Writer Craft Podcast

Hello aligned authors!

I'm Valerie Ihsan, and this is Episode 225 of the podcast and it's October 20, 2026 as I record this.

Main Topic: "Reinvention Through Animal Wisdom and Writing" with Christine Baker

Christine Baker is an award-winning storyteller, speaker, and lifelong animal lover. Her writing explores the quiet magic woven into everyday life — the resilience we discover in loss, and the extraordinary ways animals shape our journeys.

PATREON:

Thank you to my existing patrons for believing in my work offline and here in the podcast. If you are a patron, in either tier, you get all my content, always. You can support me and my dreams and my writing and my aligned author life for $11.11 USD, and I will be so so grateful. Truly. Heart to heart. Gratitude for your gifts. If you want coaching too (with TWO LIVE CALLS EACH MONTH, you can BACK me at $55.55/mo USD). You will NEVER find coaching sessions for less money than this. If you've ever wanted continued support for your writing and accountability for your projects, this is the way to do it.

Become a patron of the arts and of me at Patreon.com/valerieihsan.

And you can support my friend and colleague and Visiting Co-Host author Erick Mertz at Patreon.com/strangeairstories for short stories in the paranormal mystery genre.

Announcements/Author Updates:

• What are you reading?
• Holy Fuck by Amanda Frances

• Just finished:

• Creative Act (Rick Rubin)

Fiction:

• Unlikely Animals (Annie Hartnett)

(Main Topic): "Reinvention Through Animal Wisdom and Writing" with Christine Baker

2. Animals help us reinvent ourselves by showing us how to let go and turn the corner and how to learn to play again and adapt. They teach us how to be human.

Raising Artemis narrated by deceased cat. The animals are communicating with each other non-verbally. They are a bridge between the living and dead, human and non. Connecting ourselves to something else.

The Artemis Circle is a new Substack project: share stories about animals, feelings, connective tissue.

Substack is good visibility for authors and for reaching a broader reader audience.

Do you consider yourself an animal communicator or medium?

It never occurred to me to be an animal communicator. It was like a language I didn't need to learn. I already communicated with them.

You wrote nonfiction before this debut novel; Why take personal story of loss and write fiction?

There's something about a novel for me... a big sandbox, and place where I can play. Wrote during covid. Wrote it to get back to self and retain animal lessons; love letter to my animals and to what role they played in my life.

I'm a Pantser with the idea in my head as long as it takes before sitting down to write it all out. With Raising Artemis, the writing wasn't working this time around. Tripping up on Voice. Struggling with the first chapter. Rewriting over and over. Trying too hard. My cat Phoebe knocks over Lucy's picture (a previous pet). Phoebe gave me the answer. The cat had to be the narrator. Because a human perspective is limited. Writing it from the cat's perspective allowed me to give voice to the themes I wanted to write about and to open the doors to telling the story in a new and different way.

Talk more about Voice. Your nonfiction book gives voice to female athletes, and your novel gives voice to animals. What does Voice mean to you and how do you use it in your work?

Has to feel true, deep in my core. What it means to have a voice and use it for good.

(how deeply we feel for our animals; love)

Adjust the way we listen to animals.

You mentioned finding purpose after loss and burnout. I stopped writing for two years after my compounded losses and subsequent burnout, but maintained a journal writing practice. I felt shame and guilt around saying I was a writer and not putting new words in a manuscript. ("How can I say I'm a writer without writing?") What did you do?

Worked in marketing and PR; always wanted to say I Am a Writer; chronic migraines; sold first screenplay and then quit the marketing industry (other than some consulting). But still tripped up on the WRITER label.

Humans are wired to tie our self-worth to our career choice and output. Living and exploring, experiencing, and journaling "doesn't count"; I found me again when writing ...

Journaling slows me, centers, grounds, helps me see connections I've missed, allows Voice to not be silenced or censored. Expression of having the thought, and putting it on the page, and letting go.

What about when you talk about "Reinvention as a Life-Long Spiritual Practice"?

Journaling is at the center of that; I can let go of my expectations around my creativity process and have more fun with it.

Don't like being stuck in one place in my mind; have so many other stories to tell; this is first step forward after all the sideways crab walking I've been doing.

**

December 15th release; Preorder campaign: share receipt to get a special gift, 1st 100 people.

RaisingArtemis.com

**

Valerie's Linktree: https://linktr.ee/valerieihsan

Erick's Linktree link: https://linktr.ee/erickmertzauthor

Tools:

ProWriting Aid: https://prowritingaid.com/?afid=9378 (affiliate li

Hello aligned authors!

I'm Valerie Ihsan, and this is Episode 224 of the podcast and it's October 15, 2026 as I record this.

