Beth Barany's Blog, page 6

CREDITS EDITED WITH DESCRIPT: https://www.descript.com?lmref=_w1WCA (Refer-a-Friend link)MUSIC CREDITS : Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/fuzz-buzz License code: UMMKDRL02DFGKJ0L. “Fuzz buzz” by Soundroll. Commercial license: https://musicvine.com/track/soundroll/fuzz-buzz.DISTRIBUTED BY BUZZSPROUT: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1994465 (Refer-a-Friend link)SHOW PRODUCTION BY Beth BaranySHOW CO-PRODUCTION + NOTES by Kerry-Ann McDade

C. 2025 BETH BARANY

***

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Published on May 19, 2025 08:00

May 16, 2025

A Navigation Chart For Daily Practice by Stephen Weinstock

Today we welcome a new guest writer to Writer’s Fun Zone, Stephen Weinstock who is stopping by to chat with us about “A Navigation Chart For Daily Practice.” Enjoy!

***

Some of us face down deadlines.

Some of us yearn for regular writing output.

And some of us just fear staring at a blank page.

In any case, we’d all appreciate a writing process that paves a smooth path to productivity.

Even just to spit out that messy first draft. I’ve used such a method for fiction writing for years.

I don’t swear by the specifics of my method for everybody, but once I present it, my point is for you to create a similar one for your needs.

1001 Nights

For years I have been writing a fantasy series called 1001, The Reincarnation Chronicles.

The premise is that a group of ten characters meet in the present day, have the ability to remember their past lives, and discover they have been interacting lifetime after lifetime.

In a moment of insanity, I chose to model the structure after the 1001 Nights, and have the series continue for 1001 chapters, each containing a past life story, a la Scheherazade.

My strength is my imagination, and I can transform and integrate any morsel from my life or research into one of these past life stories.

But I still faced writing each one of these tales, as well as a chapter’s material from the characters’ present day lives.

I needed some method to move the work along happily.

The Methods I Use

I use a chart that covers everything I need for each chapter. Some of the items on the chart are things you find on many fiction checklists:

external character traits like gesture and physique,inner traits like temperament and beliefs,the pertinent back story for the character in the story.a major item on the chart is simply the slice of that novel’s chapter outline.

Yes, the chart doesn’t replace big picture outlining for the book. I love making a detailed outline, so there’s a lot of information for that item.

same with research; that comes first or as needed later.

Most of the other items on the chart are hidden structures that appear in each chapter throughout the series.

I inherited this crazy notion from my days as a modern composer; a lot of us music geeks love hidden structures.

Listen to a scene from Alban Berg’s Wozzeck and one scholar will say the musical form is based on a minuet, but your ears hear nothing resembling a minuet.

It’s a hidden structure that Berg used to generate material and represent some idea in the narrative.

Joyce used similar formal ideas in each chapter of Ulysses: the hour of the day, the episode from The Odyssey, the literary style.

He used a chart for this puzzle; I’ve seen it — it’s seven by four feet!

I was inspired by Berg and Joyce, but use different categories for my hidden structures.

Use your own thing, something totally different from hidden structures, but choose something that inspires ideas readily.

The Development Game

For me, it’s a game, nothing necessary for the casual reader to comprehend, but enormously useful to me in developing material for the chapter.

Here’s some examples.

Every chapter contains a reference to one of the 1001 Nights.

For example, Sinbad’s compulsion to seek the next adventure, even though they usually end in disaster.

Sometimes these references just generate an image (a tidal wave), sometimes a minor character (a yapping lapdog), and sometimes the narrative concept of the entire chapter (an island turning into an enormous bird and flying off with the hero).

I took the frame tale of the 1001 Nights, the Scheherazade story, and divided it into 1001 small phrases, each three to ten words long.

In the present day scene of each chapter, one of these phrases has to appear. “Obliged to stay there for three days” appears disguised as “You have to stay here for at least three days.”

Since the series is about reincarnation, there are pairs of lifetimes where one character creates an action on another character (A murders B), and a future inverted pair of lifetimes where that karma is resolved (B forgives A).

In these linked stories, this karmic event influences the narrative somehow — another hidden structure.

My chart tracks over a dozen of these hidden structures.

Some of them dovetail easily with visible character and action choices. Some of them are as obscure as can be.

Some of them suggest quirky details or unexpected plot twists.

Once I have filled out all the items in the chart, I organize them in order of what goes where in that chapter, tweaking how they will support the action and dialogue.

Somewhere in that process, I have an AHA moment of recognizing the main idea or action for the chapter.

The beauty part: it’s easy to fill out, and after I organize the answers, I have a detailed outline.

Writing it up follows naturally because I’ve done a lot of thinking and created a lot of inspiration.

With this form, I’ve generated 537 chapters so far.

But my true message is to invent your own, self-motivating methodology for generating material.

As a self-taught writer, it was only later that I learned ‘traditionally accepted’ methods, so I created something along the way.

As an independent writer, who needed motivation and discipline with no support system to help me, inventing a system for daily practice was crucial.

As an author of a long form series that tested my stamina, discovering a reliable technique was a godsend.

I don’t expect anyone to use my chart literally (especially those hidden structures).

But I encourage you to experiment with your own chart for daily practice, and discover unique categories that serve your particular work.

Perhaps your chart or checklist changes from book to book, or chapter to article. Here’s the basic wisdom in this method: it breaks things down so you don’t freak out at the mountain you’re climbing, but focus on the steps up the mountain path.

***

About The Author

Stephen Weinstock’s epic fantasy series, 1001: The Reincarnation Chronicles, won Finalist in the Best Books Award for Multi-Cultural Fiction. Originally a theater and dance composer, he resides in New York’s Hudson Valley, determined to finish the genre-bending series before his next reincarnation as a temple elephant. Free gifts with the Maqaraqan, newsletter of The Reincarnation Chronicles www.qaraqbooks.com/join

Stephen’s books: www.qaraqbooks.com/books

Website: www.qaraqbooks.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SWeinstock1001

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drstephenw_

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-weinstock-04a70b90

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Published on May 16, 2025 03:00

May 13, 2025

Five Methods For Giving Romantic Heroines Agency (Brought to you by Emily Henry) by Laurel Osterkamp

Let’s welcome back Laurel Osterkamp as she shares with us “Five Methods For Giving Romantic Heroines Agency (Brought to you by Emily Henry).” Enjoy!

***

Thousands of readers on Bookstagram will tell you: spring means a new Emily Henry novel. Personally, I’m hooked.

Her work inspired me to write contemporary romance and has lended the genre a more literary flair.

Currently, I’m reading Great Big Beautiful Life, and I admire how her writing blends tropes with unpredictability.

Emily Henry crafts female main characters who desire love but maintain strong agency.

They are multidimensional and relatable, balancing vulnerability with strength.

For examples of female protagonists who yearn for relationships while remaining fiercely independent, look to Emily Henry’s novels.

Internal Motivations and an Emotional Core: Harriet from Happy Place

In Emily Henry’s 2023 release, Happy Place, Harriet is struggling in every area of her life.

She’s unsure if she wants to be a doctor.

Her parents don’t understand her and she doesn’t understand them. There’s a rift in her female friendships.

And she secretly broke up with her true-love, Wynn.

So, she must decide what she truly desires, both from life and from love.

Is it companionship, validation, or a sense of belonging?

By pinpointing Harriet’s deepest emotional needs, Emily Henry creates a foundation for her character’s yearning that’s authentic and relatable.

Independence and Strength Outside of Romance: Alice from Big, Beautiful Life

I’m a little more than halfway through Henry’s most recent novel, Big Beautiful Life, but I’ve read enough to know that Alice is super-independent and strong.

Emily Henry does a great job giving Alice a career, hobbies, friendships, and personal goals, showing her as a person with passions, talents, and ambitions that define her identity.

Alice has achieved a lot as a magazine writer, and she navigates the world on her own terms.

Her independence doesn’t diminish her desire for love; instead, she can stand tall even when her heart is vulnerable.

Alice is capable and self-sufficient; her longing for connection becomes more poignant because it’s rooted in a desire to share her life, and not just to escape loneliness.

Vulnerability Balanced with Resilience: Daphne from Funny Story

Daphne, from the 2024 release Funny Story is a great example of balancing vulnerability with resilience.

At the beginning of the novel she’s been dumped by her fiance and is sort of closed off in how she relates to people.

Yet, Daphne is both yearning and strong, capable of expressing her feelings without growing fragile or dependent.

Emily Henry gives Daphne moments of tenderness, doubt, and longing, but also the capacity to face challenges head-on.

Partnership of Equals: Nora from Book Lovers

Emily Henry begins her 2022 release Book Lovers with her main character Nora explaining that she’s not the plucky, perky type of gal who men scramble to be with.

Rather, she’s intense and driven–the type that men break up with once they’ve found their plucky, perky dream girl.

But Nora is nothing if not capable; her agency is evident in all her interactions and decisions.

Nora initiates conversations, sets boundaries, and expresses her needs clearly, refusing to settle for less than she deserves.

Once Nora meets Charlie, she is an active participant in her own love life. She is Charlie’s equal.

