Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: iTunes | Android | Email | Stitcher | RSSToday I’m joined by Christopher Valin. In this episode we talk about how he wanted to be a comic artist at an early age, collecting comics, working as an inker, being a musician, his introduction to Lord of the Rings, teaching high school, writing a based on a real life ancestral connection, writing superheroes, and much more. Buy Christopher’s books on Amazon About Christopher Valin: Christopher J. Valin is a writer, teacher, artist, and historian living in the Los Angeles area. He received his masters’ degree with honors in military historyRead More →

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: iTunes | Android | Email | Stitcher | RSSJason Rekulak, author of The Impossible Fortress joins me today. In this episode we talk about Jason’s love of computers as an adolescent, how he thought this would be his career path until he stumbled onto writing, changing focus in college, journalism, working for a Big Five publisher, working for the Book of the Month Club, founding Quirk Books, how being in the right place at the right time with the right book set his young company up for future success, creating the literary mashup genre with Pride and PrejudiceRead More →

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: iTunes | Android | Email | Stitcher | RSSToday I am joined by Peter V. Brett, author of The Demon Cycle. In this episode we talk about how a backhanded compliment from an elementary school teacher prompted him to pursue writing, having a few close friends to share your writing with, eventually leaving his day job to be a full-time writer, getting a deal for a book series, writing a long running series, designing magic systems, why fantasy appeals to us, and much more. Buy Peter’s books on Amazon About Peter V. Brett: Peter V. Brett is theRead More →

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: iTunes | Android | Email | Stitcher | RSSIn Episode 209 my guest is R. A. McCandless, author of Tears of Heaven and Hell Becomes Her. In this show, we had aa ton of fun talking about his lifelong desire to become a writer, how stories cause us to interact with each other, finding your voice as a writer, why urban fantasy, writing as a profession vs. writing for love, collecting rejections then finding success, and much more. Buy R. A.’s books on Amazon About R. A. McCandless R.A. McCandless has been a writer both professionally and creativelyRead More →

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: iTunes | Android | Email | Stitcher | RSSToday I am joined by New York Times bestselling fantasy author Anthony Ryan. In this episode, we talk about why he writes fantasy, his journey to becoming a writer, self-publishing his first book and how that led to a traditional publishing deal, writing darker fantasy, fantasy that has a historical analog,  dragons, steam punk, and more. Buy Anthony’s books on Amazon About Anthony Ryan: Anthony Ryan is the New York Times best selling author of the Raven’s Shadow epic fantasy novels as well as the Slab City Blues science fictionRead More →

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: iTunes | Android | Email | Stitcher | RSSNew York Times bestselling author Matthew Quick is my guest today on episode 207 of The Author Stories Podcast. We talk about the first time Matthew knew he wanted to be a writer, growing up in a blue collar neighborhood, deciding to become an English teacher, the Kurt Vonnegut poster in his classroom and the advice he gave his students that eventually made him realize he had to practice what he preached, his decision to write full time, embracing genre fiction, the success of his first book, the importance of writingRead More →

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: iTunes | Android | Email | Stitcher | RSSToday I am joined by Jason Anspach and Nick Cole, co-writers of the Galaxy’s Edge series. Both Jason and Nick have written successful books in different genres, but their new series has found a completely new audience and is burning up the charts. We talk about their plan to launch this new series, the challenges of getting a book noticed in today’s market, their love of space opera and Star Wars, writing what you love, and much more. About Galaxy’s Edge: From the minds of Dragon Award winning author NickRead More →

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: iTunes | Android | Email | Stitcher | RSSToday I am joined by author, security contractor, government civilian and military officer Myke Cole. We talk about his unique path from working with museums, to security contractor, to Coast Guard Officer and author, his geek cred, his unique vision for paranormal and urban fantasy, his passion for history and how he has leveraged that into some new non-fiction projects, thoughts on the craft, and much more. This episode is rated PG-13 for some language. Purchase Myke’s books on Amazon About Myke: As a security contractor, government civilian and military officer,Read More →

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: iTunes | Android | Email | Stitcher | RSSToday I am joined by the mother and daughter of Gwynn White and Erin St. Pierre. Gwynn is the New York Times bestselling author of science fiction and fantasy.  Erin and Gwynn join me today to talk about their love of Fantasy, writing as a team, their unique collaboration methods, plotting vs. pantsing and everything in between, Dominion Rising, and much more. About Gwynn: I’m a New York Times bestselling author of science fiction and fantasy set on distant planets. All my stories have an adventure at the heart, mixedRead More →

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: iTunes | Android | Email | Stitcher | RSSToday my guest is thriller author Glen Erik Hamilton. We talk about his new book Every Day Above Ground, his award winning debut novel, his unique upbringing, beginning writing in a library in long-hand, the importance of a good writer’s group, writing thrillers, and much more. Pre-order Every Day Above Ground on Amazon About Glen: Glen Erik Hamilton’s debut Past Crimes won the Anthony, Macavity, and Strand Magazine Critics awards for Best First Novel, and was also nominated for the Edgar, Barry, and Nero awards. Publishers Weekly and Library Journal gave Past Crimes starred reviews, and Kirkus called the book “an excitingRead More →

