Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

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 yet
• The way we can often push the "shadows" down and repress them
• The importance of writing the things that fascinate you
• What happens when you push a balloon down underwater and try to hold it there
• Plato's Chariot and the White and Dark horses and getting them to run together in harmony
• The value of addressing what we're repressing and bringing it into the light particularly in your writing
• How critical it is for successful fiction to have conflict, which is often derived from the shadow
• The common themes in Joanna's writing about helping or saving the family or saving the world
• The 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 content
• How 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 books
• Exploring how you're being held back by some of those things that you've allowed to be repressed
• The shadows in both self-publishing and traditional publishing
• How you don't need to be afraid to look into the shadow and perhaps find the gold in that shadow
• The Kickstarter that Joanna has launched for Writing the Shadow
• The 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 strategies
• Joanna'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 distribution
• The value of standing out as an author, particularly today
• How Writing the Shadow is an optimistic book despite the topic and themes explored in it
• Building a new author ecosystem and training existing and new readers to engage in that realm
• The 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 others
• Gifts of the shadow, finding the gold, and the idea of "after the curse comes the gift"
• The spiral bound workbook
• How thecreativepenn.com/shadowbook will redirect either to the Kickstarter or wherever the books are available in the future
• The horror themed storybundle that Mark and Joanna are both in
• And 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 Shadow
• Halloween/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 Penn
  • EP 148 - AI Voice Double Conversation with Joanna Penn
  • EP 212 - A Conversation with Joanna Penn about Co-authoring The Relaxed Author
  • SELECTED OTHER MENTIONS / Appearances
    • EP 164 - Reflections on Other Podcasts: The Creative Penn...

Mark interviews Ami Sands Brodoff, the award-winning author of three novels and two story collections about her latest book, The Sleep of Apples and the stories and books she has written over the years.

Prior to the main content, Mark discusses recent comments, welcomes new patron Jared Nelson, shares a personal update, and a word about this episode's sponsor.

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

In their conversation Mark and Ami talk about:

• Ami as a "late-bloomer" writer who had worked on a number of short stories for years before working on a novel
• The encouragement, including a nomination for The Pushcart Prize that happened early on with Ami's first published story
• Being invited to The Algonquin Hotel in New York for lunch with some editors
• Asking herself is this the career I want to be doing no matter what
• The related anchor job that Ami had for guaranteed writing money coming in while she did freelance work
• Adapting real-life circumstances into her first novel, Can You See Me?
• How the stories in The Sleep of Apples are linked by a neighborhood, whereas in a previous collection, it was a theme that unified the stories
• The concept of neighborhoods in cities like Montreal and New York
• The amazing critical acclaim for The Sleep of Apples and how publicist can snowball
• Various workshops that Ami has lead over the years
• Tapping into the stories that other people want to share and tell
• Advice Ami would have for beginning writers
• And more...

After the interview Mark reflects on the idea of how publicist can snowball, or how a lot of hard work can lead to those "viral" things.

Links of Interest:

• Ami Sands Brodoff Website
• EP 223 - Love, Only Better with Paulette Stout
• The Canadian Mounted
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• The Relaxed Author
  • Buy eBook Direct
  • Buy Audiobook Direct
• Publishing Pitfalls for Authors
• An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores
• Wide for the Win
• Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books
  • This Time Around (Short Story)
  • A Canadian Werewolf in New York
  • Stowe Away (Novella)
  • Fear and Longing in Los Angeles
  • Fright Nights, Big City
  • Lover's Moon

Ami Sands Brodoff is the award-winning author of three novels and two story collections. Her latest novel-in-stories, The Sleep of Apples, centres on 9 closely-linked characters confronting crises related to mental illness, mortality--sooner rather than later--and gender identity.

Ami's novel, In Many Waters, grapples with our world-wide refugee crisis. The White Space Between, which focuses on a mother and daughter struggling with the impact of the Holocaust won The Canadian Jewish Book Award for Fiction. Bloodknots, a volume of thematically-linked stories was a finalist for the ReLit Award.

Ami leads workshops for teens, adults, and seniors. She has taught writing to formerly incarcerated women and to people grappling with mental illness. Ami has been awarded fellowships to Yaddo, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Ragdale Foundation, and St. James Cavalier Arts Centre for Creativity (Malta).

Ami lives in ...

Mark interviews Annaliese Morgan, an author, traveller, a solo mum of two boys, and an award winning Advanced Veterinary Surgical Nurse, about writing, her book STAY WILD, and her passion for inspiring young adults and young readers through fiction.

