Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

On his drive to Ottawa, Ontario for the annual Can-Con (Ottawa's Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror Literature Convention), Mark reflects on his experience with that conference from it's initial inception in the early 1990s along with its evolution.

He also reflects on the importance of CanCon in general (Canadian Content regulations) and how it has played and continues to play an important role for Canadian musicians, artists, performers, and writers.

This episode is sponsored by the 2nd Edition of the book TAKING THE SHORT TACK: Creating Income and Connecting with Readers Using Short Fiction which is co-authored by Mark and Matty Dalrymple and was released this week in October 2025

Links of Interest:

• Can-Con (Ottawa Conference)
• Terry Fallis Website
• EP 328 - Reflections on A New Season with Terry Fallis
• EP 029 - Terry Fallis on Writing With Authenticity, Humor, and Passion
• The Littlest Hobo
• Mr. Dressup
• The Polka Dot Door
• Manuscript Report (Mark's affiliate link)
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• Mark's YouTube channel
• Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)
• An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries
• The Relaxed Author
  • Buy eBook Direct
  • Buy Audiobook Direct
• Publishing Pitfalls for Authors
• An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores
• Wide for the Win
• Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books
  • This Time Around (Short Story)
  • A Canadian Werewolf in New York
  • Stowe Away (Novella)
  • Fear and Longing in Los Angeles
  • Fright Nights, Big City
  • Lover's Moon
  • Hex and the City
  • Only Monsters in the Building
• The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard
• Merry Christmas! Shitter Was Full!: A Trivia Guide to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Mark has a personal conversation with Malorie Cooper. In this episode they talk about:

• The reason she and her family moved from Boston, MA and back to Canada
• The uniqueness of New England compared to the rest of the United States
• How Canada is one of the hardest countries to emigrate into
• Not having ever gotten American citizenship
• The oppression and fear of being a queer transgender person, particularly in the US
• How it's virtually impossible for people who aren't oppressed to understand what it's like
• Losing half her fan base and friends when she transitioned into the person she was always born to be
• How when you life authentically and vulnerably, people will actually be attracted to you
• Living in a judgement-free zone/bubble
• Feeling unsafe for the first time after she came out as Malorie
• How coming out as trans is likely the hardest thing a person will ever do -- but, in addition to having a child, one of the most rewarding things Mal ever did
• The recurring theme of "found family" in Mal's novels
• And more...

After the conversation Mark reflects on the idea of priviledge he has in not having to be fearful when walking alone outside after dark (for example) about "found family" and the importance of connecting with others who understand you where you are.

Links of Interest:

• Malorie Cooper / M.D. Cooper Website
• The Writing Wives
• Manuscript Report (Mark's affiliate link)
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• Mark's YouTube channel
• Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)
• An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries
• The Relaxed Author
  • Buy eBook Direct
  • Buy Audiobook Direct
• Publishing Pitfalls for Authors
• An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores
• Wide for the Win
• Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books
  • This Time Around (Short Story)
  • A Canadian Werewolf in New York
  • Stowe Away (Novella)
  • Fear and Longing in Los Angeles
  • Fright Nights, Big City
  • Lover's Moon
  • Hex and the City
  • Only Monsters in the Building
• The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard
• Merry Christmas! Shitter Was Full!: A Trivia Guide to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Malorie Cooper is a science fiction author and creator of the Aeon 14 universe. She has written over one hundred books and plans to write another hundred more (at least).

Having built her career using advertising to spread awareness of her books, she's shifted focus to helping other authors get a leg up through paid ads on a variety of platforms, as well as optimizing their product page with a focus on increasing conversions.

She and her wife now run The Writing Wives, which helps dozens of authors a month reach their marketing goals.

In addition to storytelling and writing, Malorie loves playing games of any sort, gardening, and woodworking. She shares her home with a wife who also writes, an entrepreneurial teenaged daughter, and far more cats than are strictly necessary.

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Mark interviews Malorie Cooper, who writes under the name M.D. Cooper, about the various things that fascinate and inspire her writing.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares a brief personal update and a word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by an affiliate link to Manuscript Report. Use code MARK5 at checkout and save $5.00 off your own personalized report.

