Podcasts about writers

On today's program, a former Truett McConnell president is suing, claiming the university breached his employment contract when it fired him amid claims that he mishandled sexual abuse allegations. We'll take a look. And, Ed Young retired as pastor of Second Baptist Church of Houston after nearly 50 years. Now, he's launched a new teaching ministry drawing from his decades of sermons and writings. But church members say the new ministry's formation raises questions about who controls the church's assets. We'll have details. Plus, former Iranian prisoner Saeed Abedini — an international symbol of a Christian being persecuted for his faith — is being accused of abducting his 5-year-old daughter.  But first, Barnabas Aid — a ministry that serves persecuted Christians around the world — is now under direct oversight by regulators in the United Kingdom. The Charity Commission of England and Wales appointed two interim managers on June 19th — removing the charity’s trustees from governance entirely. The commission named Edwina Turner and Catherine Gibbon of Anthony Collins LLP to the role. The producer for today's program is Jeff McIntosh. We get database and other technical support from Stephen DuBarry, Rod Pitzer, and Casey Sudduth. Writers who contributed to today's program include Kim Roberts, Henry Durand, Tony Mator, Bob Smietana, Christina Darnell, and Jessica Eturralde. A special thanks to The Christian Index for contributing material for this week's podcast. Until next time, may God bless you.

RECALL: Act Two In February 1961, the boys of Miami Military Academy are still marching, joking, fighting, shaving, bleeding, stealing, and pretending the world outside the gates is someone else’s problem. But the world is already inside the school. It is in the news from Cuba. It is in the old munitions bunkers by the bay. It is in the secrets the adults keep, the wounds they drink through, and the wars they keep handing down to children. Written by Academy Award nominee Bruce Davison, and once optioned and held by the great Al Pacino, RECALL is a funny, savage, deeply human coming-of-age drama about abandoned boys, broken fathers, old soldiers, Cuban exiles, secret weapons, and the machinery that turns fear into patriotism. Act Two begins as Stephen Lishinsky tries to survive the strange education of “A” Company. His head has been butchered. His pride has been beaten. His idea of honor has already taken a few direct hits. When he tries to run, Commander Patterson finds him at the bus stop and gives him the kind of broken advice only a broken soldier can give: if you are in a storm, sometimes the only move is to sit tight and let the morning come. But morning at Miami Military Academy is never clean. Coombs is missing. The Razor Fiend is back. Bear is bleeding into the sink. Lindquist, the feral boy from the mango trees, is pulled into uniform and passed off as a cadet because, at this school, identity is just another piece of equipment someone misplaced. Sally Barnes drifts through the place like a lit match, furious at her father, suspicious of Patterson, and impossible for Lishinsky to ignore. Patterson tries to protect her, but the past between him, Colonel Barnes, and Sally’s mother is its own battlefield. Meanwhile, Slouch and Bebop stop pretending their war is imaginary. The key to Bunker 3 becomes guns, ammunition, and contraband dragged through the machinery of a school that is already falling apart. Patterson lectures boys on amphibious landings while the real invasion waits in the shadows. Bebop is pulled closer to the Cuban exile cause. Slouch, half romantic and half criminal, follows him into the Everglades, into blindfolds, pistols, secret rooms, and men who do not look like teachers. There is comedy everywhere because boys make comedy out of terror. There is coconut rum, marching songs, bad haircuts, chocolate cokes, contraband, dirty jokes, and the Dade County Fair waiting like a reward for good behavior nobody intends to have. But underneath the noise, the rifles are getting heavier. The lies are getting harder to carry. And the adults are running out of time. RECALL is about boyhood at the exact moment history stops being a lesson and starts becoming a weapon. It is about fathers who failed, sons who improvise, countries that ask for sacrifice before they explain the cost, and boys who are still laughing because they do not yet understand what the world is loading. Starring Alan Rosenberg, Carson Bolde, Stone Garcia, Wesley Kimmel, Dan Lauria, Kensington Tallman, Roxton Garcia, Bruce Davison, Luca Diaz, Amari O’Neil, Amir O’Neil, David Errigo Jr., Zeke Alton, Gian Franco Rodriguez, Miki Yamashita, Nemil Mudvari, Sofia D’Marco, and Ashley Ciarra. A portion of proceeds from RECALL will benefit the National Veterans Foundation and the Lifeline for Vets. To support NVF or speak with a Veteran who understands, visit https://nvf.org or call 888-777-4443. Produced by Table Read Podcast and Manifest Media Productions, LLC. Executive Produced by Jack Levy, Shaan Sharma, and Mark Knell.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Marjane Satrapi died earlier this month, we lost an acclaimed graphic novelist and filmmaker … and a voice that explored Iranian society in a wholly unique way. You might know Marjane from her celebrated graphic memoirs Persepolis and Persepolis II. They're about her experience growing up in an unconventional household during Iran's Islamic revolution, and the screen adaptation was nominated for an Academy Award. This week, we're revisiting Eleanor Wachtel's 2011 conversation with Marjane about her book Chicken with Plums. They spoke about Marjane's relationship to her home country, how her family influences her work and appreciating the beauty of life's small moments.Check out the rest of the Writers & Company archive: https://digital.lib.sfu.ca/writers-company Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

Get 25% off courses, workshops, and bundles at UX Content Collective! Ends May 29.  IT'S A "BEST OF" SERIES! We're digging back into the archives and resurfacing some of the best episodes of the Writers of Silicon Valley podcast i the conversations that have held up, and in some cases gotten more relevant since they first aired. This one's with Chelsea Larsson. She currently leads content design at Anthropic, but when this conversation happened she was at Expedia. We got into the future of content design, UX writing, how AI is reshaping the work, and why content designers shouldn't cling to old definitions. And maybe…why content designers should learn Python? Worth a second listen if you caught it the first time, and a good place to start if you didn't. Things we discuss during this episode: Generative artificial intelligence Information Architecture for the Web Open AI, ChatGPT, Gemini Python Chelsea and her stuff: Chelsea on LinkedIn Smallish Book (newsletter)

Click Here to ask your book writing and publishing questions!In this episode, Ann Garvin (who will release her 7th novel, Tell Two Friends, in September 2026 with Lake Union) discloses the often messy, unglamorous truth of how a story actually starts. For her, that's usually as some tiny thing Ann can't stop thinking about, long before it has a plot or even characters attached to it. We talk about how to take that one nagging "kernel" of fascination and slowly build a book around it, and why your characters' flaws are usually what make readers care. Ann also walks through a deceptively useful trick for getting unstuck: asking, "What's the worst possible thing that could happen to this character right now?" (and then doing that to them).Whether you write memoir, self-help, or fiction, this conversation is really about the same question every writer eventually has to answer: What am I actually fascinated by, and am I brave enough to explore it further? No matter how you're published or what genre you're writing, the part about having to sit down and write the damn book is the same for everyone!

When your author career looks amazing from the outside, it can be even harder to find support when you're struggling with burnout.Your non-publishing friends (and even your therapist) don't get the realities of your career.And your publishing friends? It's hard to share your emotional challenges when you have the type of career that everyone else wants.You need a process to help you lower the pressure you're putting on your career and stay grounded in your love of storytelling.***If you're ready to enjoy writing again, meet deadlines without burnout, and build the confidence to handle every plot twist publishing throws your way, I can help.Click here to learn more about private coaching for authors and schedule a free consultation.***Looking for even more author advice? Sign up for my twice-monthly newsletter, Real Talk for Writers, by clicking here.DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!

We're live again! Against all odds! Can you believe it?! Show Notes:  Run Time: 2:27:35 That's right, this is a long one. And that's after Trevor edited out all our extraneous nonsense! (Don't worry; he left plenty of nonsense in.) But, yeah, we were recording for over 3 hours.  We're recording on Thursday evenings now, so hopefully you can join us for live shows more often! Speaking of schedules, here's next month's schedule: Tuesday, July 7th: Episode #323 - Writers' Room: The Idealist in a Noir Parody Tuesday, July 14th: Episode #324 - Writers' Room: A Prince of Æternus as a Scion Tuesday, July 21st: Editor's Note #91 Tuesday, July 28th: Episode #325 - Writers' Room: Wipeout vs Deadline Then, we answer SO many questions. We're thrilled to have gotten so many letters, and they all meant so much to us... but we couldn't possibly read them all on the air! We did a lot, and we had a great time doing so. And taking so many questions from the chat! Join us next week for a Rambler episode! We'll see you there!

A new book traces the influence of women on the American Revolution, from a Cherokee leader to a British spy. Author Denise Kieran discusses her new book Obstinate Daughters: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Carol Odell joins Let's Talk Memoir for a conversation about being methodically sexually groomed as a girl during her time working at a stable, sexual grooming as a slow desensitization process,  interrupting the patterns created from unprocessed trauma, including her experience as a therapist in her pages, trying to trace our behavior and thread the story in the narrative, taking risks and doing deeper work, the divisions within ourselves, writing self back into scenes we've emotionally splintered off from, recognizing ourselves as victims, hybrid publishing through She Writes Press, turning down the volume on critical self-talk, and her new memoir Girl Groomed: A Therapist's Memoir of Trauma.   Ronit's upcoming workshop: Writing Dynamic Memoir: From Lived Experience to Gripping Story https://www.lmcmurtrylitcenter.org/workshops/writing-dynamic-memoir-from-lived-experience-to-gripping-story   Also in this episode: - vulnerability - practicing good self-care - being compassionate with ourselves   Books mentioned in this episode:  - Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls - Educated by Tara Westover - Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott - Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg Carol Odell, LICSW, grew up riding horses on the show jumping circuit in Virginia. She has been a practicing psychotherapist facilitating groups and working with couples and individuals since 1984. Married for thirty-eight years and the mother of a grown son, her other passions include: squash, pickleball, partner-dancing, mosaics, writing, traveling and being in community with friends and family. She and her husband currently split their time between Seattle and Cle Elum, Washington.   Connect with Carol: Website and newsletter: www.carolodellmsw.com Instagram: mosaicofthoughts_ Professional FB page: www.facebook.com/cfodellmsw   - Ronit Plank bio and links:  Ronit Plank is a writer, teacher, and editor whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, Poets & Writers, River Teeth's Beautiful Things, The Rumpus, Salon, Hippocampus, The New York Times, and elsewhere, earning Best of the Net, Best Microfiction, and multiple Pushcart Prize nominations. Her memoir When She Comes Back was a Book Riot Best True Crime Book and Kirkus Reviews calls it, “An intimate, intuitive, emotionally vivid family account that finds hope in reconciliation". Ronit is also the author of the award-winning short story collection Home is a Made-Up Place, and her work has been anthologized in Selected Memories, Vol. 2: 15 Years of Hippocampus Magazine and Manna Songs: Stories of Jewish Culture and Heritage. Ronit is the Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, teaches memoir at a host of venues including the University of Washington's Continuum Program, Antioch University, and 92NY's Roundtable, and is host of the podcast Let's Talk Memoir and the Substack Let's Talk Memoir. Find her on social media @ronitplank   Website: www.ronitplank.com Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ When She Comes Back: https://ronitplank.com/when-she-comes-back/

