The Creative Penn Podcast For Writers Joanna Penn

How do we write authentic humanity into our books, whether that's our own experience or a fictional character's? How can we embrace the challenges of life and the author journey and make the most of the opportunities along the way? Efren Delgado gives his tips in this interview.







In the intro, How to plan and release a second edition of your book [SelfPublishingAdvice]; plus, Kickstarter update; Stone carving a green man; De-Extinction of the Nephilim [JFPennBooks; other stores];













Today's show is sponsored by ProWritingAid, writing and editing software that goes way beyond just grammar and typo checking. With its detailed reports on how to improve your writing and integration with writing software, ProWritingAid will help you improve your book before you send it to an editor, agent or publisher. Check it out for free or get 15% off the premium edition at www.ProWritingAid.com/joanna







This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn 













Efren Delgado is a former FBI special agent with 25 years of national security, law enforcement, and private protection experience. He's also a consultant, professional speaker, and the author of The Opposite is True: Discover Your Unexpected Enemies, Allies, and Purpose Through the Eyes of Counterintuitive Psychology.







You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below. 







Show Notes









* Balancing being authentic while maintaining your boundaries







* How to take our failures and move on to success







* Creating a mind map to help during the brainstorming process







* Fact checking and managing citations when writing nonfiction







* Writing to deal with trauma while avoiding using it as therapy







* Uncomfortable truths indie authors need to face about the industry







* Common misconceptions authors get wrong when writing FBI thrillers









You can find Efren at EfrenDelgado.com.







Transcript of Interview with Efren Delgado







Joanna: Efren Delgado is a former FBI special agent with 25 years of national security, law enforcement, and private protection experience.







He's also a consultant, professional speaker,

How can we use AI tools to enhance and improve our creative process? How can we double down on being human by writing what we are passionate about, while still using generative AI to help fulfil our creative vision? Rachelle Ayala gives her thoughts in this episode.













Today's show is sponsored by my patrons! Join my community and get access to extra videos on writing craft, author business, AI and behind the scenes info, plus an extra Q&A show a month where I answer Patron questions. It's about the same as a black coffee a month! Join the community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn













Rachelle Ayala is the multi-award-winning USA Today bestselling author of playful and passionate romances with a twist. She also has a series of books for authors, including Write with AI, An AI Author's Journal, and AI Fiction Mastery.







You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below. 







Show Notes









* Understanding generative AI tools as a non-technical person







* How the creative process can work with AI tools and why it's always changing







* Using AI tools as a collaborative discovery process, and why it's all about your creative vision and author voice. For more on this, check out my AI-Assisted Artisan Author episode







* Aspects of copyright







* Staying focused on writing as new AI technology emerges, and why you need to double down on being human









You can find Rachelle at RachelleAyala.net.







Transcript of Interview with Rachelle Ayala







Joanna: Rachelle Ayala is the multi-award-winning USA Today bestselling author of playful and passionate romances with a twist. She also has a series of books for authors, including Write with AI, An AI Author's Journal, and AI Fiction Mastery. So welcome to the show, Rachelle.







Rachelle: Thank you, Joanna. Thank you for having me.







Joanna: I'm super excited to talk to you. As I was telling you, I have the ebook and the print edition of AI Fiction Mastery because I think you put things so well in your writing. Before we get into it—







Tell us a bit more about you and your background in technology and writing.







Rachelle: Okay, sure. I was a math major, and I actually have a PhD in applied math. So you would think that's kind of the farthest thing from writing.







I got into parallel computing back in the 80s. Then in the early 90s, neural networks, where we were basically trying to recognize handwritten characters between zero to nine. So that was quite interesting and fascinating.







So I basically worked in software development and network management until 2011. Then I got into writing. So romance writing was my gig,

What are some of the common fears that writers face? How can we work through them in order to create more freely? Caroline Donahue gives her tips in this interview.







In the intro, How to avoid indie author scams [ALLi; Writer Beware]; Financial strategies and mindset [Self Publishing Advice]; Apple Intelligence at WWDC [The Verge; Marketing against the Grain]; “Not a chef, but an emotion creator.” Massimo Bottura on the Possible Podcast.







Plus, Spear of Destiny is on its last day; Thoughts on photography permissions for commercial use — and permission in general; Voodoo Vintners; Winchester pictures; Limeburn Hill vineyard pictures.















This podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors.







This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn 













Caroline Donahue is an author, podcaster, and book coach. Her latest book is Writing Through Fear: A Story Arcana Guide.







You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below. 







Show Notes









* The most common fears writers face







* How the fear of not being considered a “real writer” holds you back







* Overcoming the fear of judgement and being cancelled







* Fearing things before you are anywhere near them in the process







* Breaking down projects into smaller, more manageable tasks







* Embracing the unpredictable nature of creativity







* The challenges and reasons for rebranding a book







* Substack as a podcasting platform and community tool









You can find Caroline at CarolineDonahue.com,

What are the pros and cons of selling direct and building an ecommerce business for your books? How can you use click testing on Meta to help refine your creative and book marketing ideas? Steve Pieper explains in this interview.







