Mark Leslie Lefebvre's Blog, page 12

Episode – Writing the Shadow with Joanna Penn

Mark interviews Joanna Penn about her new book Writing the Shadow: Turn Your Inner Darkness into Words, then associated Kickstarter she launched for it, plans she has to window its release, and much more.

Prior to the main content, Mark thanks Patrons of the Stark Reflections Podcast.

In their conversation, Mark and Joanna talk about:

How it has been a while since Joanna has been on Mark’s podcast (she was in episode 212)The number of years Joanna has been podcasting under The Creative Penn brand (March 2009)How sometimes there’s a book that you really want to write that you’re not ready to write yetThe way we can often push the “shadows” down and repress themThe importance of writing the things that fascinate youWhat happens when you push a balloon down underwater and try to hold it therePlato’s Chariot and the White and Dark horses and getting them to run together in harmonyThe value of addressing what we’re repressing and bringing it into the light particularly in your writingHow critical it is for successful fiction to have conflict, which is often derived from the shadowThe common themes in Joanna’s writing about helping or saving the family or saving the worldThe only way we’re going to be able to stand out as human in a crowded market, and, in particular, a market with emerging AI-generated contentHow Writing the Shadow and Pilgrimage are “mid-life” books for Joanna as she is addressing that part of her existence and Mememto Mori in those memoir-style booksExploring how you’re being held back by some of those things that you’ve allowed to be repressedThe shadows in both self-publishing and traditional publishingHow you don’t need to be afraid to look into the shadow and perhaps find the gold in that shadowThe Kickstarter that Joanna has launched for Writing the ShadowThe way authors have long focused on the retail websites for sales but how that has slowly shifted into a new phase of direct selling and windowing strategiesJoanna’s launch strategy for Writing the Shadow which starts with Kickstarter, migrates to direct selling on her personal websites, and then moves into broader retail and library distributionThe value of standing out as an author, particularly todayHow Writing the Shadow is an optimistic book despite the topic and themes explored in itBuilding a new author ecosystem and training existing and new readers to engage in that realmThe importance of remembering how the business model will keep changing but what doesn’t change is writing the books of your heart and the books that will help you and othersGifts of the shadow, finding the gold, and the idea of “after the curse comes the gift”The spiral bound workbookHow thecreativepenn.com/shadowbook will redirect either to the Kickstarter or wherever the books are available in the futureThe horror themed storybundle that Mark and Joanna are both inAnd more…

After the interview Mark reflects on a few things from the conversation, announces a bonus for his patrons related to a reward from Joanna’s Kickstarter, and invites listeners to share their own reflections on this topic.

Links of Interest:

Joanna Penn’s Main Website: The Creative Penn
Writing the ShadowHalloween/Horror Storybundle (Ends after Oct 31, 2023)Joanna’s Previous guest appearances on this podcast:EP 002 – Living the Healthy Writer’s Life with Joanna PennEP 148 – AI Voice Double Conversation with Joanna PennEP 212 – A Conversation with Joanna Penn about Co-authoring The Relaxed AuthorSELECTED OTHER MENTIONS / AppearancesEP 164 – Reflections on Other Podcasts: The Creative Penn Podcast Episode 517EP 300 – Celebrating 300 Episodes with Guest ReflectionsMark’s YouTube ChannelEP 324 – The Asset of Attention with Joe SolariEP 325 – Reflecting Back: Three Things That Are Wrong With Indie PublishingBuy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark ReflectionsBest Book Ever PodcastLovers Moon PodcastThe Relaxed AuthorBuy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook DirectPublishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author’s Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark’s Canadian Werewolf BooksThis Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover’s MoonHex and the CityThe Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Episode 326 – Rebranding and Relaunching with E. L. Williams

Mark interviews author E.L. Williams about her writing life, about her books, about rebranding one of the books in her series, and more.

Prior to the main content, Mark shares comments from recent episodes a brief personal update, welcomes new patron T. Thorn Coyle, and shares a word about this episode’s sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by the Patrons of the Stark Reflections Podcast.