What did you think of this episode?What is your therefore factor in your writing? Today's guest shares the story behind her book and tips to empower your writing.Welcome to Your Best Writing Life, an extension of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference held in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of NC. I'm your host, Linda Goldfarb. Each week, I bring tips and strategies from writing and publishing industry experts to help you excel in your craft. I'm so glad you're listening in. During this episode, you'll learn the story behind Serah and the First ChristmasToday's guest, Tama Fortner, is an ECPA award-winning author of more than sixty titles, including her latest, Serah and the First Christmas (Zonderkidz, 2026). She has collaborated with leading voices in Christian publishing to create inspirational books for all ages and lives near Nashville with her husband and two feisty pups who are convinced they're people too.Tama, please share the story behind Serah and the First Christmas.1. What was the inspiration for Serah and her story? How do the biblical stories of Rachel and Rebekah factor into both the inspiration and the plot of the story?   2. Why does Serah feel invisible? How is feeling invisible a universal feeling? How does Jesus rescue us from invisibility?  3. What is the “therefore” factor? How should it affect our approach to the stories of the Bible, as both believers and as writers?  4. When we struggle with feeling invisible ourselves, as writers, what hope can we take from Serah's story? Tips for Writers:1. Turn off the noise. Allow time and space for stillness. It's in the stillness that God speaks and creativity blooms.  2. Don't be afraid to write ugly. The best writing happens in the rewriting and editing process.  3. Embrace the power of the question “What if?” and ask it often! (What if lots of women were shepherds in Bible times, not just Rachel and Rebekah? What if a little girl wanted to be a shepherd so that she didn't feel so invisible? What if she snuck out to the fields one night and heard the angels' message about Jesus? What if she found not only Jesus that night but discovered a whole new way to live?) What will the listeners gain from your book? My hope and prayer is that readers (and writers reading the book) will remember that not only are we and our efforts never invisible to God, but we also have the joy of seeing others and helping them know that they, too, are never invisible to God. Listener giveaway…https://www.tamafortner.com/freebiesSerah and the First Christmas. Available wherever books are sold or at https://www.zonderkidz.com/book/9780310167907/serah-and-the-first-christmas/ You can find out more below.https://www.zonderkidz.com/book/9780310167907/serah-and-the-first-christmas/ https://www.tamafortner.com/ https://www.facebook.com/TamaFortnerBooks/ https://www.instagram.com/tamafortnerbooks/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamafortner/ https://www.bookbub.com/profile/tama-fortner https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/589006.Tama_Fortner https://www.tiktok.com/@tamafortnerbooks Visit  Your Best Writing Life website.Join our Facebook group, Your Best Writing LifeYour host - Linda Goldfarb#1 Podcast in the "Top 50+ Must-Have Tools and Resources for Christian Writers in 2024".Awarded the Spark Media 2022 Most Binge-Worthy PodcastAwarded the Spark Media 2023 Fan Favorites Best Solo Podcast

Hafeez Lakhani was born in Hyderabad, India and raised in suburban South Florida. His fiction and essays have appeared in Crazyhorse, Exposition Review, Salt Hill, Tikkun, The Cortland Review, and The Southern Review, and have garnered fellowships from PEN America and The Center for Fiction. He was twice recognized with a Notable Essay in Best American Essays and twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He was profiled by the Huffington Post as one of “Eight Fantastic New Writers to Look Out For.” His debut novel, Abundance, following five members of an American Muslim family across Miami, New York, Monaco, and Gujarat, was a People Magazine Most Anticipated Book of 2026. Hafeez and Barbara DeMarco-Barrett talk about how he knew the novel idea had legs and how he committed to it for the long haul: 12 years in the making! They also talk about when you know a novel is done, how to use your critique groups' feedback, using a Venn diagram, not going to an MFA program, and much more. For more information on Writers on Writing and to become a supporter, visit our Patreon page. For a one-time donation, visit Ko-fi. You can help out the show and indie bookstores by buying books at our bookstore on bookshop.org. It's stocked with titles by our guest authors, as well as our personal favorites. And on Spotify, you'll find an album's worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. It's perfect for writing. Look for the artist, Just My Type. You can find hundreds of past interviews on our website. (Recorded on April 28, 2026) Host: Barbara DeMarco-Barrett Host: Marrie Stone Music: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Etc.)    

If you've been writing your novel or memoir for months, maybe even years, and you still can't seem to cross the finish line, this episode is for you. Because the writers who finish their books don't have more talent, time, or a better story concept. They're separated by how they think about the work while they're inside it.In this episode, I'm breaking down the five mindset shifts that make the difference. And the good news is that how you think is something you can always change.What You'll Learn:[00:01:00] Why the writers who finish aren't more talented than the writers who don't, and what actually separates them.[00:01:45] Mindset #1: Why trying to write perfectly and finish at the same time is guaranteed to stall you, and what writers who finish do instead.[00:04:00] Mindset #2: How to stop treating difficulty as a sign that something's wrong with you or your story, and what it actually means when the writing gets hard.[00:06:00] Mindset #3: The identity shift that lets writers cut what isn't working, even scenes they spent weeks writing.[00:09:00] Mindset #4: Why gripping your original concept too tightly keeps you from writing the book your story is actually trying to become.[00:11:00] Mindset #5: The one practical strategy that keeps the weight of the whole book from flattening you every time you sit down to write.SUBSCRIBE & REVIEWIf this episode resonated with you, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps other writers find this podcast and get the insights they need to write, revise, and finish their books. Thanks for tuning in to Writer Unleashed! See you next week!

Speaking of Writers welcomes historian Matthew Pinsker to discuss his groundbreaking new book, Boss Lincoln: The Partisan Life of Abraham Lincoln. This is part of The Speaking of Writers America 250 Series. Discover the political genius behind America's 16th president as Pinsker explores Lincoln's remarkable ability to build coalitions, navigate fierce partisan battles, and lead the nation through its greatest crisis.From the Gettysburg Address to the election of 1864, this conversation reveals a side of Lincoln that history books often overlook—the master politician who helped preserve the Union and secure emancipation.LikeSubscribeShare your favorite Lincoln fact in the comments!#speakingofwriterspodcast #MatthewPinsker #BossLincoln #AbrahamLincoln #CivilWar #AmericanHistory #HistoryPodcast #Lincoln #Books #AuthorInterview

