Stark Reflections On Writing And Publishing

Mark interviews Riley Odell, an autistic writer of horror, humor, and bizarro stories. As an autism/neurodiversity advocate, Riley is working on a speculative fiction anthology about neurodiverse characters written by neurodiverse writers called Divergent Realms: Speculative Stories About Neurodiversity. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update and a word from 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. During their conversation, Mark and Riley talk about: How Riley first started off writing by creating silly comic strips back in the third grade, moving to prose fiction by the time he was about twelve years old, and has pretty much been writing ever since Years of working on various unfinished projects, but having found a groove just a few years ago The ways in which his wife has helped Riley with his writing Riley's two short story collections (Vile Visions and Od

Mark interviews Angelique Fawns about her writing as well as the intel she provides on short fiction markets for other writers. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a 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. During their discussion, Mark and Angelique talk about: Angelique's background in freelance writing, journalism and her 25 years working in corporate television What Global TV is, for the benefit of non-Canadians Her preference for not having to be constrained by the truth, which led to her passion for fiction over non-fiction/journalism Some of the logistics of doing promotional short videos for Global TV The silver lining of shattering her ankle and how it led to finally sitting down and writing fiction Entering the fiction world in 2018 and not being able to find markets for selling short fiction Writing in active present tense because of her background in b

Mark interviews Alexandria Brown from Rising Action Publishing about her role in acquisitions and works with sub-agents on subsidiary rights. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a 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. During their discussion, Mark and Alex talk about: Alexandria starting off doing lifestyle and other non-fiction publications such as Thought Catalog from New York Her first two books that focus on dating and romance, and mental health and traveling the world Getting her PhD at the University of Gloucestershire The focus on how to write trauma in fiction in Alex's PhD (How cross-cultural characters and trauma can impact fiction and bind people together) How Alex got involved in starting up Rising Action Publishing with a co-owner she met in Humber College The tremendous value, uniqueness, and diversity that independent publishers can bring to the

Mark interviews Denise Baden, Professor of Sustainable Practice at the University of Southampton, UK, about her eco-themed writing, and the Green Writing Project which she initially set up in 2018. Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes and a 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. During their conversation, Mark and Denise talk about: Denise's varied background in a number of different areas, including being a sales rep for cookbooks How a work of fiction (the satirical thriller STARK by Ben Elton) was what inspired Denise to become a "Greeny" Teaching in the area of sustainability and how Denise's nature is not necessarily suited to academia How "narrative transporation" allows a reader, when immersed in a story to take on the thoughts and feelings of a character The way that talking about catasotrophy and spreading fear doesn't neces

Mark interviews Lisa M. Lilly, writer, attorney, and podcaster about story structure and the idea that writers don't need to make full time writing a priority or goal. Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes and a thank you to those who support this podcast at patreon.com/starkreflections During their conversation, Mark and Lisa talk about: The mysteries and supernatural thrillers that Lisa writes, the non-fiction books for authors, and the podcast that she hosts How Lisa continues to practice Law, but is no longer doing it full time Writing not having to be a full-time thing, and Lisa's latest book "Fiction Writing as Your Second Career" The kind of Law that Lisa practices The "floating around" that Lisa did when she had too much free time when completely away from the responsibilities of the "day job" Lisa's "Awakening" series which is described as a cross between Rosemary's Baby and The Davinci Code How sometimes a small plot or story idea might be inspired by a real-life case L

Mark interviews Johnny B. Truant, the author of the Fat Vampire novels adapted by SyFy as "Reginald the Vampire" starring Spider-Man's Jacob Batalon. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a 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. During the interview Mark and Johnny talk about: How Mark and Johnny have known one another for more than 10 years Young Johnny who had always wanted to be a writer and convinced his high school newspaper to allow him to write a column for them Orbiting the same circles as Sean Platt and how the two met via working via places like Copyblogger and the Blog World Conference How The Self Publishing Podcast came from Johnny wanting to interview (and talk and learn from) Sean Platt and David Wright about the co-authoring and self-publishing they were doing Where the spark for the idea of "Fat Vampire" came from (the old "after-show" podcast they

Mark interviews his partner Liz Anderson about her work as a Principal within education, as the better half of a writer, and also as a fellow procrastinator and creative collaborator. This episode is sponsored by the awesome Patrons of the Stark Reflections Podcast who support this podcast and receive additional audio, video, and text content.   During the interview, Mark and Liz talk about: The elements of procrastination that bond the two of them together How Liz has learned to embrace procastination as a way to get the creativity flowing Liz's long-time practice of producing videos and short movies The "Last Minute Productions" Liz makes, leveraging the "L" and "A" of her initials into the branding The "show" (Isolation Station) that Liz started for the staff at her school during the pandemic and how that evolved into "Distance Daily" How these virtual shows allowed the staff to connect in a way that they never had been able to do before Mark's participation in Liz's "Distance Daily" show for a while dur