A Character Arc of Personal Growth: Poppy from People We Meet on Vacation

In 2022 Emily Henry released People We Meet on Vacation, which contains her most flawed heroine, Poppy.

Poppy can be oblivious and she’s not always honest with others or with herself. More importantly, she realizes she’s not happy.

But, since Poppy is a nuanced protagonist, she evolves, transforming her experiences into wisdom and self-awareness.

Poppy’s desire for love leads her to confront her fears, break old patterns, and redefine her understanding of happiness.

Emily Henry makes Poppy’s journey satisfying and authentic, demonstrating that love and self-empowerment are not mutually exclusive but can coexist and even enhance each other.

Creating a female main character who yearns for love yet retains her strength and agency involves understanding her internal desires, establishing her independence, balancing vulnerability with resilience, ensuring her relationships are partnerships of equals, and allowing her to grow through her journey.

When these elements are woven together thoughtfully, she’ll resonate deeply with readers, offering a compelling blend of longing and empowerment.

That’s why Emily Henry’s protagonists inspire readers to believe in their capacity for love while remaining true to their authentic selves.

***

About the Author

Laurel Osterkamp is from Minneapolis, where she teaches and writes like it’s going out of style. Her short fiction has been featured in Abandon Journal, Idle Ink, Tangled Locks Literary Journal, Bright Flash Literary Journal, and The Metawoker, among other places. Her new novel, The Side Project, was released on November 13th by The Wild Rose Press.

Follow her on Social Media:

Website – https://laurellit.com
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/authorlaurelosterkamp
BookBub – https://www.bookbub.com/profile/laurel-osterkamp
Instagram: Laurel Osterkamp (@laurel_osterkamp) • Instagram photos and videos

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Published on May 13, 2025 03:00

May 12, 2025

Create an Original Religion for Your Story

Create an Original Religion for Your Story – How To Write the Future podcast, episode 152

***

“A well crafted religion can really add depth to your world building and create some incredible conflicts and tensions that can move your story forward.”

In this How To Write the Future podcast episode, host Beth Barany discusses creating original religions in fiction, emphasizing the importance of core beliefs, rituals, and the impact of religion on characters and society. She encourages writers to mix cultural influences and consider how religion shapes their story’s world and conflicts. Beth also shares how her World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers can help writers and why her one one-on-one writer support program may be beneficial for you.

RESOURCES

GET HELP WITH YOUR WORLD BUILDING – START HERE

Free World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/world-building-resources/

Sign up for the 30-minute Story Success Clinic with Beth Barany: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/story-success-clinic/

About the How To Write the Future podcast

This podcast is for you if you have questions like:

– How do I create a believable world for my science fiction story?

– How do I figure out what’s not working if my story feels flat?

– How do I make my story more interesting and alive?

This podcast is for readers too if you’re at all curious about the future of humanity.

Transcript for Create an Original Religion for Your Story[00:00] Introduction and Host Welcome

Hey everyone. Welcome to How to Write the Future Podcast. I’m your host, Beth Barany. I’m a creativity coach for science fiction and fantasy writers, editor, teacher, speaker, and also coach for women filmmakers. I love doing this podcast because I love answering your questions.

[00:19] Listener Question: Creating Original Religions

So I have a question this week from Jasper Ezekiel who works for me and is also a client and is a speculative fiction writer. His question is about religion. He says it’s his belief that religion is wrapped up in everything related to culture. So he’s really curious: How do we create a fictional religion that is original?

That’s such a great question. Thanks for your question, Jasper.

[00:49] The Intersection of Religion and Culture

I agree with you that it is very hard to separate religion from culture and from the culture that we were steeped in from day one. And it’s not just the culture of our family, but of course it is the broader culture at large and even maybe the intersection of different cultures that influence us from day one.

So how do we go about creating an original religion?

I guess my short answer is that ultimately there’s nothing original under the sun. All the elements and ingredients are there, but it’s how you put them together that make them feel original.

And my analogy is with cooking. My father was a great cook and he would put out the ingredients. And if you look at the ingredients, you’re like, oh, I think he’s gonna make an Italian dish. But then there’s that one spice sitting on the side that I didn’t recognize, and then when he added it to the meal, it’s wow, this tastes like Indian. And Italian. Oh, it’s a fusion dish.

[01:44] A Value System

So that’s how I see religions. At base, all religions have something that they all share, which is a value system. According to Michael Kilman and Kyra Westrom and in their book Build Better Worlds, and I interviewed Michael and I did a bunch of little episodes, a little series about his book, Build Better Worlds.

He talked about how religion, it’s about essentially pure and impure. Good and bad. What is good? What is bad?

And that is subjective. According to the culture. According to the religion. Religion steeps in everywhere in culture.

And it’s influence is going to be overt or covert in one form or another everywhere.

Now, if you are as a fiction writer, as a science fiction, a fantasy writer, how do you go about doing something that feels original. ’cause it is possible. It is possible.

[02:38] Tips for Developing Fictional Religions: Core Value/Belief

So I have some tips for you today.

Something to consider is: What is the core value or belief of your main character?

Just start with your main character. And then to add complexity, ask that of all of your secondary characters as well, and even tertiary characters.

What’s gonna also make your story world feel complex and interesting is that perhaps even though people share the same religion, they may be liberal versus conservative inside of that religion, and so you can define that as well.

Or some people might be religious in name only, just so they get the privileges of that religion.

[03:19] Religion Origins and Guiding Moral Principles

So what do your followers believe about the origin of their world, of their universe? And what are the moral principles that guide their actions?

And I would interview each one of your speaking characters and even non-speaking characters to figure that out.

[03:35] Practices and Rituals

Next, when you think about your religion, you wanna think about the practices and the rituals.

What do people do to worship or connect to the divine in your story?

What sacred ceremonies mark important life events?

And this is something I’ve thought about in my Janey McCallister sci-fi mystery series, actually wrote a passage about the end of life ritual.

What does their funeral rites look like? And that was fun to describe. It was something different that I had never seen in the cultures that we live with, but it’s something that I had daydreamed about. So I put that into the story.

[04:10] Structure and Organization

What is the structure and organization of the religion?

Are there leaders? Are there co-leaders? Is it a very flat organization?

If you look at human history, our religions have all tended to have leaders of one kind or another. Whether that was a shaman or a wise woman, or a pope, or imam, or a rabbi. Or a priest. Or a preacher.

You can see in a lot of the religions that we’ve had over the last 2000 plus years, are mostly male focused, but then you’ve got other religions, animistic religions, pagan religions that might be organized differently.

[04:47] Leadership and Passing on Knowledge

Who are the leaders and how is religious knowledge passed down? Do people go to a seminary, a school? Are people in small learning circles? Is it just a legacy that’s handed down through the family?

So that’s also something very interesting to think about.

[05:03] Religion’s Impact on Characters and Society

And then on the day to day, how does religion impact the daily life of your main characters? Are there certain ways that people greet each other that stem from religion? Are there certain rituals or prayers that need to be done throughout the day? Are there impacts when different religious groups come together, either accidentally or on purpose? And what about non-believers? What about people who do not adhere to the religion in your story? What happens to them? What are the consequences?

[05:32] Religion’s Evolution in Your Story

Another thing to think about is what is the evolution of this religion in your story? Did it start out one way and evolve into a new form throughout the historical period?

And then on the day on page one, when we meet your main character, the way they practice religion or interact with the religion might be very different than their ancestors.

[05:52] Your Heritage: Mix and Match

And then lastly, especially for the science fiction writers, there’s a lot of ways that you can come at developing religion that feels fresh and new. And in my conversation with Jasper, we’re talking about our own heritage and how our ancestors came from different places and how we might be drawing inspiration from those places.

And so my advice is to mix and match. If you’re drawn to certain religious practices from different groups, then what would it be like to put them together in a way that is your own?

[06:21] How Religion Affects the Culture and Vice Versa

So when you think about designing a religion for your story, you wanna consider how religion is also going to affect politics and the power structure, the social customs and taboos, even art and architecture and education and knowledge transmission, what can be transmitted and what is taught in schools.

And so coming back to your own life, think about the world’s religions that you may have been exposed to and how can they impact what you wanna create?

And if you wanna deviate and come up with something original, something different than the religion that you were brought up with, how do you do that in a way that is respectful to other beliefs?

And if you are going to appropriate real beliefs, are you doing it in a way that is respectful, honors the historical evolution of that religion?

And when you create your own religion: How do you make it believable for the reader, and of course, for your characters?

[07:14] Religion’s Impact on Your Story World and Plot

And of course from a plot level, in what way can your story’s religion create some interesting plot possibilities and character conflicts?

A well crafted religion can really add depth to your world building and create some incredible conflicts and tensions that can move your story forward. And if your story focuses on morals and values and religion, then it’s gonna be doubly important that you understand where your religion came from, who shapes it, how people operate inside of it, and how it impacts them and your story.

[07:46] Example

Now before I wrap up, I just wanna give one example that comes top of mind for me for an incredible religion in science fiction and fantasy. And that’s the Bene Gesserit in the Dune series. That is a religious order that Frank Herbert created that combines mysticism with political power and just so beautifully with lots of layers and of course, secrets and lineages, and it’s just so wonderful.