What if the real secret to a lasting writing career isn't talent or luck, but learning to thrive in the mess? Why are in-person events worthwhile even if the maths doesn't add up? How do you protect your creativity when the machines never sleep and the community is at one another's throats? With Mark Leslie Lefebvre In the intro, Has AI Already Killed Non-Fiction [Tim Ferriss]; 9 ways that AI would disrupt authors and the publishing industry over the next decade; Pivoting towards The Transformation Economy; and Who do you serve? This podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn Mark Leslie Lefebvre is the author of horror and paranormal fiction, as well as non-fiction travel and books for authors. He's also an editor, professional speaker, and the Director of Business Development at Draft2Digital. His latest book is Stark Realities: Stacked Up Lessons Every Writer Needs to Know About the Business of Writing and Publishing. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below. Show Notes Why print and in-person events are making a comeback for indie authors The case for (and against) licensing your voice clone through ElevenLabs Why we keep selling books in person when the numbers rarely add up Measuring success by creative satisfaction rather than money Being honest about author earnings and the fear of being truly seen Managing stress, divisiveness, and the noise around AI You can find Mark at MarkLeslie.ca. Transcript of the interview with Mark Leslie Lefebvre Jo: Mark Leslie Lefebvre is the author of horror and paranormal fiction, as well as non-fiction travel and books for authors. He's also an editor, professional speaker, and the Director of Business Development at Draft2Digital. His latest book is Stark Realities: Stacked Up Lessons Every Writer Needs to Know About the Business of Writing and Publishing. Welcome back to the show, Mark. Mark: Oh, hey, Jo. It's always an awesome time chatting with you. Jo: You've been on the show lots of times over the years, but the last time was in September 2024, when we talked about selling books in person. So give us a bit of an update. What does your writing and publishing business look like at the moment? How do you manage it alongside the day job and everything else you do? Mark: Oh my God. Well, sleep is—no rest for the wicked, maybe. I'll sleep when I'm dead. It's so funny, it was just this last weekend in Waterloo. I was at Waterloo Book Fest, and somebody came up to my table—another author from one of the other tables—and said, “I heard you on the The Creative Penn Podcast. And then when you mentioned something about Waterloo, I said, ‘He can't be from Waterloo.' And then when you mentioned the skeleton, I said, ‘I know where he lives.'” Jo: That's scary. Mark: So I love the fact that there are so many of your listeners all over the world, and that's usually how people know me. No matter what else I've done, it's like, “Oh, you've been on Joanna Penn's podcast.” I'll say, “Yes, I have.” You know what's really funny? The last time I was on the podcast, we were talking about A Book in Hand, which I was supposed to release that year. Jo: Yes. Mark: I just added another 5,000 words to it this morning. Jo: Wait, it's still not published? Mark: No, and it's so funny. I actually have the first 60,000 words of it with an editor right now, and I told her I'd get her the rest of it, which I thought would be another 20,000 words, by the end of June. But I think it's going to hit 100,000. Here's the weird thing that happened with this. This is trying to accumulate my life of book selling, as well as doubling down on doing in-person events in the last several years. I thought I was going to have the book done in 2024. I ran into some issues where I didn't back it up properly. It was an old version, and I accidentally overwrote the only version I had. Jo: So, for everyone listening, Mark—how many decades have you been an author and a publisher? How come you're still missing deadlines and still not backing up your work properly? Mark: Yes, this is a lesson: no matter how long you've been doing something, you can still make boneheaded errors. So if you, dear listener, have made mistakes, just know that this old guy who's been doing this since the mid-'80s still makes mistakes like that. Don't beat yourself up. I probably did something worse. Anyway, that book I thought was going to be maybe 40, 45,000 words, it's going to be bigger than Wide for the Win—close to 100,000 words. Here's a really important lesson I learned in that, Jo. I thought the book would be something. It became something else. Through my own experiences of doing more in-person events, book signings, and library event. Also in talking to awesome folks like Johnny B. Truant, Katie Cross, Todd Fahnestock, and so many other authors I know, and seeing what Ben Wolf is up to, and a whole bunch of different people who are doing in-person events. In creating case studies for how they interact specifically with a bookstore or library, or how they do in-person selling—I really think the book wasn't ready then. It's like the recipe wasn't ready. I still needed to play with some things. I do sincerely have faith, since I got it into the editorial process, that this will be the year the book actually gets released. Jo: As you said, there are some really good lessons there around sometimes the book not being quite ready. I'd bought an early version from the StoryBundle, which is how I got this book as well, actually. Mark: Yes. Jo: That's another tip for people—storybundle.com. You can go and find some great bundles there. I was also thinking, as you were talking, that maybe one of the reasons this book about in-person events has got so big is because that's a real trend in the community. It feels like indies, we've moved… Back in the day, I said, “I'm not doing print. No way.” This was the early days of digital, because print was really hard back then. So I was like, “Oh, and we've got all the advantages doing digital, so I'm just going to focus on that.” It feels like the pendulum has swung, perhaps even more with the ease of mass production of digital with AI. The focus on print and in person is getting stronger and stronger. Do you think that's happening? Mark: Oh, yes, 100%. I did print in 2004. It was really hard back then, so that's gotten easier. I think there are a few reasons. One of the reasons is, yes, digital made it so much easier for indie authors to get out there and break into the community. But the reality is that print books still outsell e-books in general—overall—despite the fact that indie authors can make six and seven figures a year from selling e-books alone on a single platform. So print has never really gone away. It was just never something indie authors attended to. They were in a different business than traditional publishers were in. And second, obviously I've got these gorgeous books that you've created on Kickstarter, because I like the beautiful books. I've never stopped buying print books. I actually buy more print books. I read more because of audiobooks and e-books, but I buy more print books, especially when I can get a nice signed copy. Then the other reason comes back, again, to your advice—something I've been following for the longest time, and you've long been saying. I do repeat this, and I try my best to offer attribution to you every time I use it: to double down on your humanity, particularly in this age of digital generation and the ability for even non-writers to leverage tools to create content. I think it's so much more important for me, as a creative who will never be able to catch up with the machines, to exploit my humanity. I mean, we both have digital voices of ourselves, right? There's a digital Mark Leslie Lefebvre voice that people can use, and I'm making money off it because people are able to license it through ElevenLabs. But when I'm there in person, so far the holograms aren't good enough to fool people. I think I'm not just selling a book to somebody; I want to create an experience where, “Oh, I'm talking to the author, and we're signing a book together, and we're taking a selfie together.” For me, there's that tactile experience that's really enriching. And it may not be something that lines my pockets as easily, because the investment is more significant. For every $10 I make, it costs me six or seven dollars, as opposed to an e-book, where the cost is amortised in the most beautiful way over millions of copies. Jo: There are a few things there. First of all, let's talk about that ElevenLabs voice licensing, because, as you say, I also have a voice clone. Bones of the Deep, the latest book, that's my voice clone. I haven't gone with the licensing, partly because you don't have control over what someone can do with it. So, for example, someone could create Nazi content, or content that I might not agree with, in my voice. So how have you got over that? Because part of me really does want to license my voice, and the other part doesn't. Mark: This is a great question, Jo, and I'm glad you asked it. It's the same reason I don't worry about people stealing my books—adding DRM onto my e-books and things like that. I may as well make some money off it, because let's be honest: you and I, our voices are out there. Thousands of hours of our voices, right? In your podcast, my podcast, in various interviews we've done over the years. The technology exists for someone to make a copy of my voice themselves anyway. The tools exist. They can do it easily, so why not do it myself and at least make money? I'm actually getting money deposited into my account. Not a lot—maybe $30, $18, something like that every week. Again, I've taken a lot of my non-fiction books that I haven't had the time to record myself, as I like to do, and I can at least load those to ElevenLabs and make my voice the default voice. But wouldn't it be great to be able to listen to my book in your voice? It would sound so much better. Because you can do that. When you listen to a book on that platform, you can choose my voice if you'd rather hear it in my voice, or you can choose Burt Reynolds' voice, or some other folks who've licensed theirs. Again, for me, the whole concept of wide publishing has always been important. It's another small revenue stream that's adding to my numerous revenue streams. So I guess that's how I've justified just licensing the voice. If someone's going to do something with my voice that I can't control, they can do it regardless of whether or not I put it out there myself. Jo: I agree with you. That could happen, and neither of us is famous enough that it's likely to happen anyway. I do quite like the idea of people using our voices, say, for other books for authors, because that would make sense—that's where we fit in the niche. I will rethink that, because I think it's interesting. I wanted to come back to print books. You said sometimes there are easier ways to line your pockets, and I think that's funny. So, getting into the book, this leapt out at me quite near the beginning: Why do we keep doing this when the maths almost never adds up? Mark: Oh, I have a perfect example of that from an event I did a couple of weekends ago in Burlington, Ontario. I think it was a $60 table fee. It was a new event. I believe I made $90 or $95 in sales. So even after the costs of printing and all that stuff, I really didn't make money. I made my table back, which is always a good thing. There were a few encounters I had with people who were really excited to find my Canadian Werewolf series of books, and just so thrilled to get started. Among the four of them, they bought one copy, but they were going to pass it amongst each other. You know what? Okay, they bought a single copy, and I was like, “Well, the e-book is permanently free online. You don't even have to buy a copy”—which is anti-selling. I just want them to read the book and enjoy it. But if they read it and pass it along and start talking about it, they could become readers for a long time. It's an eight-book series, with the ninth book coming out later this year. There was another encounter I had that day. A woman and her teenage daughter came in, and they were looking at my traditionally published books that I buy at a reduced price from a local bookstore and resell. They were looking at these true ghost story books I had, and they were pointing: “Do you have that one?” “Yes, I have this one, I have that one.” And the mother's like, “Well, she collects all your books, and she wants to make sure she has them.” We had this conversation, and she was so excited to meet me in person and to get a signed copy of the book. That experience was such a vanity moment for me as an author. We're lonely. I'm a big loser. Nobody's buying my books. We're always down on ourselves. So that investment of time and energy, in order to get that little pat on the back or that feeling of, “Wow, I really connected with someone who likes my stuff”—those moments are really precious. They're difficult to explain if you only look at the world in a financial way. I guess I'm fortunate enough that I do have enough income from numerous streams, including the consulting I do part-time, that it's okay if not every bookish endeavour leads to more money in my pocket at the end of the day. I can still have these authentic connections with people, which I think is one of the reasons I'm a storyteller. Yes, it's the stories I have to tell, but it's also putting the story into somebody else's hands and eyes and heart and mind. Jo: You're very giving like that. You have that sense about you, whereas I'm just a curmudgeon in the corner. Mark: That is not true. Jo: It is, generally. I don't do events like you do for readers. Mark: But that's because it takes a lot out of you. Jo: Yes, but that doesn't matter. Why do I write? I write for me. Mark: Ah, very good. Jo: At the end of the day—just being entirely selfish about this—when people say, “Oh, if you won the lottery, what would you do?” I'm like, “Well, I'd do pretty much what I'm doing now.” Mark: Yes, I'd just do the same. Of course, I'd write more books. Jo: I'd write more books. So this is where I'm trying to get to for people as well: measuring success in a different way. You were talking about measuring success by how that girl loved your books, and how you feel when someone says they love your books. With Bones of the Deep, this thriller I've just done, I feel like I had the benefit of that book before anyone even read it. As soon as it was finished, I made a nice proof copy from BookVault, and I held it in my hand and said, “I made this. I'm proud of the story, I wrote the story, and it's outside my head now.” I feel like I'm creatively satisfied in that moment. Then, of course, the Kickstarter was great, and I love that the books are going out around the world, but— I think the happiest I felt was that moment of finishing—that creative satisfaction of holding the book in my hand. You know what I mean? Mark: 100%, Jo. I cannot agree with you enough. I love so many aspects of writing. Yes, the connection with people is amazing. But I often say this when I'm doing my one-on-one consulting with authors: focus on the projects that mean the most to you, those passion projects. The process of writing, and the painful rewriting and editing and all the things you go through—when you finish that book, like you said, you hold it in your hands and it is a thing of beauty. It's a huge achievement. You've won. Whether or not you sell a single copy, you've won by doing it. Everything else is gravy: the sales, the money in your pocket or not, the reviews, positive or not, the people who say, “Oh my God, Bones of the Deep, thank you for writing this book. I'm so glad you introduced this into the world and into my life.” Anything beyond the creation itself, which is a pure joy—I love it so much. It's just why I get up at 5:30 every morning and write for hours before the rest of my day begins. I try to get stuff done before the rest of the world wakes up. I want to get the writing done first, when I have the most energy to give myself to the page. Then the rest of the day is kind of gravy for me too. Jo: You talk there about giving yourself to the page, but in Stark Realities— You talk about the fear of truly being seen. What do you mean by that, and how do you manage that feeling? Mark: For anyone who has written anything—fiction, non-fiction, memoir in particular, since it's a bit more closely tied to reality—it's exposing yourself to the world. I'll never forget an interview I did with Canadian science fiction author Julie E. Czerneda, who, before being a fiction writer, was writing biology textbooks, but her real passion was science fiction and fiction. When her first novel came out, she said, “It's like standing naked on the front lawn.” When you release a book, even a novel, people look at it and they're going to judge you and rate you. I remember early on, Jo—we knew each other through Twitter, I think, where we initially met, and then interacted with and finally met in person at London Book Fair. I think you and I have a very similar reaction. When people know us as positive and upbeat and out there helping authors in the community, and then they read our fiction, they go, “Well, Jo, you burned a nun alive on page one.” Or, “Mark, what kind of… they're drinking from the skulls of dead people? What the heck is going on with you two?” We are exposing parts of ourselves in our fiction and non-fiction. That's a fear I embrace, but also never get over, if that makes any sense. I write scary stories because I'm a big chicken. So maybe the entire process is just cheap therapy for me. Or not cheap, because it's an expensive pastime, isn't it? Jo: It certainly can be, but I agree. I struggle with fear of judgment still. I think it's also because we do this in public, which comes back to the financial side of things. We do a lot of this in public, and then people judge us on our author businesses too. You could look at Bones of the Deep, which was just on Kickstarter, and compare my Kickstarter to another author's Kickstarter for a fiction book, and judge one or the other person based on numbers. I feel like this is because you and I have done so much in public—for me, almost 20 years, and for you, like 40 years or whatever. Maybe 30 years. You look that old. Mark: Listen there, dearie. Get off my lawn. Jo: Yes, get off my lawn—with those skeletons you have on your lawn. Mark: Yes. They're no longer in my closet. Jo: They're not in your closet. I wonder if that also plays a part of it—the pros and cons of doing this business in public. Mark: Yes, that is a part of it. One thing I try to be very clear about, because there's so much FOMO and so much out there about people thinking that everyone else is making a million dollars from their books and “I'm the only loser who's not”—I try to be clear that I have never made more than a mid-five figures as an author from my author earnings, ever. I haven't yet hit six figures. One of the reasons I try to be transparent in sharing that is I don't want people to think that everyone else is a six- and seven-figure success story, and they're the only one who's only made $100 last year on their books. The reality is, 90 to 99% of the people who are writing and publishing are not going to earn a significant amount of money. I realise I'm also very, very lucky that I've earned this much, and it's taken a long time. I just shared this in a Substack post I posted yesterday: it was 10 years of rejections before I got $5 for my first short story that was published in '92. It wasn't until 2001 that I finally made pro rate, six cents US a word, for a short story that, ironically, Julie Czerneda bought from me back in the day. For me, I've been lucky that it's always been a long, slow