Mark celebrates the 300th episode by sharing reflections from listeners, past guests, and other podcast hosts. The guest reflections, in order and with links: Edwin Downward Edwin's website Stanley B. Trice Stanley's website Sacha Black The Rebel Author Podcast EP 133 - Anatomy of a Rebel EP 155 - Rebellious Reflections with Guest Host Sacha Black Johnny B Truant Sean Platt Sterling and Stone Reginald the Vampire (Fat Vampire) Honoree Corder Honoree's Website EP 198 - Multiple Prosperous Wins in Marketing and Publishing Connor Whitely Connor's Website Brian Cohen & H. Claire Taylor Sell More Books Show Podcast EP 240 - Character, Story, and Industry Alignment with Claire Taylor EP 241 - Indie Publishing Has a Creep Problem EP 254 - Best Pages, Ads, and Newsletters with Bryan Cohen Kevin J Anderson & Rebecca Moesta WordFire Press Superstars Writing Seminars EP - Writing Through Change, Tragedy, and Trauma with Kevin J. Anderson Joanna Penn The Creative Penn EP 2 - Living the H

Mark interviews Kerrie Flanagan and Cary Bergeron from CraveBooks. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a brief personal update and a 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. During the interview, Mark, Kerrie and Cary talk about: A bit of a background about Kerrie's writing, publishing, and industry experience, including her multiple previous appearances on the Stark Reflections podcast Cary's experience running a marketing agency and how CraveBooks was initially a side project that grew into something bigger The challenge with many of the promo sites and the fact they don't "save" or "keep" the details from an author of previous promotions What CraveBooks.com is and how it works as a marketing platform tool for authors How CraveBooks owns and operates about eight of those sites, but also has connections via third party promotion sites How Kerrie and Cary met and s

Mark interviews Sudbury area writers Matthew Del Papa and Vera Constantineau. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a few listener comments reminds listeners about sending THEIR reflections for forthcoming Episode 300, provides a personal update and shares a 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. During the interview, Mark, Mat and Vera talk about: Vera and Mat's backgrounds as writers How humor is always going to show up in almost anything that Vera writes Haibun Poetry, which is a form that combines haiku and with prose poem Mat's very first book of "railroad stories" and how a lot of his work is focused on his home town of Capreol, Ontario What's funny about disability? How humor can be a coping mechanism for dealing with frustration Vera's love of poetry and fascination with Japanese forms of writing How poetry is a way of giving the shortest word picture imag

Mark interviews Jo Buer, a gothic suspense and literary fiction author from New Zealand who describes herself as a sucker for the supernatural, time travel, and all things woo-woo.  Prior to the interview, Mark reminds listeners about sending THEIR reflections for forthcoming Episode 300, provides a personal update and shares a 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 their conversation, Mark and Jo talk about: The many different ways that Jo is "bookish" Being able to go back all the way to when she was five years old, and how Jo fell in love with her school's library Writing about a gift she was given when she was six years old and the belief she had, even then, that her writing was stellar and would capture the attention and praise of her teacher The devastation and determination that early experience left her with as an author Publishing her first book,

Mark interviews Canadian Epic Fantasy author Richard H. Stephens about finally realizing a life-long dream of writing, about how his fourteen book fantasy series was inspired by hearing an Iron Maiden song in 1982, and about selling print books at in person events. Prior to the interview, Mark reminds listeners about sending THEIR reflections for forthcoming Episode 300, provides a personal update and shares a 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 their conversation, Mark and Richard talk about: Richard's epic fantasy writing, which is told in trilogy batches, all within the same universe How the song "Run to the Hills" from Iron Maiden in the early 1980s put the story that became his first trilogy into his head, but also how Richard's serious start in writing didn't start until 2017 How his first novel was called "The River Styx" for the first 33 years t

Mark chats with Dharma Kelleher who writes action-driven thrillers that explore the complexities of social and criminal justice in a world that favors the privileged. She is one of the only openly transgender authors in the crime fiction genre. They talk about that and a lot more. Prior to the interview, Mark reminds listeners about sending THEIR reflections for forthcoming Episode 300, provides a personal update and shares a 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 their conversation, Mark and Dharma talk about Dharma's "long, torrid" life-long affair with writing, and beginning to write on a manual typewriter in their teenage years What happened in the intervening years, including getting a degree in journalism Coming out as transgender, initially to self in college, and then later on. And the challenges of doing that in the deep south of the US Celebratin

