Activated Authors

By Activated Authors

Activated Authors is an online author community centered around principles of healthy productivity, community, and shared knowledge. Founded by international bestselling author, award-winning podcaste... more

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How many episodes does Activated Authors have?

The podcast currently has 193 episodes available.

Activated Authors episodes:

November 13, 2020#061: Andy Conduit-Turner – Writing comics, navigating publishing contracts, and choosing the best medium for your story.
Andy Conduit-Turner is a writer, editor, occasional quiz host and serial podcaster from the UK (mostly). Writing across a number of genres and mediums, He is a fan of horror, comedy, picking on the small details and has a spreadsheet for everything!

Andy is one of the founders of Horde Comics and, in addition to his work there, several of Andy’s short stories have featured on The Other Stories podcast. He recently directed The Halloween Horrors of Old Mill Lane, a week-long audio production which starred Emily Booth in the lead role.

In this episode we go deep into:
The Halloween Horrors of Old Mill Lane
Premiering podcast episodes on YouTube
Using audio adaptations of your stories in your portfolio
Write once, publish many
Working with Emily Booth
What the future holds for Old Mill Lane
The formation of Horde Comics
Keeping your story ideas manageable… Start small!
Writing for comics
Online comics communities
How to decide which medium best suits a story
Using spreadsheets to collaborate on big writing projects
Early storytelling experiences
Publishing contracts (Things to look out for)
Why Andy writes

Find out more about Andy:
https://twitter.com/AndyCTWrites
https://www.hordecomics.com/

Links from the show:
Selling Your Story – Peaks and Pitfalls of Publishing Contracts – https://superandyt.tumblr.com/post/622286140908666881
The Awesome Comics Podcast – https://awesomecomics.podbean.com/

Get more from Great Writers Share!
https://www.danielwillcocks.com/merch/gws
https://www.facebook.com/groups/greatwritersshare/

GWS Press books:
Collaboration for Authors: https://books2read.com/u/3G2jLn

Special thanks to:
Intro vocals: Persephone Rose
Show theme: Karl Hughes

Become a Patron of the show! Get exclusive bonus content, find your tribe, and get early access to all episodes.

Thank you to our patrons:
David Hines
Harley Christensen
Jon Cronshaw
Jenn Mitchell
Innes Richens
Ian J Middleton
Michael Anderle
Katie Forrest
Yanni Jade
Meg Cowley
H.B. Lyne
Jo
Sacha Black
Laura K

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1h 9min
November 06, 2020#060: Jessie Shedden – Escaping the cult, healing with writing, and empowering others through personal experience.
Jessie Shedden is a British-Australian chicken-loving, cult-escaping badass woman, who has become a sought-after speaker, consultant and inspirational author of Those Boots Were Made For Walking. Jessie is an entrepreneur, coach, author, chicken mom, internationally published model and motivational speaker. After 23 years of bullying for her appearance, and with her self-esteem deeply eroded, she decided to create a life where she could be herself, experience freedom and independence, and develop the confidence she'd never known. Jessie now helps other women become the most successful version of themselves in their lives, relationships and businesses, through her mindset course and practical wisdom on releasing confidence blocks. With her rustic Western charm and authentic personality, she shares her personal journey of creating freedom and independence, and finding love on her own terms.

In this episode we go deep into:
The limitations that she grew up with as part of a cult
Her writing background
The system she used to write her book in 40 days
The transformative act of writing a memoir
The pushback from her old community over the book
The thought processes behind her decision to independently publish
Her plans to write a follow up book
Her move into motivational speaking and working with women to empower themselves

Jessie answers questions from Patrons:
Dan: What one piece of advice would you give to someone who's heading into the coach and personal development space to help them embrace the role and grow their business?
Find out more about Jessie:
https://www.jessieshedden.com/

Get more from Great Writers Share!
https://www.danielwillcocks.com/merch/gws
https://www.facebook.com/groups/greatwritersshare/

GWS Press books:
Collaboration for Authors: https://books2read.com/u/3G2jLn

Special thanks to:
Intro vocals: Persephone Rose
Show theme: Karl Hughes

Become a Patron of the show! Get exclusive bonus content, find your tribe, and get early access to all episodes.