In their conversation, Mark and Emma talk about:

How it took Emma about ten years to write her first bookGetting slightly “bullied” into going to a writer conference from a fellow authorPublishing her first book during Halloween season in 2020How the global pandemic changed enough things with her day job that allowed her the opportunity to get the book finished and publishedThe “Murphy’s Law” events that piled up with the launch of book two, which led to a signifcant health issue that had to be dealt withThe decision to change the title and cover for book two after realizing it wasn’t hitting the market properlyBeing a great believer in learning by doingRolling back on the unrealistic expectations Emma set herself up with and learning to enjoy the process and take a more relaxed approachEmma’s ideas involving merchandise in relation to her book and how that led to collaborating with Deadweight BrewingThe book “relaunch” party Emma planned out including the beer and book cakesThe social media “long shot” that Emma took on Instagram asking if the beer book branding thing had ever been done beforeHow social media can be a bit like marmiteBeginning to check out experimenting with TikTok by doing a video a dayAdvice Emma has for other writers who haven’t taken the plunge yetAnd more….

After the interview, Mark reflects back on a couple of things his conversation with Emma made him think about.

Links of Interest:

E. L. WIlliams’ WebsiteInstagramFacebookTikTokDeadweight Brewing CompanyMark’s YouTube ChannelEP 324 – The Asset of Attention with Joe SolariEP 325 – Reflecting Back: Three Things That Are Wrong With Indie PublishingBuy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark ReflectionsBest Book Ever PodcastLovers Moon PodcastThe Relaxed AuthorBuy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook DirectPublishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author’s Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark’s Canadian Werewolf BooksThis Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover’s MoonHex and the CityThe Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Episode 325 – Reflecting Back: 3 Things That Are Wrong With Indie Publishing

In this episode Mark reflects back to Episode 6 of this podcast, which was released on Feb 6, 2018.

He shares clips from that episode, in which he outlined three of the things that bothered him about the indie publishing world.

Reflecting back, he comments on a few things that have changed, and what is consistent more than 5 years after the initial broadcast.

This episode is sponsored by the Patrons of the Stark Reflections Podcast.

Links of Interest:

Episode 6 – What’s Wrong with Indie PublishingBuy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark ReflectionsBest Book Ever PodcastLovers Moon PodcastThe Relaxed AuthorBuy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook DirectPublishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author’s Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark’s Canadian Werewolf BooksThis Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover’s MoonHex and the CityThe Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Episode 324 – The Asset of Attention with Joe Solari

In this solo episode, Mark interviews Joe Solari about his new book May I Have a Moment of Your Attention?

Prior to the main content, Mark shares comments from recent episodes and then reflects on the reasons why he canceled a trip he was supposed to take to Florida to attend NINC (Novelist’s Inc.)

This episode is sponsored by the Patrons of the Stark Reflections Podcast.

In their conversation, Mark and Joe talk about:

Joe’s winding experience path, the long journey he has been on, and how there’s no way you could possibly train for the job that Joe doesThe daily roadblocks that Joe had to overcome as he was beginning to learn about the complex writing and publishing businessThe importance of not assuming that the person on stage actually knows what they’re talking aboutAlso not assuming that what you “need” is what you’re seeing presented on that “stage”Joe’s very first 20BooksVegas conference (which he has been to since the very beginning of it)How Joe feels that we’re still in the early stages of the entire self-publishing landscapeUnderstanding different formats, like audio, where the consumers aren’t necessarily readers, but do enjoy storyThe value of recognizing the assets in your business, which includes the asset of AUDIENCE and the related importance of DEMANDHow ads aren’t scalable, but that audiences are scalableJoe’s latest book MAY I HAVE A MOMENT OF YOUR ATTENTION and how it’s only available to buy direct from JoeHow the book was created, and how, in part of Joe building his brand is NOT just putting the book up everywhereThe audit statements in a survey that Joe asks readers of the book to completeThe way this survey and other assets help the reader get to “know, like, and trust” Joe and then be willing to purchase from himHow traffic to your Amazon page can be one of the worst things you do if that traffic doesn’t convert to salesThe value of a customer retention systemThe importance of feeling a special part of a brand’s communityFocusing on serving your ideal reader rather than trying to sell more booksHow author Chris Kennedy allows his fans to incorporate their own fan club about the worlds he has created and writtenThe way that people who spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on merchandise, cosplay, etc, are not even thinking about how much a book costsJoe telling authors to try out his author marketing audit survey and to pay attention to it and see how they can steal his ideas for their own branding and marketing effortsThe free 20 minute calls that Joe offersThe critical importance of focusing on your audience, and not on what other authors are doing

