Florida Writer Podcast

Authors have a choice to write what they know at the exclusion of others--or--they can share their experiences without bias with the goal of creating characters that bridge the gap. Enjoy this conversation with Florida Writer Podcast host Alison Nissen and thriller/suspense author Mark Shaiken.

Mark Shaiken the author of "and . . . Just Like That - Essays on a Life Before, During and After the Law" and, "Fresh Start," a legal thriller, both available on Amazon and other online and bricks and mortar book retailers. Watch for my next legal thriller, "Unfair Discrimination" due out in the Spring of 2022. Connect with me at http://markshaikenauthor.com

When fire forces you to abandon everything, it also requires you to rethink the motivation for your story. Enjoy this Florida Writer Podcast with host Alison Nissen and renowned decorator and artist Elisa Stancil Levine about self-discovery in the face of adversity.

Elisa Stancil Levine spent her childhood in a canyon on the American River, upstream from the site of the California gold rush. She left school at sixteen and as a single mother in Sacramento earned a degree in library science and studied creative writing. Working with partners she remodeled sixteen historic houses and was home and garden editor and feature writer for Sacramento Magazine. At thirty-six she founded Stancil Studios, an award-winning, nationwide decorative finishes company in San Francisco.

Raegen Pietrucha's Head of a Gorgon is a narrative in poems that reimagines the myth of Medusa, transporting this ancient tale of sexual violence into contemporary times and examining it through a survivor-centric, feminist lens. Listen to the Florida Writer Podcast episode with host Alison Nissen as she and Raegen talk about this dark tale.

Raegen Pietrucha writes, edits, and consults on professional and creative bases. She received her M.F.A. from Bowling Green State University, where she served on the staff of Mid-American Review. Her debut poetry collection, Head of a Gorgon, is forthcoming with Vegetarian Alcoholic Press in 2022; her poetry chapbook, An Animal I Can't Name, won the 2015 Two of Cups Press competition; and she has a memoir in progress. Her creative work has also been published in Cimarron Review, Puerto del Sol, and other magazines. Visit her at http://raegenmp.wordpress.com.

In this Florida Writer Podcast, host Alison Nissen talks with JM Tompkins, the Atlanta Self-Publishing Conference Chair about some simple strategies for writers from proof of concept to outsourcing to marketing. The nuts and bolts of writing is tricky but with help, very rewarding.

J. M. Tompkins started her own publishing company and began focusing on her true passions. As an author, she first published at the age of sixteen, had a popular poetry blog, published in several magazines, and began working on what would become the Habitual Humanity Series in 2012. She finally took the plunge in 2019 to begin publishing her books.

The Atlanta Self-Publishing Conference brings to you professionals from both the foundations of business and craft to help you unlock the secrets of success.

We all have ideas for stories, but if our inner critic has a say, our stories might stay trapped forever. In this edition of the Florida Writer Podcast, host Alison Nissen chats with Cooper Levey-Baker, author of the new dystopian book Dead Fish Wind about how he turned a 3-minute free-writing exercise into a novel...after he calmed his inner critic.

Cooper Levey-Baker is a writer and journalist. His fiction has appeared in the Sierra Nevada Review and Burrow Press's Fantastic Floridas series, and his journalism has won multiple awards from the Florida Magazine Association and the Florida Society of Professional Journalists. Dead Fish Wind is his first novel.

In this edition of the Florida Writer Podcast, Push-Cart nominated poet John Davis Jr and host Alison Nissen discuss how he explores the dark secrets of the Dozier School for Boys in his latest book The Places That Hold. John Davis Jr. is the author of Hard Inheritance (Five Oaks Press, 2016), Middle Class American Proverb (Negative Capability Press, 2014) and two other books of poetry. He has been nominated multiple times for the Pushcart Prize, and he holds an MFA from the University of Tampa. His writings are published in literary journals throughout the South and around the world. He teaches English and Literature in the Tampa Bay area. You can find his profile from Poets and Writers magazine here: http://www.pw.org/content/john_davis

From Clown College to MFA, Victoria Dym uses the principles of improvisation to tap into the emotions needed to bring a work in progress to life. In this edition of the Florida Writer Podcast with host Alison Nissen, Victoria shares with us how the simple words of "Yes, and" help authors write deeper, more meaningful content.

Victoria Dym is a graduate of Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Clown College with a degree in Humility, a Bachelor of Arts, in Philosophy, from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Masters of Fine Arts, Creative Writing-Poetry from Carlow University. Her two poetry chapbooks, Class Clown, and When the Walls Cave In were published by Finishing Line Press in 2015 and 2018. Ms. Dym was cast for the Risk! Live from Orlando storytelling show and her story, One Shot was selected for the podcast. Her short story, The Linzer Torte was published in The Scribe Magazine, January 2020 issue. Victoria is currently submitting her full-length poetry manuscript, The Hatchet Sun, and two new chapbooks, Shaving the Yak, and There Are No Dogs on Mars, and Other Sermons from the Dog Chapel for publication. She lives in Tampa Florida, where she hosts the Annual October Haiku Challenge, teaches poetry, storytelling, and facilitates Laughter Yoga workshops for Cano Health Wellness Center. Victoria is the co-founder of The Metanoia Retreat for Writers, Well-Being and Right Whales to be held on Amelia Island, Earth Day, 2022 and is currently accepting submissions at [email protected].

Fear of getting "it" wrong forced new author David Rabin to research and connect with subject matter experts to make sure he gets it right in his first published novel. In this episode of the Florida Writer Podcast with host Alison Nissen, David reveals the lessons learned during his pivot from fact-based trial law to creative writing.

David Rabin's debut novel, IN DANGER OF JUDGMENT, is a crime thriller set in 1980s Chicago, and will be published by Black Rose Writing in August of this year. David was born in Chicago and raised in its Lakeview neighborhood, where much of his novel is set. He later moved to Atlanta, where he worked as a trial lawyer for thirty-three years. Now retired, he writes crime fiction, runs a competitive shooting program, and competes in rifle sports. He can be contacted through his Facebook page: @DavidRabinAuthor.

When author Susan Sands sits down to write her romance novels, she doesn't just bring characters to life, she uses PLACE as a catalyst to shape character motivation and in the process allows the setting to have a mind of its own.

In this edition of the Florida Writer Podcast, host Alison Nissen interviews self-described late bloomer, Susan Sands who began writing her first novel at age forty. She compares her challenging journey to publication as "raising another child—a difficult one."

Susan has published five southern, contemporary women's fiction novels, with another four coming in 2022. She describes her humorous small-town stories as fun, romantic, and filled with big family love. Susan also writes authentic place-as-a-character southern fiction with a humorous voice in addition to her Alabama series.

Susan has three grown children and lives with her dentist husband in Roswell, GA. She has a degree in elementary education, is a member of the Atlanta Writer's Club, Womens Fiction Writers of America (WFWA), and the Broadleaf Writers Association. She participates in book festivals, book clubs, and writer's conferences around the South. Susan is the recipient of the 2017 Georgia Author of the Year award for romance.