Jeffrey Marx knows a thing or two about sports – his love for the game started as a youngster and has grown throughout his life. As a journalist, Jeffrey’s passion for sports never have to end when the game was over. Jeffrey captures their stories and shares them with the world! We caught up with Jeffrey to hear about his new projects. Read on for our Q&A and get to know Jeffrey even better!

1. What inspires you?

The first thing that comes to mind is people who consistently and intentionally live with a combination of passion and purpose. I’m particularly moved by people who take something negative that has happened in their lives and transform it into something positive … especially when that something positive is done with the goal of serving others. This will come as no surprise — seeing as I’m a writer and a keynote speaker — but I am also inspired when I read a well-crafted piece of writing or when I listen to a great speaker.

2. As a journalist, what is it that keeps drawing you into sports stories?

Two things. One, I have always enjoyed sports, and they have always been a big part of my life, so there is an automatic comfort level when I’m around athletes and coaches. Two, I firmly believe that the platform of sports is the most powerful platform in America. If I want to tell stories that will reach and impact people — and that is exactly what I strive to do — then the world of sports is a wonderful place in which to choose people to write about. I do not really write about games. I write about the people who play them.

3. Are you currently working on any new projects? Tell us about them! 

I’m just starting a book that will be a collection of stories, which is a first for me. This is my sixth book, but each of the others has been focused on a single story. I’m very much enjoying the freedom to bounce around from one story to another. The story I just finished writing is about a 7-foot-2 college kid who plays basketball at Louisiana State University. Nothing too unusual about that — but for the fact that the coach first came to know him as a tuba player in the marching band. The kid had initially enrolled at LSU on a music scholarship! The story I’m now working on is about a linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys — nine-year veteran Bradie James — and his wonderful work in the fight against breast cancer. When Bradie was a college sophomore, he lost both of his parents (his mother to breast cancer) within a horrific stretch of three months. To borrow his words, he is now taking a mess and turning it into a message — tackling breast cancer and saving lives.

4. If you could give young journalists/writers one piece of advice, what would it be? 

This might sound strange at first, but I call it the rule of body parts — because my advice is packaged in the form of three body parts. First is the head. If you want to succeed, you will always need the right mindset. Second is the heart. You will always need the right passion. Third is … the butt. You will always need to work your butt off! With those three body parts working together, you will eventually end up exactly where you want to be.

Watch Jeffrey’s CIW Talk from 2011 to hear more.

Pulitzer Prize winner Jeffrey Marx is the author of five books, including the New York Times bestsellers Season of Life (2004) and The Long Snapper (2009).