After the interview Mark reflects on a couple of the things Joe talked about, including the advice on assumptions made about the person “on stage” offering advice, and on the critical value of focusing on how you can serve your ideal reader rather than focusing on trying to sell more books.

Links of Interest:

Joe Solari’s WebsiteJoe’s Author Marketing AuditMay I Have A Moment of Your Attention? (Book)EP 323 – Rambling Reflections From the Road: This Old HouseEP 096 – Focusing on and Delivering to Your Audience with Dale L. Roberts EP 232 – From Script Writer to Novelist with David BoitoBuy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark ReflectionsBest Book Ever PodcastLovers Moon PodcastThe Relaxed AuthorBuy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook DirectPublishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author’s Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark’s Canadian Werewolf BooksThis Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover’s MoonHex and the CityThe Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard

Joe Solari helps authors build great businesses. He offers business coaching and back-office services for authors. When your business is aligned with your personal goals it can only go great places.

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Episode 323 – Rambling Reflections From The Road: This Old House

In this solo episode, Mark reflects on his last few days in his old childhood home which has been in his family for three generations.

This episode is sponsored by the Patrons of the Stark Reflections Podcast.

Links of Interest:

Buy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark ReflectionsBest Book Ever PodcastLovers Moon PodcastThe Relaxed AuthorBuy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook DirectPublishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author’s Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark’s Canadian Werewolf BooksThis Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover’s MoonHex and the CityThe Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Episode 322 – How to Write a Novel with Ricardo Fayet from Reedsy

Mark interviews Ricardo Fayet of Reedsy about their new online course on How to Write a Novel.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares and reflects on a brief industry update related to Amazon’s recent AI-related change, comments from recent episodes, and word about this episode’s sponsor.

Reedsy contains an online listing of vetted professionals from across the industry, including editors, cover designers, and marketing experts. Get $20 off hiring a pro through Reedsy using Mark’s Reedsy affiliate link.

In the interview, Mark and Ricardo talk about:

Ricardo’s persona and image being directly attached to ReedsyWhen Reedsy started and what the main idea behind it was, and the value proposition to authorsHow only 3 to 5% of the professionals who apply to be on Reedsy actually make it throughThe Reedsy online writing tool that you can use to write and export professional looking ePub and print-ready PDF filesSome of the future development plans for the Reedsy writing platform, including collaboration with an editorRicardo’s HOW TO MARKET A BOOK, which is free in eBook editionThe 2nd book he wrote and released in Jan 2023 called AMAZON ADS FOR AUTHORS which is the 2nd book in the Reedsy Guides seriesSome of the reasoning behind why one of the books is free in eBook and the other has a retail price associated with it (hint: it’s a marketing tip)Important marketing information that Ricardo would want authors to knowThe new Reedsy course that runs 3 months and helps authors work through the first draft of their novelThe various ongoing cohorts for the course, including one that opens in Sept and another that starts Oct 30th, to co-incide with NaNoWriMo, then the next that’ll start in January 2024The term “Reedsian” which is used to denote Reedsy employeesTom Bromley, the instructor they hired to teach the How to Write a Novel courseThe intial launch price for the course, which is $1000 – and that it’ll be going up shortly after the September launchRicardo’s previous attempts to try to write a novel and how this course might be one that he himself can benefit fromSome of the things that surprised Ricardo about Reedsy since it’s launch nearly 10 years agoHow to find Reedsy and RicardoWhat Ricardo is looking forward to about the future of our industryAnd more…The interview portion (video) from this episode