[08:11] Sacred Objects, Prophecies, and Technology

And that brings me to some other elements to consider in your religious design, which is sacred objects or substances like the spice melange in Dune.

And, as we saw also with the Bene Gesserit and Dune, the intersection of technology and faith, they did that really well.

[08:27] Power Struggles

And like in Dune, we see the different power struggles because of the religious factions and the tension between scientific beliefs and traditional religious beliefs. And then of course there’s always the fabulous personal conflicts.

When your character questions their belief, that’s such a powerful one.

Especially if you’re writing a story where the religious beliefs are central in the story like they are in Dune, it really creates great tension and conflict in your story.

[08:53] Start here to design your own religion

So, my biggest tip for you, my biggest takeaway for you today is to really, if this all is like a lot, ’cause there is a lot to consider, start with one core belief. Or practice and then build outward from there, step by step, considering how it affects your character in their world, in their daily life, in the core problem or conflict of the story, with the people in the story, the other characters, secondary characters, tertiary characters, and with themselves.

And so just start with one thing, one core belief or practice, and take it step by step and build outward from there.

[09:31] Thanks!

Gonna end there. I could throw more questions at you, and there’s always more to think about. I’m gonna stop there. I wanna thank Jasper again for his question. Jasper Ezekiel, a speculative fiction writer.

Shout out to him. He’s got a great substack and he also writes for our blog, Writer’s Fun Zone.

[09:46] Resources

So here is my offer for you today. If you are a science fiction and fantasy writer and you need some help with your world building, be sure to check out my World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers to help you think about your religion and your story and other aspects of your story world.

And if you would like one-on-one support with me, I work with science fiction and fantasy writers who are ready to move their book to the next level and get it edited and published and in the hands of their readers.

So I have a program for that. You can see that link in the show notes. It’s a group mastermind for science fiction and fantasy writers who have finished their first draft.

You do need to have finished your first draft and it’s here to help you in a small group coaching mastermind format to finish, to get your book ready for beta readers ready for publication, and learn how to market that and connect with readers.

So check that out if you’re ready for that.

And I’m happy to have a conversation with you. And if you want to explore more.

Alright, everyone, that’s it for this week.

Write long and prosper.

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2012061

Need instructions on how to leave a review? Go here.

Support our work for creatives: leave a tip: https://ko-fi.com/bethbarany

***ABOUT BETH BARANY

Learn more about Beth Barany at these sites:

Author site / Coaching site / School of Fiction / Writer’s Fun Zone blog

CONNECT

Contact Beth: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/podcast/#tve-jump-185b4422580

Email: beth@bethbarany.com

C 2025 BETH BARANY

For more “How To Write the Future” episodes, go here.

If you’d like to invite Beth onto your podcast, drop her a note here.

Like the work we do? Tip us! https://ko-fi.com/bethbarany

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Published on May 12, 2025 09:14

May 9, 2025

How Authors Can Get More Media Coverage by Sarah Ramsey

Today we welcome a new guest writer to Writer’s Fun Zone, Sarah Ramsey who is stopping by to chat with us about “How Authors Can Get More Media Coverage.” Enjoy!

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Putting words together is something writers do because it’s what we feel compelled to do.

Publishing those words – selling them in exchange for sweet, sweet money that funds extravagant lifestyle choices like rent, health insurance, and cat food – is something we do because it’s our business.

And like any business, every author can use media coverage to increase their name recognition and sell more books.

Why does an author need to do media to sell books?

Media relations is primarily about name recognition and establishing authority.

Someone who might ignore an ad instead sees your name in a news article and they are more likely to remember and trust you.

Most of us who consume media are hardwired to put more authority in people we see in that media.

Media coverage is also helpful if you want to build a presence outside of your books.

If you are interested in speaking at conferences or writing a column for a newspaper, media coverage helps you build social proof that you are good at connecting with broader audiences.

How To Increase Your Earned Media Coverage

There are two ways you can proactively seek media coverage: by sending out a press release or by pitching a story to a reporter.

But most press releases and story pitches don’t get used – a recent survey found that the response rate to unsolicited pitches is just over 3 percent. (And that’s every kind of response, even the negative ones.)

To increase your chance of getting media coverage, do these three things: start local, be relevant, and make it easy on the reporter.

Start Local And Scale Up

Almost no one starts with coverage in the Wall Street Journal or New York Times (and if your first media mention is in an international paper, it’s probably not for a good reason).

The best place to start is with the reporters in your neighborhood.

Most towns have at least one free weekly or monthly paper, and if you live in a bigger city, your neighborhood may have one as well.

You might also find weekly or monthly publications targeted to specific interest groups or populations.

Many regions also have magazines that focus on regional cultural stories. If you don’t find a print version, look for the online versions.

Your local news outlets are constantly looking for local stories to cover, so make sure to invite them to readings and book signings especially if those events also support local businesses or libraries

To submit a press release or story pitch, look for a dedicated email or form, usually on the About Us or Meet Our Team page.

You can also look for the editor, news desk, or assignment editor’s contact information.

Be Relevant And Timely

The top reason reporters give for not using a press release or story pitch is that it’s not relevant.

If you’re not getting coverage from your release or pitches, it’s likely because the reporter can’t use what you’re sending.

Put yourself in the mind of the reporter’s audience – what would be newsworthy to them?

It might not be simply that you have a new book out, but instead that a local author with a background in a local industry has a new book set in a particular place of interest or historical era important to that community.

Or maybe your book is a perfect spooky but cozy read they could feature for Halloween books.

Timing is important, too. If you want a news story to appear in the May issue of a monthly print publication, you need to get it to them in March (possibly earlier for book reviews).

For daily or digital publications, or for television or radio, a week is reasonable.

If you send news after the fact – for example, that you published a book last month – it likely won’t be used because it’s not timely.

You would need to find some kind of new and interesting hook to make it fresh and timely.

Make It Easy On The Reporter

Reporters get something like 50 pitches every week, plus assignments from their editors and breaking news to cover.

So if you want a reporter to cover your work, make it easy on them.

First, don’t send attachments in your emails. Those messages often get caught in spam filters and reporters can’t cover what they don’t know about.

Paste the text of your release in your email and add a one or two sentence note at the top.

Second, keep your pitches and press releases short and to the point. Most press releases shouldn’t be longer than 600-700 words (and even those may be cut down if they get printed).

Pitches should be no more than three or four brief paragraphs.

Third, give the reporter a way to find photos or supporting material.

You can include the URL for your press kit or website where they can find pictures or graphics, such as your author photo and book cover, or you can offer to send them those items via their preferred method.

You can do it!

Media coverage will help you grow your name recognition and your audience, and while it might not lead to direct book sales it can help people remember you and find your books.

Engaging with the media doesn’t have to be time consuming or difficult. Remember to start local and build, keep it relevant, and make it easy on the reporter.

You can do it! But if you need a coach to walk you through the media relations process or write a press release for you and tell you where and how to send it, I can help. Sign up for my newsletter here and get a 10-step Press Release Checklist, plus great tips every month.

***

About the Author

Sarah Ramsey is the founder of Pitch PR. She offers PR coaching, media training, and done-for-you projects to help authors raise their profile and get more earned media coverage.

Connect with her at pitchpr.me or on social media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/publicrelationspinchhitter

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahbramsey

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Published on May 09, 2025 03:00

May 6, 2025

Why You Should Always Talk About Your Book by Kirsten McNeill

Let’s welcome back Kirsten McNeill as she shares with us “Why You Should Always Talk About Your Book” Enjoy!

***

How often do you talk about your book?

Do you avoid sharing it because you’re afraid of judgement?

It’s normal to be nervous about people’s reactions, but I guarantee you are not talking about your book as much as you can be.

Talking about your writing journey is important.

It shows people what you’re passionate about. It lets them into your world and allows them to be excited with you.

Always assume that people are hearing you talk about your writing for the first time, every time.

People are bombarded with so much information daily, that they need repetition to remember which books they wanted to buy.

You might assume you’ve already told a certain loved one about your book, but how much did you actually say?

The Hurt Reaction

I’ll give you the perfect example from my life.

I was at a family dinner, and eventually the conversation gave me the opportunity to mention my writing.

I had recently started writing the first draft of my health memoir and I wanted to celebrate that!

When I shared this information, one of my family members said, “Memoir? You can’t write a memoir, you’re not dead!”

How could they not know that I was writing a health memoir?

A different family member had been encouraging me to do it since 2020.

I’ve been outlining the journey for over three years now, recalling the events of my dislocated kneecap and cancer diagnosis.

So, how did this family member not know?

My instinct was to make a sarcastic joke in response. I said, “Dead people can’t write anyways!”

Sometimes when I’m hurt I can’t think of a good thing to say, and by the time I figure it out, the conversation moves on to something completely different.

Luckily, my brain processed the information faster than usual.

Instead of sulking silently, I explained the difference between memoirs, which shares one piece of someone’s life, and an autobiography, which shares the entirety of someone’s life.