slog. It's been a marathon, and I've never instantly sprinted across any dramatic finish line. I've had some really phenomenal moments—doing a book signing in a Costco, walking into Walmart and seeing my books there. Even last night at the Burlington Public Library, going, “Wow, they have eight of my books here—four of my self-published books and four of my traditionally published books, in two different sections.” I was like, “That's kind of cool.” So I've had these amazing moments as a writer, but I've never had the blockbuster—the Brandon Sanderson, or even the Dungeon Crawler Carl, Matt Dinniman, kind of moments. I still think I've had a very fortunate and lucky journey. Even if I wasn't making the money I'm making, I'd still be writing, and I'm sure you would be too. Jo: Oh, yes, for sure. I actually think the thing most of us would probably let go is the marketing. If we won the lottery, we'd carry on with all the creative stuff, the writing, the community stuff, and we'd just literally do no marketing at all. Mark: Well, yes, of course. Or potentially say, “Oh, here, ad agency, here's some money. You just run it, whatever. Let me know if it works or not. I don't care.” Jo: That's a much better idea. Mark: At least I've got the extra disposable income, so I may as well, because I'm helping the world when my books are out there. I know my books will help people. I really honestly think that as storytellers—whether it's fiction or non-fiction, we're still storytellers—what we do in writing and podcasting and all the things we do, the re-sharing on social media, is really helping connect people. I think that is one of the most profound things we can do as writers. And I mean that the writing, in and of itself, is a reward. Jo: Like you said, we met on Twitter when Twitter was what it was back in the day. I do very, very little social media now. But you just mentioned your Substack, and you also have your podcast, Stark Reflections. So how are you balancing what you put on each? I only do this podcast now. I don't even blog. I write books, obviously, and then I do the podcast. So what are you doing differently on Substack to the podcast, and what part do they play in income and marketing? Mark: Great question. I realise most people have never heard of me, or read or listened to the things I put out into the world. And I've been a longtime fan of “reduce, reuse, recycle my IP.” My podcast is not as long-running as yours, but I'm in my ninth year, and I've not missed a single Friday in the full eight years, or eight and a half by now, that I've been doing this. Every week I reflect on what I learned from an interview, or I'll reflect on something you've posted and say, “This episode is not an interview, but Jo said this last week, and I'm going to talk about it.” The podcast itself takes a lot of work. I still do all of it myself, and I know I probably shouldn't, but I like doing it, so it's one of those tasks I enjoy. I also have reflections that aren't going to come out vocally but might come out in writing. Sometimes in the morning I'm not in the mood to write the novel or the non-fiction book I'm writing, but I'm writing some tangent. I just let the creative monster go. I find that re-sharing… I might have reflected on something for a couple of minutes at the end of an interview, but I really want to expand upon it, so I write the Substack article. I try to reuse some of that content. Someone's going to enjoy seeing it on a short video clip I share on YouTube, or whatever the platform is. Someone else is going to listen to it on a podcast, wherever they listen to podcasts, and someone else is going to want to read it. It could be the same information, just shared in a slightly different way, to potentially get it out to other people. So for me, it's part of that wide publishing mentality. I'm trying not to completely duplicate the work, although I am duplicating some of it. I'll give you an example. Hey, Canadian listeners—if you have not registered for Public Lending Right in Canada, please put something in your calendar for February 2027, because the deadline's over. It was May 1st of 2026. Put it in your calendar for next year. I even had somebody at this writers' event I was at this last weekend say, “You mentioned something in a presentation you did for the Canadian Authors Association about Public Lending Right, and thank you, because now I get thousands of dollars a year from this.” So just look up Public Lending Right. I've been saying stuff about Public Lending Right for at least 10 years now. Every time I get my beautiful multi-four-figure cheque from them in February every year, I post on social media and remind authors to check it out. I know it exists in the UK, and it exists in 36 countries in the world—just not the US. Jo: Not the US. Mark: They don't have a programme like this, probably because the big publishers—and probably one of the authors' associations—think that libraries are cannibalising book sales, which is not true. It's been proven time and time again, and that lobbying has prevented it from happening. Whereas here in Canada, the Canada Council for the Arts and the Writers' Union of Canada worked hard to make this happen. Anyway, I talk about something like Public Lending Right and I feel like I must have said this so much that people are sick of it, but every single time I mention it, someone goes, “Oh my God, thanks for saying that. I never heard it.” That's a good reminder, especially for folks like you and me. We know the basics. We know what an ISBN is. We know KDP Select means you can't put the e-book on any other retailer, or even sell it on your own website. We know all these things, but it's hard for us to remember that there are folks coming to this for the very first time who've never heard it, even though we feel like, “Oh my God, I've said this till I'm blue in the face.” I think I got that from retail. When I worked in retail, I recognised that somebody's going to come in and ask for “that blue book that Reese Witherspoon was talking about,” or Oprah was talking about, or whatever. And you do your darn best to help them figure it out rather than mock them. I try to take the same approach when people ask me those questions, because I'm trying to remember what it was like when I honestly did not know the answer, and having someone take the time to help me. I've been very, very lucky that I've had a lot of people take the time to help me. I'll never forget—God rest her soul—Nancy Kilpatrick, a horror writer here from Canada who passed away a few years ago. She gave me a blurb for my very first book in 2004 because she'd acquired one of my short stories for an anthology she'd edited. I was trying to call my short story collection an anthology, and she very kindly took me aside and said, “It's not an anthology if it's a single author. An anthology is a…” Jo: I didn't know that until, like, last year. I got that wrong as well. There are lots of words like that. I want to circle back, because you didn't really answer earlier about the time management. You just mentioned YouTube, on top of Substack and all the things you do. You also have a day job at Draft2Digital—it's part-time, right? You also do part-time at the university, teaching publishing, right? You do all kinds of things. How do you manage your time with all of that? Mark: Well, I mismanage my time more than I manage it, Jo. That's the God's honest truth. Fortunately, most of the things I have that aren't scheduled—like, scheduled to do this lecture at this time, or scheduled to have this meeting at this particular time with Draft2Digital—most of my work is very flexible. I do not work a regular 9:00 to 5:00, Monday to Friday. Well, I never did. I always worked way more. But I have a very flexible schedule. Every single day is a work day, and every single day is a play day for me. So I'm very, very lucky. I do schedule in the very important things, particularly where somebody else is reliant upon me—meetings and connections and stuff like that. Then I make the time first thing in the morning to get the writing done. Everything else is not as important, and it's part of… I guess it's part of playing. You know, like the social media sharing. I don't look at social media as marketing. I just look at it as another way to connect with people, with other creatives, and with readers potentially, all six people who read my stuff. I probably could do a better job of managing my time. I've tried several times over the years to adapt processes to make it better, but I consistently default back to what I do, and so far I guess I've been getting away with it. So I was like, “Do I want to waste more time trying to come up with a process, or do I just want to roll with it?” Because so far I haven't killed myself doing it, and I've been enjoying the journey. So, if it ain't broke… Jo: I think that's the point, if it doesn't feel like it's broken. Having known you for a long time now, and we work together—obviously we co-wrote The Relaxed Author—you do work very, very differently to me. You definitely are a little bit more chaotic. I'm chaotic in some ways too. Mark: Oh, you're very generous. “A little bit chaotic.” Thanks. That was generous, Jo. Jo: You're chaotic in your work practices and scheduling and all that, which I couldn't cope with very well. Even though I feel like a part of my brain is very chaotic—the creative side, I guess, can be quite chaotic—I think I'm actually quite controlling and very scheduled in my work practices. As you say, for someone else on the outside, it might feel to me like you have too many balls in the air. But if you don't feel that, then that's the way of working that works for you. So this is another important thing, isn't it? You can't adapt to what other people say your life should look like. It's what feels good to you. Mark: Oh, for sure. One thing I know about my procrastination tendency is that panic and fear motivate me. So, a deadline—”I have to get this into a publisher by this date, I have to get this manuscript to an editor by that date”—I'm motivated by fear. And I'm afraid of everything, so I guess I'm always motivated. Jo: But I also know that when you hear the word “deadline”—and I know a lot of people who do this—the deadline means you get it in on the deadline, or the day before the deadline. To me, a deadline means I have it ready a month earlier. Mark: I love that. I've done that a few times and shocked myself. I actually had a pre-order up—with the audiobook, the print, and the e-book—a month in advance, and I didn't know what to do with myself. I was like, “Well, what am I going to do now in the next month?” Jo: Work on the next thing. Mark: But I'm so used to working on it up to the last second that I was kind of like, “What do I do?” That actually caught me by surprise, and I honestly felt weird. I was like, “I've never felt this before.” I'm really lucky. I know you have a very supportive and amazing partner, and so do I. My partner, scarily enough, is maybe a bigger procrastinator than me, so she never gives me a hard time. She supports me, and I do the same thing with her own work. I'm up all night with her at the last minute so we can get something turned in. So, fortunately, we really understand one another, and we don't give each other a hard time. We just go, “Well, got away with it again. I guess I'm not going to change my ways.” Jo: We made it. And again, that's the point. You and I could stand up in front of people, both hold up the last book we wrote, and say, “We made this,” and our processes are completely different. Our brains are completely different. We come from different countries. There are lots of things that are different, and yet we both made a book. So hopefully that encourages people. You don't have to do anything that we're telling you, or anyone else tells you. But if you want to be an author, at some point you have to produce a book. Mark: Exactly. As Brian in the classic Monty Python film gets them to say: “Yes, we are all different.” Embrace that difference. I think that's such a powerful reminder that there is no one process for getting anything done. Jo: Given that we co-wrote The Relaxed Author back in 2021—and we did that because we had another show, and we were talking, and we said, “Oh, everyone's stressed and the anxiety levels are really high, and we think there's a better path”—we co-wrote that book, which I think is still a very good book. Definitely people should get it. Interestingly, I think the stress and anxiety might actually be higher now than it was. So what do you think the main stresses are in the community now? You also see a lot with Draft2Digital, I guess, as well. Mark: Oh, for sure. Honestly, Jo, I'm so glad we wrote that book, because I actually pick it up every once in a while to remind myself of the things we tried to help others with. Again, it's therapy for me as well, so I'm so glad we did it. I think we're 10, if not 100, times more stressed. The world events and things going on, the divisiveness—not just in the world in general, in politics and everything else, but the divisiveness in the author community. The witch-hunting that happens, people trying to tear down other authors either because they're successful, or because, “Oh my God, you dared use a new technology.” All of these things are happening, and everyone's at one another's throats. I need to pick that book up and reread it. I'm a lot more stressed than I was. I'm just getting over shingles, which is… Jo: Oh. Which is actually related to stress as well, isn't it? Mark: It is, yes. I was in LA for Writers of the Future—I'm a judge for that science fiction and fantasy conference. I went right from LA, like a week in LA, which was a phenomenal experience getting to mentor the winners. And I mean, come on, it's a free trip to Hollywood, hanging out with Kevin Anderson, having beers and stuff like that. Then I came back to the Toronto Indie Author Conference, run by Tao Wong, here in Toronto. I went right from the airport—didn't even go home—straight to the hotel, because I kicked into another conference. We did a display on how to set up an in-person booth, so I ended up having to hand-bomb boxes, blocks down the street from where I was parked. My chest was really sore when I got home on the Monday, and I thought it was because I hadn't used these muscles, because I'm not in the best shape. Then I took my shirt off and went, “Oh, there's a rash there.” Liz goes, “You have shingles.” Because the pain in my chest, which I thought was the muscle, was actually underneath. I'm one of those lucky people that it's taken the full five weeks, and I'm still in pain even afterwards. So, again, public notice: if you're an older person like me, and there's a vaccine available for shingles, you may want to consider it. Jo: Yep, get it. Mark: Oh my God, it hurts. But, yes, the stress, I think, is higher—even though I didn't know I was feeling it. It was happy stress, right? I was stressed out because I'm there in Hollywood, helping people and doing some good things, and then I'm doing the same thing, interacting with some amazing authors at the Toronto Indie Author Conference. I didn't feel anxious stress. I was happy stress. Is that a thing? Jo: I think possibly… your physical body masks stress, physical stress, because you enjoy all of that stuff. Whereas someone like me, I'll feel it quicker and withdraw. Although I say that, back probably a decade ago, Jonathan would say to me, “You're going too fast, and you're going to hit the wall. And when you hit the wall, it's not going to be fun.” And I did hit the wall. Then, probably in 2021—I mean, that was when I just started going into menopause, and obviously we had the pandemic, and I wrote Pilgrimage, and I was doing all those walks, which I think really helped me. I learned a lot about maybe stopping that before it happened. Becca Syme obviously talks a lot about this too. But I find it interesting with you, because I think you're so positively happy with these events you do that it might mask your physical symptoms in a different way. That's really hard to watch out for. I'll give a tip to you and everyone else listening: schedule the calendar, and look at your calendar and go, “I can't go back-to-back-to-back. I have to put in some rest days.” Mark: Well, thank you. You know, Jo, you and Becca Syme are two of my best unpaid therapists. I appreciate that. Jo: You just don't listen, Mark. Mark: Or sometimes I do. Jo: Just coming back to the community, and the divisiveness there is primarily over AI at the moment, I think that's one of the biggest things. And the arbitrary lines as to what you're allowed to use it for and what you're not allowed to use it for, which is just kind of crazy. Obviously, you know I've opted out of that whole discussion now. How do you think we can move through this [divisiveness over AI], move on? We remember when it was trad versus indie, and then it was wide versus KU. So this will pass—it's just hard, when you're in it, to know when it might pass. Mark: Yes. I think the more generic advice—for whatever may come, whatever has come—is: why are you doing this? Why are you a writer? Heads down, focus on what gives you pleasure, and do that, because everything else is noise. All the marketing tactics and strategies, and all the people yelling at one another. Write your books. Do the things that motivate you. Do the things that give you that intrinsic reward. It's hard to ignore. I get it, it is hard to ignore. I have difficulty ignoring the haters and the yelling and the screaming that happens, but I do my best. Like this morning, when I was in the throes of my manuscript and I looked up and went, “Oh my God, I've got to shower. I'm going to be talking to Jo soon, I should comb my hair”—which I have none of. Because I was so in my book that everything else melted away. That, for me as a storyteller, as a writer, is one of the most beautiful places to be. Jo: I think you're absolutely right. I have a little thing that pops up in my calendar sometimes which says, “If you're feeling all of these things, just go create something.” The moment you refocus on creation—whatever that means to you—things change. It changes the energy. That, or go for a walk. That's my other tip. Mark: Outside. And I have to say, Jo, Pilgrimage is still one of the most profound and powerful books you've written, and you've written a lot of amazing ones. Jo: Oh, you're very sweet. Mark: That one really resonates, not just for me, but with Liz. Because one of the things we often do when we get stressed is go for a walk, ideally in nature. The vitamin N. I think there's something really profound in that, and it really helps me a lot. And again, sometimes going for a walk listening to your podcast, or an audiobook, or sometimes just attending to the environment. A tip I picked up years ago from Brooklyn author Denis Hamill was: go for a walk with your character. Listen to what they see. What do they comment on? How do they approach this environment that you've seen a million times? How do they see it? What do they notice that you don't notice? That's such an incredible experience of creativity—when you're not writing, but writing. That really helps me a lot. Jo: Oh, nice one. Okay, so your latest book is Stark Realities, but you have so many more. Where can people find you and your books and your podcast online? Mark: Jo, you can find everything you want to know about me—and stuff you don't want to know about me—over at MarkLeslie.ca. It links to all the other places from there. Jo: Brilliant. Thanks again for your time, Mark. That was great. Mark: Thanks so much, Jo. Bye-bye. The post Creative Satisfaction, In Person Print Book Sales, And Author Mindset With Mark Leslie Lefebvre first appeared on The Creative Penn.