Main Topic: Finding Your Voice Within Your Writing Process, with David Barnett

PATREON:

Thank you to my existing patrons for believing in my work offline and here in the podcast. If you are a patron, in either tier, you get all my content, always. You can support me and my dreams and my writing and my aligned author life for $11.11 USD, and I will be so so grateful. Truly. Heart to heart. Gratitude for your gifts. If you want coaching too (with TWO LIVE CALLS EACH MONTH, you can BACK me at $55.55/mo USD). You will NEVER find coaching sessions for less money than this. If you've ever wanted continued support for your writing and accountability for your projects, this is the way to do it.

Become a patron of the arts and of me at Patreon.com/valerieihsan.

And you can support my friend and colleague and Visiting Co-Host author Erick Mertz at Patreon.com/strangeairstories for short stories in the paranormal mystery genre.

Announcements/Author Updates:

• What are you reading?
• Holy Fuck by Amanda Frances

• Just finished:

• Cultish : The Language of Fanaticism (Amanda Montell)

• Creative Act (Rick Rubin)

Fiction:

• Unlikely Animals (Annie Hartnett)

(Main Topic):

David Barnett, a former lead singer in a mediocre rock band, is releasing his award-winning debut memoir, "Foxtail" (November 9, 2026). It chronicles the story of a young man troubled by the world around him and his desperate search for peace. Intermixed with musings on music and pop culture, Barnett explores whether the selves we create to survive the fire are the very ones destined to burn us down.

At age 16, with his home life shattered following his mother's breast cancer diagnosis, David Barnett's lust for the limelight took over, and he set out to create his own rock band. As he escaped into the underground music scene – with substances and temptations awaiting him – he underwent a fundamental shift in perspective, ultimately fracturing his relationship with his childhood best friend, the quintessential "golden boy" who possessed a latent rebellious streak. In a high-intensity, coming-of-age memoir rooted in 90s counterculture that defined the turn of the 21st century, Barnett traverses treacherous terrain as he conducts an honest autopsy of his failed ambitions and the collateral damage he's caused. He subverts the traditional "addiction memoir" genre by playing with timelines and exploring concepts through an atemporal lens. Ranging from his transformative first experience with drugs to the disruptive nature of ego, "Foxtail" takes readers on a journey through the pains of adolescence and the heavy music that became his salvation. Featuring lyrics from bands and artists like Slayer, Static-X and Lil' Keke, music serves not just as a background soundtrack, but as a holy text throughout, making this sonically-saturated story perfect for those who find sanctuary in music of any genre.

1. You talked of a synergy and co-creation during concerts (crowds); How do you get that from writing?

Flow state of performing on stage. Catch the current of creativity. Just singing without the guitar gives me an altered state of consciousness.

Writing completely different: riding white-water rapids. ADHD worked for this type of writing.

Version of outlining: bullet points in head.

During a "boat jam" (metaphor), write a tangent. Ends up using the "interludes" in different points of the book.

2. What was the inception of this book?

Music always a big part of my life. Goldies 103.5 in Austin. Stumbled into writing.

27 Club (musicians that have died at the age of 27). Turned 28 and knew done with music. Went to school. Writing became life-affirming and exploration.

Reflection, excavation, exploration. Heal.

Notion to write the book came four years later.

October 2018 lost a friendship and used writing as an exercise to exorcise the anger demons.

Heard the arrogance in the rough draft. (Written in a year during FT course load.) Finished by 2020.

Refined my skills and became more humble until I could make it good. Crafting skills along the way. Loving the process made the revision process not demoralizing. Healthy way to channel neurodivergence into something productive and fun.

College helped him with processing trauma. Alters the way in which reality is perceived.

3. Say more about Finding Voice:

Hit a plateau, finding voice and locked in to the authentic, (it's a process. Rewrite five times. Excavation. Seeking with pure intentions. Voice = who you are but cultivating vocabulary. What is the exact word? Synonyns. TIP for finding your voice. There are no exact synonyms. Subtle nuances. Find the right word that is TRUE. Nurture your voice by expanding your vocabulary, better equipped to explain your circumstances.

4. Say more about "whether the selves we create to survive the fire are the very ones destined to burn us down."

Gave up purpose for living. Irony not lost of me. Blamed the universe for failures. Anger/arrogant/entitled "fatal flaw" ... profound darkness and sadness. Struggle with ego.

Archetype of Rock Star (ego) (front man job divorced from the creative process.) Became a parody of myself. Burned out.

Thebarnett.co

FB account: David Barnett

Release party Nov 7; heavy metal spoken word show; EVENT BRITE link; $25 includes the book and the show in Austin, TX.

Valerie's Linktree: https://linktr.ee/valerieihsan

Erick's Linktree link: https://linktr.ee/erickmertzauthor

Tools:

ProWriting Aid: https://prowritingaid.com/?afid=9378 (affiliate link)

(Main Topic):

Anthony Aleman was born in 1988 and raised on the fourteenth floor of a South Bronx housing project at the height of the crack wars. He spent much of his childhood in foster care and group homes. He wrote BARLESS because the truth needs telling no matter how ugly it gets, and because no one is broken - every warrior carries scars. It is his first book, told in the voice of the boy who lived it. He founded Barless Press, and lives in Rockland County.