Though I didn’t get a chance to explain why I was writing my health memoir, I’m glad I spoke up and shared more than I normally would.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized I hadn’t spoken to this particular person about my plans to write a memoir.

I’d talked to them a lot about the one I helped a friend write, called Escaping to Freedom, but how much had I mentioned the plan to write my own?

I may have said it in passing once or twice, but not enough to truly show how serious I was about using my story to inspire others.

I made an assumption about what I had told them and how much information they had retained.

People have busy lives, and they can’t always remember everything that you’re up to.

3 Tips for Talking About Your Book

If you want more practice speaking with people in your life about your book, try these:

Tip 1 — Ask Questions

With any conversation, sometimes people don’t have the capacity to fully engage with you. Before you go into a full description of your book, ask questions.

“Hey, can I tell you about the book I’m currently writing?”

“What have I told you so far about my latest book?”

“Can I practice pitching my book synopsis to you?”

Asking permission before you begin ensures people are more present in your conversation, therefore more likely to retain the information.

Tip 2 — Speak with Confidence

Your book deserves your highest level of excitement.

Plan out a few key points that you want to mention every time you talk about your book.

Practicing this will reduce the amount of times you fumble over your words.

When you share your book with happiness, that energy will be reciprocated when you’re talking to your loved ones.

Even if they don’t read your genre, they love you, and knowing that you’re happy will also make them happy.

Tip 3 — Handle Criticism Respectfully

When you’re in the mood to celebrate, you are not in the mood for criticism.

Unfortunately, some people like to share criticism whether you ask for it or not.

If it’s a loved one, it’s usually coming from a good place. They want to help in the best way they know how.

But sometimes you only need a cheerleader, who offers 100% support.

During times of unsolicited criticism, try not to react in anger.

Practice a standard line you share when you want to calmly and respectfully reject the criticism, and end the conversation with that person.

Try something like:

“It’s okay if you can’t celebrate with me, but I would appreciate it if you withheld your criticism.”

“I appreciate that you care enough to want to help! When I’m ready for constructive criticism, I know I can count on you.”

Keep Moving Forward

Never stop talking about your books and writing experiences, because this is your passion.

Sharing this lets people know what you’re up to and gives you more practice and confidence for when you talk to book agents, publishers, or readers at book conventions.

Whenever you think you’ve talked about it enough, talk about it more. You never know what people remember about your book, and sometimes they need a reminder!

Even if you are talking about your book “too much,” the ones who love you won’t stop you.

They will enjoy hearing how passionate you are and feel happy as you light up talking about your work.

So, keep talking, keep writing, and…

Never forget that you are worthy!

***

ABOUT KIRSTEN MCNEILL

Kirsten McNeill is a Confidence & Writing Lifestyle Coach, Blogger, and Self-Published Writer. Her mission with Worthy Writers Coaching is to align you with your creative side through practical writing schedules and exploring your identity. Connect to your sunflower confidence to publish and share your stories with an empowered mindset.

Download the FREE workbook Feed Your Horses Confidence Thought Exercise when you subscribe to the Worthy Writers Confidence Newsletter.

Instagram: www.instagram.com/confident.kirsten

Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/theworthywritersnook

The post Why You Should Always Talk About Your Book by Kirsten McNeill appeared first on Writer's Fun Zone.

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Published on May 06, 2025 03:00

May 5, 2025

Writing Inclusive Fantasy for Modern Readers with Sci-Fi Fantasy Author, Aspry Jones

Writing Inclusive Fantasy for Modern Readers with Sci-Fi Fantasy Author, Aspry Jones – How To Write the Future podcast, episode 151

***

“If I could go back in time and tell 22-year-old me not to go into TV, but instead to center on what your heart was, the writing, and the creating stories, and creating characters and people. Do that instead.” — Aspry Jones

In this episode of the How To Write the Future podcast, host Beth Barany talks to sci-fi fantasy author Aspry Jones, about his writing journey from TV and comics to fantasy, including the importance of representing diversity in his characters. Together, they share the challenges of independent publishing, being a fan of science fiction, and the excitement of his debut novel, Protectors of the Light Crown.

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About the How To Write the Future podcast

This podcast is for you if you have questions like:

– How do I create a believable world for my science fiction story?

– How do I figure out what’s not working if my story feels flat?

– How do I make my story more interesting and alive?

This podcast is for readers too if you’re at all curious about the future of humanity.

About Aspry Jones

Broadcast TV industry veteran Aspry Jones, from Asbury Park, NJ hits the literary scene. Growing up a comic book geek and chronic TV watcher, it was a given for this author to seek a career in television. Having retired from the profession after 25 years, Aspry has returned to his first love, writing, with debut novel, “Protectors Of The Light Crown.”

Website: http://aspryjones.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asprywrites/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aspry.jones

Transcript for Writing Inclusive Fantasy for Modern Readers with sci-fi fantasy author, Aspry Jones

Welcome everyone to How to Write the Future. I’m your host, Beth Barany. I am a writing teacher, creativity coach, speaker, podcaster, and novelist.

I love science, fiction and fantasy, and I have this podcast to bring in resources for writers and anyone who cares about the future because I believe with creativity and our imaginations, we can help shape a better world for everyone.

[00:24] Guest Introduction: Aspry Jones

I’m so excited to have a special guest with me today, sci-fi fantasy novelist, Aspry Jones Aspry, welcome. So glad you’re here.

Hi Beth. Thank you very much for having me. I’m very excited.

Excellent. So everyone gets an understanding of who you are. I’m gonna read your awesome bio that you sent me.

Get to know Aspry. Broadcast TV industry veteran Aspry Jones from Asbury Park, New Jersey hits the literary scene. Growing up, a comic book geek and chronic TV watcher, it was a given for this author to seek a career in television. Having retired from the profession. After 25 years, Aspry has returned to his first love, writing, with his debut novel, Protectors of The Light Crown. And for those of you watching on YouTube, you will see his book displayed in front of him. Looks like an amazing book.

[01:18] Aspry’s Writing Journey

Aspry, why don’t we start off by you telling us a little bit about this novel, like our bite-sized littlebook description of what this story is about.

Fantasy books are pretty much mostly all the same: a few unlikely characters get together, become friends, and they try to kill the devil. My book is no different than that, but, I throw in what I like to call, a few curve balls because my story is based around the multiverse.

And, it’s in its own particular universe itself, unlike ours, but very much like ours. There are subtle differences and there is a character named Dexter Park, and Dexter can visit different universes in his dreams, and the story starts out based around him and gradually becomes a thing where he becomes part of a team who eventually evolved into the Protectors, meaning superheroes in their world. And, they try to kill the devil. Like I said, the venomous wretch, an ancient demon who used to be a king, and he is wrecking havoc all over their world, and they have to stop it.

Oh, wow. Sounds like such an adventure.

So when did you first start writing? Everyone always wants to know this question, right? I get it as well.

I was a huge comic book geek, so I started out writing my own comic books and drawing them too. I have a short background in art and sketching. And I actually interviewed for being an artist for Harris Comics. I don’t know if you are aware of Van Perella? I had a friend of mine named Louis Small. He was a penciler for Harris Comics and he got me an interview and that interview was my first foray into humiliation.

As it turned out, that I was nowhere near as goodas I thought I was. And so instead of centering on sketching and drawing, I centered on the writing aspect of basically from the poetry comic books that I made myself. I never wanted to get into, novel writing. I never wanted to get into anything that demanded a huge commitment. I’ve written screenplays that didn’t really go anywhere.

But, eventually after my years in television, I realized that if I could go back in time. This is “how to write the past” in this particular case. If I could go back in time and tell 22-year-old me not to go into TV, but instead to center on what your heart was, the writing and the creating stories and creating characters and people. Do that instead.

Wow.

I’m trying to catch up now.

Yeah. Yeah. It’s so interesting what we would tell our younger selves.

[04:02] Diversity in Fantasy Writing

And what about fantasy? Why fantasy? What brought you to this genre?

You know what, I’m gonna go deep on that. I could give you the short answer, but, I think the longer answer is stronger.

As a comic book fan, there’s a gentleman who was a comic book artist and he used to create characters. He created characters like Black Lightning, Black Goliath. See where I’m going with this? When he was a kid, he would talk to his black friends and they would discuss how, wow, I wish there were more characters in comic books that looked like me.

So I had those same feelings. Sure. We had Black Panther, we had Luke Cage, but we’re talking about 5% here out, out of a hundred percent. And, the heroes by and large were white males. And they were incredible.

They were great. And I loved them to death, and I still do, but there was something missing there. And the same thing is happening and has been happening in fantasy.

So I was trying to be an agent of change. I said to myself, I prefer fiction, well over nonfiction, autobiographies, things like that.

What I love to read is the creativity coming out of somebody’s head.

And what I want to do is add characters of color into the world of fantasy that you’re not going to find in Lord of the Rings. You’re not going to find in the Belgariad. You’re not going to find in Harry Potter. Not really. And then go further than that.

I have a gay character. I have an elderly character. I have the rich, I have the poor, I have a Native American angel, or in that universe, what passes as the Native American .

