Exploring the Blank Page

Today on the podcast we are excited to introduce you to Sara Ella. Once upon a time, Sara Ella dreamed she would marry a Disney prince and live in a castle. Now she spends her days homeschooling her three Jedi in training, braving the Arizona summers, and reminding her superhero husband that it's almost Christmas (even if it's only January). When she's not writing, Sara might be found behind her camera lens or planning her next adventure to California. A lover of fairy tales, she believes “Happily Ever After is Never Far Away.” 

Links from the Show

Unblemished series | Sara Ella | https://amzn.to/3lKm8w4

Sara's writing space  | 

Coral | https://amzn.to/2JPs5uE

Frozen | https://amzn.to/2LaOQK7

Onward | https://amzn.to/3ga2uZt

Brave | https://amzn.to/3mMVxjp

Big Hero 6 | https://amzn.to/3mIUz7Z

Disney Story Origins Podcast | http://www.disneystoryoriginspodcast.com/

Dust | Kara Swanson | https://amzn.to/3oqs2nQ

The Lunar Chronicles | Marrisa Meyers | https://amzn.to/39H4rv1

Welcome to Wonderland | https://youtu.be/NN6J-aYI0d4

Ready Player One Soundtrack | https://youtu.be/nn5svPIP3zo

Warcross | Marie Lu | https://amzn.to/2JRZ3dz

The Selection | Keira Cass | https://amzn.to/36FU7BA

Harney and Sons Paris Tea | https://amzn.to/3lENns9

As the daughter of missionaries, Kara Swanson spent her childhood running barefoot through the lush jungles of Papua New Guinea. Able to relate with characters dropped into a unique new world, she quickly fell in love with the fantasy genre.

Swanson is the award-winning author of The Girl Who Could See and Peter Pan retelling/sequel Dust (Enclave Publishing, July 2020). She helps young writers explore their passions as a faculty member of the Young Writer's Workshop and also offers her own author coaching services.

Kara is passionate about crafting stories of light shattering darkness, connecting with readers, and becoming best friends with a mermaid--though not necessarily in that order.

Links from the Show

The Girl Who Could See | Kara Swanson | https://amzn.to/33L4Bhh

Dust | Kara Swanson | https://amzn.to/3mIa8wp

Young Writer's Workshop |

Peter Pan | JM Barrie | https://amzn.to/3lMBSPg

Return to Neverland | https://amzn.to/3mOZ1SI

Hawk | James Patterson | https://amzn.to/3mJBC4Z

Nadine Brandes | https://amzn.to/33KvUZg

Sara Ella | https://amzn.to/2VRAxMN

Lindzy Franklin | https://amzn.to/33N3y0a

Mary Weber | https://amzn.to/2JsufAB

Chronicles of Narnia | https://amzn.to/37ytrCg

On this episode of Exploring the Blank Page Podcast, we have a special guest, and the third member of our Mastermind group, Natalie Walters. With Natalie, we dive deep into what a mastermind group is, how we started our writing squad, and how to make sure yours is successful! Enjoy! 

Links from the Show

#findmywritingcommunity: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/findmywritingcommunity/

Zoom: zoom.us

Connect with Natalie: https://www.nataliewalterswriter.com/

You may have heard of today’s author because of her amazing online presence and genuine approach to social media. She is a lover of all things South Korea and K-Pop, best friends to Adrienne Young, and just got some exciting news we’re dying to hear her talk about on today’s podcast.

Links from the Show

KD's announcement on Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17885155150624679/?hl=en

It Happened at Christmas | https://amzn.to/2Kdz3tq

Y'all Fest | https://www.yallwrite.org/

Woven in Moonlight | https://amzn.to/3kIfBBC

Vampires Diaries | https://amzn.to/38WCkb8

Guardian: The Lonely and Great God | https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5994364/

Viki streaming service | https://www.viki.com/

Blood and Honey | https://amzn.to/3kGVRys

Spinning Silver | https://amzn.to/3lVXCsI

More than Maybe | https://amzn.to/2IEAvot

Serpent and Dove | https://amzn.to/3kKBtfC

Red, White, and Royal Blue | https://amzn.to/3pEXb8A

Sky in the Deep | https://amzn.to/3nCFN2t

Outer Banks | https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10293938/

Today's guest is R.J. Anderson. R.J. is the daughter of a preacher who read Tolkien and Lewis aloud to his children, she grew up daydreaming about Narnia and Middle-Earth, watching DOCTOR WHO from behind the sofa, and hanging out in her brothers' comic book shop. Now she writes novels about knife-wielding faeries, weird science, and the numinous in the modern world.

Her debut novel KNIFE was a UK bestseller and has sold more than 120,000 copies worldwide. Her teen thriller ULTRAVIOLET (2011) was shortlisted for the 2012 Nebula Awards and the Sunburst Award for Canadian SF and was followed by a companion novel, QUICKSILVER (2013). She has also written two magical middle-grade mysteries, the Silver Birch Award-shortlisted A POCKET FULL OF MURDER (2015) and its sequel A LITTLE TASTE OF POISON (2016). Her latest work is the Flight and Flame Trilogy, consisting of SWIFT (coming August 2020), NOMAD (November 2020), and TORCH (February 2021).

For links and everything else we chatted about this week, visit https://exploring-the-blank-page.jimdosite.com/show-notes/

In Episode 6 of Exploring the Blank Page, we're chatting about our August project — what it was, what we've learned, and where we're going from here.

For links and everything else we chatted about this week, visit https://exploring-the-blank-page.jimdosite.com/show-notes/

Today's special guest is Natalie Mae. Natalie Mae is an ex-programmer, dark chocolate enthusiast, and author of young adult novels. She has also been a freelance editor and a Pitch Wars mentor, and she feels it notable to mention she once held a job where she had to feed spiders. When not writing, she can be found wandering the Colorado wilderness with her family.

Be sure to grab a copy of her latest release The Kinder Poison.

[Please forgive the sound quality of this episode. We were dealing with some Bluetooth interference for the first portion and a little at the end]

For links and everything else we chatted about this week, visit https://exploring-the-blank-page.jimdosite.com/show-notes/

Join us as we talk all things NaNoWriMo! November is coming — this is the pep talk you didn't know you needed! 

For links from this episode, visit: https://exploring-the-blank-page.jimdosite.com/

Today's special guest is Shannon Dittemore. Shannon is an author, speaker, and contributor to the blog Go Teen Writers, which was one of Writer's Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers. When she's not at her desk, she can be found in the wilds of Northern California, adventuring with her husband, their two children, and a Husky named Leonidas.

Be sure to grab Shannon's latest release, Winter, White & Wicked out now! 

For links and everything else we chatted about this week, visit https://exploring-the-blank-page.jimdosite.com/show-notes/

We are very excited to introduce you to our first podcast guest, Kara McDowell. Kara was born in the mountains and raised in the desert. She spent her childhood swimming, boating, and making up stories in her head. Now she lives in Mesa, Arizona, where she divides her time between writing, baking, and playing board games with her husband and three young sons. 

Grab her new book, One Way or Another, out now! 

Get links and show notes here: https://exploring-the-blank-page.jimdosite.com/show-notes/