After the interview Mark reflects the overall supportive nature of the publishing industry

Links of Interest:

ReedsyReedsy’s How to Market a Book Online CoursePrevious episodes that mention/include Richard FayetEpisode 018 – Finding The Right Professional with Ricardo from ReedsyEpisode 006 – What’s Wrong with Indie Publishing (Mark’s “10-year-olds playing soccer” analogy)Subscriptions for AuthorsMark’s Wide for the Win Update PageYouTube Video: OH NO! Is Amazon Anti AI?Buy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark ReflectionsBest Book Ever PodcastLovers Moon PodcastThe Relaxed AuthorBuy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook DirectPublishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author’s Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark’s Canadian Werewolf BooksThis Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover’s MoonHex and the CityThe Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard

Ricardo Fayet is one of the four founders of Reedsy, a marketplace connecting authors to the world’s top publishing talent–from editors to cover designers, book marketers, or literary translators. He’s the author of two books on marketing for authors, and a regular presenter at several prestigious writers’ conferences: NINC, 20BooksVegas, and The Self Publishing Show Live, among others.

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Episode 321 – Capitalizing on the Creator Economy with Ream Stories

Mark interviews Emilia Rose and Michael Evans of Ream Stories, a subscription platform built by authors for authors.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares a brief personal update, comments from recent episodes, and word about this episode’s sponsor.

You can learn more about how you can get your audiobooks distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway.

In the interview, Mark, Emilia, and Michael talk about:

Emilia’s Wattpad experience which resulted in one of her books becoming very popular on that platformMichael’s love of distopian fiction and discovery of the magnitude of the indie author realm, and his interest in the creator economyHow Emilia and Michael first metWhat Ream (which launched in May 2023) is and how it worksHow authors can choose to make their book free or paid on Ream, and release it serialized or all at onceThe purposeful lack of exclusivity and onerous contract terms that Ream offersThe fact that it’s free for authors to use and Ream keeps 10% plus a credit card processing fee, resulting in authors keeping about 85% of the revenueTaking all the aspects of the various reading and serialzied platforms and merging them together to create ReamCreative things that authors have done that have surprised them since launching ReamThe popularity of “author notes” and asking readers questions along the way on ReamAdvice they would offer to other writersAnd more…

After the interview Mark reflects on a number of things, including how a small gesture can make a big difference, the value of bringing the best of the best of multiple platforms together into a single place, and the importance of treating readers like real people rather than objects to sell to.

Links of Interest:

Ream StoriesMichael Evans WebsiteEmilia Rose WebsiteSubscriptions for AuthorsFree Audiobook: Subscriptions for AuthorsSelf Publishing Insiders with Draft2Digital – Mark Interviews Daniel Willcocks on Overcoming Author Hurdles (YouTube)EP 320 – Maximizing Your Creative IP with Reenita HoraBuy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark ReflectionsBest Book Ever PodcastLovers Moon PodcastThe Relaxed AuthorBuy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook DirectPublishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author’s Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark’s Canadian Werewolf BooksThis Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover’s MoonHex and the CityThe Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard

Ream is the subscription platform by fiction authors for fiction authors.

The platform allows writers to build communities around their stories and charge a monthly fee that rewards your readers with early access to your stories, bonus content, access to new stories and your backlist, and even perks like signed books and merchandise.