I try to cover some more bases so that when somebody reads my novel, they can say to themselves, wow, this character looks like me, and I would appreciate that. I would love that. That’s what I’m trying to do. So I chose fantasy as my outlet for that expression.

I love it. I love it so much. Really reflecting the diversity of humanity, what humanity really looks like and not this narrow slice.Yeah. Love that. And really for me, writing my Henrietta the Dragon Slayer stories was about putting a girl in an adventure and all that I read as a kid were boys going on adventures. I’m like, where’s the girl? And now I’m adapting that into short film and it turns out that my actors are Asian American, just landed up that way and some interesting reasons. And I’m just loving it, loving the energy, loving the change, loving thinking about the rest of my stories and bringing in a diverse cast for that.

And also my crew is already very diverse and, loving that, and wanting, craving it, craving all the different perspectives and voices. And, it inspires me as a reader and also as a writer. So I’m really glad that you’re doing that.

I took some pages from some female writers that I came across and I decided, I was like, you know what I’m gonna do in my book?

I’m going to make the main character, which is a black male. I’m going to make him the weakest guy on the team, and the strongest one on the team is going to be female. So I tried to do a little bit of that myself.

Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that. And I’m sure a lot of girls do too.

[07:02] Writing Process and Daily Routine

I’m infinitely curious about this. Tell us a little bit about your writing process, in terms of your daily practice as well as anything– I don’t know — anything that surprised you? I’m curious, how do you go about shaping your writing life? And what works for you?

When I’m ready to write, I’m rolling. I don’t need motivation. I don’t need help. I just sit down and I just keep grooving to it. I just bop my head to that music and I am in the process right now of gathering the appropriate inspiration to begin book two, the Protectors of the Light Crown. This is the beginning. It’s a trilogy. I knew my ending when I wrote the beginning. So what makes sense to me before I start writing is that outline every single chapter. So that I can line up certain things that flow; so that I can plant seeds for the next book in the book that I’m writing, so that I can plant Easter eggs for people who want to reread the story. They can go back and be like, I love that.

Some people have told me that they did that, and it was a very cool experience and I love hearing that. So what I do when I’ve outlined the entire story is I just sit down and at chapter one I’m off to the races.There’s nothing stopping me, and I just keep on writing and it feels good. I see those people who talk about having writer’s block and they can’t come up with certain, things to do with their characters and stuff like that.

I’m so lucky that way. I don’t have those problems. Once I do my outline, I can just skate and it feels great. Luckily for me, I’m in a blessed situation where I don’t have to go out and do a nine to five. Especially now, my profession, my job, my whole thing. My career is novelist now, so I can focus on that. And the only thing that’s really, demanding any of my outside attention is my dog, who is an angel. And that’s her name.

Aw Angel, that’s so wonderful. and do you write every day, all day, part of the day?

You gotta take the dog for a walk. how do you divide up your writing time? Are you a nighttime writer, morning writer, or midday writer?

Oh, wow. You know what?

That’s a very good question. Whenever the feeling strikes, and I would try to do a chapter every sit down. But,when you come into my book, I can have some long chapters,12, 13 pages.So it’s not feasible for me to expect me to knock out a chapter in one sitting, but in two sittings, I can knock out a chapter and I would say that, about an hour and a half of writing is enough for one day.

Yeah, People always wanna know, especially beginning writers.

For comparison, yeah, I can write one to two hours a day sometimes, but sometimes I’m only writing for 15 or 20 minutes and I’m still making progress.

So I just wanna share with our listeners that, it doesn’t have to be an hour or two. It can be 15, 20 minutes and you can still make progress.

Now what’s that?

I have a lot of experience writing in 20-minute blocks.

Yeah. When I was first starting out writing blog posts, I would set the timer for 20 minutes just to see what I could get done because especially when I hadn’t written blog posts and I was just seeing what I could do. And when you try something new, sometimes setting a timer can make it feel less painful because you’re like, I don’t know what I’m doing, but let’s try it for 20 minutes. Who knows what will happen? And so I developed that practice for non-fiction and I brought it into the fiction space and I found it helped me, especially when I had a really busy mind. And it was hard to focus or hard to settle because I have a lot of things on my mind all the time.

And it would give me a sense of focus and I’ve done it so many times, I know that I could write 600 words in that amount of time about, and that’s two pages. That’s a little over two pages of prose or nonfiction.

And it just was a sense of accomplishment just because I run a business helping writers. And I’m a writer and I like to write in the middle of the day, which means there’s things before it and things after it. And it was just a way to focus and get stuff done, even in a busy life. So it’s a fun exercise.

I recommend it for folks. sometimes I tell beginning writers: write for five minutes. Stand in your kitchen while you’re heating up your coffee in the microwave and write and see what that’s like. Especially for beginners who don’t have the Insta write button that you have. And my husband has it too.

I didn’t have the Insta write button. I had to learn. but some people like you, like my husband, you can just sit down and boom, flows and that’s beautiful.

You hit me with that five minutes. That’s really something. How about try that?

Yeah, try that. You’re waiting in line,you’re on hold on the phone. And also dictation. I use dictation a lot, as well for nonfiction. I haven’t really done the dictation for fiction thing.Oh, my, I could never do that. That’s really not, that’s deep.

I’m so old school with this. I literally, I a notepad and a pen. That’s how I wrote Protectors of the Light Crown. That’s beautiful. And that’s probably why it took 10 years. it’s a lot of extra work. Do you do that?

I did it for Henrietta, the Dragon Slayer book one. Okay. As I hand wrote the whole thing, and then I dictated it into probably Microsoft Word and edited it there. But now I wanted to speed up the process, so now I go direct to typing.And, a lot of, verbal brainstorming sometimes my husband who’s a writer as well.

With a friend. yeah. Now I’m working on a script, that I was trying to dictate, but my dictation tool wasn’t working. So I’m typing it.

You gave me some things to think about.

Oh, good. I’m so glad.

[12:27] Awards and Recognition

So have you won an award for your novel?

Yes. , I’m a very lucky

I think a lot of things just fall into my lap. I was playing around on the internet and I wasn’t even looking at the writing stuff, I’m aware of the Nobel Prize and the Pulitzer and things like that, but it didn’t dawn on me to enter a writing award contest.

So I was playing on the internet and I saw on the sidebar it was like, put your manuscript into our database. We’ll enter it into the content and they were the International Impact Book Awards. And, just like everybody else, the book awards got to eat.So they, there was a fee and, I paid the fee and I said, sure, I’ll enter your contest. And I won, which was amazing because, it is not like I have any self-doubt or anything. But, it was just so funny that it landed in my life the way it did, and I won for Best Fantasy Adventure.

And it’s pretty much what I’ve been looking forward to my entire life, honestly, since I was about 16. I’ve been published professionally since I was 16 years old, and, I always wanted to get on a stage and accept an award for my writing because– Any woman who says, wow, you’re a good looking man, that’s nice, but you know what I really wanna hear?I love your writing. That’s really good stuff. That’s what I wanna go through life people telling me. If I stand on a stage and accept an award, I feel really good that, people like the writing. Okay, great. And July 25th. I’m flying out to Phoenix, Arizona to get on stage and accept the award and, so forth and so on. There’s gonna be a TV interview. it’s a phenomenal experience and I couldn’t be more grateful.

I know what you mean. I won an award for Henrietta the Dragon Slayer Grand Prize in this California Indie Fiction Contest that I had no idea that I could win.

I did enter the book contest, but just having someone who, people who don’t know us, find our work gratifying. Yeah. so exciting.that’s such a pinnacle experience.And to happen so early, I’m

I’m an appreciative. I’m surfing on a cloud.

Yeah. Oh, that’s so wonderful. And from a marketing aspect, it does bring attention to your work. It does make people double consider your work. Like, Oh, that’s interesting. Oh, he won an award. It makes people lean in even more because it has what’s called third party endorsement, right?

People who don’t know you, who aren’t related to you said, wow, this book, check it out, people. This is an awesome book. So I just think it’s a beautiful opportunity.

And I also encourage writers to go for awards. it’s one of my marketing choices, I would say. And it’s so beautiful that it came to you like this and that you took action as well. That beautiful meeting of opportunity and action.

Yeah.

You know what? Nothing happens if you do nothing. You know what I mean?

That’s so true. It’s so true.

[15:16] Future Plans and Meditation

And lastly, as we wrap up for today, tell us some of your future plans. I understand you have a second book in the works. And what else you got in the works?

I’m striking while the iron is hot, so I entered some more awards contests.I’m still flying with Protectors of the Light Crown. I just, got pushed through Ingram Spark. I was on Amazon all this time. So now, my book can be shuffled into \Walmart, Barnes and Noble, independent bookstores, so forth and so on.

And now I can get a much broader sense of exposure.After this, I’m gonna try to ride this horse as far as it’ll go, and then I’m gonna start book two. book two– it takes place somewhat later after this ends. And it has its own self-contained story while also following the flow of, events that were planted with Protectors.

