Libsyn Directory

EP 370 - Questioning & Reflecting with Becca Syme

Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

Release Date: 07/11/2024

EP 389 - "Now You've Gone" with Cathy Rankin and Ken K. Mary

Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

Mark interviews Cathy Rankin and Ken Mary about Cathy's new single "Now You've Gone." On October 29, 2024, Cathy Rankin released her debut single “Now You’ve Gone,” featuring renowned musicians David Ellefson (formerly of Megadeth) Ken Mary (formerly of Alice Cooper) and John Ronson. The emotional track, inspired by deeply personal experiences, reflects on themes of love, grief, and ultimately hope. Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, a personal update, and a word from this episode's sponsor. This episode is sponsored by the - Only available until the end...

EP 388 - Unconditional Boundaries with Andy Lidstone

Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

Mark interviews Andy Lidstone about the unconditional boundaries he talks about in his life coaching as the Uncondictional Coach. This episode is sponsored by the patrons who support this podcast at and . Links of Interest: Andy Lidstone is the Unconditional Coach. Andy's biggest dream it to help other people reach their goals. And HIS goal is to help people of all walks of life make their dreams into reality. He believes the best communities are the ones made up of people that build each other up and help one another reach for the...

EP 387 - Rambling Reflections From The Disappointing Aftermath

Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

In this solo episode Mark reflects on how disappointed he is with the recent US election, and the importance of creators, artists, and writers to continue to do their work as storytellers and improving the world. This episode contains adult language, but only for a brief moment when Mark loses his cool when trying to express his anger and frustration. Links of Interest: (Book) The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of and is Licensed under...

EP 386 - Inside Every Poem, a Raging Sea of Writerly Advice with Liz Worth

Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

Mark interviews Liz Worth about her new poetry book Inside Every Poem, A Raging Sea. Mark skips the regular introductory matter to skip right to the interview. In their interview Mark and Liz talk about: How the book is about p laying with the idea of the cross-over or similarities between spell-writing and poetry The way that every line, every word counts in each of them Thoughts on what intuition really is as opposed to what many people think it is The importance of having to know the rules before you break them and how that works in both divination and writing How a lot of the poems...

EP 385 - Rambling Reflections From The Road: Go West Not So Young Man

Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

In this solo episode, Mark shares a few thoughts from his hotel room in Victoria, British Columbia, on Canada's West Coast. This episode is sponsored by the patrons who support this podcast at and . Links of Interest: The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By

EP 384 - Rambling Reflections From The Road: World Fantasy Con 2024

Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

In this solo episode, Mark shares a few thoughts from the hotel room at World Fantasy Con 2024 in Niagara Falls, New York. This episode is sponsored by the patrons who support this podcast at and . From Mark's extremely detailed bullet points about what he wanted to reflect on: 1) Coming to WFC. 2) The nature of relationships in the writing world/community 3) Feeling like a real writer (via recent events) 4) But also feeling like a failure - afternoon at Indigo 5) Links of Interest: The introductory, end, and bumper music for...

EP 383 - 20 Haunting Years

Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

In this solo episode Mark talks through the logic and reasoning behind a recent book launch by sharing a little of his own experience and publication history. This episode is sponsored by the patrons who support this podcast at and . Mark shares the behind-the-scenes story of: Why he first self-published the book One Hand Screaming in 2004 The logistics and strategy behind making it fully returnable and why he was trying to push the envelope of publishing so early in the digital publishing revolution A little bit of his experience as a writer in those manual "mail out...

EP 382 - From Page to Platform: How to Succeed as an Author Speaker

Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

EP 381 - Showcasing Independent Bookstores, Publishers, And Authors with Andrew Snook

Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

Mark interviews Andrew Snook about his writing and editing work as well as Canadian Independent Publishers magazine, which is celebrating its first anniversary. Prior to the interview Mark welcomes new Patrons, shares comments from recent episodes, a personal update, and a word about this episode's sponsor This episode is sponsored by FROM PAGE TO PLATFORM by Matty Dalrymple and Michael La Ronn. You can learn more about the book at . In their conversation, Mark and Andrew talk about: Celebrating the first year of publishing Canadian Independent Author Andrew's first ventures self-publishing...

EP 380 - Passion Project Publishing with Brianna Wodabek

Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

Mark interviews Brianna Wodabek, Assistant Manager of Digital Marketing at HarperCollins about her lifelong love of reading, books, and writing, and her evolution in the book industry. Prior to the interview Mark welcomes new Patrons, shares comments from recent episodes, a personal update, and a word about this episode's sponsor This episode is sponsored by FROM PAGE TO PLATFORM by Matty Dalrymple and Michael La Ronn. You can learn more about the book at . In their conversation, Mark and Brianna talk about: How Brianna always loved reading and writing, but also knew that she wasn't...

More Episodes

Mark interviews Becca Syme, an author and a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach who has been helping writers with coaching success alignment for more than a decade.

Prior to the interview, Mark thanks Patrons and Buy Me A Coffee buddies, shares comments from recent episode, a personal update, and a word from this episode's sponsor.

Learn more about this self-publishing/WIDE-publishing focused cruise.

In the interview Mark and Becca talk about:

How Becca deals with unexpected situations such as someone being late for a virtual meeting (Mark was 20 minutes late getting to this interview) and how this aligns with her strength of "Arranger"
The Clifton Strengths personality metric and how Becca uses it to help writers
Mark's top 5 strengths and Becca's top 5 strengths
The pros and cons that come with a strength such as Empathy
How emotions can have residue - that emotions are not false just because they're fictional
Becca first taking the Clifton Strengths in 2005 and then immediately wanting to become certified and to figure this out; which is when her coaching began
The "Dear Writer"/"Question The Premise" books that Becca has written to help writers
How Becca's first book "Dear Writer You Need to Quit" has become a running joke, especially from people who have never read the book and have only heard the title
The challenge related to the new place Becca lives and trying to get audiobooks recorded
People who are pressure-prompted and the leveraging external motivation VS internal motivation
A look at home office versus having an office space separate from the home and how that can work better for some people
How our visions of ourselves are not correct because so much of it is based on impressions we were fed before we were able to effectively grasp a more pure vision of ourselves
Being able to look at what's often seen as a weakness as a strength
How even the more benign moments and experiences in childhood can have a dramatic life-long impact upon us
The way that Becca questions almost everything, including the thoughts and feelings that she has
Being an intuitive writer verses writing a book to outline
How 100% of the things that "everyone says" are for everyone, are definitely NOT for everyone
That most people are not lying to you, but they are lying to themselves, often because they just don't understand
How a person who NEVER questions themself is a major red flag
The "reach for my phone" game that Becca plays when she's traveling or out in public
The 12-Hour Walk
Becca dating someone who was comfortably disconnected from their phone, rarely ever reaching for it, but just being in the moment
The problem with interrupting the thought cycle and being able to get all the way to the bottom of the cognitive process
And more . . .

After the interview Mark reflects on a handful of things that came up in their conversation, which he felt was a lot of good therapy for him.

Links of Interest:

Becca Syme (MATL) is a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach and has been coaching success alignment for more than a decade. She is the author of the Quitbooks for Writers series and the popular Write Better-Faster course. She also writes mystery novels in her spare time and lives on one of the thousand lakes in Minnesota.

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

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