Thank you to my patrons:
David Hines
Harley Christensen
Jon Cronshaw
Jenn Mitchell
Innes Richens
Ian J Middleton
Michael Anderle
Mark McClure
Katie Forrest
Yanni Jade
Meg Cowley
Jo
Sacha Black
Laura K

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
...more
42min
October 30, 2020#059: Great Writers Scare – Exploring horror with Michael David Wilson, Bob Pastorella, Daniel Willcocks, and John Crinan.
On today’s show, we forego the usual Great Writers Share format, as we turn off the lights, ignite some candles, place our Jack-o-Lanterns in the windows and invite the monsters in for a special Halloween episode of, what our guests have lovingly dubbed, the Great Writers Scare podcast.

The premise is simple. Four horror writers. Ninety minutes of unfiltered time to discuss all things horror writing. But who are these other three writers, you might be wondering.

Joining Dan today we have one of our regular co-hosts, sci-fi and horror author, John Crinan, as well as two powerhouses in the horror community. I’m excited to welcome back to the show, the founder and host of the This Is Horror podcast, Michael David Wilson, and to say hello for the first time to his glamorous (but haunting) co-host, Bob Pastorella.

In this episode we go deep into:
Why do we write horror?
Our earliest horror experiences
Why are we not repulsed by horror?
What has 2020 brought to horror, and how has the pandemic shaped writers of the genre?
Michael and Bob’s new book, “They’re Watching"
Michael and Bob’s collaboration process when writing the book
John Crinan’s story as featured on Hawk & Cleaver’s “The Halloween Horrors of Mill Lane” limited series
The Other Stories anthology, edited by Daniel Willcocks

Find out more about Dan, John, Michael, and Bob:
www.danielwillcocks.com
https://www.johncrinan.com/
https://www.michaeldavidwilson.co.uk/
https://www.thisishorror.co.uk/about/staff/bob-pastorella/

Links from the show:
Michael’s Interview on the show: https://pod.link/1473869415/episode/NmM2NWRjMTctZDA3Yy00Y2VlLWI0N2MtMTA5NDMxODQ2MTlm
Michael and Bob’s, "They’re Watching": https://books2read.com/u/4A7YGd
Michael David Wilson’s, "The Girl in the Video": https://books2read.com/u/b5krzR
Bob Pastorella’s "Mojo Rising": https://books2read.com/u/m2Mvn7
Chuck Palahniuk’s “Guts”: http://readfulltext.blogspot.com/2013/10/guts-by-chuck-palahniuk.html
Let’s Scare Jessica to Death: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067341/
Night of the Living Dead: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063350/
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072271/
Poltergeist: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084516/
Stephen King’s “Cujo”: https://books2read.com/u/bQd9Xd
An American Werewolf in London:
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1h 38min
October 22, 2020#058: V.S. Holmes – Advocating for queer and disabled representation, winning awards, and collaborative relationships.
V. S. Holmes is an international bestselling author. They created the REFORGED series and the NEL BENTLY BOOKS. Smoke and Rain, the first book in their fantasy quartet, won New Apple Literary's Excellence in Independent Publishing Award in 2015 and a Literary Titan Gold in 2020. In addition, they have published short fiction in several anthologies.

When not writing, they work as a contract archaeologist throughout the northeastern U.S. They live in a Tiny House with their spouse, a fellow archaeologist, their not-so-tiny dog, and own too many books for such a small abode. As a disabled and queer human, they work as an advocate and educator for representation in SFF worlds.

In this episode we go deep into:
V’s tiny home and how that came into being
What the life of a contract archeologist looks like
How V got into writing and what fuels that passion
How V won their awards, and what the process looked like in the five years between
V’s understanding of complex political structures and how they apply that to their writing
What is that bone behind them on camera?
V's approach to genre hopping and how that affects their writing
What is Amphibian Press and how does that changes their publishing process
What’s the secret behind raising the voices of marginalized voices?
What are the common mistakes people make when writing queer or disabled characters
The importance of at least trying to write the voices of characters outside your comfort zone
Working with sensitivity readers as part of your writing process
V recommends an example for reading queer voices
Working and building a collaborative universe
How to market books in a collaborative universe
Managing conflict and disagreements when you go your separate ways in a collaborative arrangement
Exploring the possibilities of direct selling through your own website
Managing pen names across genres
Why V writes

Find out more about V.S. Holmes:
https://vsholmes.com/index.html
https://www.facebook.com/authorvsholmes/
https://twitter.com/VS_Holmes
https://www.instagram.com/vs_holmes/

Links from the show:
The Other Side anthology: https://www.devilsrockpublishing.com/theotherside
9 Things Career Authors Don’t Do, Marketing: https://books2read.com/u/bPKVOz
Dan’s Boot Camp: https://www.danielwillcocks.com/bootcamp
O. E. Tearmann’s “Aces High, Jokers Wild” series: https://www.amazon.com/Hands-Were-Given-Aces-Jokers/dp/B07TMGQLBL/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=o+e+tearmann&qid=1603124448&sr=8-3