My guiding principle became: I wanted readers to feel what I felt, not read what I went through. (How did that work for you in reality? Did you use it as a writing prompt, or as an editing tool?)

Write chapter at a time and edit: If I'm rushing past something, I stop and look inside. It becomes a therapeutic session. No one was a villain, even if as an adult, I can maybe see there was. I tell the truth at that time, new emotions not allowed in the book. Betraying the child if I did that. Disconnected from the story as an adult.

Trauma was most solidified memories, but the mundane days are a blur; disassociate

Support people checking in with you as you were writing.

Trust the reader, they understand the immersion,

I started questioning whether things I had always considered parts of my personality might actually have begun as ways of surviving childhood.

Shrinking and hiding is surviving, a bad situation is okay. As an adult, introvert? No. Maybe I'm not.

Response was shocking. Horrified (them) vs. normal (me).

Comes in different forms. Anxiety,

Mom story (FB analytics, mom viewed new story, paranoid that she'll come kill me); relax, It opened old wound.

Dove deeper "I'm going in there!" Followed curiosity, and be delicate, why am I feeling this way? Is it logical? Sometimes that leads you to the best writing.

Connect the dots between the childhood and the adult; somebody else wrote it. Who wrote this? My inner me. Out of body experience.

After leaving the Bronx, to wild nomad, the next memoir installment.

How to be human?

Don't overthink it. Just say it, you can delete it later.

IG @barlessamemoir

https://barlesspress.com

Valerie's Linktree: https://linktr.ee/valerieihsan

• What are you reading?

• Just finished: On Fire Island (Jane Rosen)

Nonfiction

• Cultish : The Language of Fanaticism (Amanda Montell)

• Creative Act (Rick Rubin)

Fiction:

• Unlikely Animals (Annie Hartnett)

(Main Topic):

Residency:

Home:

• original plan
• architect
• water concession
• little rental while building
• various reasons added up to can't start building until the water concession is final (6 months - 3 years)
• August: need to move to different rental (no answer at Village, but yes from landlord, no again from village); started looking off the mountain and discussed pricing; a neighbor had an idea; it's a go!
• moved last week of August; house guests arrived Sept 4th
• car
• Buddy miracle on the Monday before our friends arrived
• still repairs happening now. (Time moves differently here. Pura Vida and "mañana" are real.)
• had a pre-party; another gathering happening on Nov 5, but waiting until the fence is built and we have bookshelves up and all the art up before having the housewarming party. Anytime I start thinking about the date for that party ... I remind myself that I have no idea when the work will be done. Much like setting a launch date for a new book can't be set until you know when the editing and revision will happen and the cover is finished, I can't set the party date until I know when the work will be done here. And one never knows. Too many variables.

Business:

• Taxes. !!! Bane of my existence. Can I file another extension?
• AI conversations and concerns in our house (husband unemployed tech writer currently) and where I can pivot: international retreats. In person events.
• Telegram Broadcast Channel: drop a voice note (mini podcast episode), open for coaching questions, and I'll answer them in the Telegram channel. Not live. But for 24-48 hours after the initial audio drop, I'll be glued to the app and answer in as real time as my schedule and time zone allow. If you're in Europe, .... ;-)

Retreat:

• have been doing my retreats wrong (even though I loved them)
• know what I need to change on the back end (more realistic)
• Blueprint program and getting coached
• find a venue
• "much like setting a date for a book launch..."
• Taking a card from the Pura Vida mindset and will set a date once I get most of those variables solidified.

Patreon:

• memberships
• added value (quarterly full moon micro writing retreats)
• monthly reflections, happy hours, book clubs, oracle spreads (Story Arcana)
• two live calls each month for Witchy Book Doula (book) coaching and Focus and Finish (life) coaching
• plus any content I create (videos, essays, books, etc.)

Travel:

(2026: Jan/Feb: Epic Road Trip took us through 7 countries; August: Spain/Mallorca; September: Massachusetts; 2027: March: Florida; Later: Oregon? Washington? Mexico or Nicaragua?; 2028: India and Turkey)

• solar eclipse chaser (Oregon, canceled Texas one (Fatma died), and Mallorca)
• New Moon, Solar Eclipse ritual during Lion's Gate and I'm a Leo Rising in my astrology chart. (journaling)(crossing the threshold: who am I? What am I claiming? What am I releasing?) Lion's Gate Declaration: "I am a witchy book doula, helping writers find their voices, sitting with them until they feel real, channeling both sacred and mundane--without plan or performance. I ground easily on a yoga mat, praying to my guides and ancestors, finding answers within and listening deeply. I dance on the earth that smells of sandalwood and roses."

Spirituality: (see above) + more oracle cards! (Magic Manifestation Diary -- Tatyana Gosh)

Fitness: gym at the house; yoga class at the center? Back and forth here? Walking with Ali and Usha; swimming. Meditation. Two days now. It really works.

