In this episode of Storyline Sessions, self-published Amazon best seller horror author Boris Bacic talks about his experience as a foreign author making a name in the US. We discussed his writing process, inspirations, plans for the future and other interesting topics.

Timestamps:

00:00 - Start

00:47 - Conversation start

01:05 - Serbian and Eastern European authors (self)publishing in English

03:45 - Getting recognized and challenges of getting published locally

06:08 - Getting trad published in The Netherlands

07:30 - Publishing a children's book

09:55 - Writing different (sub)genres

13:07 - Zombies and staying original while writing popular subgenres

15:35 - Series vs stand-alones

17:00 - Outlines, editing and the process

21:22 - Creepypasta and Reddit NoSleep

25:45 - Listening vs reading stories

27:50 - Audio books

30:05 - Building a community

34:10 - Being genuine and using personal experience in writing

37:05 - Iceland and northern lights, US research

40:45 - Bodybuilding

43:35 - Alternatives to writing horror

46:15 - Co-writing a Sci-Fi horror book

49:40 - Deep sea and space horror

52:45 - Atmoshphere

54:10 - Good horror movies

58:20 - Writing good characters

1:01:00 - Using local themes and locations

1:02:15 - Serbian horror heritage

1:05:30 - Getting his work adapted

1:09:10 - Picking titles

1:12:42 - Picking covers

1:15:05 - What readers want

1:15:55 - Lessons learned and promotion methods

1:20:55 - Signed copies and issues with shipping

1:22:40 - Meeting readers in the US

1:23:40 - New books - domestic thrillers

1:24:52 - Ambitious goals and next steps

1:26:20 - Outro

You can find Boris at https://www.instagram.com/author.boris.bacic/ and https://www.authorborisbacic.com/

Follow Storyline Sessions Podcast on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/storyline.sessions/

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In this solo episode, Storyline Sessions host Marko Bogdanović talks about his love for fiction and storytelling, its applications in the business world, and the constant non-fiction vs fiction debate.

Timestamps:

00:00 - Start

00:30 - Why is fiction important to me

00:57 - Empathy

01:43 - Resilience

01:58 - Curiosity

02:17 - Storytelling and journalism

03:02 - Storytelling and advertising

04:00 - Fiction and business

05:30 - Growing up, eduacation and fiction

06:42 - Positive examples

07:45 - Outro

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The Global Read Aloud Project - https://theglobalreadaloud.com/

In this episode of Storyline Sessions, Eric R. Burgess talks about an array of topics. We covered game design and its connection to other aspects of life, his upcoming books (actually 3, not 2 as stated in the intro), using his creative work and degree in writing for software products, use of AI in writing, its implications on the future of art, as well as Disney's approach to entertainment.

Timestamps:

00:00 - Start

00:56 - Conversation start

01:25 - About the importance of board games and Eric's upcoming book Optional Rules

05:10 - Rewriting and the second book

06:17 - Working with an editor - the big picture edit

07:14 - Research about decisions

09:02 - The connection between life, business and board games

11:12 - Dealing with shorter attention spans

12:50 - The evolution of games

16:10 - Gamification - applying games to other things

19:40 - Minecraft is life-ification of games

20:32 - Changing expectations from games

23:17 - Collaborative storytelling

26:15 - Impact of stories

26:44 - Hopes for AI tools

27:01 - How Eric uses AI in his writing

31:00 - Bulletin board system and digital relationships

33:06 - First draft of Eric's BBS novel

34:04 - Online communities

38:02 - Eric's writing process

43:54 - About love

45:14 - Creativity vs Structure

48:22 - Structure tips from James D. Houston

50:29 - Transferrable writing skills

54:27 - "Piffles" on Medium

56:18 - Working with (creative) constraints

1:00:32 - On Stephen King

1:02:42 - AI helping writers and AI getting worse

1:04:25 - Protecting authors from AI and industry standards

1:14:10 - Opportunities for creators

1:15:45 - Writing for Disney

1:20:03 - Disney's approach to quality

1:22:42 - Inspiration for his magnum opus game

1:26:17 - Keeping focus on priorities

1:29:54 - Outro

You can find Eric at https://twitter.com/erburgess and https://medium.com/@erburgess_AI

Riverside.fm affiliate link (I receive a recurring commission with no additional cost to you): https://www.riverside.fm/?via=marko

Storyline Sessions Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/storyline.sessions/

In the first solo Storyline Sessions episode, Marko Bogdanović talks about dealing with procrastination in writing, what causes it, and shares the tools that he uses to overcome them.

Timestamps:

00:00 - Start

00:20 - Personal connection to the topic

00:45 - Ups and downs

01:01 - Bukowski on writing

01:26 - Vonnegut on writing

01:50 - Dealing with resistance

02:20 - What causes procrastination

02:35 - Passion and comfort

03:10 - Jorge Luis Borges on writing

03:43 - How I deal with it

03:48 - Setting goals

03:57 - Writers' Hour

04:44 - Journaling

05:10 - Start with editing

05:49 - Preparing for future sessions

06:17 - Tools to help with inspiration

07:12 - Getting the bad ideas out

07:34 - Alphabet Superset and consistency

08:47 - Instagram news

09:01 - Outro

Storyline Sessions Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/storyline.sessions/

London Writers' Salon - https://londonwriterssalon.com/

Alphabet Superset project - https://www.alphabetsuperset.com/

Riverside.fm affiliate link (I receive a recurring commission with no additional cost to you): https://www.riverside.fm/?via=marko

We kick off the Storyline Sessions Podcast with a great conversation with writer Jason Fuhrman. He talked about how he completed 104 stories in 104 weeks, what significance Cormac McCarthy has for his work, the ways in which he battles the resistance and procrastination, key takeaways from publishing two novels, his YouTube experience and many more engaging subjects.

Timestamps:

00:00 Start

00:41 - Intro

00:48 - Jason's experience with YouTube so far

04:06 - Importance of building a community as a writer

06:51 - Reviewing other people's work as an author and negativity

11:20 - Quitting books and House of Leaves

13:28 - Style vs Gimmick and Cormac McCarthy

17:01 - A Song For the End of the World and influences

24:11 - The Field and young protagonists

27:40 - YA vs Fiction with young characters

34:27 - Writing with an end in mind

36:27 - Writing process

44:16 - "Compost pile"

45:03 - Worth 1.000 words

46:47 - Key takeaways from writing 104 stories in 2 years

50:25 - Working inside "the box"

51:01 - Discipline and resistance

55:26 - How does finishing something feel

57:56 - The feeling of getting your first book published

1:00:47 - Editing process and dealing with criticism

1:08:31 - Publishing Worth 1.000 Words stories collection(s)

1:10:42 - Testing genres and discovering new directions

1:11:27 - Writing "marketable" books and sticking to one genre

1:19:12 - Dream director/writer for a movie/series adaptation

1:21:47 - Trends in horror, streaming market and "self publishing" in film

1:34:09 - Tabletop games, D&D and fiction podcasts

1:37:11 - Hideo Kojima and the gaming industry

1:44:22 - People connecting globally

1:45:51 - What would you say to a younger you

1:46:37 - Outro

You can find Jason at https://www.instagram.com/jasonwfuhrman/

Riverside.fm affiliate link (I receive a recurring commission with no additional cost to you): https://www.riverside.fm/?via=marko

Storyline Sessions Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/storyline.sessions/