I have the privilege of interviewing my good friend, award winning author, Wayne Thomas Batson. We talk friendship, collaboration, stealing away to intentionally create art, and flatulent barrister gnomes. For real.

SHOW NOTES:

Find Wayne's blog here.

“Friendship is born at that moment when one man says to another: "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . ."”

― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

The pub the CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien frequented, The Eagle and Child, which inspired us.

TWEETABLE: Intense focus, punctuated by moments of sheer hilarity, keeps you form going insane. [Tweet this!]

TWEETABLE: Collaboration allows you to bounce ideas off one another. [Tweet this!]

TWEETABLE: Collaboration provides intellectual and emotional security. [Tweet this!]

TWEETABLE: Community is essential to building good stories. [Tweet this!]

Guard your time. Protect your creative outlet. Don't structure too much around the weekend you set aside. Clear out distractions. Plan ahead.

FIND A GOOD HAUNT:

Jack's Draft House, Scranton, PA - Ask for Dimitri

Cooper's Seafood Restaurant, Scranton, PA

TIP: PRIMING THE PUMP - Write a few sentences for each chapter that you want to start in on before getting away on a writing weekend.

DREAMS THAT BECAME REALITY:

- Co-writing a book together, turned into The Berinfell Prophecies (trilogy)

- Fantasy Fiction Tours, 2007 (East Coast) and 2008 (West Coast)

- Flatulent Barrister Gnomes (more on this at the end of the podcast)

DISCUSSING OUR FAITH:

TWEETABLE: What you believe is impossible to separate from what you write. [Tweet this!]

TWEETABLE: All good writers bleed into their stories. [Tweet this!]

TWEETABLE: Unity is not uniformity. [Tweet this!]

*Wayne is accountable to the public for writing a non-fiction work on unity in the Body of Christ.

Riiight.™

-Cronk

Our stories, as well as our spiritual lives find strength in collaboration.

A few days of constant input builds needed momentum.

Q: If you're a writer, and you've crossed between fiction and non-fiction, what hurdles have you faced in doing so?

TWEETABLE: Writing non-fiction is kind of like streaking. [Tweet this!]

Having someone lovingly (or even un-lovingly) challenge your values and beliefs can cause you to reaffirm your cause.

GET AWAY

Be intentional. Look ahead. Plan for your creativity.

TWEETABLE: Devoted time for creativity is sacred. [Tweet this!]

If you're a successful published or self-published author or other creative, look to partner with services industries to help offset expenses in exchange for cross promotion.

Find a setting that works. For us, getting away at a mutually neutral, distraction-free environment.

...and yes, Migmar of The Berinfell Prophecies fame, got his start from a Bootcamp Weekend from the flatulent barrister gnome joke.