Valerie's Linktree: https://linktr.ee/valerieihsan

Erick's Linktree link: https://linktr.ee/erickmertzauthor

Tools:

ProWriting Aid: https://prowritingaid.com/?afid=9378 (affiliate link)

Hello aligned authors!

I'm Valerie Ihsan, and this is Episode 221 of the podcast and it's September 22, 2026 as I record this.

Main Topic: Jane Ward (creativity, baking, travel, and how to do anything creative when you don't consider yourself an artist)

PATREON:

Thank you to my existing patrons for believing in my work offline and here in the podcast. If you are a patron, in either tier, you get all my content, always. You can support me and my dreams and my writing and my aligned author life for $11.11 USD, and I will be so so grateful. Truly. Heart to heart. Gratitude for your gifts. If you want coaching too (with TWO LIVE CALLS EACH MONTH, you can BACK me at $55.55/mo USD). You will NEVER find coaching sessions for less money than this. If you've ever wanted continued support for your writing and accountability for your projects, this is the way to do it.

Become a patron of the arts and of me at Patreon.com/valerieihsan.

And you can support my friend and colleague and Visiting Co-Host author Erick Mertz at Patreon.com/strangeairstories for short stories in the paranormal mystery genre.

Announcements/Author Updates:

• mini-writing retreat was a lot of fun; it felt special; I spent a couple of hours with two lovely ladies; and I got a lot of writing done. I'm thinking I'll do that maybe quarterly.
• Setting up a Telegram Broadcast channel for a monthly chat and Q&A; I want to call it something more fun than that. I'm a writer, but copywriting is a different skill. ;-)
• Spain (plus trying to find a place to live!) + Eclipse;
• Structure and Spark (writing process and book planning) more editing
• What are you reading?

• Just finished: •We Need Your Art (Amie McNee) and The Someday Gardener (Ashly Poston) and Kiss Her Once For Me (Alison Cochran)
• Creative Act (Rick Rubin)
• Fiction: On Fire Island (Jane Rosen)

(Main Topic):

"Being Creative When You Don't Think of Yourself as an Artist" with Jane Ward

Also, "Bread Baking and Writing Go Together Like Peanut Butter and Jelly"

Jane Ward is the author of Hunger (Forge 2001), The Mosaic Artist

(2011), and In The Aftermath (She Writes Press 2021). After graduating

from Simmons College, Jane began working almost immediately in

the food and hospitality industry, doing everything from planning

private events to working as a weekend baker in a neighborhood

bakery. Later, she became a contributing writer to an online regional

and seasonal food magazine, and a blogger and occasional host of

cooking videos for an internet recipe resource affiliated with several

regional newspapers. Most recently she has contributed book reviews

to Story Circle and Mom Egg Review. She loves to travel and often

documents her trips through travel photography. Jane lives in

Ipswich, Massachusetts.

1. Let's talk about artists. As an author, do you consider yourself an artist?

Yes. The craft of writing is artistry. Paint pictures with words.

In what other ways do you consider yourself an artist?

Photography helps to process what I see visually.

Cooking is an art form.

Look at things in a diff ways and we all have commonalities.

Living an aligned author life to me means living from the inside out. Showing up on the outside as who you are on the inside. That your behaviors and actions mirror your internal values and the codes you say you want to live your life by. I don't see being an artist differently. I think we are all artists. And that our art, our self-expression, can be cooking, gardening, painting, singing, or even teaching.

2. For beginning writers, who barely dare to call themselves writers (let alone authors), how would you coax them into accepting the moniker of Artist for themselves?

Step up and call yourself an artists. Don't have a body of work yet. Claim your space. I can be part of this. Confidence that you have intention.

2.5. Why do you think a person wouldn't consider themselves artistic or creative? Where do those stories get started?

From our youth we hear, don't rock the boat, stay in line. Don't put yourself out there. Don't speak up too loudly. Be humble. Be grateful. Might never even considered art for self-expression.But assertive isn't a bad word. Stand up for yourself.

3. Why baking bread for you? And how does it marry up with writing so well in your mind (and your life)?

Soothing ritual (baking bread). Struggling with a manuscript? Do something with my hands and turn my mind off. Stop the noise in my head. Meditation on waiting.

Working with the time you have. Sometimes it takes longer than you think.

(Anthony St.Clair from Learners and Makers said that he was taught that if you were a writer, you also had to do something with your hands. To get into your body and out of your head to balance it out. He chose cooking and baking. ... I remember when in massage school, I had to take an art class of some sort (didn't matter what) to balance out all the intellectual science and book-learning I was doing.)

4. Tell us about your travels and how they've affected your writing life.

Walking holidays. Just become a body in time and space. Just moving. Anti - sitting in a chair and churn out stuff from my mind.

Art museums, talk with people who've been there. Understand the different people and cultures.

