Episode 341 – Howling It Forward with Wulf Moon
Mark interviews bestselling writer, editor, and writing instructor, Wulf Moon, who won the national Scholastic Art & Writing Awards at the age of fifteen, and followed that with winning the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Contest, and Writers of the Future. He leads the Wulf Pack Writers group and is the author of The Illustrated Super Secrets of Writing and How to Write a Howling Good Story.
Prior to the interview, Mark reads comments from previous episodes, shares a personal update, and then says a word about this episode’s sponsor.
This episode is sponsored by the Stark Publishing book How to Write a Howling Good Story by Wulf Moon.
The book is 25% off at the Smashwords store until the end of Jan 2024.
Patrons of the Stark Reflections Podcast can get the book for 75% off until the end of Feb 2024.
In their conversation Mark and Moon talk about:
How Wulf Moon might not have been the name that he was born with and how the name “Moon” which he has been called most of his life came from his Ojibwa grandmotherMoonbeam Road, a local road his father named after him when he was growing upNot having a father who was supportive of his writing, and even having to run away from home when he was youngerFinding an important positive voice as a youngster in a teacherThe additional lengths this one teacher went to support and encourage Moon in his writingWinning the Scholastic Art and Writing Award at the age of 15, among so many other awards that this teacher helped him findGetting beat up so often in high school that the only thing he could do was look down as he walked in the hallways – but how he found his power in writingThe importance of finding a way to be who you are and to not allow others to repress you from thatStarting up Wulf Moon’s Super Secrets Writing Workshop right after winning Writers of the Future – and offering all this support to other writers for freeThe repeated authors who have gone through Moon’s teachings and then ended up winning Writers of the FutureThe Wulf Pack Writers group that Moon managesFollowing the concept of “how can I help you with what I know”How writers don’t understand proper Manuscript FormatThe high ranking sales that HOW TO WRITE A HOWLING GOOD STORY has hit since its release in November 2023Moon’s concept of Heart’s Desire as the most important principle in a storyCaring that happens in the heart of the reader, which can create the Reader/Hero bondGetting to a point in his life that was so low that he took risks and was burning bridges behind him and not writing for 10 yearsRealizing that he couldn’t be happy and couldn’t be fulfilled not being a writerMoon’s experience meeting Dean Wesley Smith at the Nebula Awards in Eugene OregonThe importance of having both the fundamentals of writing and the belief in yourselfThe mantra “belief determines reality” that Moon instructs his students to write downThe dedication in Moon’s HOW TO WRITE A HOWLING GOOD STORYMeeting other people “like me” at writer conferences, etc and the incredible value that can bringAdvice Moon would offer to newer writersAnd more…After the interview, Mark reflects on the importance of not denying who you are and not denying the things that bring you pleasure. He also reflects on the concept of finding your people, your Tribe, and the positive impact we can have on one another if we just take the time to listen, to reach out, to others.
Links of Interest:
Wulf Moon’s WebsiteHow to Write a Howling Good StorySmashwords linkPatron Coupon for 75% offEP 340 – Personality, Passion, Presentation, and Persistence with Todd FahnestockMark’s YouTube ChannelBuy 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 HardWulf Moon is a bestselling writer, editor, and writing instructor. At fifteen, Moon won the national Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and followed that with winning the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Contest, and Writers of the Future. He leads the Wulf Pack Writers group. He’s won both Best Author and Best Writers Workshop four years running in the Critters Readers’ Choice Awards, and is the author of The Illustrated Super Secrets of Writing and How to Write a Howling Good Story. www.thesupersecrets.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