So I’m going to do that. I’m almost done with the outline for that and it feels really good because I was a little bit stuck on my outline. I’m really huge on meditation. I’m an advanced meditator, so I was on my back deck and I was trying to search my mind fora great avenue that the book should pick.

And something just popped into my head and I’m very excited about getting it on paper because I think it’s a really great idea.

Oh, that is so exciting. Wonderful. I love that you’re an advanced meditator. I think having the quiet, and learning how to quiet our minds and really go deep within and listen to ourselves is so valuable.

Yeah, I think so too. I’m glad you said that. I’m a big believer in that, and for me, meditation comes through the form of walking. and, being aware of my surroundings and talking to nature And talking to the animals that come along my way.

Do you like to do it in nature?

Yeah, I like to be outside and connect to the plants. And I’m here in, Northern California, in Oakland, near San Francisco. And just lots of things are blooming and it’s actually through walking, not sitting,In my twenties I did a sitting meditation training and that was great, but there’s something about moving. ’cause I sit so much as a writer at the desk and on the Zoom and the editing and all the editing, both for the podcast and people’s manuscripts and my own work. So movement becomes a way to process, just release and get into the body, get outta the mind.

And be in the emotions, be appreciative of nature and everything around me and the people and even though this is an urban environment, it’s also lots and lots of plants, roses and, all the flowers blooming.

They say movement is a raisor of the vibration. Not to get overly woowoo on you guys. Hope we didn’t go off on a, left field tangent here, but I could talk about this stuff with you all day actually. I don’t talk about it with my many people.

I agree with you.

I have a quote on my wall from Einstein. “Creativity is intelligence in motion.”

I really feel writing is a physical act in my opinion, right? We got our hands on the keyboard or across the page, or even if we’re speaking, dictating.

And so to really get into the body and kinesthetic experience, emotional experience, and then to really be the channel to be creative, right? Creativity comes from, we don’t know, but to do this well, we have to work our instrument, which is our entire body. To me this is holistic and important and relevant .

Yeah, me too. It’s just that, I have learned from talking too much that it’s not for everybody. Not a lot of people will vibe with what you’re trying to express. You know what, you’re in California, you probably don’t have that experience.

Not here in Northern California.

I studied intuition when I was in my twenties. I At the Berkeley Psychic Institute, I did clairvoyant studies for a year. Wow. Talk about Woo. Yeah. And I came to my own conclusion that intuition is in the body. It’s our deep body knowing that we’ve lost touch of a lot of us.

And so I took it upon myself actually starting around age 19 to start to really pay attention to my body as a barometer for the simplest choices. And then later as I got serious about fiction, now I use it for fiction. And now I use it for everything so that I use my inner knowing, which is my body and mostly my gut.

‘Cause most people we have all these bacteria or microorganisms that live in our gut that run the show. They pretty much run the show, so pay attention to them and nurture the good ones and right. Eat healthy and exercise and good drinking habits, lots of water.

All these things feed our physical vessel so that we can be the awesome creative channels that we wanna be.

Oh, you talk my language.

So if you have any parting advice to beginning writers out there who are really wishing and wanting to have their novel out in the world. What advice do you have for them?

I would say that, there is beauty in independent publishing, self-publishing. It can take you a long way if you’re willing to put a lot intoI would say that, I would imagine that if I were taken up by a publisher with an agent, so forth and so on, things would go, have gone a lot easier for me, probably, but I also enjoy– , not that I’m a control freak or anything, but I have enjoyed the control that I’ve been able to enact in the entire start to finish with this thing. But there are rough spots. There are rough spots.

Be ready for things to go wrong and roll with the punches.

Be ready to accept the editor actually knows what they’re talking and it can be a lesson in humility to find that out. Be ready to get a bad publicist, be ready to spend some money,and have that money get thrown out the window. Be ready to spend some money and score because this whole thing is not going to run itself. It needs your help. You didn’t just write it. it’s the end of it, and it just walks off into the world of success on its own.

It’s going to need you to keep pushing and pushing. And I speak from experience, and maybe there are other people out there who have different stories to tell, and it went a lot easier.

But this was not an easy,cake to bake, but in the end. I couldn’t have been more happier because everything just fell into place on a lot of things the guy who did the artwork for this is named Cole Munro-Chitty, and I just happened to meet him in a dog park outta nowhere.

And I said, you’re an a graphic artist, aren’t you?And he said, yeah. I said, I need an anime feel for the cover of my book. And he showed me his stuff. Perfect. I was like, wow, that couldn’t have gone easier. So there are some things that actually fell right into place, but the bulk of it, it’ll make you sweat, it’ll make you cry, it’ll make you bleed.

Yeah, I’m right there with you As an independent, published author, it’s sometimes smooth sailing. Other times bumpy, but it’s all part of the process. So I have one last bonus question for you.

[22:09] Nerding Out: The Mandalorian and More

I see you’ve got a helmet behind you. Looks like you know the Mandalorian there.

Yeah.

Yeah. Are you a big fan, the Mandalorian?

I’m a big fan of the Mandalorian.

I love the Mandalorian.

I love Marvel movies.

Falcon. Yeah, you came to see us. Alright. Hello Star Trek. Yeah.

Hello.

That’s my bat signal.

I went outta my way to be as nerdy as I possibly could be for this interview.

Oh, I love it. I love it.

[22:34] Conclusion and Farewell

Aspry, I wish you the best of luck. I’m now eager, very eager to read your novel.

Oh, that would be wonderful. Thank you very much.

Yeah, check out Aspry’s novel protectors of the Light Crown.

And if people wanna find you, what’s the one link that rules them all there in your world. @AspryWrites on social media. I have a website It’s AspryJones.com.

Beautiful. I was checking it out before our show. people can sign up for your newsletter. Get notified when your book comes out and all your awesome news. Aspry, I really wanna thank you so much for taking the time today to share your novel Protectors of the Light Crown with our How to Write the Future audience and, we’ll have to have you back when Book two comes out.

Magnificent. I would love to be back. You took good care of me. I appreciate you. Thanks.

Oh, you’re so welcome. So welcome. and I wish you all the best andwe’ll see you next time.

Absolutely.

All right. Take care. And that’s a wrap.

All right everyone. That’s it for this week. Write long and prosper.

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***ABOUT BETH BARANY

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Author site / Coaching site / School of Fiction / Writer’s Fun Zone blog

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C 2025 BETH BARANY

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Published on May 05, 2025 09:16

May 2, 2025

Meeting Your Heroes by Catharine Bramkamp

Let’s welcome back monthly columnist Catharine Bramkamp as she shares with us “Meeting Your Heroes.” Enjoy!

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Conferences, book readings, workshops. All good for writing inspiration and a chance to meet the keynote speaker whose work you’ve been following for years.

Avid readers are fangirls, secretly or overtly, and there is nothing more thrilling than meeting our favorite authors face to face. SHE’S speaking? I have all her books; I would love to meet her!

“Listen, don’t meet your heroes. If you meet your heroes, you’re always going to be disappointed.” ― James McBride

No, no, you cry, surely my favorite author is exactly like the heroines in her books!

Surely she will inspire, of course she will deliver deep thoughts about her process, naturally she will be as funny in person as she is on the page.

Sometimes she is. Sometimes, not.

I am a huge fangirl of Natalie Goldberg, she of Writing Down the Bones.

Her books changed my life to the point I wrote a master’s thesis on her oeuvre and continue to collect her books to this day.

Meeting Your Heroes

A year after I completed my MA, Goldberg was appearing at Book Passages in Marin.

Perhaps Zen Buddhism and public speaking are incompatible skills.

Goldberg is famous on the page, but a personality she is not. She is introverted, quirky and of course freaking brilliant, but not necessarily on demand.

I wasn’t disappointed, I had read all her work, I knew her quirks and abilities because she writes so honestly about them.

The contrast between how well she shares on the page, and her public reticence was less disappointing and more just interesting. She is fully human.

We all are.

Some authors are naturally charming, and Toastmasters trained.

They can give a good talk; they can interact with the audience in a genuine way – like Grant Faulkner or Brooke Warner.

Others like Eric Maisel, have their comfortable, memorized public talk, deliver it – walk away.

On paper, Maisel is marvelous and is quite engaging through his work and workshops.

But in real life? Maybe not so much.

That said, we don’t sign up to be authors because we are unrepentant extroverts, quite the opposite, we are solitary creatures happy to communicate from a distance, not happy one on one.

Which is why, when we meet our favorite authors out in the wild, we need to remember the nature of their species.

The Extroverted and the Introverted Author

Authors sometimes live the lives they record.

Some really do wander around the cliffs of Scotland, feeling, experiencing and engaging perfect strangers at the pub.

Others just brilliantly imagine wandering, feeling, and at some point they promise to engage with strangers. But not tonight.

As authors we can learn to present our work, or not.

Maybe we just want to work in the background and ask our niece to post on our Facebook account and we’re done.

I know authors who are very pleased to have sent six newsletters, two Instagram posts, and zero public appearances.

Your favorite author may be terrified of box jellyfish, Golden Retrievers and public speaking. Many of us are.

When you encounter a favorite author, thank them for showing up.

Thank them for hours of entertainment or life changing advice.