Informs the writing: interactions between people. Knowing the way other people act makes us more aware of how diff characters would react. Expand your mind with what you don't know. Not just write about myself.

Does the reader come on the journey with me?

Is this making sense? Is this furthering what I'm trying to say? (For the editing process)

Always start with an idea of what I want to say (that you hope they will take away).

5. Tell us about your latest book.

Should Have Told You Sooner. About a woman in her 50s, goes on a journey of reexamining her past and living with the consequences of her actions.

6. What are you most excited about these days?

Weighed down these days, but feel lucky I can use my imagination! Author friends get together and lift each other up. Coffee dates, dinners, walks.

Janeaward.com sign up for newsletter (recipes, photography, articles); @authorjaneward on IG and Threads.

"No Lessons Yet"- a great title for a memoir; Who wants it? :-)

7. What are you reading?

The Correspondent (Virginia Evans)

While editing, Jane reads mysteries (British police procedurals), like from Ian Rankin, and Elizabeth George.

Valerie's Linktree: https://linktr.ee/valerieihsan

Erick's Linktree link: https://linktr.ee/erickmertzauthor

Why Romance Novels Are More Serious Than People Think,

with Francesca Frost

PATREON:

Thank you to my existing patrons for believing in my work offline and here in the podcast. If you are a patron, in either tier, you get all my content, always. You can support me and my dreams and my writing and my aligned author life for $11.11 USD, and I will be so so grateful. Truly. Heart to heart. Gratitude for your gifts. If you want coaching too (with TWO LIVE CALLS EACH MONTH, you can BACK me at $55.55/mo USD). You will NEVER find coaching sessions for less money than this. If you've ever wanted continued support for your writing and accountability for your projects, this is the way to do it.

Become a patron of the arts and of me at Patreon.com/valerieihsan.

And you can support my friend and colleague and Visiting Co-Host author Erick Mertz at Patreon.com/strangeairstories for short stories in the paranormal mystery genre.

Announcements/Author Updates:

• I'm talking to a woman today about doing the breath work, sound healing, and yoga for the retreat. valerieihsan.com/retreat waitlist.
• Free Mini writing retreat for patron members (paid and unpaid) is Thursday, August 27th at 5:00 p.m. MT. 2 hours long (cozy, candle; oracle card pull to set intention; check-in: 1 struggle, 1 win, what you are working on tonight; guided meditation; writing words; share word count (optional)); The link is in the last post in Patreon.
• finished a client project
• retreat in Uvita for the day. Sound healing was amazing.
• Structure and Spark (writing process and book planning) more editing
• What are you reading?

• Just finished: •
• Creative Act (Rick Rubin)
• Fiction: Cold Comfort Farm (Stella Gibbons)

(Main Topic):

Why Romance Novels Are More Serious Than People Think,

with Francesca Frost

1. You said that love stories are doing some of the most interesting intellectual and emotional work in contemporary literature. Say more about that.

When did literary fiction get less dirty? The Atlantic

Sally Rooney "Intermezzo"

Colleen hoover, sold 35 million copies; 5 on best seller list at the same time.

Successful because of her

Current themes of polyamory, and gender fluidity.

2. You like to talk about how Fiction can be used as a Way to Rewrite our Real Lives. Say more about that.

Atonement (Ian McEwan) rewrites their story. That's her atonement. Write the stories we deserve. Rewrite our ones. Give them the story they didn't have.

What if it didn't happen that way? What if xxx was run by a moral person? Effective Altruism. Make money for the purposes of giving it away.

3. Why do you think romance novels are more serious than you think?

More deep than I thought. Fiction is rehearsal room for life. Simulate social experience.

Collecting first chapters and premise and plots of romance novels to use as study guides.

4. Heard it said that romance is the hardest to write because the formula is one of the strongest of genres and the ending is already preset with that HEA. Do you agree? And how have you managed to combat those constrictions?

HEAs are Moral structures, despite all bad, two people can do the work and there is always hope.

Read craft books, writing retreat, master class courses, webinars, immerse self in how stories work. Wired for Story was favorite. And Bird by Bird. (For two years.) Then studied romance, read 500 novels. About five years to write first books.

Constraints force creativity. Learning to write a hopeful ending emotional journey for her. Natural inclination thrillers, kill off the characters. 50 Shades of Gray approach. Introduced the reader to the world through a love story.

Introduce cryptocurrency world through a love story, need more women in cryptocurrency.