Prior to the main content, Mark shares a personal update and a word about this episode's sponsor.

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

During their conversation, Mark and Annaliese talk about:

• Annaliese's entrance to writing in the 1990s after her extensive veterinary work
• Those veterinary related books, and how that led to a successful blog of autobiographical vignettes
• The way that real life elements can be incorporated into her fiction
• Annaliese's first novel, STAY WILD, an urban fantasy story set in present day London
• Her imprint, Black Daisy Press, and her plans for it
• The importance of inspirational fiction, particularly for younger readers
• Advise that Annaliese would offer to beginning writers
• And much more...

After the interview Mark reflects on a couple of things Annaliese said about there being no half-way when you're a writer, as well as big decisions and small decisions.

Links of Interest:

• Annaliese Morgan's Website
• Superstars Writing Seminars
• James A. Owen's Website
• Findaway Voices
  • Chirp Listing for Canadian Werewolf series
• The Canadian Mounted
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• The Relaxed Author
  • Buy eBook Direct
  • Buy Audiobook Direct
• Publishing Pitfalls for Authors
• An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores
• Wide for the Win
• Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books
  • This Time Around (Short Story)
  • A Canadian Werewolf in New York
  • Stowe Away (Novella)
  • Fear and Longing in Los Angeles
  • Fright Nights, Big City
  • Lover's Moon

Annaliese Morgan is an author, traveller and solo mum of two boys... Max an actor and Woody, a gamer, You Tuber and aspiring chef. Originally from Yorkshire but based in London the three are rather like the three musketeers; they have a Basset hound called Pineapple, but he is more meh than musketeer.

Formerly, and in a different life, Annaliese was an award winning Advanced Veterinary Surgical Nurse in the UK. She co-authored a book on veterinary anaesthesia and analgesia in 1999 for the BSAVA. In 2007 and 2009 she was sought after to write three books (NVQ2, NVQ3 and A-Z for Veterinary Nurses) to help students pass their exams. In 2008 she opened the first pet health spa in the UK and published Desperate Housepets: Become a Chic Pet Owner Without Being a Bitch in 2014, and ran a successful blog of inspiring autobiographical vignettes entitled The Annaliese Journals - terrible title with some dodgy writing in parts but we all start somewhere - thousands loved it and were helped by the blog pieces, which is the bit that matters.

Since a child Annaliese has always been a writer and traveller, but after recovery from a near fatal motorbike accident including over eleven operations a...

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 book
• Getting slightly "bullied" into going to a writer conference from a fellow author
• Publishing her first book during Halloween season in 2020
• How the global pandemic changed enough things with her day job that allowed her the opportunity to get the book finished and published
• The "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 with
• The decision to change the title and cover for book two after realizing it wasn't hitting the market properly
• Being a great believer in learning by doing
• Rolling back on the unrealistic expectations Emma set herself up with and learning to enjoy the process and take a more relaxed approach
• Emma's ideas involving merchandise in relation to her book and how that led to collaborating with Deadweight Brewing
• The book "relaunch" party Emma planned out including the beer and book cakes
• The social media "long shot" that Emma took on Instagram asking if the beer book branding thing had ever been done before
• How social media can be a bit like marmite
• Beginning to check out experimenting with TikTok by doing a video a day
• Advice Emma has for other writers who haven't taken the plunge yet
• And 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' Website
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • TikTok
• Deadweight Brewing Company
• Mark's YouTube Channel
• EP 324 - The Asset of Attention with Joe Solari
• EP 325 - Reflecting Back: Three Things That Are Wrong With Indie Publishing
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• Best Book Ever Podcast
• Lovers Moon Podcast
• The Relaxed Author
  • Buy eBook Direct
  • Buy Audiobook Direct
• Publishing Pitfalls for Authors
• An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores
• Wide for the Win
• Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books
  • This Time Around (Short Story)
  • A Canadian Werewolf in New York
  • Stowe Away (Novella)
  • Fear and Longing in Los Angeles

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 Publishing
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• Best Book Ever Podcast
• Lovers Moon Podcast
• The Relaxed Author
  • Buy eBook Direct
  • Buy Audiobook Direct
• Publishing Pitfalls for Authors
• An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores
• Wide for the Win
• Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books
  • This Time Around (Short Story)
  • A Canadian Werewolf in New York
  • Stowe Away (Novella)
  • Fear and Longing in Los Angeles
  • Fright Nights, Big City
  • Lover's Moon
  • Hex and the City
• The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• Yippee 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