In this episode, J Ryan and Keira welcome thriller author Jack Arbor to discuss his action & espionage series The Russian Assassin, the weight of Cold War history, and the challenge of crafting a lovable anti-hero. The conversation also delves into the business side of independent publication and the benefits of cultivating an extensive Beta Reader network.

Episode highlights:

02:58             Growing up during the Cold War – A brief history

07:48             Did you feel the doom? - Anxieties of a new generation

10:06              Character is King: Cold War Edition (Technicality ahead!)

17:22               Welcome Jack Arbor

20:04             Creating Max Austin

24:20             The flavor of a place

35:10              The art of Product Market Fit

40:58             The best sketch artists

46:14              Who would play your main character?

48:00             Jack’s Beta Reader process

54:32             Getting the world right in Book-1

59:44             Bourbon or beer?

1:03:14            Makin’ Coffee

In this episode, hosts J Ryan and Keira dive into the world of music to discuss how the structure and conventions of the modern pop song provides fertile ground for excellent writing, and they share their favorite examples of stellar lyrics from songs over the past 70 years.

Episode highlights:

02:41                    Structure, constraints, and good writing

05:36                   Character is King: Music Edition

12:55                    A masterclass of concise writing

17:30                    Wait, the song is about that?

21:29                    A band transforms

24:40                   Correcting the record on a tortured artist

28:05                   A self-deprecating character study

32:50                   The song is the same, you’re the one who changed

In this episode contemporary romance novelist Kristy Lynae Moore joins J Ryan and Keira to talk about travel adventures, life on a ranch, and a fascination for a particular Kingsman. Kristy also discusses how she discovered and fell in love with the art of typography, and shares her biggest challenge with independent publishing.

Episode highlights:

01:25                    Do you like to travel?     

02:57                   Overselling the Mona Lisa

05:11                    Character is King: Travel Edition

09:31                    Welcome Kristy Lynae Moore     

11:27                    What to leave in, what to leave out

15:57                    Splitting time between writing, typography, and motherhood

17:32                    Immortalizing the Exs

19:33                    Crushing on the Kingsman

24:00                   Discovering a love for typography

29:23                   Handling critiques

33:31                    The hardest part of publishing

36:12                    Can you elaborate on the ranch?

In this episode YA novelist Nicole Adair joins J Ryan and Keira to talk about the twists and turns of teenage angst, the work of writing, and the unifying power of Taylor Swift. Nicole also discusses the purpose and importance of her social media posts, and the awesome yet terrifying world of independent publishing.

Episode highlights:

01:20                    What makes a YA novel “YA”?     

05:57                   Anatomy of a rivalry

07:20                   Character is King: Rivals Edition

15:25                    Welcome Nicole Adair   

18:38                    Discovering character development

23:39                   The Taylor Swift connection

26:57                   The Twist

31:30                    Write something every day

38:00                   Doing the work

41:10                    Write Nicole Write: Confessions of a YA author

46:07                   Independence and growth

51:52                    Why are indie rock stars cool?

Hosts J Ryan and Keira discuss the importance of building confidence in your writing, and how to go about doing it. Confidence is nurtured through hard work and experience, but it can come from other surprising places as well.

Episode highlights:

01:45                   Character is King              

06:20                  Are you confident in your writing?

08:35                  On a scale of 1 to 10

12:15                    What is “knowing”?

14:15                    Honesty is the best policy

17:20                   What makes a good Beta?

21:22                   Acknowledgments

23:00                  Learning how not to make a light bulb

26:35                  When is confidence a bad thing?

30:50                  The olden days of telephones

In this episode hosts J Ryan and Keira take you inside the Writing Workshop of San Francisco. Having participated in this year’s event, Keira provides a debrief and exploration of the 2-day workshop, including session offerings, an overview of the literary professionals in attendance, and a detailed look at the book pitch process. Along the way she shares an exciting bit of news as well.

Episode highlights:

01:05                    Our embedded correspondent  

02:10                    What is the Writing Workshop of San Francisco?

04:00                   Breaking News!

07:00                   And here’s the pitch…

13:00                    So how did it end?

15:05                    Info-dumping and queries

17:30                    Writers Got Talent

19:50                    Your first paragraph

21:10                    The particulars of the workshop

In this episode romance novelist Bitsy Yates joins J Ryan and Keira to talk about how the Massachusetts landscape and a mandated quarantine inspired her to write her debut novel Unapologetically Yours. Along the way, they discuss the power of social media, writing while being a mom, hybrid publishing, and the challenges and opportunities of writing a romance story in the midst of a global pandemic.  

Episode highlights:

01:14                    Podcast Shout-Out of the Month              

02:07                  Character is King

10:51                    Welcome Bitsy Yates

16:30                   Love, life, and Plan-B

21:10                    The inspiration of Salem

25:47                  Writing between naps

31:10                    The scoop on hybrid publishing

34:21                   Marketing then and now

37:46                  Career building

41:33                   A peek into Bitsy’s next book

Hosts J Ryan and Keira have a fun discussion about lines from movies that are so well written and executed they become ingrained in popular consciousness, regardless of if you've seen the movie or not. And they explore how these lines provide a lesson to authors in how to write dialogue for their own characters.

Episode highlights:

01:17                    Shout-out: Parents Who Write / Writing Momentum       

03:10                   Character is King

08:50                  What do these bits of dialogue have in common?

12:00                   You may not have seen it, but you know it

14:38                   What’s so funny about facing your fears?

16:36                   Work with me here

19:04                   How do you know that!!

20:45                  A moment of defeat

22:58                  Where is that from?

24:47                  Stay true to your characters

26:00                  Info dumps – Be on guard

Hosts J Ryan and Keira discuss how injecting non-standard character struggles, traits, and relationships into a genre novel can strengthen the story. And they delve into the questions an author must consider before going independent.

Episode highlights:

02:47                 What is a Whim?             

06:25                 A story of choices

11:10                    Character struggles – A writer’s therapy

13:28                  Relationship development in Tarsha (feet up)

16:21                   The joy of dialogue

19:14                   The subtle art of messaging

20:50                 Going independent: Control

23:15                  Going independent: The Numbers

25:44                 Going independent: Unexpected Challenges

27:04                 Going independent: One Crucial Thing to Know

30:16                  Going independent: Social Marketing Fun

Write Note hosts J Ryan Fenzel and Keira F Jacobs introduce themselves, give a little bit of their background stories, and discuss why they decided to start a writing podcast focused on independent authors.

Episode highlights:

00:39        Why we’re doing a podcast         

03:55        You are my daughter

05:48        What is your origin story?

13:26          The world in a trunk

14:52          Arsenic and inspiration

17:34          Bendigo’s elevator pitch .......................