5. Strong views of story is strong, stand up to the editors.

Wish stronger when talking to editors, pick your battles,

The Crypto King's Muse by Francesca Frost

Use Spotify playlists to match the novels. Playlist Crypto King's Muse

Writing a book is a strange experience. Years alone with imaginary people and hope that

Valerie's Linktree: https://linktr.ee/valerieihsan

Erick's Linktree link: https://linktr.ee/erickmertzauthor

Tools:

ProWriting Aid: https://prowritingaid.com/?afid=9378 (affiliate link)

Main Topic: Balance and Flow with Steven Puri

PATREON:

Thank you to my existing patrons for believing in my work offline and here in the podcast. If you are a patron, in either tier, you get all my content, always. You can support me and my dreams and my writing and my aligned author life for $11.11 USD, and I will be so so grateful. Truly. Heart to heart. Gratitude for your gifts. If you want coaching too (with TWO LIVE CALLS EACH MONTH, you can BACK me at $55.55/mo USD). You will NEVER find coaching sessions for less money than this. If you've ever wanted continued support for your writing and accountability for your projects, this is the way to do it.

Become a patron of the arts and of me at Patreon.com/valerieihsan.

And you can support my friend and colleague and Visiting Co-Host author Erick Mertz at Patreon.com/strangeairstories for short stories in the paranormal mystery genre.

Announcements/Author Updates:

• I've started looking into specific venues for the retreat here in Costa Rica, and I'm working on the sales page. If you are interested in the updates on the retreat, you can subscribe to the waitlist at
• https://valerieihsan.com/retreat. And if you are retreat alumni, look for an email coming very soon.
• UPDATE: Date for Free Mini writing retreat for patron members (paid and unpaid) is Thursday, August 27th at 5:00 p.m. MT. 2 hours long (cozy, candle; oracle card pull to set intention; check-in: 1 struggle, 1 win, what you are working on tonight; guided meditation; writing words; share word count (optional)); The link is in the last post in Patreon.
• Client work
• Structure and Spark (writing process and book planning)
• What are you reading?

• Just finished: •
• Creative Act (Rick Rubin)
• Fiction: Cold Comfort Farm (Stella Gibbons)

(Main Topic):

Steven Puri is one of the few people on Earth who has been a senior executive at two motion picture

studios and also raised over $20MM in venture capital. He's produced the digital effects for

Independence Day which won the Oscar for Visual Effects and in addition to his film work, he's

founded 3 start-ups - one successful exit and two failures. He lectures now on the lessons in

sustainable high-performance he learned working alongside some of the world's more

productive people.

Flow states can help writers do better work with less friction.

Concentrated state, "Flow" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi; Being "In the Zone", muses, river to paddle, but align my boat with the current.

How to drop into flow: Charles Limb, look at brains of jazz musicians, prefrontal cortex stops when they drop in to the music.

Music, 60-90 beats per minutes, d minor, non vocal, lulling, long melodical passages, (not love or hate it)

Film composers binaural beats in headphones stimulates the brain to pay attention in a different way. Rain triggers it too.

What kind of sound works for you the best to reach that flow state?

Are you going to get that book out of you in this lifetime?

Have to have the skills, but not phone it in, challenged, believe it's meaningful.

Find Us:

Valerie's Linktree: https://linktr.ee/valerieihsan

Erick's Linktree link: https://linktr.ee/erickmertzauthor

Tools:

ProWriting Aid: https://prowritingaid.com/?afid=9378 (affiliate link)

Main Topic: Pockets of Pivots: Pivoting and Tweaking Your Way Through the First Year as a Full-Time Writer with repeat guest JP Rindfleisch IX

PATREON:

Thank you to my existing patrons for believing in my work offline and here in the podcast. If you are a patron, in either tier, you get all my content, always. You can support me and my dreams and my writing and my aligned author life for $11.11 USD, and I will be so so grateful. Truly. Heart to heart. Gratitude for your gifts. If you want coaching too (with TWO LIVE CALLS EACH MONTH, you can BACK me at $55.55/mo USD). You will NEVER find coaching sessions for less money than this. If you've ever wanted continued support for your writing and accountability for your projects, this is the way to do it.

Become a patron of the arts and of me at Patreon.com/valerieihsan.

And you can support my friend and colleague and Visiting Co-Host author Erick Mertz at Patreon.com/strangeairstories for short stories in the paranormal mystery genre.

Announcements/Author Updates:

• I've started looking into specific venues for the retreat here in Costa Rica, and I'm going to start working on the sales page today.
• If you are interested in the updates on the retreat, you can subscribe to the waitlist at
• https://valerieihsan.com/retreat. And if you are retreat alumni, look for an email coming very soon.
• UPDATE: Date for Free Mini writing retreat for patron members (paid and unpaid) is Thursday, August 27th at 5:00 p.m. MT. 2 hours long (cozy, candle; oracle card pull to set intention; check-in: 1 struggle, 1 win, what you are working on tonight; guided meditation; writing words; share word count (optional)); The link is in the last post in Patreon.
• There's a new essay up in Patreon,
• What are you reading?