In their interview, Mark and Malorie talk about:

• Meeting up in New Brunswick in the spring at a writer's conference
• Mal's passion about writing science-fiction and nerding out about science and history concepts
• Mal working with her wife Jill on The Writing Wives - designed to help authors better market their books
• Some misperceptions that authors have, such as "I'm not good at Facebook Ads"
• Mal always being curious about everything, and getting story inspiration from looking at maps
• How her fascination with maps led to mapping software for space maps, and an evolution into a sci-fi writer
• Malorie's introduction to science fiction through the books of Anne McCaffrey
• How maps can inform and inspire science fiction stories
• The various struggles that Mal likes to tackle in stories she writes
• Passion for history and looking at the US Naval build immediately after Pearl Harbor
• The frustration Mal often has in much of science-fiction and fantasy where the world's aren't "big" enough
• How Mal writes without having a story bible about the universes she has created and writes in
• The way Malorie divides her time up between writing and working with authors for The Writing Wives
• The long pause in writing new science fiction stories that happened shortly after 2020
• Thinking back to 2016 when Mal's writing really started to take off (how the money being earned from that was better than the full-time employment work as a software developer)
• The time when Mal was writing for about 14 to 16 hours a day, with her wife Jill creating a "protective bubble" around her so she could focus on writing
• The experience of having two people on Patreon who have, for eight years, given Mal $50 a month
• The power (and sense of accomplishment) that comes when you get to "the end"
• Advice Mal would give to other writers
• And more...

After the interview Mark reflects on the challenge of moving from part-time to full-time writer, as well as the heart-warming fact that there are those out there who resonate with a creator's works and step up to support them in heart-warming ways.

Links of Interest:

• Malorie Cooper / M.D. Cooper Website
• The Writing Wives
• Manuscript Report (Mark's affiliate link)
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• Mark's YouTube channel
• Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)
• An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries
• The Relaxed Author
  • Buy eBook Direct
  • Buy Audiobook Direct
• Publishing Pitfalls for Authors
• An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores
• Wide for the Win
• Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books
  • This Time Around (Short Story)
  • A Canadian Werewolf in New York
  • Stowe Away (Novella)
  • Fear and Longing in Los Angeles
  • Fright Nights, Big City
  • Lover's Moon
  • Hex and the City
  • Only Monsters in the Building
• The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard
• Merry Christmas! Shitter Was Full!: A Trivia Guide to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Malorie Cooper is a science fiction author and creator of the Aeon 14 universe. She has written over one hundred books and plans to write another hundred more (at least).

Having built her career using advertising to spread awareness of her books, she's shifted focus to helping other authors get a leg up through paid ads on a variety of platforms, as well as optimizing their product page with a focus on increasing conversions.

She and her wife now run The Writing Wives, which helps dozens of authors a month reach their marketing goals.

In addition to storytelling and writing, Malorie loves playing games of any sort, gardening, and woodworking. She shares her home with a wife who also writes, an entrepreneurial teenaged daughter, and far more cats than are strictly necessary.

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

In this episode Mark interviews Joshua Smyser and Alex Hale of Blue Feathered Quill Publishing.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, welcome a new patron (S.K. Randolph), offers a personal update, and a word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode's sponsor:

This episode is sponsored by an affiliate link to Manuscript Report. Use code MARK5 at checkout and save $5.00 off your own personalized report.

In their interview, Mark, Alex, and Joshua talk about:

• Alex's background growing up an avid reader and someone who wrote music and stories, and then going back to school for linguistics in 2020, then later, the Masters of Publishing program at Western Colorado University
• Being a fan of writing poetry as well as poetry put to music
• Coming to the realization that he enjoyed helping other writers with getting their work ready for publication more than he enjoyed writing
• The first book that Blue Feathered Quill published (a sweet-romance with a darker twist): Eth: A Novel
• Joshua also having a background in music (taking mandolin lessons) as well as being an avid reader as a young person as well as pursuing the writing/publishing route when he was a youth
• Getting a degree in education and starting a teaching career, and then returning to thinking about the world of books and publishing
• Joining up with Alex on BFQ as a way to move into publishing and learning more about editing and cover design
• The story Josh sold to the "Cupids" anthology that was published by Western Colorado University
• The origin of the publishing name Blue Feathered Quill
• The cross-country trip with a life-long friend that Alex made several years back
• The idea of building a publishing company with a cohort of writers, editors, and other creative people who could help one another out in different ways
• A look at the process they take when an author approaches them
• The second book that they released on April 29, 2025: THE TALE OF JIRAIYA THE GALLANT (a classic Japanese story from the 1800's which is a bit of a precursor to Manga) and Joshua's passion for bringing this book into existance
• How well their first book was already selling when it was first released in the spring of 2025
• How authors who are interested in working with BFQ can reach out to them
• Advice that Alex and Josh would like to relay to authors as well as those thinking of starting a publishing company
• And more...