In the intro, The Hotsheet with Jane Friedman; 20 ways you should be using AI in publishing [PerfectBound]; Artificial Intelligence? No, Collective Intelligence [Ezra Klein with Holly Herndon]; AI may take our jobs, but not our creativity [Claire Silver on The TED AI Show].







Plus, De-Extinction of the Nephilim; my webinar on Discovery Writing as part of the Kickstarter – you can buy it in the bundle or just buy the ebook and get the webinar as an Add-On. Only available until 18 June at JFPenn.com/destiny; Writing modern thrillers based on ancient relics and historical places; Ancient Heroes Podcast;













Today's show is sponsored by my patrons! Join my community and get access to extra videos on writing craft, author business, AI and behind the scenes info, plus an extra Q&A show a month where I answer Patron questions. It's about the same as a black coffee a month! Join the community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn















Steve Pieper is a USA Today bestselling thriller author under the name Lars Emmerich. He's also an entrepreneur and business consultant, specializing in digital marketing and selling direct with his course, AMMO, Author Marketing Mastery through Optimization.







You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below. 







Show Notes









* Why more indie authors are embracing selling direct







* How the emergence of courses has helped mature the indie author market







* Differences in the process of selling a print book on Amazon vs. Shopify







* Cash flow management when selling direct







* When does it make sense for an author to start selling direct?







* Using click testing to test a book idea with your target audience







* Steve's Click Testing and Direct Sales courses — If you're interested, please consider using my affiliate link and supporting the show: www.TheCreativePenn.com/clicktesting

What are the tropes of action adventure thrillers? How can you please readers and sell more books? J.F. Penn shares her own tips and also features excerpts from interviews with other thriller writers.















J.F. Penn is the award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the ARKANE action-adventure thrillers, the Mapwalker fantasy adventures, and the Brooke & Daniel crime thrillers, as well as horror, travel memoir, and short stories.







You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below. 







Show Notes









* Put your characters in difficult and dangerous situations







* Writing fight scenes







* Include a ticking clock and high stakes







* What is a MacGuffin and how is it used?







* Research into places and experiences







* Trust your writing instinct and have fun!







* Help your readers escape to exciting places







* Using quotes, and source citation







* Write a series









If you love action adventure thrillers, check out the ARKANE series by J.F. Penn. Spear of Destiny, book 13, is out now on Kickstarter with special edition signed exclusive cover hardbacks, plus paperback, large print, ebook, audiobook, and bundle deals in all formats.













You can find J.F. Penn at www.jfpenn.com, buy books direct at www.JFPennBooks.com, and read the blog or listen to the Books and Travel Podcast at BooksAndTravel.page.







7 Tips for Writing Action Adventure Thrillers with J.F. Penn







I’m an action adventure thriller fan from way back, but what are the hallmarks of the action adventure genre?







Clive Cussler said,









“Adventure is just putting characters in settings and locales that are unfamiliar to the reader and then as the writer, having fun with what happens.”









I’ve always loved adventure stories. As a child I read The Hardy Boys, and King Solomon’s Mines, and I remember the Choose Your Own Adventure books where you would flick to a new page as you made your choice of action.







I loved Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt series and read a lot of marine biology books, as I thought I might be able to join NUMA or something like it. I was able to meet Clive before he died at Thrillerfest in New York in 2015 and have a selfie which really made my trip.







J.F. Penn and Clive Cussler (Thrillerfest, 2015)





I discovered Wilbur Smith’s African and ancient Egyptian adventures, then Michael Crichton, Matthew Reilly, and James Rollins, who also combined the religious aspects I enjoyed into his books.







I love the Pendergast series from Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, with its crossover into occult and supernatural. Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code came out in 2003, and I jumped into that as soon as it launched. I had previously enjoyed Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose,

How can you adopt the seasons of nature in your writing? How can you allow periods of rest as well as abundance? Jacqueline Suskin explores these ideas and more in this interview.







In the intro, thoughts on children's book publishing [Always Take Notes Podcast]; how to market a memoir as an indie author [ALLi]; A desperate quest. A holy relic. A race against time. Spear of Destiny is live on Kickstarter!; What is Kickstarter and why am I launching there?, I'm on the Wordslinger Podcast talking about marketing later books in a series.







Book cover designer Stuart Bache on AI for book covers [Brave New Bookshelf]; OpenAI signs licensing deals with The Atlantic, Vox Media, and NewsCorp [OpenAI]













Today's show is sponsored by Draft2Digital, self-publishing with support, where you can get free formatting, free distribution to multiple stores, and a host of other benefits. Just go to www.draft2digital to get started.







This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn 













Jacqueline Suskin is a poet, author, speaker, and creative consultant. Her latest book is A Year In Practice: Seasonal Rituals And Prompts To Awaken Cycles Of Creative Expression.







You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below. 







Show Notes









* Writing a poem quickly, live and in person, or order







* Choosing the poems that go into a collection and knowing when it's finished







* The physical beauty of layout on the page







* Embracing the seasons of life and creativity







* Trust emergence







* Choosing the “easeful” path for your next project







* Celebrating our creative accomplishments while continuing our journey







* Practices to help us slow down







* ‘The veil is thin' and how it manifests in our work









You can find Jacqueline at JacquelineSu...