EP 407 - An Evening With A Drink And A Friend With Kevin J. Anderson
Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing
Release Date: 03/20/2025
Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing
In this solo episode Mark expresses his frustration, anger, and anxiety over what's happening in the world right now, and reminds himself, and listeners, about the power of writing and why the world NEEDS you and your writing now more than ever before. Link to video of Mark's Keynote for The BookFest Spring 2025. "Writer, the World Needs You: Why Your Writing Is More Important Than Ever." Links of Interest: (Mark's affiliate link) The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin...
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Mark interviews Patrick MacPhee, teacher and Writers of the Future award-winning author about his love of reading, writing, and helping to inspire students. Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, a personal update, and a word about this episode's sponsor. This episode's sponsor: This episode is sponsored by an affiliate link to . Use code MARK5 at checkout and save $5.00 off your own personalized report. In the interview, Mark and Patrick talk about: Patrick's experience reading Fellowship of the Rings when he was rather young and how it impacted him in a profound...
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In this solo episode Mark shares some audio excerpts from his book PUBLISHING PITFALLS FOR AUTHORS. This episode's sponsor: This episode is sponsored by an affiliate link to . Use code MARK5 at checkout and save $5.00 off your own personalized report. Links of Interest: (Mark's affiliate link) 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
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In this episode Mark interviews Jacob from the JJ McFaull is collaboration children's book Where Pumpkins Go After Halloween. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update and a word about this episode's sponsor. This episode is sponsored by the new book The Podcast Guest Playbook co-authored by Mark and Matty Dalrymple. Check out the book here: In the interview, Mark and Jacob talk about: Mark and Jacob talk about: How even as a kid, Jacob was making up stories Getting involved in the book industry in 2024 after initially trying to get his children's book published The...
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Mark has a conversation with his life-long best buddy Steve Gaydos about art, beauty, photography, music, and so much more in a conversation recorded on their recent Canadian East Coast road trip. Links of Interest: (Mark's affiliate link) 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
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In this episode Mark interviews D.C. Gomez about her plan to give away a million copies of her best-selling and award-winning novel Death's Intern. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a word about this episode's sponsor. This episode is sponsored by an affiliate link to . Use code MARK5 at checkout and save $5.00 off your own personalized report. In the interview, Mark and D.C. talk about: DC being one of those kids who was into storytelling since as far back as she can remember Having a passion and background for video and screenplays The way everything changed for DC back during 9/11...
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In this episode Mark interviews author and artist C L Fors about her recent award win with Writers of the Future and her life in writing and illustration. Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, a personal update, and a word about this episode's sponsor. This episode is sponsored by an affiliate link to . Use code MARK5 at checkout and save $5.00 off your own personalized report. In the interview, Mark and Cherrie talk about: Cherrie's recent win as an illustrator for Writers and Illustrators of the Future for Volume 41 of the annual anthology Entering the contest...
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That pervasive feeling of self-doubt and insecurity you believe you are not deserving of your achievements and fear being exposed as a fraud known as imposter syndrome is especially common among writers and other creatives who often grapple with the vulnerability inherent in sharing their work with the world. But perhaps your imposter syndrome is actually a positive sign about your progression as a writer. That's the topic of this solo episode in which Mark reflects upon that. This episode is sponsored by an affiliate link to . Use code MARK5 at checkout and save $5.00 off your own...
info_outlineStark Reflections on Writing and Publishing
In this solo episode Mark shares a personal update and some reflections about writing, publishing, and some marketing ideas. This episode is sponsored by an affiliate link to . Use code MARK5 at checkout and save $5.00 off your own personalized report. Links of Interest: (Mark's affiliate link) 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
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In this episode Mark reflects on friend, mentor, and fellow author Nancy Kilpatrick. Nancy Kilpatrick (May 6, 1946 – March 31, 2025) was a Canadian author who wrote stories in the genres of , , , , and and was perhaps best known for her vampire novels and stories. Links of Interest: (Mark's affiliate link) 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
info_outlineMark has a virtual beer with Kevin J. Anderson while they talk through various aspects about writing and publishing. This episode is from a live chat that was hosted on the evening of Sunday March 16, 2025.
This episode is sponsored by Superstars Writing Seminars: Teaching you the business of being a writer which takes place in early Feb 2026 in Colorado Springs, CO and where Mark will be a guest speaker.
Use code: STARK100 to get $100 off your registration.
In their chat Mark and Kevin talk about:
- The loss of author and poet Danny Peart, Neil Peart's brother and how the first story Kevin and Neil wrote together named the main character after Neil's brother
- Mark and Kevin's Rush and beer connection
- Kevin's "music starter kit" to his grand-kids
- The significance of the Rush album Grace Under Pressure to both Kevin and Mark
- How the Columbia Music Record Club is what led to Kevin discovering Rush (because he was looking for sci-fi style album covers and Rush's 2112 jumped out at him)
- The back-story to Kevin's Terra Incognita novels
- Writing a novel that was a tie-in to a Rush album
- How Kevin has been able to leverage Kickstarter to produce products that no New York publisher would likely ever get behind
- The way a tribute song "No Words" about Neil Peart led to a new friendship and collaboration with Kevin
- The music behind the Terra Incognita trilogy
- Kevin's Kickstarter for Terra Incognita funding in 14 minutes, but the ultimate goal of earning back the high investment he has already put into it
- The number of novels that Kevin has written
- Benefits of being able to order books directly from the author versus going through the multiple layers of traditional publishing
- Superstars Writing Seminars, the conference that Kevin, his wife Rebecca, Dave Farland, Eric Flint, and Brandon Sanderson started more than 15 years ago
- The Masters of Creative Writing with a focus on Publishing that Kevin teaches at Western Colorado University
- The annual anthology that this program publishes thanks to sponsorship from Draft2Digital
- The latest musical collaboration Kevin recently announced
- Kevin coming to Toronto's Massey Hall for RushFest on August 1, 2025
- What books Kevin and Mark are currently working on
- Favorite advice for running a Kickstarter and the real costs of shipping and handling
- Kevin's love of hiking and dictating when he writes
- And more . . .
Links of Interest:
- Kevin J Anderson's Website
- Superstars Writing Seminars
- Buy Mark a Coffee
- Patreon for Stark Reflections
- Mark's YouTube channel
- Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)
- An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries
- The Relaxed Author
- Publishing Pitfalls for Authors
- An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores
- Wide for the Win
- Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books
- The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
- Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard
- Merry Christmas! Shitter Was Full!: A Trivia Guide to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
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