Emilia Rose is a steamy romance author of 30 novels with over 30 million story reads online and six figures in annual subscription revenue. You can learn more about her here: https://www.emiliarosewriting.com/

Michael Evans is an author of 12 sci-fi thrillers + 2 nonfiction books for authors, serial creator economy founder, and a student at Harvard. You can learn more about him here: https://mevansinked.com/

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Episode 320 – Maximizing Your Creative IP with Reenita Malhotra Hora

Mark interviews Reenita Malhotra Hora, an award-winning screenwriter, novelist and audio producer.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares a brief personal update and a word about this episode’s sponsor.

Learn more about SciFidea and the awesome Dyson Sphere Sci-Fi Writing Contest.

In the interview, Mark and Reenita talk about:

How Reenita has been writing her entire life and her love of storytelling in varous formsThe manner in which life can be more fun when we are creating and when we don’t always take life so seriouslyFocusing for a long time on how she could help her clients get THEIR stories out thereThe decision, in mid-pandemic, to begin to take her writing career in her own hands and developing her own IPThe release of her book OPERATION MOM, which was released by Harper Collins India initially in 2011Buying the rights back for the book in the rest of the world (ie, outside India), as well as for the subsidiary rights for film, TV, etcThe publisher’s belief that the Western world isn’t at all interested in reading a book set in MumbaiReenita’s own screenplay adaptation of the novel (written in the last year) which she decided to set in Hoboken, New JerseyHow the story and the comedy in the screenplay remains the same but how the specific details and specific jokes have been modified and adjusted for the different marketJust how much Reenita has been learning about publishing in the past few yearsThe way that working with a smaller, boutique publisher can be a good experience, but how an author self-publishing it can potentially work a bit better because of the control they haveWinning the Santa Barbara International Screenplay Award and being a finalist for the New York International Screenplay AwardThe unique approach Reenita took with her newer book Shadow Realms and the multiple formats she has created it inThe importance of understanding the business of storytellingThe two active podcasts Reenita has created, including the True Fiction Project, which explores the journey of story from non-fiction to fictionThe different opportunities for various sponsorships in these two different podcastsDiversity being so important, but the fact that it has become such a recent “buzzword”The interesting compromise of the diversity of a community like Hoboken (which has shades of similarity to Mumbai and offers a window into the Indian-American community)How it can be fun to play with stereotypes and tropes and to turn them aroundReenita’s passion about bringing the experience of South-Asians to an American audienceDescribing her experiences as being akin to a street-food in MumbaiAnd more…

After the interview Mark reflects on a few things from the conversation, including the narrow way many New York publishers look at setting in a novel, which hasn’t changed all that much since the early 1990s, and the dynamic way Reenita has explored storytelling in creative ways, while patiently learning more about the industry.

Links of Interest:

Reenita’s WebsiteOperation MomReenita’s PodcastsScreenplaysThe 2023 Aurora Awards (YouTube)2023 Aurora Awards Opening Schtick (YouTube)Buy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark ReflectionsBest Book Ever PodcastLovers Moon PodcastThe Relaxed AuthorBuy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook DirectPublishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author’s Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark’s Canadian Werewolf BooksThis Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover’s MoonHex and the CityThe Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard

Reenita Malhotra Hora is an award-winning screenwriter, novelist and audio producer. Based partly in San Francisco and partly in Los Angeles, her experiences are akin to ‘Bhel Puri,’ the street food of Mumbai, her native place — a delectable mix of tastes (and preferences), meshed together with a bug or two for good measure. Passionate about storytelling the Indian narrative, Reenita writes characters and themes that reflect the South Asian experience whether set in South Asia or in the Western world.

As a writer she has contributed to Reuters, South China Morning Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, CNN, Times of India, Rolling Stone, National Geographic Kids, Cartoon Network Asia, Disney and more. As an on-air news reporter, writer, and producer, she has contributed to Bloomberg, RTHK Radio 3, Monocle Radio and the BBC. She has two active podcasts – ‘Shadow Realm’ (narrative fantasy fiction) and the ‘True Fiction Project’ (unscripted to scripted).