After the interview Mark reflects on how they are running this company with passion and integrity, with a goal to work collaboratively with authors.

Links of Interest:

• Blue Feathered Quill Publishing
• Manuscript Report (Mark's affiliate link)
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• Mark's YouTube channel
• Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)
• An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries
• The Relaxed Author
  • Buy eBook Direct
  • Buy Audiobook Direct
• Publishing Pitfalls for Authors
• An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores
• Wide for the Win
• Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books
  • This Time Around (Short Story)
  • A Canadian Werewolf in New York
  • Stowe Away (Novella)
  • Fear and Longing in Los Angeles
  • Fright Nights, Big City
  • Lover's Moon
  • Hex and the City
  • Only Monsters in the Building
• The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard
• Merry Christmas! Shitter Was Full!: A Trivia Guide to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

In this solo episode, Mark reflects on the power that writers bring to a divided world.

Prior to the reflection, Mark shares a word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode's sponsor:

This episode is sponsored by an affiliate link to Manuscript Report. Use code MARK5 at checkout and save $5.00 off your own personalized report.

Links of Interest:

• Mark's Listing for FanX Salt Lake City
• Manuscript Report (Mark's affiliate link)
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• Mark's YouTube channel
• Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)
• An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries
• The Relaxed Author
  • Buy eBook Direct
  • Buy Audiobook Direct
• Publishing Pitfalls for Authors
• An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores
• Wide for the Win
• Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books
  • This Time Around (Short Story)
  • A Canadian Werewolf in New York
  • Stowe Away (Novella)
  • Fear and Longing in Los Angeles
  • Fright Nights, Big City
  • Lover's Moon
  • Hex and the City
  • Only Monsters in the Building
• The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard
• Merry Christmas! Shitter Was Full!: A Trivia Guide to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Mark interviews John Gaspard about his book HELD OVER: HAROLD AND MAUDE AT THE WESTGATE THEATER.

Prior to the interview Mark shares a personal update and a word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode's sponsor:

This episode is sponsored by an affiliate link to Manuscript Report. Use code MARK5 at checkout and save $5.00 off your own personalized report.

In the interview, Mark and John talk about:

• John's appreciation for the honesty of the podcast and one of his favorite episodes, and why he liked it
• John's background and the two different cozy mystery series that he has written and published
• The Eli Mark's "Behind the Page" podcast that John uses to share behind-the-scenes and brilliantly market the books in audio and other formats
• A person with a PhD in "shuffling cards" who was a guest on John's podcast
• How John approached his deep love and affection for the 1971 movie HAROLD AND MAUDE
• The Minneapolis theatre (Westgate) that helped make this movie a cult classic
• How John couldn't have written this book 20 years ago
• John's Popcorn Principals books
• The book HELD OVER: HAROLD AND MAUDE AT THE WESTGATE THEATER
• John's philosophy of "I'm writing for me."
• A bit of the history of the Westgate Theater
• The approach to his writing and recognizing that most of the books are likely not to earn much more than making back the initial money invested into them
• Deciding which researched bits made it into the book
• How Scrivener was a helpful tool in the writing of the book and various research elements
• The design company that John worked with on this book
• The Kickstarter that John ran related to this book and what it did for him (beyond earning a bit of up front money to help with funding the expensive project
• Working with Bookvault on the production of this book
• Advice John would offer to writers who haven't yet pursued that passion project
• And more...

