that I’d never get the chance to meet. As soon as Leviathan launched, I set up a Facebook page and created a section of my website for listeners to contact to me. When you’re an author or any kind “one-person business”, it can often be lonely and easy to think that you’re just spinning your wheels. Whenever I feel that way, I just do a posting on FB or Twitter to let people know what the progress of my project is. I don’t whine about feeling blue but I do give people factual information when the next chapter is in production. Getting encouragement back or hearing people get excited about the prospect of a new episode helps me tremendously knowing that people are listening and waiting for the content I produce. Social media is wonderful that way in that it can give you instant feedback and the confidence in your work to move forward. Everybody obviously sees social media as a great avenue for promotion. And it is. But more than that, it can also be a motivator and a way to tap into the supportive energy of others that want to see you succeed.

What’s your approach to nutrition?
Not as consistent as I’d like. I’ve tried to start listening to my body more and obeying convention less. For instance, I’ve always had a problem with Western style breakfast (eggs, coffee, cereal). I much prefer just a cold piece of chicken or some Vietnamese pho. It takes just a little bit of extra effort on my part to make sure I have the ingredients on hand or prepare them the night before. But I feel so much better for doing so. Susan Cross actually really helped with this by giving me an INCREDIBLE recipe for a VIB green smoothie that has left me whole family converted and feeling better. At the end of the day, I really believe that people shouldn’t be locked into any culinary conventions whether its certain foods at certain times or even how its served (have two appetizers as opposed to appetizer and entrée or make a great bowl of soup your main meal, etc…). And lastly, really good red wine. I swear by it every night. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but it does have to be every night. Really.

How do you stay inspired when difficult challenges arise?
I remind myself that I’m living my dream. All of the challenges that we face pursuing our dreams (whatever they might be) are better than working or toiling for someone else. I never knew how hard it would be dealing with actors, creating a science fiction website from scratch and learning how to conduct voice recordings. But now I consider all of those challenges to be learning lessons that have brought me closer to my goals, as opposed to my job in finance which focused on merely fixing other people’s problems. In other words, my worst day as an author/podcaster is still better than my best day in finance. Some times I literally walk by my old building and I’m so happy not to be working there anymore. It usually gets me back the keyboard pretty quickly.

I also think it’s important to really viscerally visualize what you want from life. This may be a “guy thing” but the first thing you learn in performance driving school is to look “through the turn”. Look at where you want to go, not where you are. It’s true in skiing, driving, biking and I think it’s especially true in life. You have to really imagine exactly what your dream is, and don’t stop staring at it. Make it your mantra and believe with all of your heart that it’s real. No matter what anybody says. t’s yours and nobody can take it any from you. You’ll get there before you know it.

What do you do to stay in balance – in other words, how do you balance things like your career, your well-being, your happiness, your friends, your children, your spouse, dating, your fitness, your nutrition, your hobbies, etc.?
I don’t necessarily subscribe to the concept that by being in balance one can accomplish ten different things in one day and feel fulfilled. I think it’s more important to set a goal of ONE very important thing to do each day by which you’ll measure your success. Some days I just try to get one scene written or one chapter edited or record one voice. If that’s the only thing I do, I need to feel good about it. By focusing on a single task or goal, I think one imparts purpose to their day which usually spills over into accomplishing a great deal more than the original task itself.

I also believe very strongly in the power of laughter to provide balance and perspective. You got to try to find a way to laugh every single day otherwise you’d implode. Whether it is – calling your crazy friend, reading Doonesbury or watching episodes of The Office on Hulu – whatever you need to do – just laugh. For me, my friends and a night out in the East Village are medicine. One good night out can usually keep the shadows of doom and doubt away for while. Laughter helps put you and your life in perspective.

What’s your ultimate indulgence – just for you?
Ice cold 4-COPAS (I’m loving the MARS on the rocks drink - thanks!) anejo tequila, a Davidoff cigar and a sunset to share them with. It’s not just the drink or the smoke but it’s the time I’ve set aside to enjoy them both.

What advice do you have for women/men aiming to have it all? In other words, what do you do or have you done that works for you?
We are all capable of so much more than we realize. The first steps are so damn intimidating and can be so frightening. That first day at the new job. Buying that plane ticket. Writing your first paragraph. Picking up the phone to make that call. So many people are there to tell us why we CAN’T do something. Take that first step to make your dream happen. You’ll be amazed how empowering it feels

Any other thoughts?
Thank you for the chance to speak with Venus in Balance. The website is awesome and my wife and I read it every day. Please keep up the inspiring work!