Mark interviews Jeff Adams and Michele Lucchini about their new book, CONTENT FOR EVERYONE: A Practical Guide for Creative Entrepreneurs to Produce Accessible and Usable Web Content. Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, reminds listeners about sending THEIR reflections for forthcoming Episode 300, a personal update and a 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 their conversation, Mark, Jeff, and Michele talk about: Their new book, released March 1, 2023 entitled CONTENT FOR EVERYONE and who the book is for Their backgrounds working at Useablenet and how it relates to this new release Jeff's Big Gay Fiction Podcast, which has been going on for eight years now Pioneering digital accessibility with UseableNet Thinking about accessibility as an opportunity or a basic expectation It being hard for Jeff and Michele to not notice acce

In this episode Mark interviews Diane Devenyi, a former tax lawyer who shifted her focus to education reform, and her new book Dear Genius, Harness the Hidden Power in your ABCs. Prior to the main segment, Mark reads comments from recent episodes, invites listeners to submit reflections for forthcoming episode 300 welcomes new patrons and shares a few words 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. During their chat, Mark and Diane talk about: Diane's start in a non-creative realm, with the belief she was going to be a tax lawyer Publicly announcing at an educational meeting that she was there to re-vamp education on the planet back in 1999 Universal design: AKA "Learning for everyone" How the current education system was built to support an earlier century of humans -- ie, creating workers rather than thinkers The Alvin Toffler Quote: "The illiterate of the 21st century

Mark interviews Oskar Söderberg, a thirty-five year old husband, father of two, and full-time IT employee about his writing life and the process leading up to publishing his debut novel, The Broken Pyromancer, coming in March 2023. Prior to the main segment, Mark reads comments from recent episodes, shares a personal update, and a few words 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. During their chat, Mark and Oskar talk about: Oksar's long-held perspective of how cool writers were, with the romanticized images he always had Writing and self-publishing a book back in 2017, which did not work out well, and which he ended up taking down His main takeaway from that experience His first novel, which is with an editor as the interview was being conducted and is coming out in 2023 What the Sweden Amazon site is like How Kindle Unlimited is not available in Sweden What platforms

Mark interviews writer, narrator, and creative Alicia McCalla about her work creating thrilling stories of courage, bravery and strength featuring kick-ass Black women leads in SciFi, Fantasy & Romance. Prior to the main segment, Mark reads comments from recent episodes, thanks new Patrons, shares a personal update, and a few words 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. During their chat, Mark and Alicia talk about: How Alicia is two different versions of a superwoman and the way her brand is quite powerful Courage, bravery, and strength The strong women in Alicia's life, and her legacy Sharing badass, strong, and powerful black women who use their spunkiness, brains, and abilities Recognizing the power of a black Star Trek captain Dressing up in cosplay as a Starfleet captain when going to get a Covid booster shot How ground-breaking Nichelle Nichols' role in the

In this solo episode, Mark reflects on how continues to be inspired by teacher, mentor, and friend Jim Turcott. Prior to the main segment, Mark shares a word about this episode's sponsor segment. You can learn more about how you can get your audiobooks distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway.   Findaway Voices 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     The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLe

Mark interviews Malcolm Coon about his plans for overcoming the "back-burner" state of his writing projects, why he doesn't plan on giving up should his writing income ever get to "that" level, his goal of completing a short story every month this year, and more. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a brief personal update inside of the word about this episode's sponsor segment. 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 their conversation, Mark and Malcolm talk about: Malcolm's full time work in tech while simultaneously having wanted to write since 1997 A falling out Malcolm had with a partner in his tech business and how that led to working on a tech thriller that he worked on, but abandoned after about a month His long-time love of reading fantasy, which led to deciding to write fantasy Getting serious about his writing in about 2011, discovering various writing podcasts, and realizing that this

Mark interviews Canadian author Edo van Belkom about his life in writing, and the January 2023 the Paramount+ TV series adaptation of his Silver Birch Award-Winning Novel WOLF PACK by Jeff Davis and starring Sarah Michelle Gellar. Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, a brief personal update, welcomes new Patron Dharma Kelleher, and a 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 their conversation, Mark and Edo talk about: An old picture of the two of them at a "Sci-Fi Saturday" multi-author event from the late 90s where Mark was one of the managers (Attendees were David Shrogryn, Edo van Belkom, Carolyn Clink, Robert J. Sawyer, Douglas Smith, Andrew Weiner, Mark Leslie, Sally Tomasevic, Marcel Gagne) Edo's journey as a writer, beginning with his first published short story being published in an annual "Year's Best" anthology Writing abo