Her female-driven comedy, ‘Operation Mom’ is a Santa Barbara Screenplay Awards winner, a Chanticleer International Book Awards GrandPrize winner and an Eric Hoffer Book Award Grand Prize winner. Her YA fantasy screenplay, ‘Shadow Realm’ is a Script2Comic and Launchpad Prose finalist, a Screencraft quarterfinalist, and a selected nominee for the New Media Film Festival.

She is a limited partner in the How Women Invest fund which specifically invests in women owned companies. She is working on her next novel and has recently launched Chapter by episode, a digital publishing platform for immersive chat fiction stories with diverse themes.

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Episode 319 – Father and Daughter Collaborations with Ron and Brigid Collins

Mark interviews the creative daughter/father team of Brigid Collins and Ron Collins about their collaborative writing.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares a brief personal update, comments from recent episodes, and word about this episode’s sponsor.

You can learn more about how you can get your audiobooks distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway.

In the interview, Mark, Brigid and Ron talk about:

The last time they saw one another (Feb 2020, just prior to the world “shutting down” for the pandemic)Ron’s entry into the world of professional speculative fiction writing in the mid 1990sWhy Ron feels that non-fiction can be a lot of fun to writeRon’s latest book On Creating (And Celebrating!) Characters Brigid growing up and being witness to the dedication her father Ron had for his pursuit of writing Singer , the first book Brigid wrote, which evolved into the four books of The Songbird River Chronicles in response to her father’s promptingBrigid’s appreciation of having good parents at all the various stages of her youth and adulthoodThe importance of being able to accept the other person’s methods and style of writing as well as their ideas which can be totally differentLearning one’s own writing styles from engaging with the other person’s workThe incredible amount of fun that can happen with the right collaborationsThe logistics of how they co-author together, for both short stories as well as a newco-authored book projectFinding the middle-ground between planning and discovery writingMerging the worlds of the fairie realm with the baseball world based on the idea of a baseball diamond being built on top of a fairie ringThe fun of merging the tropes of these two types of worldsThe way the split of writing has evolved and gotten more complicated as part of writing the next books in the seriesLeveraging Google doc and folders for the collaborationsUsing Draft2Digital’s payment splitting option for publishingA collaboration that Ron is doing with his brother merging science fiction and the world of musicAdvice they would offer to writers interested in getting into writing collaborationsAnd more…

After the interview Mark reflects on the “2+2 equally more than 4” awesomeness that can happen in a powerful collaboration.

The new “floor to ceiling” bookshelves that Liz built for Mark’s home office.

Links of Interest:

Brigid’s WebsiteThe Songbird River Chronicles (and more)Ron’s WebsiteOn Creating (And Celebrating!) CharactersHome Run Enchanted (Faires and Fastballs Book 1)Abridged (half-hour) Keynote on Embracing Technology for AuthorTube Writing ConferenceUnabridged FULL HOUR Keynote (Patreon link)Wine Country Writer’s FestivalEP 250 – Typewriters, Nature, and Fatherhood with E S CurryEP 314 – Defeating Writer’s Block Using PenspyreEP 317 – Rambling Reflections from the Road – Part 2EP 318 – Rambling Reflections from the Road – Part 3Buy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark ReflectionsBest Book Ever PodcastLovers Moon PodcastThe Relaxed AuthorBuy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook DirectPublishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author’s Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark’s Canadian Werewolf BooksThis Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover’s MoonHex and the CityThe Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard

Brigid Collins is a fantasy and science fiction writer living in Michigan with her wonderful wife and her irritating cats. (Just kidding, the cats are pretty wonderful, too.)
Her fantasy series The Songbird River Chronicles and Winter’s Consort, her fun middle grade hijinks series The Sugimori Sisters, and her dark fairy tale novella Thorn and Thimble are available wherever books are sold. Her short stories have appeared in Fiction River, Feyland Tales, and Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar anthologies.