Get your Great Writers Share merchandise!
https://www.danielwillcocks.com/merch/gws

GWS Press books:
Collaboration for Authors:
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
...more
1h 1min
October 15, 2020#057: Julia Scott – Formatting books the right way, tackling the second novel, and diving into audio.
Julia Scott is a British author, whose goal is to take you out of ‘regular life’ and teleport you to new worlds and alternate futures through her writing. The Mirror Souls is her debut novel, and like many sci-fi and fantasy books, it started off as a dream.

In her ‘other’ life, Julia lives in Essex, England with her husband and two children. She spends her time mum-ing, writing, prettifying books (via Evenstar Books), graphic designing, singing, and digging or planting stuff up in the garden without really knowing what she’s doing.

In this episode we go deep into:
How Julia got started as a new author
The difficulty of writing the second book after such a well-received debut
Her history as a graphic designer
How she wound up being such an in-demand formatter
The common mistakes authors make when formatting their own books
Having multiple streams of income - the pros and cons
Her formatting course, The Book Formatting Formula
And why she writes

Find out more about Julia:
https://www.evenstarbooks.com/
https://www.juliascottwrites.com/

Links from the show:
NaNoWriMo Bootcamp: https://www.danielwillcocks.com/bootcamp
Holly’s new release: www.bookst2read.com/fate-blue-moon

Get more from Great Writers Share!
https://www.danielwillcocks.com/merch/gws
https://www.facebook.com/groups/greatwritersshare/

GWS Press books:
Collaboration for Authors: https://books2read.com/u/3G2jLn

Special thanks to:
Intro vocals: Persephone Rose
Show theme: Karl Hughes

Become a Patron of the show! Get exclusive bonus content, find your tribe, and get early access to all episodes.

Thank you to patrons:
David Hines
Harley Christensen
Jon Cronshaw
Jenn Mitchell
Innes Richens
Ian J Middleton
Michael Anderle
Mark McClure
Katie Forrest
Yanni Jade
Meg Cowley
Jo
Sacha Black
Laura K

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
...more
43min
October 08, 2020#056: Ben Errington – Starting with just a cover, gaining confidence as a writer, and positivity on social media.
Ben Errington is a writer from Bristol, UK. With debut novel ‘Ten Tales of the Human Condition’ and novella ‘Dye Pack’ under his belt, Ben’s fast-paced, chaotic, cinematic style has earned him many plaudits. He co-created the post-apocalyptic Luchador comic book El Marvo with Luke Kondor and is the co-host of horror movie discussion podcast Horror Hangout.

He’s also a member of the storytelling collective Hawk & Cleaver and one of the minds behind the highly successful fiction podcast ‘The Other Stories’, which releases original narrated horror, science-fiction and fantasy shorts every week.

In this episode we go deep into:
Publishing his first short story quickly
Public accountability
The early days of Hawk and Cleaver
Using the momentum from small wins to complete his first novel
Imposter syndrome
Gaining Confidence as a writer
Trusting the process
Collaboration
Designing his own book covers before starting to write
Tips for authors working with their cover designer
The importance of positivity on social media
Curating your social feeds
Writing for an audience of one
Repurposing content

Find out more about Ben:
https://linktr.ee/ben_errington
https://twitter.com/ben_errington
https://www.instagram.com/ben_errington/

Links from the show:
https://play.acast.com/s/thehorrorhangout
https://www.danielwillcocks.com/bootcamp

Get more from Great Writers Share!
https://www.danielwillcocks.com/merch/gws
https://www.facebook.com/groups/greatwritersshare/

GWS Press books:
Collaboration for Authors: https://books2read.com/u/3G2jLn

Special thanks to:
Intro vocals: Persephone Rose
Show theme: Karl Hughes

Become a Patron of the show! Get exclusive bonus content, find your tribe, and get early access to all episodes.

Thank you to my patrons:
David Hines
Harley Christensen
Jon Cronshaw
Jenn Mitchell
Innes Richens
Ian J Middleton
Michael Anderle
Mark McClure
Katie Forrest
Yanni Jade
Meg Cowley
H.B. Lyne
Jo

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
...more
1h 13min
October 01, 2020#055: Faye Trask – Debut novel writing, finding mentors, and falling in love with learning.
Faye Trask has had a love for writing and telling stories since she was a little girl. She was immediately drawn into the world of fantasy and science fiction. Throughout her schooling her passion grew. she put her writing on hold to serve in the US military. When not working at her day job or on her debut novel she can be found in the woods of Maine camping, hiking or trail riding with her fiancé and their dog.