After the interview Mark reflects on passion projects, networking and connecting with other writers, and the advice to pause/hesitate

Links of Interest:

• John Gaspard's Website
• EP 218 - John Gaspard on Business, Writing, and Magic
• Manuscript Report (Mark's affiliate link)
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• Mark's YouTube channel
• Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)
• An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries
• The Relaxed Author
  • Buy eBook Direct
  • Buy Audiobook Direct
• Publishing Pitfalls for Authors
• An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores
• Wide for the Win
• Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books
  • This Time Around (Short Story)
  • A Canadian Werewolf in New York
  • Stowe Away (Novella)
  • Fear and Longing in Los Angeles
  • Fright Nights, Big City
  • Lover's Moon
  • Hex and the City
  • Only Monsters in the Building
• The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard
• Merry Christmas! Shitter Was Full!: A Trivia Guide to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

John Gaspard is author of the Eli Marks mystery series and the Como Lake Players mystery series. He also has several other stand-alone novels, including "The Greyhound of the Baskervilles," "A Christmas Carl," "The Sword & Mr. Stone" and "The Ripperologists."

He hosts: "Behind the Page: The Eli Marks Podcast."

In real life, John's not a magician, but he has directed six low-budget features that cost very little and made even less - that's no small trick. He's also written multiple books on the subject of low-budget filmmaking. Ironically, those books made more than the films.

John lives in Minnesota and shares his home with his lovely wife, several greyhounds, a few cats and a handful of pet allergies.

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

In this episode Mark interviews Phil Marshall, the author of the recently released science fiction novel Taming the Perilous Skies and the founder of Spoken, a platform that removes numerous audiobook production barriers for indie authors and small publishers.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments, a personal update, and a word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by ScribeCount (affiliate link). Spend less time logging in to multiple platforms and crunching numbers, and more time writing and marketing your books thanks to ScribeCount's handy all-in-one interface.

In the interview, Mark and Phil talk about:

• Phil's background with Conversa
• Being trained as a surgeon and then switching to product development and technology
• The novel (TAMING THE PERILOUS SKIES) that was baking in his head since 2021
• Distributing 130 copies of his novel to early readers at a recent WorldCon
• The market info of "Dan Brown meets Andy Weir"
• How the novel and Spoken itself were both inspired by the same thing
• An explanation of what Spoken is and how it addresses Phil's desire for multi-cast narration
• Multi-voice narration being a speciality of Spoken
• Why Phil is releasing the novel in multi-cast narration via Spoken for free in chapter by chapter installments
• Spoken having just completed a full year of beta release and is now available as a fully available product
• A bit of a walk-thru of how Spoken breaks out different character voices in an automated manner
• How ElevenLabs and Hume are the two partners Spoken uses for their character and narrator voices
• The costs involved in producing these audio books
• How there is no cost for listeners who want to check out how things sound on Spoken
• Phil's message to authors who are nervous/anxious about A.I.
• And more...

After the interview Mark reflects on a couple of things related to the conversation.

Links of Interest:

• Spoken
• Phil Marshall's Website
• Phil's Book: Taming the Perilous Skies
• EP 432 - Creativity, Connection, and Community with Police Officer and Author A.L. Wahdel
• EP 056 - Balance and Counterbalance with Katie Cross
• Kobo Writing Life Podcast EP 78 (March 2017) - Katie Cross: From Full-Time Author to Full-Time Mom
• SPA Girls Podcast Episode 517 (with Mark)
  • YouTube
  • Main Podcast Link
• Manuscript Report (Mark's affiliate link)
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• Mark's YouTube channel
• Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)
• An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries
• The Relaxed Author
  • Buy eBook Direct
  • Buy Audiobook Direct
• Publishing Pitfalls for Authors
• An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores
• Wide for the Win
• Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books
  • This Time Around (Short Story)
  • A Canadian Werewolf in New York
  • Stowe Away (Novella)
  • Fear and Longing in Los Angeles
  • Fright Nights, Big City
  • Lover's Moon
  • Hex and the City
  • Only Monsters in the Building
• The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard
• Merry Christmas! Shitter Was Full!: A Trivia Guide to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Phil Marshall Bio:

I build technologies, organizations, and stories that imagine a fantastic future. From my theory of persistence, which sits at the heart of my sci-fi writing, to pioneering conversational AI that transformed the relationships between doctors and patients, to creating groundbreaking tools that are transforming the relationship between authors and their readers, I thrive at the intersection of imagination and execution.

