Calling All Nerds

In my first interview of fellow Whitney Award Finalists I interview my friend Nicholas Petrarch, author of the Clockwork Calamity series. Nick and I talk about a whole host of things but touch quite a bit on exploring different aspects of ourselves through writing our fictional characters. Check out Nick at https://nicholaspetrarch.com.

My preamble includes a 1 Min Media Review on The Umbrella Academy, a quarterly status update on my 2019 yearly goals, and me complaining about how I don't care about authors' cats on Twitter.

J Scott Savage is the author of eighteen published novels including the Farworld series from Shadow Mountain, the Case File 13 series from Harper Collins, and the Mysteries of Cove series. He joins me to talk about the roller coaster ride of his prolific career and how failure is not the opposite of success but an integral part of success.

Debut author Sofiya Pasternack gives a behind-the-scenes look of what it was like to land her dream agent followed by a solid book deal with a major publisher. She also talks about her debut middle grade novel, ANYA AND THE DRAGON, which comes out on Sep 24th, 2019 with HMH Versify. You can find more at www.sofiyapasternack.com

Aaron Johnston is a NYT bestselling author, television writer, comic-book writer, playwright, and the co-creator and executive producer of the BYUtv series EXTINCT. Aaron is the co-author of the Ender's Game prequel novels with Orson Scott Card and was an associate producer on the Ender's Game movie. Find more about Aaron at http://www.aaronwjohnston.com/

Jacob Gowans is the hybrid author of the very popular Psion series and the Shadow Mountain published Tales of Light and Shadow series. In one of my most interesting interviews ever, Jacob shares how he published 7 books over the course of 5 years and why, after achieving so much success, he decided to stop writing. You can find out more about Jacob at http://www.jacobgowans.com/

Frank Morin is the author of the YA fantasy series Facetakers and Petralist. Frank shares his roard to becoming a published author with great books, awesome covers, and cool art. We talk about his incredible work ethic (one day he wrote 18,000 words!) and dedication to the craft. You can find out more about Frank, his books, and get some Petralist merch at http://www.frankmorin.org/

Andy is the creator and host of the Andy Overthinks podcast (AndyOverthinks.com) and one of my very favorite conversationalists. We tackle everything from the controversial Gillette ad to parenting styles, to giving kids cell phones, to political correctness, to gender equality, and more! (*sorry for the slight echo with my voice on this episode. Not sure what happened there)

Stephen Gashler is a storyteller, author, playwright, composer, and singer. He has been entertaining children and adults for over ten years through storytelling, stand-up comedy, and music. I talk about what its like to be a jack of all trades. You can find all Stephen's stuff at https://stephengashler.com

I speak with my brother, Captain Dr. Steve Thayer about movies, video games, and TV shows in 2018. What were the best, the worst, the most disappointing, and the ones Rotten Tomatoes got wrong. I also review how I did on my 2018 resolutions and lay out my resolutions for 2019.

Jodi L. Milner is the author of the YA noble dark fantasy Stonebearer's Betrayal as well as several short stories appearing in numerous anthologies and SQ Magazine.

In her community, she holds a leadership position in the League of Utah Writers and teaches at chapter meetings and conferences. She's a world traveler, married a magician, studied Kenpo karate, and performed reptile shows several times a week while in college.

Website: http://jodilmilnerauthor.wordpress.com

Facebook Author page: https://www.facebook.com/JodilMilnerAuthor/

Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Jodi-L.-Milner/e/B00SGCGYHC/