Then step away, don’t crowd them, they need a lot of oxygen.

I had a chance to meet one of my favorite dance choreographers.

I was thrilled I could meet and shake hands with a genius.

His development director warned me that he did not suffer inane comments gladly, probably because he has spent too many hours listening to the same gushing comments from audience members, his feet hurt, and he’s tired of smiling.

Forewarned is forearmed

When it was my turn (we all stood in a reception line of sorts, so the poor man could get it all over with in as efficient manner as possible) I shook his hand and thanked him for years of inspirational art. That’s it.

He smiled, I smiled. I’m happy, he forgot me a minute later.

Every artist is allowed to play to their strengths.

If your favorite author turns out to be engaging and funny and delivers a fabulous TED Talk and looks at you warmly as you struggle for words to express how much you admire them, you have a win.

If your favorite author comes across as a little less than stellar, you can assure yourself that you did a better job presenting to the Gold Country Rotary Club.

Which means you too can discuss your book in public because the bar is apparently lower than you thought.

Win win, but in an unexpected way.

Need your help! I’m writing a book on creativity and I need your input. Please take this quick survey and your story may be featured! Due July 1, 2025

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Catharine Bramkamp is a successful writing coach, Chief Storytelling Officer, former co-producer of Newbie Writers Podcast, and author of a dozen books including the Real Estate Diva Mysteries series, and The Future Girls series. She holds two degrees in English and is an adjunct university professor. After fracturing her wrist, she has figured out there is very little she is able to do with one hand tied behind her back. She delights in inspiring her readers.

The post Meeting Your Heroes by Catharine Bramkamp appeared first on Writer's Fun Zone.

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Published on May 02, 2025 03:00

April 28, 2025

Creating Authentic Science Fiction Universes with Devin Blair’s Chemical Rocketeers Show

Creating Authentic Science Fiction Universes with Devin Blair’s Chemical Rocketeers Show – How To Write the Future podcast, episode 150

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“Even if I didn’t have this entire podcast structure, which thank God I actually do, so I can actually focus on something during my travels.“ – Devin Blair

In this episode of How To Write the Future, host Beth Barany talks to Devin Blair, the creator of the sci-fi podcast Chemical Rocketeers. Together they discuss Devin’s current adventures in Afghanistan and why traveling is everything to him. They also share the challenges in world building and the influence travel can have on your creativity.

“Being on the How To Write The Future Podcast with host Beth Barany was such an energizing experience. Beth asked thoughtful questions that let me dive into the heart of my creative process, and it really helped me connect the dots between my travels, storytelling, and the universe I’m building with Chemical Rocketeers. It was more than an interview—it was a moment to reflect, share, and inspire.” — Devin Blair

RESOURCES

GET HELP WITH YOUR WORLD BUILDING – START HERE

Free World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/world-building-resources/

Sign up for the 30-minute Story Success Clinic with Beth Barany: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/story-success-clinic/

About the How To Write the Future podcast

This podcast is for you if you have questions like:

– How do I create a believable world for my science fiction story?

– How do I figure out what’s not working if my story feels flat?

– How do I make my story more interesting and alive?

This podcast is for readers too if you’re at all curious about the future of humanity.

Chemical Rocketeers Podcast Volume 2 Winter 2025 Melodic Playground Magazine - Devin Blair

About Devin Blair

Devin Blair is the creator of Chemical Rocketeers, a sci-fi podcast that blends immersive storytelling, real-world inspirations, and futuristic themes of exploration, survival, and emergence. Drawing from his travels and background in Chemical Engineering Technology, Devin crafts a richly detailed universe where factions battle for survival, technology meets mysticism, and history shapes the future. Through podcasting, field reports, and multimedia storytelling, he builds an ever-expanding sci-fi universe that connects with fans on multiple levels.

LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/chemicalrocketeers101

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566804364795

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chemicalrocketeers101/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devin-blair-8a625a206

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@ChemicalRocketeers

Transcript for Creating Authentic Science Fiction Universes with Devin Blair’s Chemical Rocketeers Show [00:00] Introduction

Welcome to How to Write the Future Podcast. I’m your host, Beth Barany. I’m an award-winning science fiction and fantasy writer. Also a creativity coach, book editor, book consultant, and oh yeah, what else? Filmmaker. More about that later.

[00:16] Guest Introduction: Devin Blair

So today, really excited to bring with you a multi-passionate, multi-talented creative: Devin Blair.

Devin is coming into the recording today from Afghanistan. Devin Blair is the creator of Chemical Rocketeers, a sci-fi podcast that blends immersive storytelling, real world inspirations and futuristic themes of exploration, survival, and emergence. Drawing from his travels and background in chemical engineering technology, Devin crafts a richly detailed universe where factions battle for survival technology meets mysticism and history shapes the future. Through podcasting field reports and multimedia storytelling, he builds an ever expanding sci-fi universe that connects with fans on multiple levels.

Welcome Devin. I’m so excited to have you here. Really interesting project that you’re up to. Welcome.

An honor and pleasure. Thank you so much for having me on the platform.

[01:21] Devin’s Current Adventures in AfghanistanReally glad you’re here. And as we were getting organized, everyone, for this interview, you were emailing me from Dubai, and now you’re in Afghanistan. [01:31] Traveling and World Building

Can I ask what is it that you’re doing? Are you just traveling, sightseeing, visiting friends, doing work? What are you up to?

Yes, that’s actually a really good question. I was actually formally invited when I was actually networking around, Dubai to find a way to have my best tour going around for Afghanistan. ’cause Afghanistan’s not really a place that you just go and solo tour unless you actually know places but I actually hit up a group that tours for Afghanistan. and so I hit them up and then I had my visa and letter of invitation made up while I was in Dubai.

And so now I’m in Afghanistan at the guest house, getting ready for my tour for this week.

That’s quite an opportunity. Alright, let’s dive into our interview.

[02:10] Challenges in World-Building

Can you tell me what are some of the key challenges in building a post-apocalyptic yet hopeful future, in fiction?

Yes. So basically balancing the grit with growth and having to show the damage, but also the drive to rebuild, which actually takes the Rocketeers, colony where they actually have to rebuild humanity. And in the Rocketeers universe, it’s also trying to show you even in the ruins, the unity and curiosity as the mission becomes bigger than survival itself. ‘Cause this is basically the upbringing of humanity trying to be rebuilt. They go explore. It’s not even just about loss, it’s also what could be created next.

So, it, the audio is a little bit choppy .There’s some kind of apocalypse that has happened and humanity is trying to rebuild?

Yeah, so the story goes on planet Earth. Basically there’s a nuclear catastrophic event happens, and right before it does happen, the secret organizations on the governments, which I haven’t fully explained just yet, which I’m still working the story out for seasons, which it will be further explained in the future seasons, they basically sent this colony that’s selected by the organizations to a distant planet to rebuild humanity, and they have to start from scratch from there.

Okay, cool.

[03:23] Influence of Travel on Creativity

And so how does traveling really influence your approach to world building and character development?

Even if I didn’t have this entire podcast structure, which thank God I actually do, so I can actually focus on something during my travels. But it even comes with different cultures and everything else. even just redefine your character and actually making you more well deserved, so basically traveling is everything for me when I’m actually pursuing this project. And for every country, for every person I meet it can actually find me some elements. I can actually find ways to write my characters. You know, it makes them more feel real. Sometimes it can be an event, sometimes it can be a location and a culture experience. It just really sparks something. It’s like a festival throughout event or even throughout the country itself. Even exploring the ruins in Italy could shape up a mission setting or how I can pull elements from each country and a visit and mixing the right ingredients based on culture history.

That’s a big one. History. The vibe check even settle out to build factions, characters, environments, it’s all about balancing one with another while staying consistent in my world building.

Yeah, consistency is key. And you emphasized in your bio, you emphasized history and now again you emphasize history. Tell me more about how history is helping you shape your story.

This actually comes from a future episode that I don’t wanna spoil too much because it hasn’t been released yet because it’s still in the production. But this takes about back in like World War I, where we actually talk about the technology of the uprising and all that kind of stuff.

And that can actually spark an interest in one of the countries I’ve been through. So take for example, throughout Europe where they had the crusaders but it also takes from the technology and just mixing up the right ingredients from a faction that can be built from the Crusaders and they can be built into World War I technology. Yeah, I totally understand. And especially that time period is very, very rich, in terms of inspiration.

So what advice do you have for aspiring science fiction and fantasy writers who are trying to create immersive universes?

Yes, that is a very important question. It’s not even an answer for everyone because maybe not everyone has that kind of opportunity, because you can have a really big idea for your case and ideas can be very important, there’s kind of two biggest pillars.

You have to create something lasting authentic consistency. And you can have a strong vision of what you’re building.

It’s more like focusing on something that feels to you laying down a solid foundation from a core theme to world logic and tone and growing it piece by piece.

More like a slow and steady race ’cause I mean, it’s not really like a race to get to because something your life’s passion. You keep track of everything, stay present in the creative flow and commit to showing up very regularly.

That’s how immersive universe stays strong.