The American Revolution touched the lives of everyone living in the American colonies, and though the focus is often on the battlefields and political debates, those who were excluded from those places nevertheless played a crucial role in gaining independence. In this episode, Denise Kiernan joins us to discuss her new book, Obstinate Daughters: The Rebels, Writers and Renegade Women Who Ignited the Revolution and how looking at the revolution through women's lives gives us a more perfect understanding of the events that founded the United States of America.   Denise Kiernan is the author of multiple New York Times Bestsellers including The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II (Atria, 2014). She is also a journalist, producer and former head writer of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.   Obstinate Daughters is available June 23, 2026 from Dutton. You can find out more about the book and order your copy at DeniseKiernan.com   This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer.

Aaron is joined by Siftpop Founder Aaron Dicer (Tw: @aarondicer) this week. We'll preview Mortal Kombat and talk some TV! Send any questions or feedback to writersroom@siftpop.com, follow Aaron on Twitter @Schwhitecastle, and for more great shows like this, visit studiodna.mediaAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Video Game playthrough updates, upcoming releases, PlayStation and Xbox news, Nintendo breach, Game Pass impact, and a retro review of Yu‑Gi‑Oh! Forbidden Memories. 00:00 Introduction 03:15 Game Pickups and Collectibles 06:22 Current Gaming Experiences 09:17 Investments in Gaming Stocks 12:15 Upcoming Game Releases 15:23 Remote Play and Gaming on the Go 18:13 Industry News: PlayStation Exclusives 21:11 Future of Gaming: Digital vs Physical 24:12 Nintendo Data Breach Discussion 33:18 The Future of Xbox Exclusives 39:15 The Impact of Game Pass on Console Sales 48:12 Studio Closures and IP Ownership 57:13 Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories Review 01:09:05 Outro Video John and Ryan jump into another packed week of gaming talk, starting with what they're currently playing. Ryan shares his time with Mina the Hollower, while John continues working through Killzone Shadow Fall. The conversation then shifts to upcoming releases the duo is excited about before moving into a discussion on remote play and gaming on the go. Industry news takes center stage as they explore the latest updates around PlayStation exclusives and what those decisions mean for the platform. That leads into a broader conversation about the future of gaming, specifically the ongoing debate between digital and physical media. The episode also covers the recent Nintendo data breach and what's known so far, followed by a look at where Xbox exclusives may be heading. John and Ryan then break down the impact Game Pass is having on console sales and how subscription models continue to shape the market. They wrap up the news segment with a discussion on Xbox studio closures and IP ownership. To close out the show, the Inflation Deflation Game of the Week takes a nostalgic turn with a review of Yu‑Gi‑Oh! Forbidden Memories, as the guys revisit the PS1 classic and evaluate its place in today's retro market. Find us on TheGameDeflators.com   Twitter - www.twitter.com/GameDeflators Facebook - www.facebook.com/TheGameDeflators Instagram - www.instagram.com/thegamedeflators   The views and opinions expressed on this channel are solely those of the author. The content within these recordings are property of their respective Designers, Writers, Creators, Owners, Organizations, Companies and Producers. Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted. Permission for intro and outro music provided by Matthew Huffaker http://www.youtube.com/user/teknoaxe 2_25_18

Is food your love language? It certainly is for bestselling author and AWC graduate Anna Johnston – brought to life through her new novel, When Lemons Give You Life. In this episode, Anna dishes up the inspiration and character creation for this latest book and the challenges, strategies and superpowers of being an author with ADHD. She also shares how she deals with writing tough scenes, her writing workflow, and advice for writers. 00:00 Welcome11:18 Writing tip: Cut the Starting Scene13:24 Writers in the wild14:51 WIN: The Bookshop of Buried Pasts by Sarah Clutton16:42 Word of the week: Jakes17:14 Writer in residence: Anna Johnston18:16 Anna explains new book, When Lemons Give You Life20:21 Story themes and origins24:02 Research and authenticity27:10 POV structure and flashbacks29:22 Editing and deadlines32:45 What she learned from AWC courses35:20 ADHD writing strategies38:06 Letting characters go41:34 Organising notes and workflow43:25 Balancing writing life44:39 Publicity and events46:40 Next book plans47:26 Anna’s advice for writers49:28 Final thoughts Read the show notes Connect with Valerie and listeners in the podcast community on Facebook Visit WritersCentre.com.au | ValerieKhoo.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Send us Fan MailLiterary agent Ann Rose (Marsal Lyon Literary Agency) returns to Writers With Wrinkles for a candid, funny, and reassuring conversation with Beth and Lisa about the current state of publishing—and how writers can keep going anyway. Ann is also the author of The Seemingly Impossible Love Life of Amanda Dean and A Hexcellent Chance to Fall in Love.The episode opens with a frank look at an industry in flux. Ann and the hosts dig into why publishers have grown so risk-averse, why "branded" and name-recognition titles are crowding out fresh voices, and why debut authors and previously published writers alike are finding the trenches tougher than ever. They also tackle the hard truth that marketing has largely shifted onto authors' shoulders—and that, post-Twitter, no one has cracked the code on selling books online.From there, the conversation turns practical and hopeful. Ann shares exactly what hooks her in a first chapter, what makes her stop reading, and how to push past the "messy middle" of a draft. If you're querying, pivoting genres, or rebuilding after a book that didn't sell, this one's for you.In this episode:Why publishers are playing it safe—and what that means for debuts and option booksHow the marketing burden has shifted to authors, and why there's no magic bulletThe two things Ann needs in a first chapter: voice and character agencyWhy "starting with action" can backfire if we don't yet care about the characterThe power of the unexpected: write down your first idea, then find your seventhRed flags that make Ann stop reading, and the "and then" trap that kills momentumTrusting the reader and leaving space on the page (a lesson from Brian Selznick)Advice for authors dropped after a disappointing option—and how to shake off imposter syndromePivoting genres and riding the pendulum: why what's "dead" always comes backAnn's midpoint challenge: move your ending to the middle and raise the stakesHer #1 piece of advice for writers: stay in your own lane and stop comparingWhat's at the top of her wish list: feminine rage, women doing bad things for good reasons, and gripping, feminist-leaning suspenseWhether you're a debut writer, a seasoned author starting over, or somewhere in the messy middle, Ann's message is one to hold onto: control what you can—your writing—and don't be afraid to get gritty.Learn more about Ann and find the full blog at writerswithwrinkles.net. Next time: an Ask Beth and Lisa episode—send us your questions! Until then, happy reading, writing, and listening. Support the show Visit the WebsiteFind Full Episodes on YouTube!Writers with Wrinkles Link Tree for socials and more!