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: iTunes | Android | Email | Stitcher | RSSToday I am joined by Tad Williams, author of the new book The Witchwood Crown. We talk about his journey to becoming a writer, how his pet cats helped him break into publishing, what a post -Tolkien world looked like to him, writing characters that are the heroes of their own stories, why fantasy is an important genre to explore, returning to Osten Ard, the ever-evolving landscape of publishing, and much more. Buy Tad’s books on Amazon About Tad Williams: Tad Williams is a California-based fantasy superstar. His genre-creating (and genre-busting)Read More →

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: iTunes | Android | Email | Stitcher | RSSToday my guest is Terry Brooks, author of the Shannara Series, The Magic Kingdom Of Landover series, The Word/Void Series, and my favorite Terry Brooks book Sometimes The Magic Works. We talk about how he got his start, his love of William Faulkner, how writing fantasy helped him balance his life as a law student, the long slog between writing and publishing The Sword of Shannara, Why Elfstones is his favorite Shannara book, why the television adaptation begins with book two in the series, what he thinks of the show,Read More →

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: iTunes | Android | Email | Stitcher | RSSToday is episode 200 and I am excited to share this milestone with Fantasy and RPG Gaming legend Margaret Weis. In this episode we talk about her discovering Tolkien in college, her path to publishing, the early days at TSR and how she, along with Tracy Hickman, wrote the first novels based on Dungeons and Dragons, and in the process started a revolution in publishing, and much more. Buy Margaret’s books on Amazon About Margarer Weis: Margaret Weis was born and raised in Independence, Missouri. She attended the University ofRead More →

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: iTunes | Android | Email | Stitcher | RSS  Today I am joined by New York Times bestselling Amor Towles, author of Rules of Civility and A Gentleman In Moscow. In this episode we talk about his journey to publishing, how he reads with a pen in hand, his ‘desk drawer novel’, his influences, character vs. plot, his writing process, taking your time with the story, and much more. Buy Amor’s books on Amazon About Amor Towles: Born and raised in the Boston area, Amor Towles graduated from Yale College and received an MA in English from StanfordRead More →

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: iTunes | Android | Email | Stitcher | RSS In today’s episode, my guest is Fredrik Backman, author of A Man Called Ove and his new release Bear Town. We talk about his journey from blogger to novelist, his humble beginnings driving a forklift, what it’s like when your book becomes an international phenomenon, staying humble throughout the process, what writing has afforded him in his personal life, writing single viewpoint vs. multiple main characters, and much more. Buy Fredrik’s books on Amazon About Fredrik: Fredrik Backman is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels ARead More →

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: iTunes | Android | Email | Stitcher | RSS Today’s show is a special presentation where I invited some friends on to talk about the unique way they are bringing authors together to leverage the power of collaboration to not only push the boundaries of creativity but also to accomplish new things in publishing never before available to writers. Daniel Arthur Smith represents Tales From The Canyons Of The Damned, Pavarti K. Tyler represents The Uncommon series of Anthologies, Samuel Peralta represents The Future Chronicles, and Gwynn White represents Dominion Rising. Together we talk about how these effortsRead More →

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: iTunes | Android | Email | Stitcher | RSSToday I am joined by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland to talk about their new book The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.  We chat about how they joined up for this unique take on sci-fi and time travel, each of their histories as writers, writing historical fiction, what it was like for President Obama to recommend Neal’s last book, writing plausible sci-fi and cyberpunk, and much more.  *We had some technical problems when we brought all three of us together on the call and had to resort to using the phoneRead More →

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: iTunes | Android | Email | Stitcher | RSS Today my guest is Adam Mitzner, author of the bestseller Dead Certain. In this show we talk about Adam’s journey to writing and publishing, writing a couple of books that wound up in his desk drawer before writing the book that would be his breakout, writing what you know and what you’re passionate about, connecting with fans, and how Amazon is changing the landscape for writers. Buy Adam’s books on Amazon Adam’s website About Adam Mitzner: In addition to being the author of three legal thrillers, Adam Mitzner isRead More →

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: iTunes | Android | Email | Stitcher | RSS Today my guest is #1 New York Times bestselling author Brad Thor. In this episode, we talk about Brad’s beginnings in public television, how his wife challenged him on his honeymoon to pursue his dream of writing, how he makes his books so authentic, writing to keep your readers’ attention, being customer service minded as a writer, and much more. Preorder Brad’s new book Use Of Force on Amazon Brad’s website About Brad Thor: Brad Thor is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Foreign Agent, Code of Conduct, Act ofRead More →