SPA Girls Podcast

This week we have an amazing interview with self publishing guru Michael Anderle, direct from the Smarter Artist Summit in Austin, Texas. Trudi Jaye was lucky enough to attend the summit and meet Michael in person, where he took the time to chat to her about his journey in self publishing, from writing his very first Kurtherian Gambit book, to creating an exciting new self-publishing model where he collaborates with multiple authors writing in his well-loved universe.

Author and former SPA Girls Podcast guest Jami Albright helps Trudi out with the interview - in which Michael also talks about about writing books that people will love, how he connects with his readers, and breaking the rules to get emotional impact.

He's accessible, sincere and passionate about his topic, and you'll love listening to him explaining what he thinks are the most important ingredients for self publishing success. This is an interview you won't want to miss!!

This week we talk with elite sportsman, Nathan Vella, about using tools from sports psychology to help writers. Nate has been a professional rugby player for the last seven years. In that time he has played in both New Zealand and Europe, and has amassed over 100 first class games, winning several championships. His strength besides his physical ability is his mental toughness.

Nate talks with Wendy, Cheryl and Shar about applying what he has learned in the competitive high-performance environment he thrives and works in.

This week we talk with elite sportsman, Nathan Vella, about using tools from sports psychology to help writers. Nate has been a professional rugby player for the last seven years. In that time he has played in both New Zealand and Europe, and has amassed over 100 first class games, winning several championships. His strength besides his physical ability is his mental toughness.

Nate talks with Wendy, Cheryl and Shar about applying what he has learned in the competitive high-performance environment he thrives and works in.

This week we talk about a craft topic that's been bugging Trudi - subplots. Ever since reading Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews, who does it really well, she's been pursued by the idea that maybe she's not doing them properly...

So this week, we discuss what they are, why you should be using them in your novels, and the different kinds of subplots that you could consider using in your novel. Done well, a sub plot can add a huge amount of depth to your novel, as well as tension, characterisation and conflict. 

We think that adding a subplot to your current novel could be the difference between having a boring one-dimensional novel, and creating a layered book that everyone is gagging to read!!

This week we talk about a craft topic that's been bugging Trudi - subplots. Ever since reading Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews, who does it really well, she's been pursued by the idea that maybe she's not doing them properly...

So this week, we discuss what they are, why you should be using them in your novels, and the different kinds of subplots that you could consider using in your novel. Done well, a sub plot can add a huge amount of depth to your novel, as well as tension, characterisation and conflict. 

We think that adding a subplot to your current novel could be the difference between having a boring one-dimensional novel, and creating a layered book that everyone is gagging to read!!

This week we had the pleasure of chatting to Scott King, author of non-fiction writing books The 5 Day Novel, Finish the Script! and his latest, Outline Your Novel. 

Scott has a background in teaching writing, film and scriptwriting at a college level, and has published multiple books in a variety of genres, so he's perfectly placed to write and talk about writing to other authors. He's also brilliant at breaking down information and making it understandable, and there were several 'a-ha!' moments during this interview where Scott explained something we might have intuitively known, but couldn't have put into words. We talked to him about outlining, sub-plots, writing a book in five days, and where to start if you're a newbie. He's a smart, articulate guest who we know will inspire you to get out there and write!

This week we had the pleasure of chatting to Scott King, author of non-fiction writing books The 5 Day Novel, Finish the Script! and his latest, Outline Your Novel. 

Scott has a background in teaching writing, film and scriptwriting at a college level, and has published multiple books in a variety of genres, so he's perfectly placed to write and talk about writing to other authors. He's also brilliant at breaking down information and making it understandable, and there were several 'a-ha!' moments during this interview where Scott explained something we might have intuitively known, but couldn't have put into words. We talked to him about outlining, sub-plots, writing a book in five days, and where to start if you're a newbie. He's a smart, articulate guest who we know will inspire you to get out there and write!

This week our topic is whether or not to use a pen name. Choosing the name to represent your writing career might seem like a simple decision, but there's actually a whole host of things to think about when you consider what name to use - from marketing, to reader expectations and even cover dimensions - and it's not just which name sounds the nicest. 

Authors have always had pen names and in the Indie environment, it's not uncommon for an author to be managing several. We discuss our own decisions regarding pen names, why we chose the names we did, and the things we had to think about before we made the final decision. From websites to domain names, choosing the right gender for your genre, and even a couple of rants from Shar thrown in for free, this is another thought-provoking episode.

This week our topic is whether or not to use a pen name. Choosing the name to represent your writing career might seem like a simple decision, but there's actually a whole host of things to think about when you consider what name to use - from marketing, to reader expectations and even cover dimensions - and it's not just which name sounds the nicest. 

Authors have always had pen names and in the Indie environment, it's not uncommon for an author to be managing several. We discuss our own decisions regarding pen names, why we chose the names we did, and the things we had to think about before we made the final decision. From websites to domain names, choosing the right gender for your genre, and even a couple of rants from Shar thrown in for free, this is another thought-provoking episode.

This week we were lucky enough to convince the lovely Nalini Singh to come on the show. A fellow Kiwi, Nalini is also a very smart, savvy author who's been on the NYT Bestseller list an incredible 27 times, and has hordes of ravenous fans the world over.

Nalini is also the kind of pioneering author who knew that she would need to do more than simply write great books (you know, cause that's easy, right?)  if she was going to make this writing malarky her career. She knew she would need to connect with her readers and give them something more. With this in mind, she started a popular blog when she first set out to conquer the writing world, and then created a massive organically grown newsletter when the time was right, and finally conquered Facebook, where her current page has over 70,000 readers regularly interacting with her.

She gives us the low down on how she's created such a strong reader connection, the kind of content she thinks is vital for authors to give their readers and her secret sauce for interacting with all kinds of people. This one is a little long, but it's well worth the listen for the various wise gems of knowledge that Nalini drops on us throughout the show. (I did say she's a smart cookie, didn't I?)