• Just finished: Mosswood Apothecary (JP Rindfleisch IX) The Reliable Narrator (Grace Sammon)
• Creative Act (Rick Rubin)
• Fiction: Cold Comfort Farm (Stella Gibbons)
• Do Less by Kate Northrup

(Main Topic):

JP Rindfleisch IX (he/they) writes stories where whimsy meets the weird — cozy queer fantasy and strange fiction about grief, transformation, and unapologetic queer joy. Their first solo novel, Mandrake Manor, won the 2025 IPPY Silver Medal in LGBTQ+ Fiction, the 2024 Reader Ready Award TOP PICK, and a 2023 American Writing Awards Finalist nod. Since then, the catalog has kept growing: Mosswood Apothecary (Tales of Valdaes), (Valdayus) a complete six-book dark paranormal academy series co-written with A.B. Cohen, the paranormal comedy NRDS: National Recently Deceased Services with Jeff Elkins, and more still coming.

Away from fiction, JP is a Three Story Method Certified Editor and Dialogue Doctor, the author of the craft guide Story Hypothesis: The Missing Piece of Your Fiction Puzzle, and current co-host of Write Wrong Repeat. They also founded Rockford Area Writers — because someone told them writing was a solitary practice, and they disagreed. The community is now 80+ members strong.

JP lives in Rockford, Illinois, with a very chatty African grey parrot and a husky with strong feelings about the walk schedule. When they're not writing, you'll find them cooking something vegan or somewhere on a trail. Represented by Elaine Spencer of The Knight Agency, who has placed five audiobook deals with Tantor Media and Simon Maverick.

"The Post Glam of Full-Time Authoring, One year out"

Good progress with ads, and then paid ads started dropping off, so doubled down on having more presence. TikTok Lives, talking events, book fairs, draining but what I enjoy, revenue vs what am I enjoying.

Rediscovered joys

Values shifted,

Tarot reminds you monthly; want to vs have to;

Body doubles help with accountability.

Sunday Social Media, schedule it out, ability to play is most important

Wake up, walk dog, desk work all morning with pomodoro 30/5, body double on Zoom or TwitchStreams; what can I get done or what's loudest. Morning is creative time; afternoons are for TikTok lives, pack orders, talk to people about books. Lives are "in-person" events. TwitchLives are Virtual Book Events.

Input: JP is reading right now: One Last Stop (sapphic romance by Casey McQuiston); Upgrade (Blake Crouch)

Want to get used to local events. Rule: it's still worth my time if there are authors at the book event that I can network with. What are the good events in the area? Go to more and more selective ones. Look at their past attendance; refine your book pitch (say them fast)(TikTok hook); practice with fast form short videos, do multiple times to see what works. (learn to say No if not well attended)

Knowing your why. Goal is to sell. But know the area writers, what works in the area. Friendship with bookstores, ways the city can uplift, arts councils.

Slump, persistence to correct the dip, checks and balances: recognize patterns, being more honest about what's working, not working, overworking, making sure the various things I spend time on will move the needle forward.

How can I have more community - Writer's Ink Podcast sometimes, The Dialogue Doctor sometimes, Write, Wrong, Repeat.

Pre-orders: Belladonna Bed and Breakfast, Bone and Ward; new audiobook: Mosswood Apothecary

Family time and vacation time.

Schedule in the free time.

Find Us:

Valerie's Linktree: https://linktr.ee/valerieihsan

Erick's Linktree link: https://linktr.ee/erickmertzauthor

Tools:

ProWriting Aid: https://prowritingaid.com/?afid=9378 (affiliate link)

(Main Topic):

Wheel of Life overview: health, friends/family, significant other, personal growth, fun and leisure, home environment, career, money

What is your satisfaction in these areas? Goal: level them out for a smoother ride. It's not to increase all the levels to 10.

Ask instead: What # do you want this section to be at? What needs to happen for you to get that # where you want it to be?

Wheel of Writing Life: Health (Are you fit enough to sit at a desk and write?); Family/friends (found family/tribe) Are they supportive?; Admin/Promotion/Meta Data (awards, contests, book events, pitching podcasts, website updates); Money Flow (basic needs met through a combo of income streams); Author Career (how many books published, platform? What's your definition of success?); Production (includes writing schedule and publishing schedule, goals); Environment (office, coffee shop, quiet work space?); Industry Resources/Development (classes, retreat, conferences)

Find Us:

Valerie's Linktree: https://linktr.ee/valerieihsan

Erick's Linktree link: https://linktr.ee/erickmertzauthor

Main Topic: Writing, Traveling, and Trauma Healing: A Last Ditch Effort to Be Heard, with David Dean Haskell

• PATREON:

Thank you to my existing patrons for believing in my work offline and here in the podcast. If you are a patron, in either tier, you get all my content, always. You can support me and my dreams and my writing and my aligned author life for $11.11 USD, and I will be so so grateful. Truly. Heart to heart. Gratitude for your gifts. If you want coaching too (with TWO LIVE CALLS EACH MONTH, you can BACK me at $55.55/mo USD). You will NEVER find coaching sessions for less money than this. If you've ever wanted continued support for your writing and accountability for your projects, this is the way to do it.

Become a patron of the arts and of me at Patreon.com/valerieihsan.