Writers want opening chapters that showcase their voice, introduce an unforgettable character, and make readers desperate to continue. But a strong voice can become self-indulgent. The narrator may entertain the reader without moving the story forward, explaining too much, repeating the same joke, or delaying the moment when something actually happens. In a writing competition, where judges are actively looking for reasons to stop reading, those extra words can cost you. In this episode, Jeff Elkins coaches author Scott Williamson on the opening of his darkly funny fantasy story about Auntie Pearl, a 300-year-old witch trying to turn a corpse into tea before her aging body falls apart. They explore how to tighten an opening without stripping away its personality, create intimacy between a first-person narrator and the reader, and withhold information to build mystery and narrative promise. Jeff also explains why writers should address one reader at a time, avoid telling readers what they are thinking, and keep present-tense narrators from revealing knowledge they cannot possess. The conversation also examines how vulnerability can make a monstrous character lovable, how a child character can become an engine for change, and how dark humor can keep physical suffering entertaining rather than exhausting. Watch this episode if you're revising an opening chapter, entering a writing competition, developing an intimate first-person voice, or trying to make readers fall in love with a character who does terrible things.     www.DialogueDoctor.com

D.M. Aderibigbe is from Lagos, Nigeria. His most recent book, 82nd Division, was selected for the National Poetry Series. His debut book, How the End First Showed, won the Brittingham Prize in Poetry, among other honors. He has received fellowships from the Sewanee Writers' Conference (Walter E. Dakin Fellowship), The James Merrill House, OMI/Ledig House, Ucross, Jentel, and Boston University where he earned his MFA in creative writing. His poems appear in The Atlantic, The Nation, Ploughshares, The Southern Review, and New England Review, among others. He's an assistant professor in the Center for Writers at the University of Southern Mississippi. Find more 82nd Division: https://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/82nd-division/ As always, we'll also include the live Prompt Lines for responses to our weekly prompt. Submit your poems through Submittable by midnight Sunday for a chance to be invited: https://rattle.submittable.com/submit/269309/rattlecast-prompt-poems-online For links to all the past episodes, visit: https://www.rattle.com/page/rattlecast/ This Week's Prompt: Write a poem that reimagines a time when you didn't speak up but should have. Next Week's Prompt: Write a poem so light that it may even float! The Rattlecast livestreams on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, then becomes an audio podcast. Find it on iTunes, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts.

Original Release Date: Monday 22 June 2026    Description:   There are two Carolinas in the USA. North and South. Phil is exploring both of them. So, this week's show was pre-recorded quite a few days earlier than usual. In it, Dean and Phil discuss The Actor's Gang, a well-respected theater company and training ground for talented performers (like their pal, Steve Benaquist). Dean and Phil continue to talk about the late, great artist David Hockney, his love of smoking, and the ways in which he taught the world to think of Los Angeles, namely as it pertains to light. Light and its interplay with shadows is absolutely top of mind for your friends in podcasting and they go deep into film noir, talking about such great actors as George Raft, Humphrey Bogart, Burt Lancaster, Edmond O'Brien, and Edward G. Robinson, and such great directors of noir as Fritz Lang and Robert Siodmak. The movies They Drive by Night, The Killers and Scarlet Street all get appraised. Finally, Phil holds court about the 1980 neo-noir The First Deadly Sin, which was the final motion picture produced by Frank Sinatra, and the final lead performance for Sinatra as an actor. It was supposed to have been directed by Roman Polanski, which has Phil asking, “What if it had been?” He also suggests another young director (at the time) who would have been a better choice than the film's eventual director, Brian G. Hutton. Nevertheless, Hutton did director a couple of Dean's favorite movies, so Phil shares the quite interesting details of Hutton's career.

Send us Fan MailOne ride along and a passion for public service. That's all it took to change everything. My guest on the show today, Sheriff Mark Lamb, walked away from a successful business career, stepped into a police academy in his thirties, and never looked back. He went on to become one of the most recognized law enforcement figures in America. On this episode of the Cops and Writers Podcast, we take a look at how it all started for Sheriff Mark Lamb. Welcome to part one of this incredible story. Part two airs next Sunday.More about Sheriff Lamb. Mark Lamb is known as "America's Sheriff.” He served as the 24th Sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona, overseeing a county the size of Connecticut with over 600 employees. Before entering law enforcement, he was a business owner for over a decade and didn't join law enforcement until his thirties, yet he quickly rose through the ranks. Valedictorian of his training class, Rookie of the Year, Officer of the Year, and Detective of the Year.He served as sheriff from January 2017 through December 2024, and ran for U.S. Senate in 2024, losing the Republican primary to Kari Lake. He's now running for Congress in Arizona's 5th Congressional District. No matter what your political persuasion is, I think his message needs to be heard, and I'm grateful he took the time out of his busy schedule for this interview.  In today's episode, we discuss:·      Growing up in different countries and how that helped him later in life as a cop and person.·      Being a teenager and trapped in Panama during Operation Just Cause.·      His calling to be of service.·      How one ride-along changed his life forever. ·      The benefits or drawbacks of being “older” in the police academy.·      His first job in law enforcement was as a tribal police officer on an Indian reservation.·      Being a white man working on an Indian reservation as a police officer.·      The lessons he learned from the natives while he was policing on the reservation.·      An epidemic of missing and murdered women on Indian reservations.·      Why did he run for sheriff? ·      His opposition attacking him and his family during this and previous elections through mudslinging, and him taking the high road.  All of this and more on today's episode of the Cops and Writers podcast.Visit Sheriff Lamb's website.Head on over to my website! What's the craziest thing you saw when you were a cop?My first week on the job, a guy running at me with a butcher knife. He'd just killed his brother over the last hot dog.That's chapter 1. There are 33 more.Police Stories: The Rookie Years just launched - available on Amazon. Search 'Police Stories Patrick O'Donnell' or click thSupport the show

Did the legend of Elizabeth Bathory survive because of truth… or misinformation?Author Shelley Puhak joins Speaking of Writers to discuss The Blood Countess: Murder, Betrayal, and the Making of a Monster, a fascinating new biography exploring the real story behind one of history's most feared women.Listen now on Spotify.#ShelleyPuhak #TheBloodCountess #SpeakingOfWriters #HistoricalBiography #HistoryPodcast #AuthorInterview #ElizabethBathory #BookLovers #TrueCrimeHistory #WomenInHistory #SpotifyPodcasts #SteveRichards

Writer Katie da Cunha Lewin on how physical spaces shape creative work, why the perfect writing room is a myth, and the rituals and routines that sustain a writing life. We discuss Why the perfect writing space is largely a myth (and why that can set you free). How physical environments quietly shape creative practice and identity. What our fascination with visiting writers' houses reveals. The cultural baggage around “the writer's room,” and who it quietly excludes. The way motherhood compresses time and forces a new kind of creative discipline. A concept of psychological distance between domestic life and creative work. When creative rituals help (and when writers thrive without them). How to begin designing a writing space that actually works for you. What it takes to find the story inside a work of nonfiction. Why putting yourself on the page makes nonfiction stronger. Resources & Links

Steve Richards welcomes Sergio Villanueva to Speaking of Writers to discuss his debut book, Never One Without the Other. Inspired by his relationship and written originally as a gift for his girlfriend, the book explores themes of love, healing, self-discovery, and hope through the symbolic characters of the Black Deer and the White Rose.Tune in for a heartfelt conversation about storytelling, relationships, and the journey from personal project to published author.#SpeakingOfWriters #SergioVillanueva #NeverOneWithoutTheOther #AuthorInterview #BookPodcast #IndieAuthor #RomanceBooks #LoveStory #BookDiscussion #SteveRichards #WritingJourney #Readers #BooksAndAuthors

We are here today in Portland, Oregon, at the Independent Publishers' Booksellers Association conference. During the Independent Book Publishers Association Conference in Portland, OR, Keith Riegert spoke about the changes in the Amazon algorithm and how, given a good book, discoverability is an author's major challenge. He explained how AI is a tool to solve this. Keith is the president of The Stable Book Group and CEO of Brooklyn-based independent publishing companies, Ulysses Press and VeloPress Books. Keith is also CEO of Perfect Bound Technologies Corporation and a co-founder of the book publicity and digital marketing firm, Pacific & Court. Keith is a member of the board of advisors at NYU's School of Professional Studies in the Center for Publishing, where he also teaches Analytics and Consumer Insights. Keith also serves on the boards of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) and the AI firm, Inkbloom. Learn more at www.keithriegert.com/ United Public Radio & UFO Paranormal Radio www.uprntalkradio.com

"The Writers of today helping the writers of tomorrow." Such is the motto of The Writers Guild Foundation and its executive director Julie Lacouture. Julie describes the programs at the WGF which include the Veterans Writing Project, the Writers Access Program and its new partnership with the Nicholl Fellowship.