[06:04] Engaging the Audience Beyond Storytelling

Really fun. Can you share some insights on how you’re engaging your audience beyond just storytelling? You mentioned branding, interactive content, or other ways that you are engaging with your audience beyond the podcast itself.

Yes, that is another great question for that case. It has actually leaned into, number four, which actually for me, it’s about crafting a full circle experience rooted in- we talked about the two pillars about consistency and being authentic. I didn’t wanna like butcher the word ’cause sometimes I could be a little struggling about that. It’s actually collaborating, networking, and showcasing the work on my different platforms so people can hear and see it and feel the Rocketeers’ universe. ‘Cause even for the two platforms I use the most for my work is Facebook and Instagram, which is for the art and the written storytelling while YouTube and Spotify and similar podcast, platforms are more audio experiences where you hear the main episodes. So when you hear about season one and the main episodes,and when you actually read the reports on Facebook and when you read the field reports, those are actually the side missions. I actually explained the lore between season one and season two. And the goal is to make it feel like you’re stepping right into the action. Like you’re actually watching, you watch your favorite movie like Indiana Jones and you’re like, oh, snap, I’m actually, it feels like I’m in there. Or it feels like I’m actually getting bull whipped by Indiana Jones himself. You know what I mean? And like each piece just feels like it’s flowing to the next and building something bigger together.

I really love that because, for myself as a writer, I write reports, telegrams, telegraphs, phone conversations, memos, sayings, quotes. But a lot of that exists in backstory. And then I use some of it in the fiction, in the novels that I make, and now I’m moving into filmmaking and television and I’m also developing those kinds of things.

And that’s very inspiring to remember to use– some people call it interstitial material– that doesn’t necessarily end up in what we consider the final product, but actually is fabulous for interacting with our audience. So really, really fun that you’re doing that.

[08:07] Devin’s Background and Career Shift

Give us a plug for where we can find Chemical Rocketeers.

Oh yeah, you can basically find anywhere you can search Chemical Rocketeers and boom, there you go.

Excellent. And I’ll be sure to put all those links in our show notes, which will be on our blog, YouTube, all the podcast outlets, and then we market all over the socials, so we’ll definitely be spreading the word for you.

[08:29] Final Thoughts and Farewell

Is there anything else that you would like our audience to know? And our audience are mostly writers, science fiction and fantasy writers.

Anything that you’d like them to keep in mind as, as a parting thought?

If there’s probably one more thing I can add into it, it’s probably always had a cross collab with other people and all that kind of stuff because it can actually- with two sparking minds, it can actually make a lot more, better ground.

Yeah. Cross collaboration. That’s wonderful. That’s so great. Well, Devin, I wanna thank you so much for taking your time and your world travels so awesome. I’m saying hello to you from the San Francisco Bay Area, and you’re all the way there in Afghanistan. Stay safe and thank you so much for being on How To Write The Future.

It’s an honor. Thank you so much.

All right everyone. That’s it for this week. Write long and prosper.

Devin Blair Podcast Reflection

Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2012061

Need instructions on how to leave a review? Go here.

***ABOUT BETH BARANY

Learn more about Beth Barany at these sites:

Author site / Coaching site / School of Fiction / Writer’s Fun Zone blog

CONNECT

Contact Beth: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/podcast/#tve-jump-185b4422580

Email: beth@bethbarany.com

C 2025 BETH BARANY

For more “How To Write the Future” episodes, go here.

If you’d like to invite Beth onto your podcast, drop her a note here.

Like the work we do? Tip us! https://ko-fi.com/bethbarany

The post Creating Authentic Science Fiction Universes with Devin Blair’s Chemical Rocketeers Show appeared first on Writer's Fun Zone.

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Published on April 28, 2025 05:50

April 25, 2025

Boost Your Creative Writing Motivation with Dr. Maisel’s Purpose-Driven Approach by LA Bourgeois

Let’s welcome back LA Bourgeois as she shares with us “Boost Your Creative Writing Motivation with Dr. Maisel’s Purpose-Driven Approach.” Enjoy!

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Dr. Eric Maisel doesn’t seem like a man who can get bored.

“I’m just endlessly curious about human nature,” he says. “I find it easy to move from one project, area or idea to the next. I’ve been doing that for a long time.”

And his new book, Choose Your Life Purposes, promotes all of us to embrace this same wellspring of curiosity as we follow his system to create a dynamic set of life purposes to embody.

Choose Your Life Purposes leads us through bite-sized steps to find our own multiple life purposes and embrace them to become more self-aware and empowered.

Dr. Maisel proposes that by choosing and embracing our life purposes, we can live fully even as meaning flows in and out of our existence.

“It just seemed like a trap to believe that there was one purpose to life,” he says. “Once you get there, then it seems to be obvious that many things are important to us. And I’m turning those many things important to us into the idea of multiple life purposes.”

Dr. Maisel masterfully guides us through this process of defining our life purposes with lists, points of contemplation, and imaginative ways to keep your selected life purposes at the forefront of your mind.

One of the biggest differences between Maisel’s work and that of many authors who talk about “life purpose” is the rejection of the idea of doing “what you are meant to do” by a divine presence. Rather, he returns agency to us.

We are the ones deciding, choosing our life purposes rather than finding them and making meaning rather that discovering it.

This contemplation emphasizes self-awareness and empowerment to bring about a life filled with purpose aligned with our values.

As the song says, “Who could ask for anything more?”

Well, us, of course, because humans are greedy creatures. But from the very beginning of the process, I can feel how this system will help me create and support my own unique definition of a good life.

Dr. Maisel joined me to chat about how curiosity informs this process, and how meaning is different from life purposes.

What benefits does discovering your multiple life purposes deliver?

Well, we’ve got to connect it up with that other word that is so difficult for people to understand, and that’s meaning.

They get lumped together as a phrase, life purpose and meaning, but they’re completely different things.

From my point of view, life purposes are choices and meaning is a psychological experience. It’s merely a certain kind of experience, nothing bigger than that.

We don’t like the experience of meaninglessness, but it’s merely a psychological experience. It’s not about some objective reality.

You might attend a lecture and one person has a meaningful experience, another person is completely bored. It has nothing to do with the lecture. It has to do with the experience of it.

We need that second paradigm shift from seeking meaning to making meaning, and the related idea that our life purposes are more important than our meaning-making activities.

If we’re doing what’s important to us and we don’t get the experience of meaning from it, that has to be okay.

It’s like doing something and hoping we’ll feel joyful. Well, we may not. It may be that sending out 20 emails in support of a cause didn’t make us feel joyful, but they were still the right thing to do.

People are checking in on that meaning thing rather than focusing on just doing the work of their life purposes. Meaning comes and goes.

There’s no reason why life should feel meaningful all the time any more than it should feel joyful all the time.

When people feel that life is meaningless, they don’t know what that means or what to do.

They don’t understand how trivial it is that it’s feeling meaningless.

If they can turn away from that worry about why isn’t life feeling meaningful to the realization that just living their life purposes is sufficient, that’ll do the job.

That’s a transformative shift, to go from feeling to doing.

The difference is, if you live your life purposes, that doesn’t mean that life will feel purposeful.

Attaching to a certain outcome harms people.

If we understand what’s important to do, we have to let go of craving a feeling from doing it. We’re getting a result from doing it.

If I’ve helped a child today and written 3,000 words on my novel and worked in the garden, that’s a perfect day, irrespective of how it all felt.

That’s the day of my choice.

That’s the day of my dream. And if I’m also not happy, too bad.

How does curiosity deepen this process?

We’re born with an appetite for knowing, and that’s squashed in many people by what goes on in school, at the dinner table, at their religious functions and what have you.

Every five year old is curious and creative.

If you ask them to connect a salmon and a skyscraper, they’ll draw you a salmon-shaped skyscraper, a skyscraper-shaped salmon, or they’ll just have fun with it.

The second they get into school and have to draw inside the lines, they need more information than that. They need to know what’s the right answer to the salmon-shaped skyscraper.

We begin to lose our imagination over time.

Curiosity is innate and natural, and gets lost and has to be reclaimed.

That’s one of the jobs of a creativity coach, to invite clients to be imaginative again and to break free of those lines that they were forced to draw within all through school.

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Haven’t read Choose Your Life Purposes yet? Grab a copy today and embark on your own journey!

Our next book in the Thriving Creative Book Series is Jane Friedman’s The Business of Being a Writer, 2nd Edition, which was released this past April. Pick up a copy at your local independent bookshop or library (or order online) and begin reading today.

Need tips on finishing those pesky craft books? Read How to Finish Reading A Book . And for those who want to make sure they learn those lessons, check out How to Remember What You Read !

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ABOUT LA BOURGEOIS

LA (as in tra-la-la) Bourgeois is a Kaizen-Muse Certified Creativity Coach and author who helps clients embrace the joy of their creative work and thrive while doing it.

Get more of her creativity ideas and techniques by subscribing to her newsletter at https://subscribepage.io/unlockyourcreativity.

The post Boost Your Creative Writing Motivation with Dr. Maisel’s Purpose-Driven Approach by LA Bourgeois appeared first on Writer's Fun Zone.