My current project is Spoken, bringing authors and readers together around great audio stories that are made possible by technology. Before Spoken, I co-founded Conversa, a platform that connected patients and care teams using conversational AI. Along the way, I've built technologies that span personalization (WebMD), collaborative movie-making (JumperCut), ontology-driven knowledge graphs (OntoLogic.ai), and concept-based health record threading (WellMed).

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Mark interviews A.L. Wahdel, a crime thriller writer brings Toronto's soul to life in his fiction. They talk about his new book TOO DARK FOR THE LIGHT, about his writing, about police work, and about the importance of community, connection, and creativity.\

Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update and a word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode's sponsor:

This episode is sponsored by an affiliate link to Manuscript Report. Use code MARK5 at checkout and save $5.00 off your own personalized report.

In the interview, Mark and Lance talk about:

• Lance's 20 years of experience in the police force and how he had planned on a completely different career path by studying media arts and graphic design
• How people usually ask police officers if they're seen any crazy stuff, but rarely ask if they've seen amazing things
• The power of community and connecting and communicating with people
• "Always be in a constant state of create." A philosophy that drives Lance in his life and writing
• How any time a person creates something it's a gift to the world and the universe
• Lance's earliest experience writing lyrics and music
• Being a huge comic fan, Batman in particular
• The revelation of "write what you know" in creating his first novel TO DARK FOR THE LIGHT
• Finding his writing community via numerous podcasts, YouTube, and other online resources
• Establishing a virtual "mastermind" from the shared writing resources
• Deciding to set his novel in Toronto, Ontario, Canada instead of choosing a "more popular" major US city
• Using Toronto's iconic skyline on the cover to ensure the setting for the book was clear
• Debating over whether or not to begin with Water Kascade's origin story
• The tricky balance of writing an authentic police procedural novel (ie, ignoring those tedious long boring periods of time in the day to day life of law enforcement)
• The training of always being alert and aware as a police officer and how that benefits Lance as a writer
• Some of the things that authors get wrong related to police work
• The integrity involved in releasing the book under the pseudonym A.L. Wahdel so as not to take advantage of his role and employer
• Advice Lance would offer to other authors
• And more . . .

After the interview Mark shares a few reflections about the desire to help others and the value of creativity in giving to the world.

Links of Interest:

• A.L. Wahdel's Website
• A.L. Wahdel on Substack: A Constant State of Create
• Catching up with Dale L. Roberts (Draft2Digital Self-Publishing Insiders)
• Manuscript Report (Mark's affiliate link)
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• EP 430 - Rambling Reflections from a Lemons to Lemonade Road Trip
• Mark's YouTube channel
• Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)
• An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries
• The Relaxed Author
  • Buy eBook Direct
  • Buy Audiobook Direct
• Publishing Pitfalls for Authors
• An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores
• Wide for the Win
• Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books
  • This Time Around (Short Story)
  • A Canadian Werewolf in New York
  • Stowe Away (Novella)
  • Fear and Longing in Los Angeles
  • Fright Nights, Big City
  • Lover's Moon
  • Hex and the City
  • Only Monsters in the Building
• The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard
• Merry Christmas! Shitter Was Full!: A Trivia Guide to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

A.L. Wahdel is an exciting new storyteller in the crime thriller genre, blending gripping suspense with a powerful narrative.

A.L. Wahdel writes with energy about the city that shaped his identity. With an unwavering love for its style and complexity, he brings Toronto's soul to life in every story. Choosing his birthplace as the canvas for his crime series was an intentional act—to honour its essence, celebrate its dynamism, and share the stories that only a true Torontonian writer could tell

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Mark interviews writer, producer, and celebrity publicist William J Bruce III.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update, comments, and a word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode's sponsor:

This episode is sponsored by an affiliate link to Manuscript Report. Use code MARK5 at checkout and save $5.00 off your own personalized report.