On today's program, the Assemblies of God is disputing liability in abuse cases — claiming local church autonomy shields it from the Daniel Savala sex abuse lawsuits. And, a movement to void nondisclosure agreements in cases of child sexual abuse is gaining ground — on both the local and national levels. The laws limiting NDAs are called Trey's Laws. We'll take a look. Plus, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, has, after years of turmoil, officially regained its accreditation status. But first, Sean Feucht Ministries is fighting back against a lawsuit — and it’s using the First Amendment to do it. It argues a $250,000 lawsuit filed against it should be dismissed because of what’s called the “church autonomy doctrine.” It protects religious institutions from lawsuits that would require courts to wade into matters of faith and doctrine. The producer for today's program is Jeff McIntosh. We get database and other technical support from Stephen DuBarry, Rod Pitzer, and Casey Sudduth. Writers who contributed to today's program include Kim Roberts, Stacey Horton, Marci Seither, Makella Knowles, and Jessica Eturralde. Until next time, may God bless you.  

This week we settle back into things with some Classico™ Frightday. Housekeeping, a call from a whistleblower, Staff Picks™, and a discussion of the latest feature from Steve Spielberg, "Disclosure Day". And things seemed normal...until Byron (of all people) proposed a conspiracy theory...     Staff Picks Kelly: The Vast of Night (2019), previously covered on Episode 250 Byron: Take Shelter (2011), Jeff Nichols, with Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain. Tell us we're wrong Call the line at 1-833-374-4489 (1-833-FRIGHT-9) with your take on the film, Byron's hypothesis, your encounters, or film recommendations. We want to hear where you land on this. Want more? Join the Frightday Society, at http://thefrightdaysociety.org As a Society Member, you'll have access to all Screamium content (Behind the Screams, It's Been a Weird Week, A Conversation With..., Toast to Toast PM with Wine Kelly, Cinema Autopsy, the Writers' Room, bonus episodes of Captain Kelly's Cryptids & Conspiracies, Byron's Serial Corner, and so much more! You'll also be part of our interactive community dedicated to the advancement of horror, hauntings, cryptids, conspiracies, aliens, and true crime. All things frightening. Hang out with us Discord: discord.frightday.com Keep our mini-fridges full of blood...I mean...not blood...normal things that people drink...by going to http://shop.frightday.com Theme music by Yawns Produced by Byron McKoy Follow us in the shadows at the following places:  @byronmckoy @kellyfrightday @frightday This is an Audio Wool Original.

I did an episode a few weeks back on Jasmine Sun's provocations about independent writing in the AI era. One of those provocations: the value of polish is going down, and the value of personal style, charisma, and weirdness is going up. AI is very good at polished prose. AI is bad at voice—the particular moves only this writer would make, the typos the writer would have caught but didn't, the metaphor that shouldn't work but does because it's coming from this particular mind.Sun's frame and the longhand frame meet exactly here. Voice is the comparative advantage. Voice is what AI cannot generate. And handwriting is one of the most reliable disciplines we have for preserving and developing voice.Here's why. When you type, autocomplete and muscle memory and the smoothness of the keyboard tend to push you toward standard phrasings. The fastest sentence to type is usually the most expected sentence. AI tools accelerate this further by suggesting the most predictable next phrase.Even without AI, typing tends to homogenize prose toward the average.When you write by hand, none of that exists. There is no autocomplete. There is no suggestion engine. There is only the pen and the next word, and the speed limit is your thinking. The sentence you write is the sentence you composed in your head and chose to put down. The sentence is unmistakably yours because nothing intervened between your mind and the page.In the AI era, the handwritten draft is not nostalgic. It is maximally human. It is the most reliable way to produce prose that could not have been generated.Here's something I'd like you to try. Write your next essay—or a chapter—by hand. Don't do it for one session. Do it for a few weeks, long enough to get into a flow. See what emerges that doesn't emerge at the keyboard.If you do it, write me back and tell me what you found.---WHY THIS KEEPS COMING UPI'm writing this partly because the original Medium article keeps showing up in my analytics every month, even though I wrote it years ago. Writers are looking for ways to think about the question of HOW THEY WRITE in a moment when the answer is contested. The longhand discipline is one answer that hasn't gone out of fashion in the lifetimes of the writers I just named, and I don't think it's going out of fashion now. If anything, the AI moment makes it more important.If you're working on something and you want a publisher who'll talk to you about voice and craft and the actual practice of writing—not just the production at the end—Crossroads is that press. Discovery call on the site.Twenty minutes, free.The difficulty in life is the choice.—Chad This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chadprevost.substack.com

EP 33 - "Capturing Moments, Creating Worlds" | David Ellis | New York Times–Featured Poet, Author, Artist, and EducatorDavid is very much a part of this New Harlem Renaissance and his thoughtful poetry captures that elegantly. His love of this community and teaching is evident as well as his passion for poetry, artistry. - Marcus Samuelsson Featured in the New York Times for his haiku poetry that he paints on driftwood and first poetry book "Beach in City Island", David has been working in Harlem as a teacher for almost two decades, David fell in love with Harlem the moment he entered. "I feel the souls of those that were here before I was born, especially when I walk down Lenox Avenue." Most of the poems written in this poetry books are on display at many restaurants and cafes in Harlem. Hand painted on canvas and written in frames.

After returning from the Vancouver International Publishing Conference, Candace finds herself riding the beautiful wave that follows a truly inspiring experience. But alongside the excitement comes something equally important: rest. In this episode of The Spiritual Cupcake Podcast, she shares why giving ourselves space to recharge, reflect, and integrate life's magical moments can be just as valuable as the moments themselves. A recent walk sparked a conversation about favorite books and the stories that stay with us long after we've turned the final page. Candace reflects on how books are a lot like people. Often, we can't recall every detail of what was said or exactly what happened, but we never forget how they made us feel. From stories that transport us into unfamiliar worlds to characters who help us see life through a different lens, books have a unique ability to expand our hearts and perspectives. Candace shares her love of reading, the books that have lingered with her over the years, and why some stories become lifelong companions. Whether you're recovering from an exciting season, looking for your next great read, or simply craving a little inspiration, this episode is a gentle reminder to slow down, soak it all in, and grab a good book.  

Priya Parmar's novel The Original tells the story of how actor Katharine Hepburn set out to become one of the true movie icons of the 20th century and succeeded. She's joined to talk about Hepburn's life and career by film historian Pamela Hutchinson. As the Obama Presidential Center opens later this week in Chicago, we hear how its architecture is being viewed in the city, how it compares with other presidential libraries and what it might do for the people of Chicago. As the National Library of Scotland's new exhibition showcases how artists, filmmakers and poets across the centuries have been inspired by rain, poet Don Paterson and head of collections at the library Alison Stevenson join us to discuss why we're conditioned to think about rain in particular ways and about the best creative responses to a weather condition we know all too well. Presenter: Kate Molleson Producer: Mark Crossan

Send us Fan MailIn this re-released conversation, developmental editor Joel Brigham returns to talk all things revision: how to approach your first editing pass, the most common pitfalls he sees in drafts, and how to know when a manuscript is truly ready to query. A great refresher as you set your summer writing goals. (Note: a recording glitch cut the original intro, which Beth explains at the top.)What you'll learn in this episodeJoel revises in phases, and phase one is always structure. He looks for the "tent pole" story beats: the inciting incident, the midpoint turn, and the all-hope-is-lost moment, and checks whether they fall where reader expectations and pacing demand. He explains why pantsers tend to have the beats but in the wrong places, and how genre and age level dictate placement (the inciting incident around 8–12% for YA and adult, the romance meet-cute by the end of chapter one).He then walks through a practical self-editing checklist writers can use before paying a professional:Have you hit the major story beats, and are they in the right place?Does every character, including the antagonist and secondary cast, have clear motivation and an arc?Is your character driving the plot through choices and consequences, or just passively reacting? (Joel calls character agency the single biggest difference between a good book and one that isn't ready.)Is there tension in every chapter, even small-scale?Are the stakes clear and high?Have you read your dialogue out loud?Does the book open and close with a bang?Is your word count appropriate for your genre and age level?For kid lit, have you checked readability scores (Lexile, Flesch-Kincaid)?Have you proofread to a pristine, professional standard?And finally, do you feel proud of it? That feeling, Joel says, is often how you know you're close.The episode digs into developing narrative voice, which Joel calls the hardest thing to teach. His advice: read widely, mimic authors you admire until your own voice emerges, write in different mediums, be authentic, seek feedback, and read your work aloud. He shares his own path from imitating Dave Barry and John Green to finding his own style.On story structure red flags, Joel offers a memorable test borrowed from South Park's Trey Parker and Matt Stone: strong stories connect scenes with "but" or "therefore," not "and then." A string of "and thens" signals missing consequences and a passive protagonist.He also tackles the saggy middle and rushed endings, with concrete fixes for each: introduce a new obstacle, separate inseparable characters, drop a backstory reveal, add a ticking clock, or shift the power dynamic to revive a sagging midpoint. For endings, make your all-hope-is-lost moment dark enough that you're forced to pace the resolution, and think of act three as its own four-chapter arc.He closes with hard-won advice on polishing: focus on one element at a time, get other eyes on your pages, learn to weigh feedback wisely, rest between revision phases, and above all, be right, not fast. Don't impose artificial deadlines or query before a manuscript is ready. As Joel reminds listeners, finishing a draft already puts you in rare company, and persistence is what eventually turns into success.Resources & linksLearn more about Joel and find episode notes at writerswithwrinkles.net. Happy reading, writing, and listening! Support the show Visit the WebsiteFind Full Episodes on YouTube!Writers with Wrinkles Link Tree for socials and more!

