We had the incomparable John Otte on the show this week! 

John W. Otte is a husband, a father, a Lutheran pastor, and a big ol’ geek. He graduated from Concordia University in St. Paul, Minnesota, with a theatre major, and then from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. By night, he writes unusual stories of geeky grace. He lives in the Kansas City area with his wife and two boys.

On today's show, we discussed his recent forays into Kickstarter campaigns, both for his Drawn in Ash novel and forthcoming sequel, Drawn Through Blood. His influence to try the Kickstarter method? Novel Marketing Podcast (which is a great podcast for novelists! Check out this podcast about Kickstarting with Chris Fox, which we think is the episode John refers to in the episode.)

We also hear about balancing his life as full-time Lutheran pastor and writing novels, and the challenges there. 

Many shout outs today!
John W. Otte 
Novel Marketing Podcast
John's editor, Megan Gerig
One Year Adventure Novel

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For the second time, we had Cindy Koepp on, author of LitRPG novels and graphic novels, among other things! We had a blast learning about the process of turning a novel into a comic book, what it takes to do in-person events at comic-cons, and even a little bit about hooking. (Get your head out of the gutter! It's a legit thing!) 

Originally from Michigan, Cindy Koepp combined a love of pedagogy and ecology into a 14-year career as an elementary science specialist. After teaching four-footers -- that's height, not leg count, she pursued a Master's in Adult Learning with a specialization in Performance Improvement. Her published works include science fiction novels, fantasy novels, a passel of short stories, and educator resources. When she isn't reading or writing, Cindy is currently working as a tech writer, hat collector, quilter, crafter, and weird joke teller.

Find out where Cindy's going to be via her website and sign up for her newsletter at CKoepp.com. 
Cindy's books can be purchased on Amazon too.

We got to hear quite a bit about how Heidi has jumped from many different genres to focus on Superhero Romance. It's a niche that she greatly enjoys and hasn't been able to find many clean examples of.

From there, we moved on to favorite characters, what it's like to put yourself in the mind of who started out as a side character and suddenly needing to write a tale about them specifically, and how she researches.

To the latter point: ex-marine husband!

Snails were mentioned, of course.

We love having Heidi on! She's an absolute blast in person and on the show!

Follow Heidi at: https://www.hlburkeauthor.com/
On Amazon: https://amzn.to/3J7cz93