In the interview, Mark and William talk about:

• The weird series of events that led William into his current career
• Meeting a film producer on the day of a school evacuation
• How a lot of William's work is done online and behind the scenes
• The importance of doing due diligence as a publicist to make sure the interviewee doesn't get "trapped" by the host/interviewer
• The memoir that William wrote and why he wrote it because of a really low point in his life
• Looking at your life and your faith when in a dark place after having made a grave mistake
• The novel that William is currently working on
• How people can be heartless when it comes to talking about celebrities
• The story behind how William is publishing his novel
• That negative voice whenever you're trying something new
• And more...

After the interview Mark reflects on that feeling of self-doubt as well as the perspective of heroes and villians and good and evil.

Links of Interest:

• William J Bruce
• Self-Publish Like a Pro (Sunday August 31, 2025) - Reedsy Virtual Event
• Manuscript Report (Mark's affiliate link)
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• EP 430 - Rambling Reflections from a Lemons to Lemonade Road Trip
• Mark's YouTube channel
• Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)
• An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries
• The Relaxed Author
  • Buy eBook Direct
  • Buy Audiobook Direct
• Publishing Pitfalls for Authors
• An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores
• Wide for the Win
• Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books
  • This Time Around (Short Story)
  • A Canadian Werewolf in New York
  • Stowe Away (Novella)
  • Fear and Longing in Los Angeles
  • Fright Nights, Big City
  • Lover's Moon
  • Hex and the City
  • Only Monsters in the Building
• The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard
• Merry Christmas! Shitter Was Full!: A Trivia Guide to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

William J Bruce III is a writer, producer and celebrity publicist.

As a publicist he has worked with Shawn Harper of the NFL and the "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase of the WWE during Ted's peak in Google Trends.

As executive producer to the compilation album Bridge Wars, he brought together artists such as F.E.R.N (Capitol Records artist produced by DukeDaGod of The Diplomats), and Mahogany Jones (four-time Champion of BET's "Freestyle Friday's"). Later in 2016 William became the executive producer and host of the Aussie Osbourne Show. The show featured in-depth interviews with celebrities such as Mike Mullane (former NASA astronaut), Alveda King (niece of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the daughter of civil rights activist A.D. King), and Charlene Li (Harvard magna cum laude graduate and NY Times bestselling author).

His writing has landed him cover stories with former Victoria Secret model Kylie Bisutti, P.O.D front man Sonny Sandoval and the "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase of WWE. William's work in film and his ability to hone the craft of writing assisted him in his role of script revisionist for the Eric Roberts film In the Blink of an Eye. The author of the memoir Penholder, William has also written the introduction to the 150th Anniversary Edition of Demons by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Currently William is completing a novel called "Hate"(working title).

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

This episode features a rambling reflection that Mark recorded on part of an unexpected and unplanned four-day road trip from Calgary, Alberta to Waterloo, Ontario.

When Mark was in Calgary, Alberta for the When Words Collide conference, Air Canada went on strike and all flights were canceled. Finding himself unable to get home (without having to pay for 4 nights in a hotel plus a flight on an alternate airline that would have cost him $1500), Mark decided to rent a car and drive back home nearly 3,500 kilometers (2174 miles) during the week of Monday August 18th through Friday August 22nd.

Instead of being frustrated over the predicament, Mark chose to see this as an amazing opportunity to see parts of the country he hadn't yet visited.

This episode is a rambling reflection from the road that he recorded on the morning of Wednesday October 20th on the highway between Dryden, ON and Thunder Bay, ON.

Links of Interest:

• When Words Collide
• Manuscript Report (Mark's affiliate link)
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• Mark's YouTube channel
• Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)
• An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries
• The Relaxed Author
  • Buy eBook Direct
  • Buy Audiobook Direct
• Publishing Pitfalls for Authors
• An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores
• Wide for the Win
• Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books
  • This Time Around (Short Story)
  • A Canadian Werewolf in New York
  • Stowe Away (Novella)
  • Fear and Longing in Los Angeles
  • Fright Nights, Big City
  • Lover's Moon
  • Hex and the City
  • Only Monsters in the Building
• The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard
• Merry Christmas! Shitter Was Full!: A Trivia Guide to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0