The Writing Coach

Steven Puri, founder of Sukha and a former Hollywood visual-effects producer, returns to talk about the neuroscience of flow states, what separates writers who make it from those who don't, and why writing is rewriting.

Usama Munir of Design Dusk on pre-made vs. custom book covers, genre conventions, and how AI is (and isn't) changing cover design for authors.

Ron Black's debut novel Bleu: A Transgressive Tale takes a hard look at addiction, the art world, and domestic violence — with the abuse running in a direction fiction rarely shows. Here's how a night-shift prompt became a book, and why an unlikable character just needs to be an understandable one.

Marvin Wey, co-founder of AuthorScale, on the two proven social media formats selling books right now, how to find the scenes in your own manuscript worth promoting, and why he thinks marketing and writing should stay two different jobs.

Spiritual director Charlotte Donlon on the rituals, permission, and belonging that keep writers out of burnout and the two-minute practice she uses daily.

J.E. Sheasby joins The Writing Coach to explore AI, sentience, futuristic crime, worldbuilding, and the decade-long journey behind his ambitious sci-fi series.

After thirty years and 140 rejected literary agents, Rob Cole self-published the authorized biography of Arlinda Willis, a story of Jim Crow Alabama, Cleveland's Black entertainment scene, and the medical racism that shaped her final years.

Kevin T. Johns interviews Nathan Lang, Barbados resident, hospitality expert, and co-host of the November 2026 Barbados Writing Retreat, about what writers can expect from five days on the Platinum Coast.

Book marketing strategist and podcaster Susan Friedman joins Kevin Johns to talk about why marketing is a long game, how fiction and nonfiction require different strategies, the power of niche positioning and “micro-celebrity,” and why passion and mindset matter more than any single tactic.

Longtime editor and first-time novelist Candace Johnson joins The Writing Coach Podcast to share insider insights on traditional publishing, what copy editors really do, how to know when your manuscript is ready for editing, and how to build a strong author–editor relationship without losing your voice.