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
Today we had Kara Swanson, author of the Heirs of Neverland books, on the show! This SoCal native enjoys running the Authors Conservatory, the writers school she co-founded, and is hard at work at a new series focusing on the phoenix.
www.authorconservatory.com
www.theyoungwriter.com
www.instagram.com/karaswansonauthor
www.karaswanson.com
We are absolutely delighted to have back on our show Becky Dean! Becky, also known as B.L. Dean, is the author of her debut space opera novel, Rogue Pursuit, which released in March. In today's podcast, we discuss writing for two different major publishing houses, the differences between them, as well as how she came up with the ideas for Rogue Pursuit and its sequels (all coming out by June 2023.)
We last had Becky on for S4 E2 discussing her contemporary YA romance which is laced with tons of geeky references.
Becky Dean is a fan of adventures both real and fictional. When she’s not writing or traveling, she can be found drinking tea, watching science fiction shows or Jane Austen adaptations, or quoting The Lord of the Rings. Though she’s a proud Baylor grad and lives in Texas with her husband, she remains a Southern California girl at heart.
You can find out more about her books at www.BeckyDeanWrites.com .
Under the guise of testing some borked settings, we reinterviewed our very own Aaron DeMott who just released his third novel, "Etherno 2: Catgirl Overload". We discuss everything from needing to do rants (look forward to updates from Patreon!) to the inspiration of his books to finding time to write while working full-time and raising four kids.
As one third of the LDK group, Aaron is hugely busy, and the fact he still wants to do the podcast is amazing in and of itself, so it was fun to just sit down and discuss his books for a change.
Also in the episode: some personal updates from all three of us. (Hint: two of us are married to each other now!)
Check out Aaron's books at www.aarondemott.com .
We have with us Josh's aunt this episode, the amazing Dawn Shipman!
Dawn Shipman is an award-winning author whose fantasy stories bristle with believable characters fighting fierce battles in strange worlds. Teens of all ages will love these tales of soaring wonder, ferocious loyalty, and heart-stopping romance. Kingdom Lost, the first book in the Lost Stones of Argonia series, is her debut novel.
We had a blast talking to Dawn and we know you'll love her too!
For more information about Dawn's books, check out her website at: https://dawnshipmanfiction.com/