And you can support my friend and colleague and Visiting Co-Host author Erick Mertz at Patreon.com/strangeairstories for short stories in the paranormal mystery genre.

Announcements/Author Updates:

• I'm getting really happy with my retreat planning. I just finished working on the list of benefits a writer will receive from attending the retreat and they are so good, you guys.
• If you are interested in the updates on the retreat, you can subscribe to the waitlist at
• https://valerieihsan.com/retreat.
• UPDATE: Date for Free Mini writing retreat for patron members (paid and unpaid) is Thursday, August 27th at 5:00 p.m. MT. 2 hours long (cozy, candle; oracle card pull to set intention; check-in: 1 struggle, 1 win, what you are working on tonight; guided meditation; writing words; share word count (optional));
• There's a new essay up in Patreon,
• What are you reading?

• Just finished: Mosswood Apothecary (JP Rindfleisch IX)
• Creative Act (Rick Rubin)
• The Reliable Narrator (Grace Sammon)
• Do Less by Kate Northrup

(Main Topic): David Deane Haskell, speculative fiction writer and author of Wounded Angels: A Memoir That Lights the Path to Your Own Inner Child Healing

Notes:

His work explores that reckoning—through failure, obsession, and the slow reconstruction of the fractured self. Across speculative fiction, memoir-driven essays, and recovery-centered writing, he returns to outsiders, seekers, and wounded people trying to become whole without abandoning the parts of themselves that helped them survive.

0. David, you reached out to me after the publication of The Solarian Deep (a speculative science fiction novel built around an alien ocean). You're mostly a sci/fi writer but you've also written memoir. I write both too, and I've always thought that fiction and truth are often -- if not always -- side by side in both novels and memoir. Can you speak to how a story (whether it is fiction or non) carries emotional truth without turning it into explaining/telling/info-dumping?

I am who I am. The inner-child is the past, present day travels essays, future. It's a continuum. What's going on the world in space, or in a novel. Deepens as I write it. There are no rules.

1. David, you wrote sci-fi for several years before writing your memoir (and I feel like I'm doing it in reverse order). What had you turn your attention inward when it's been in other realms for so long?

Writing came late (college). Kindle revolution. Went for it. Published first four books, five year writer's block. Got sober, spiritual and emotional healing. Floodgates open 2024. Fiction first, and then chronicled healing 6 weeks for every morning.

2. You've been traveling around Asia for a year, right? What lead you to that decision, and how do you (or did you) think it would affect your writing process? Has it been a distraction or have you settled into a traveling writing routine? (You brought up discipline in your email. What do you want to say about that?)(A lot of times I feel like I don't have any discipline, but there is plenty of evidence that states otherwise.)

Two years of traveling. Was supposed to be in the Philippines right now, but wanted to stay in Japan. Vertigo and got a concussion. Not leaving now.

Stay in places for a month or two in order to write. Every location is difference.

Discipline in the business side, but writing is more on and off (in the flow).

Using Voice to Text to write.

2.5. How has travel changed your writing?

Deepened the inner child work (healing work), travel gives me new triggers and stressors, deepened sense of self, experiences inform the fiction writing.

Thought about fictionalizing The Planner Boy part of him. Fun project.

2.75. You said on a previous interview that "writing is the healing." I know that journaling is a life-saver, and my goal in publishing memoir has mostly been a connection-based intention -- wanting to make a difference in someone's life and feeling that resonance of connecting with like-minded people. What do you think is a more powerful healing tool -- the journaling or the letting go of the work and releasing to whomever needs to find it?

Fiction is about sharing, nonfiction writing is the service. The inner work happens in seclusion. Publishing is for inspiring other to heal. Is of service.

3. I heard that you had a follow-up memoir coming this year. I'm also a multiple memoir writer. I thought I'd be writing more during the process of moving and getting settled into Costa Rica, but I'm seeing that both my previous memoirs had years and years of distance from the events to the time of writing, and now I'm worried that I'll have "nothing to write" (isn't that every writer's worst worry?) while I'm waiting for the current memoir to marinate. What is the second memoir about and did your writing process between the two memoirs change?

Kept writing after Wounded Angels, got divorced, Inner Child Unleashed's first line, "I got divorced today." Left Japan, started traveling. Book ended without my consent. "Oh. I wrote the last chapter."

4. How does the drumming fit in to it all? What influence has music had on your writing?

Professional drummer in DisneyLand for years. In The Blue Devils band. National Indonesian Marching Band.

Music informs the writing. Peer to peer friendships didn't work when a child/teen; but I could get on stage and drum and play piano; able to be heard. Drumming had fallen away because of the drugs and alcohol. And that was how I expressed. Writing became last desperate effort to be heard.

Find David on Substack and get free fiction on his website.

Find Us:

Valerie's Linktree: https://linktr.ee/valerieihsan

Erick's Linktree link: https://linktr.ee/erickmertzauthor