Hungered by Amanda Rizkalla by Poets & Writers

Scrap Book by Nick Martino by Poets & Writers

Tending to Our Wounds by Edna Bonhomme by Poets & Writers

The Grief Shop by Alex DiFrancesco by Poets & Writers

Lucky Creatures by Joseph Trinidad by Poets & Writers

Rabbit, Fox, Tar by P.C. Verrone by Poets & Writers

The Memory Museum by M Lin by Poets & Writers

Hope House by Joe Bond by Poets & Writers

Burnside by Devyn Defoe by Poets & Writers

Strap on your tinfoil cap and open your mind. Prolific Author/Ufologist Preston Dennett returns to discuss his latest books, disclosure, and everything about Aliens, UFOs and UAP.About Preston DennettPreston Dennett is the 5th of 6 children. He moved to California from Illinois with his family and was raised in Topanga Canyon, in southern California. He has worked as a carpet cleaner, landscaper, fast-food cook, data-entry clerk, bookkeeper, teacher, lecturer, actor, writer, singer, television consultant, ghost hunter, out-of-body explorer, UFO investigator and more. He has written more than 30 nonfiction books and more than 100 articles about UFOs and the paranormal, and  more than 40 speculative fiction stories. In 2018 he won second place in the Writers of The Future Contest (Quarter 1, volume 35). He currently resides on Earth in an undisclosed location surrounded by forest.IF YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE YOUR UFO EXPERIENCE ON PRESTON DENNETT'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL, PLEASE CALL THE PRESTON DENNETT UFO HOTLINE AT: 706.946.0302.Social LinksEmail: prestonufo@gmail.comWebsite: https://prestondennett.weebly.com/You-Tube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOntTQrEbD94Gjfc0UXC46AFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/preston.dennett/Twitter: https://twitter.com/PrestonEDennettInstagram:  https://www.instagram.com/prestonedennett/Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/Key-Faithlessness734/Bitchute: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/CUJn1S1LXl1ORumble: https://rumble.com/user/PrestonDennettLike what you hear? Let us know.$10 Afraid of Nothing merch - and more - at the Afraid of Nothing Shopify store. Visit afraidofnothingpodcast.com or use this url:https://www.afraidofnothingpodcast.com/p/shopify-store/Never be afraid to look good and have cool merch! Support the showSUPPORT THE PODCASTNEW: SHOP OUR STORE ON SHOPIFY!Never Be Afraid to Look Good at https://383e86-d1.myshopify.com/.FOLLOW/SUBSCRIBE/REVIEW...On our website at afraidofnothingpodcast.com.SUBSCRIBE...Your gracious donation here helps defray production costs. Beyond my undying gratitude, you will also will be shouted out in an upcoming episode.WATCH ON YOUTUBE...We are uploading past episodes on our Youtube channel. WATCH THE DOC…VIMEO ON DEMAND: Rent the Afraid of Nothing documentary here: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/aondoc.TUBI: watch for free with ads on tubitv.com.REVIEW OUR FILM ON ROTTEN TOMATOES...Write your five-star review here.

Cinelle Barnes joins Let's Talk Memoir for a conversation about her brain aneurism rupture, writing a memoir two years after brain surgery, the healing modality that is writing personal narrative, memoir as a palimpsest, having multiple memoirs, narrating from the perspective of the adult, choosing to be in a place of discovery, alternating timelines, offloading thoughts onto sticky notes, when writing becomes episodic and collage like, gratitude as fertilizer for the brain, holding onto our words and art to keep holding onto who we are, investigating the many selves within the self, and her new memoir A Way Home: A Memoir of Losing Yourself and the Beauty of Returning.   Ronit's upcoming workshop: Writing Dynamic Memoir: From Lived Experience to Gripping Story https://www.lmcmurtrylitcenter.org/workshops/writing-dynamic-memoir-from-lived-experience-to-gripping-story   Also in this episode: -micromemoirs -fostering neuroplasticity -changing as we explore   Books mentioned in this episode:  -Easy Beauty by Chloe Cooper Jones -Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy -The Man Who Could Move Clouds by Ingrid Contreras   Cinelle Barnes is the Philippine-born author of Monsoon Mansion: A Memoir, Malaya: Essays on Freedom, and A Way Home: A Memoir of Losing Yourself and the Beauty of Returning. She is also the editor of the New York Times “New and Noteworthy” A Measure of Belonging: Twenty-One Writers of Color on the New American South. Cinelle is a survivor of a brain aneurysm rupture and sits on the Brain Injury Leadership Council of South Carolina, and is the recipient of awards and fellowships from the Sustainable Arts Fund, the Authors League Fund, the National Endowment for the Arts, South Arts, and the North American Travel Journalists Association, among others. She has served on the jury panels for several literary awards, including the inaugural Pulitzer Prize for Memoir. Her writing has appeared in Coastal Living, Travel + Leisure, Buzzfeed, Catapult, Electric Literature, and Longreads, among others. Cinelle lives in Charleston, SC, with her husband, daughter, and cat.    Connect with Cinelle: Webiste: cinellebarnes.com Instagram: @cinellebarnesbooks   Purchase Book via Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-way-home-a-memoir-of-losing-yourself-and-the-beauty-of-returning-cinelle-barnes/1a3f1cce1c657294?ean=9781662510618&next=t   - Ronit Plank bio and links:  Ronit Plank is a writer, teacher, and editor whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, Poets & Writers, River Teeth's Beautiful Things, The Rumpus, Salon, Hippocampus, The New York Times, and elsewhere, earning Best of the Net, Best Microfiction, and multiple Pushcart Prize nominations. Her memoir When She Comes Back was a Book Riot Best True Crime Book and Kirkus Reviews calls it, “An intimate, intuitive, emotionally vivid family account that finds hope in reconciliation". Ronit is also the author of the award-winning short story collection Home is a Made-Up Place, and her work has been anthologized in Selected Memories, Vol. 2: 15 Years of Hippocampus Magazine and Manna Songs: Stories of Jewish Culture and Heritage. Ronit is the Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, teaches memoir at a host of venues including the University of Washington's Continuum Program, Antioch University, and 92NY's Roundtable, and is host of the podcast Let's Talk Memoir and the Substack Let's Talk Memoir. Find her on social media @ronitplank   Website: www.ronitplank.com Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ When She Comes Back: https://ronitplank.com/when-she-comes-back/

Gonzo journalist and writer John Safran on why he decided to squat in a Hollywood mansion belonging to Kanye West.John Safran has made a career out of getting into places he probably shouldn't be, from breaking into Disney Land, to infiltrating fascist strongholds in Australia.A couple of years ago, one of his journalistic expeditions saw him squatting in an abandoned Hollywood mansion belonging Kanye West.John had seen a clip of the hip hop start denying the Holocaust, defending Adolf Hitler, and claiming that Black people cannot be anti-Semitic because they are actually Jewish.His week writing and snooping in this strange house, with no running water and a vulture in the roof, made John go increasingly loopy as he tried to understand what pushed this critically acclaimed artist from celebrity eccentric to seriously 'out there'.This episode of Conversations was first broadcast in 2024It explores Kanye West, Judaism, antisemitism, Hollywood, hip hop, Christianity, Nazism, racism, hip hop, squatting, the Donda Academy, journalism, Adidas, money, fame, documentary, writing, the Holocaust, mental health, celebrity, mansionsFurther informationSquat is published by Penguin.

lcome to Episode 262! We had a fantastic discussion with an enthusiastic group of listeners about our second quarter readalong, Fannie Flagg's novel FRIED GREEN TOMATOES AT THE WHISTLE STOP CAFE. We talk about both the book and the movie. If you're curious about our Q3 readalong choice, you'll have to wait a little longer; we will announce it on the next episode). In our “Just Read” segment, we talk about: SWIMMING STUDIES by Leanne Shapton TWILIGHT SLEEP by Edith Wharton FOE by Iain Reid SIZZLE & DRIZZLE: Over 100 Essential Bakes, Recipes and Tips by Nancy Birtwhistle MS. MEBEL GOES BACK TO THE CHOPPING BLOCK by Jesse Q. Sutanto In #BiblioAdventures, Chris had a great time attending the 2026 BIO Conference, and Emily had a #buddyread of Anne Tyler's THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST with Russell from Ink and Paper Blog. Both of us were excited to attend Amy Bloom's recent event at RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison where she talked about her new mystery novel BLUNT INSTRUMENT. We are both #currentlyreading OBSTINATE DAUGHTERS: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution by Denise Kiernan, which publishes next Tuesday, 6/23! Denise will be our guest in July, so if you have a question you'd like us to ask her, leave a comment or email us (hello@bookcougars.com). Happy Listening and Happy Reading! https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2026/episode262

When we talk about mythic fiction, it's easy to assume mythic stories are created through familiar ingredients: archetypes, symbolism, old myths, epic structure. But I don't think that's where mythic storytelling begins. In this post/podcast, I explore seven practices and mindsets that help writers reconnect with what the lost art of mythmaking--not just  borrowing of old symbolic forms, but accessing the deeper creative process from which meaningful stories emerge in the first place. We talk about: • Why mythic stories often feel like they come *through* us rather than *from* us • How dreamzoning and flow states support deeper storytelling • Why "shoulds" can block archetypal imagination • How asking questions opens access to mythic resonance • The deeper shape beneath story structure • Why confronting the shadows matters for writers • How mythic storytelling functions as transformation and initiation Mythic fiction isn't just a genre or an aesthetic. At its deepest level, it is a way of relating to story itself. If you've ever wanted to write stories that feel more alive, more resonant, or more meaningful, but weren't sure how to move beyond technique alone, this conversation offers a practical place to begin. 01:50 What Is Mythic Fiction? 02:34 What Mythic Fiction Is Not 04:07 What Mythic Fiction Is 05:12 The Lost Art of Mythmaking 06:31 Practice #1: Entering the Flow State 08:49 Practice #2: Clear the "Shoulds" That Block Archetypal Imagination 09:58 Practice #3: Ask Questions Instead of Arriving With Answers 11:32 Practice #4: Study the Deeper Shape Beneath Story Structure 12:56 Practice #5: Study the Stories That Create Mythic Resonance 15:07 Practice #6: Be Fearless Enough to Enter the Shadows 17:11 Practice #7: Approach Archetypal Storytelling With Humility and Responsibility 18:16 Learning How to Imagine Better 19:22 Writing Masterclass: Alchemizing Plot, Character, and Theme Read the transcript: https://helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/how-to-write-mythic-fiction-practices LINKS & RESOURCES Want More? WRITING MASTERCLASS: Alchemizing Plot, Character, & Theme Sign Up Here: https://kmweilandstore.com/b/plot-character-theme-class In this masterclass, I explore how plot, character, and theme act as one cohesive symbolic structure capable of creating stories with emotional resonance, narrative momentum, and deeper thematic meaning. We'll talk about: • Aligning inner and outer arcs  • Creating stories that feel alive from the inside out  • Integrating plot, character, and theme organically  • Writing stories with greater depth and cohesion 

"Murderbot" is an American science fiction action comedy television series created by Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz for Apple TV. It is based on "All Systems Red," the first book of the series "The Murderbot Diaries" by Martha Wells. The series stars Alexander Skarsgård as the titular character, a media-obsessed private security construct (manufactured from cloned human tissue and mechanical parts), who must hide its newly acquired autonomy while completing dangerous assignments, and is simultaneously drawn to humans and appalled by their weakness. The first season premiered in May, 2025 and received positive reviews. In July 2025, the series was renewed for a second season. Star and Executive Producer Alexander Skarsgård, along with Writers/Directors/Executive Producers Chris & Paul Weitz, were all kind enough to spend some time talking with us about their work and experiences making the show, which you can watch to below. Please be sure to check out the show, which is available to watch on Apple TV and is up for your consideration for this year's Emmy Awards in all eligible categories. Thank you, and enjoy! Check out more on NextBestPicture.com Please subscribe on... Apple Podcasts - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/negs-best-film-podcast/id1087678387?mt=2 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7IMIzpYehTqeUa1d9EC4jT YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWA7KiotcWmHiYYy6wJqwOw And be sure to help support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month at https://www.patreon.com/NextBestPicture and listen to this podcast ad-free Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices