One-Drink Book Club

Johnny B. Truant

The One-Drink Book Club is an informal, (almost) weekly series in which fellow author Emma Lee Jayne joins me and our other creative friends to talk about the life, business, and art of writing and making books … for the duration of one Friday-afternoon drink. johnnybtruant.substack.com

  1. ODBC 044 - Writers' Inertia, Worldbuilding, and the Non-Douchey Alternative to Focus Groups

    JAN 11

    ODBC 044 - Writers' Inertia, Worldbuilding, and the Non-Douchey Alternative to Focus Groups

    The One-Drink Book Club is an informal, (almost) weekly series in which fellow author Emma Lee Jayne joins me and our other creative friends to talk about the life, business, and art of writing and making books … for the duration of one Friday-afternoon drink. Here’s what we talked about in this episode: * WE RETURN! AGAIN! Remember how on the last episode, we said, “WE RETURN!” and apologized for being gone for two months and then I said, “We’d promise not to do it again, but we absolutely will?” Well, turns out I know us well. So we started the episode by giving updates and talking about how the end of last year was weird. THIS TIME WE’RE ACTUALLY BACK. Maybe. * Bill’s been writing and talked about the elusive “writer’s high,” which Emma and I both said we were working hard to get back, then talked about how hard it is to find that flow state again. Damn you, Bill. * I’m impatient with worldbuilding. I didn’t realize until Emma talked about how long it takes to build worlds. * Why live events are the best kind of book research and business work you can do as an author … kind of like less-s****y focus groups. * We closed with the idea of being stubborn and writing what you want, as opposed to scoping the market and deciding in advance to write something that will sell. It’s all artists up in this m**********r, so guess which way we leaned on that one? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit johnnybtruant.substack.com

    41 min
  2. ODBC 043 - Mike and Bill Get Writing, Linear vs. Non-Linear Writing, and the Surprising Lessons of Songwriting

    10/11/2025

    ODBC 043 - Mike and Bill Get Writing, Linear vs. Non-Linear Writing, and the Surprising Lessons of Songwriting

    The One-Drink Book Club is an informal, (almost) weekly series in which fellow author Emma Lee Jayne joins me and our other creative friends to talk about the life, business, and art of writing and making books … for the duration of one Friday-afternoon drink. Here’s what we talked about in this episode: * WE RETURN! Sorry it’s been like 2 months since we recorded last. Life got in the way. We’d promise not to do it again but we absolutely will. * Big creative leaps across the board since our last recording! Mike published his “memoir in verse,” Second Half. Bill’s still writing the story that’s been in his head forever. Emma was absent this week, but … yeah, I’m sure she did stuff, too. * After hearing the all-over-the-place way Bill’s been writing, I couldn’t help but compare it to the COMPLETELY OPPOSITE way that I work, and am currently working with Sean Platt’s and my forthcoming Unicorn Heathens. I have to go from A to Z. Nothing changes orders. Ever. We talked a bit about process linearity, but then dove into … * I’ve gotten into songwriting, in addition to book-writing. The story of why and how is here. But it’s interesting how the two are similar, and how I’m finding myself completely comfortable with writing song lyrics at the same time as I’m brand new and uncomfortable. It’s interesting. * The clip of Bob Schneider talking about the song camp and how awesome I am is on this episode of his podcast with Clint Wells. The interesting part begins at time index 18:15. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit johnnybtruant.substack.com

    50 min
  3. ODBC 041 - Picking Books Apart, Kickstarter, and the Parts of Any Art That the Creator Can't Control

    07/27/2025

    ODBC 041 - Picking Books Apart, Kickstarter, and the Parts of Any Art That the Creator Can't Control

    The One-Drink Book Club is an informal, (almost) weekly series in which fellow author Emma Lee Jayne joins me and our other creative friends to talk about the life, business, and art of writing and making books … for the duration of one Friday-afternoon drink. Here’s what we talked about in this episode: * We opened by talking about my thinking about the “college” portion of my current Kickstarter campaign for The Artisan Author. The short version is that college is cool and we should all watch more 80s movies about it. (Or, rather, the short version is that you should check it out here before it ends, if you happen to be a writer.) * Do kids still read? If yes, how and how much do they read? And do they (as well as adults, really) take IDENTITY from their reading? * Bill took us down a weird rabbit hole wherein he’s reading only parts of his favorite book out of order … and how the dissection ruined it, but not for the reasons that sound obvious as you read this sentence. * Which led to a fascinating chat about how all kinds of art are collaborative, meaning that the creator can’t control at least half of the experience … which depends on what the reader/observer/listener/consumer brings to that art. This one was such a cool thread that it will be our topic for next time! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit johnnybtruant.substack.com

    1h 4m

About

The One-Drink Book Club is an informal, (almost) weekly series in which fellow author Emma Lee Jayne joins me and our other creative friends to talk about the life, business, and art of writing and making books … for the duration of one Friday-afternoon drink. johnnybtruant.substack.com