In this episode we go deep into:
Where Faye’s love of writing started from
Why Faye used to get distracted in English classes, and how that led to her teaching parts of the curriculum
The importance of exploring your imagination and holding onto that muscle
Dropping out of college and joining the military
The existential crisis of leaving the military
How Faye rediscovered her creative muscle
Discovering writers on YouTube and falling down the rabbit hole of indie
Lessons learned from Neil Gaiman and Jenna Moreci
How Faye approaches finding the right bits of learning, and how to digest the lessons learnt
Approaching your second novel and learning from your process
Faye’s writing process and how to squeeze words in during the day job
Understanding that your first book is likely not going to be your best book
Immersing yourself in craft books and getting into the weeds in the words
Approaching the next steps of publishing your book as a first time author
Why finding the right author communities helps to keep you accountable
Using lessons from the military to keep you accountable
Making it through burnout and getting back to the page
Why Faye writes

Find out more about Faye:
https://www.instagram.com/writerfayetrask/

Links from the show:
Jenna Moreci’s YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS_fcv9kBpDN4WWrfcbCrgw
Neil Gaiman’s Masterclass https://www.masterclass.com/classes/neil-gaiman-teaches-the-art-of-storytelling
Jenna’s Livestream with Meg LaTorre and Sacha Black https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fqw89UXrL7o&t=336s&ab_channel=iWriterly
Jenna’s Interview on Great Writers Share https://pod.link/1473869415/episode/NjQzMjU1ZDgtMDJlMi00MDlhLTgzNTItMGE5YmU2Y2E4M2Jk
Three Story Method https://books2read.com/u/4jWkwv
Save the Cat https://books2read.com/u/bzj5a9
Jenna’s Tips for Writing Fight Scenes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM4lWE3qwBo&t=512s
Rebel Author Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/rebelauthors
https://thecareerauthor.com/summit2021/

Get your Great Writers Share merchandise!
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
...more
55min
September 24, 2020#054: Jennie Nash – Becoming a book coach, the truth behind the author journey, and the power of integrity.
Jennie Nash is the founder and chief creative officer of Author Accelerator, a company on a mission to help writers write books worth reading. Since the company’s inception, writers serious about reaching readers have trusted Jennie to coach their projects from inspiration to publication. Her clients have landed top New York agents, national book awards, and deals with houses such as Scribner, Simon & Schuster, and Hachette. Jennie is the author of 9 books in 3 genres. She taught for 13 years in the UCLA Extension Writer’s Program, is an instructor at CreativeLive.com and speaks on podcasts and at writing conferences all over the country.

In this episode we go deep into:
Jennie’s love of Seth Godin and how the start-up world can translate into the craft of writing
The importance of asking yourself ‘Why’ to zero in on your writing goals and focus
How Jennie found herself in the business of book coaching instead of writing
What exactly is book coaching, and why should authors consider it?
Why people expect writing to be an innate talent instead of something that you work on
Recognizing the true hard work of the writer journey
When to recognize that you need to switch business focus and turn from prioritizing writing to offering services
Embracing the modern changes in the publishing industry
How to confidently ensure that you’re actually helping writers with your services as a teacher and coach
The power of systems and processes in order to grow your business
Why coaches shouldn’t be tied to outcomes, but to processes
The importance of asking the right questions
The value of working with a coach who has been in the trenches as a writer
Why writers aren’t the best judge of their own work
Comparisons between personal trainers and book coaches
Changing your mindset on money and understanding your worth as an author
The importance of providing value to your clients and being honest with what they can expect
Why Jennie coaches

Find out more about Jennie:
https://bookcoaches.com/abc
https://www.authoraccelerator.com/

Links from the show:
Wildviolet Creative
Https://www.danielwillcocks.com
Seth Godin's "Alt MBA” https://altmba.com/
Simon Sinek's "Start With Why" https://simonsinek.com/commit/start-with-why/
Creativity Inc https://books2read.com/u/3Gdj2a
Lisa Kron’s Story Genius https://books2read.com/u/4NL299

Get your Great Writers Share merchandise!
https://www.danielwillcocks.com/merch/gws

GWS Press books:
Collaboration for Authors: https://books2read.com/u/3G2jLn

Special thanks to:
Intro vocals: Persephone Rose
Show theme: Karl Hughes

Become...

