Ledger: A Writing Podcast

EV Knight is the author of The Fourth Whore, which won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel, and Three Days In the Pink Tower out now from Creature Publishing.

Why do writers bury themselves under guilt? Are writers in fact the weirdest people currently living? How many drafts of a story does she normally create? What was it like to go from writing The Fourth Whore to accepting a Bram Stoker Award for it?
We cover all this and more! Make sure you visit EVKnightAuthor.com to check out her work as well as all the ways you can follow her online. Thank you for listening and for sharing the episode and thank you to EV Knight for stopping by to chat!

Visit austinRwilson.com where you can donate to the show and find links to all of my work. I have a short story coming on October 1st in the NOM NOM anthology out from Black Hare Press. Pre-order it right here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B2M1VF6N?tag=gingercatpubl-20

I also currently have a Shibboleth story available through Mini Komix, check it out right here: https://www.lulu.com/shop/mini-komix/a-late-night-encounter/paperback/product-gmk76j.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Brian Allen Carr is a novelist originally from Texas, author of the books Sip; Opioid, Indiana, and his newest book, Bad Foundations, which is out via Clash Books as of January 23, 2024.

It is a peek into a hidden and ignored world beneath the feet of midwesterners, a world that literally supports their entire lives. The narrator is a man named Cook, someone who will essentially become a coworker to readers as they open this book.

Brian chats with Ledger about the importance of setting, how he utilizes and thinks of genre (one of Ledger's favorite topics; but in this case there are sharks leaping out of puddles), and how he is currently working as a foundation inspector like his book’s protagonist.

One of the bigger topics in this episode is success and, specifically, what happens when you win a big short story contest? Brian won the inaugural Texas Observer Short Story Contest in 2011, which was judged by Larry McMurtry.

Make sure you check out Bad Foundations out from Clash books. Thank you so much to Brian for chatting and thank you for listening!

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Please rate and review the show wherever you can - Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, all of them - and tell people if you think they'd like it. Swing by AustinRWilson.com to see my publishing credits, to contact me, or to read free fiction. You can also check out my work on Medium, including my weird sci-fi publication Shibboleth, which features aliens, government conspiracies, and maybe even sentient fire.

Ken Lowery is a tabletop roll-playing game (TTRPG) writer most well-known for writing the fantastic game VOID 1680 AM. He stopped by Ledger to discuss his journey in starting Bannerless Games and the process of writing VOID as well as other games like Lighthouse At the End of the World and Hell Grinders.

We chat about the community aspect of VOID 1680 AM, including how he actually has his own AM radio broadcaster from which he broadcasts player creations, plus the perceptions (and some hesitations) of playing solo tabletop games. His newest game is No-Tell Motel, a more narrative-focused mystery game that is currently on Crowdfundr - https://crowdfundr.com/notellmotel?ref=ab_75SIUaHJrtV75SIUaHJrtV - so make sure you check it out.

Visit Bannerless Games on Itch to find more of what Ken has written - https://bannerlessgames.itch.io/ - and then maybe go play a game tonight!

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Please rate and review the show wherever you can - Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, all of them - and tell people if you think they'd like it. Swing by austinRwilson.com to see my publishing credits, to contact me, or to read free fiction.

You can also check out my work on Medium, including my weird sci-fi publication Shibboleth, which features aliens, government conspiracies, and maybe even sentient fire.

Head over to my Itch.io page to read my newest story, Dynasty of Blood. Volume one is live now, with more on the way, including some ORIGINAL NEW art. Thank you so much! https://austinrwilson.itch.io/

Glenn Stout is a writer, editor, consultant, teacher, and more. Perhaps most best known as the series editor of The Best American Sports Writing series, which ran from 1991 to 2020, Glenn has been involved with narrative non-fiction in some form since the late '80s and early '90s. His book The Young Woman and the Sea was recently adapted for Disney, starring Daisy Ridley. It is the tale of Trudy Ederle, the first woman to ever swim the English Channel.

On today's show we discuss what style is within the genre of narrative non-fiction, as well as how Glenn may go about teaching style; whether sports is the actual focus of sportswriting at all; knitting; and what it's like to start a project and see where it all ends up.

Thank you to Glenn for stopping by! Please visit glennstout.com for more info about his work!

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Please rate and review Ledger wherever you can - Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, all of them - and tell people if you think they'd like it. Swing by austinRwilson.com to see my publishing credits, to contact me, or to read free fiction.

Head over to DriveThruFiction or Itch.io to read my newest story, Dynasty of Blood, a serialized story set in a fictional 1980s, but one that deals with the historically factual Satanic Panic and its connection to tabletop roleplaying games. Links to all my work can be found here: https://linktr.ee/austinRwilson

Thank you so much!

Alex Wrekk is the writer and creator of Stolen Sharpie Revolution, a fantastic book now two decades into its print run and continuing to influence zinemaking and zinemakers the world over.

Alex also creates the zine Brainscan, and, sometimes, a handful of years will go by before a new issue shows up - but! - it’s always being worked on.

We chat about doing multiple drafts of zines, about the presentation of the zines themselves, and even about how I view Stolen Sharpie Revolution as a permission slip to all creators out there.

What is a zine? Well, we talk about that too, but truly, a zine is WHATEVER you make. It’s an artform driven by the Do-It-Yourself mindset - which Alex and I talk about of course - which means you should go out there and do it yourself. Make a zine!

Alex's work:

Portland Button Works & The Spiral House - https://portlandbuttonworks.com/

Alex's zine catalog - https://portlandbuttonworks.com/alex-wrekk-zines-brainscan

Midwest Perzine Fest - https://midwestperzinefest.wordpress.com/

DIY witch blog - DIYwitchery.com

Critical Thinking Witch Collective - https://criticalthinkingwitches.com/

Thank you so much to Alex for coming on and to you for listening!

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Please rate and review Ledger wherever you can - Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, etc. - and tell people if you think they'd like it. Swing by austinRwilson.com to see my publishing credits, to contact me, or to read free fiction.

My website also has links to my newest story, Dynasty of Blood, a serialized story set in a fictional 1980s, but one that deals with the historically factual Satanic Panic and its connection to tabletop roleplaying games. Print copies of volumes 1-3 are now available both print-on-demand and print-at-home!

Links to all my work can be found here: https://linktr.ee/austinRwilson

You can also go to mossheartbooks.com to check out my independent bookshop and follow me on Instagram @mossheartbooks.

Thank you!