Ron Collins is a best-selling Science Fiction and Dark Fantasy author who writes across the spectrum of speculative fiction. With his daughter, Brigid, he edited the anthology Face the Strange.
His short fiction has received a Writers of the Future prize. His short story “The White Game” was nominated for the Short Mystery Fiction Society’s 2016 Derringer Award.
He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering and has worked to develop avionics systems, electronics, and information technology before chucking it all to write full-time.

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

EP 319 – Father and Daughter Collaborations with Ron and Brigid Collins

Mark interviews the creative daughter/father team of Brigid Collins and Ron Collins about their collaborative writing.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares a brief personal update, comments from recent episodes, and word about this episode’s sponsor.

You can learn more about how you can get your audiobooks distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway.

In the interview, Mark, Brigid and Ron talk about:

The last time they saw one another (Feb 2020, just prior to the world “shutting down” for the pandemic)Ron’s entry into the world of professional speculative fiction writing in the mid 1990sWhy Ron feels that non-fiction can be a lot of fun to writeRon’s latest book On Creating (And Celebrating!) Characters Brigid growing up and being witness to the dedication her father Ron had for his pursuit of writing Singer , the first book Brigid wrote, which evolved into the four books of The Songbird River Chronicles in response to her father’s promptingBrigid’s appreciation of having good parents at all the various stages of her youth and adulthoodThe importance of being able to accept the other person’s methods and style of writing as well as their ideas which can be totally differentLearning one’s own writing styles from engaging with the other person’s workThe incredible amount of fun that can happen with the right collaborationsThe logistics of how they co-author together, for both short stories as well as a newco-authored book projectFinding the middle-ground between planning and discovery writingMerging the worlds of the fairie realm with the baseball world based on the idea of a baseball diamond being built on top of a fairie ringThe fun of merging the tropes of these two types of worldsThe way the split of writing has evolved and gotten more complicated as part of writing the next books in the seriesLeveraging Google doc and folders for the collaborationsUsing Draft2Digital’s payment splitting option for publishingA collaboration that Ron is doing with his brother merging science fiction and the world of musicAdvice they would offer to writers interested in getting into writing collaborationsAnd more…

After the interview Mark reflects on the “2+2 equally more than 4” awesomeness that can happen in a powerful collaboration.

The new “floor to ceiling” bookshelves that Liz built for Mark’s home office.

Links of Interest:

Brigid’s WebsiteThe Songbird River Chronicles (and more)Ron’s WebsiteOn Creating (And Celebrating!) CharactersHome Run Enchanted (Faires and Fastballs Book 1)Abridged (half-hour) Keynote on Embracing Technology for AuthorTube Writing ConferenceUnabridged FULL HOUR Keynote (Patreon link)Wine Country Writer’s FestivalEP 250 – Typewriters, Nature, and Fatherhood with E S CurryEP 314 – Defeating Writer’s Block Using PenspyreEP 317 – Rambling Reflections from the Road – Part 2EP 318 – Rambling Reflections from the Road – Part 3Buy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark ReflectionsBest Book Ever PodcastLovers Moon PodcastThe Relaxed AuthorBuy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook DirectPublishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author’s Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark’s Canadian Werewolf BooksThis Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover’s MoonHex and the CityThe Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard

Brigid Collins is a fantasy and science fiction writer living in Michigan with her wonderful wife and her irritating cats. (Just kidding, the cats are pretty wonderful, too.)
Her fantasy series The Songbird River Chronicles and Winter’s Consort, her fun middle grade hijinks series The Sugimori Sisters, and her dark fairy tale novella Thorn and Thimble are available wherever books are sold. Her short stories have appeared in Fiction River, Feyland Tales, and Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar anthologies.

Ron Collins is a best-selling Science Fiction and Dark Fantasy author who writes across the spectrum of speculative fiction. With his daughter, Brigid, he edited the anthology Face the Strange.
His short fiction has received a Writers of the Future prize. His short story “The White Game” was nominated for the Short Mystery Fiction Society’s 2016 Derringer Award.
He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering and has worked to develop avionics systems, electronics, and information technology before chucking it all to write full-time.

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0