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1h 18min
September 18, 2020#053: Ritu Bhathal – “Marriage Unarranged,” setting priorities, and poetry versus prose.
Ritu Bhathal is a blogger and author of fiction and poetry. She was born in Birmingham in the mid-1970s to migrant parents, hailing from Kenya but with Indian origin. Ritu’s colourful background has been a constant source of inspiration to her. From childhood, the joy of reading spurred her on to become creative in her writing, from fiction to poetry, winning small competitions at school and locally along the way.
As well as a wife, mother, daughter, sister, and teacher, Ritu also writes on her award-winning blog butismileanyway.com, which was awarded first place in the Best Overall Blog Category at the 2017 Annual Bloggers Bash Awards, and Best Book Blog in 2019. Ritu is happily married and living in Kent, with her Hubby Dearest, and two children, not forgetting the fur baby Sonu Singh.

In this episode we go deep into:
Where Ritu’s journey began
How life can prioritize over writing
Starting a blog on a whim without a plan
Indian family customs
How writing groups and accountability can help lift you up and keep you on track
Publishing Poetry vs a Novel
How having a support system is instrumental in the writing process
Stationary and her vast collection of brush pens
Being realistic when it comes to balancing everyday life and getting words written
What her writing advice is for new writers

Ritu answers questions from Patrons:
Yanni Jade: What was the most surprising part of your writing/publishing journey? Is there anything that stands out as particularly spectacular?
Dan Willcocks: What lessons did the school competitions teach you to prepare for writing longer works?
Meg Cowley: How do you take care of yourself and carve out time to create/publish/etc.

Find out more about Ritu:
https://ritubhathal.com

Links from the show:
Ritu’s blog:
https://butismileanyway.com

Get your Great Writers Share merchandise!
https://www.danielwillcocks.com/merch/gws

GWS Press books:
Collaboration for Authors: https://books2read.com/u/3G2jLn

Special thanks to:
Intro vocals: Persephone Rose
Show theme: Karl Hughes

Become a Patron of the show! Get exclusive bonus content, find your tribe, and get early access to all episodes.

Thank you to my patrons:
David Hines
Harley Christensen
Jon Cronshaw
Jenn Mitchell
Innes Richens
Ian J Middleton
PT Hylton
Michael Anderle
Mark McClure
Katie Forrest
Yanni Jade
Meg Cowley
H.B. Lyne
Jo

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
...more
1h 3min
September 10, 2020#052: V Castro – Boosting marginalized voices, word counts during lockdown, and writing in the horror genre.
V Castro is a Mexican American writer originally from Texas who now resides in the UK. She is the author of Maria the Wanted, Hairspray and Switchblades, along with the other upcoming horror titles: Goddess of Filth, Queen of the Cicadas and Mestiza Blood (all coming soon).

Recently, during lockdown, V co-founded Fright Girl Summer: an online book festival to promote women in horror with an emphasis on women from marginalized communities.

In this episode we go deep into:
How lockdown and current events have affected V’s creativity
The writing of V’s first book, Maria the Wanted
Writing without a plan
Hopping between projects
Why V writes horror
Writing in the erotic horror subgenre
On writing what you wants to read
Cultivating a diverse reading list
Fright Girl Summer
Writing short stories for submission calls
Playing with genre tropes
Writing to music
Using dreams as inspiration for stories
Editing an anthology and boosting other authors
V’s approach to social media

Find out more about V:
https://www.vvcastro.com/
https://twitter.com/vlatinalondon
https://www.instagram.com/vlatinalondon/

Links from the show:
https://www.frightgirlsummer.com/

Get more from Great Writers Share!
https://www.danielwillcocks.com/merch/gws
https://www.facebook.com/groups/greatwritersshare/

GWS Press books:
Collaboration for Authors: https://books2read.com/u/3G2jLn

Special thanks to:
Intro vocals: Persephone Rose
Show theme: Karl Hughes

Become a Patron of the show! Get exclusive bonus content, find your tribe, and get early access to all episodes.

Thank you to my patrons:
David Hines
Harley Christensen
Jon Cronshaw
Jenn Mitchell
Innes Richens
Ian J Middleton
PT Hylton
Michael Anderle
Mark McClure
Katie Forrest
Yanni Jade
Meg Cowley
H.B. Lyne
Jo

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
...more
1h

FAQs about Activated Authors:

How many episodes does Activated Authors have?

The podcast currently has 193 episodes available.