This week's episode is sponsored by Nightmare Stalkers, Book 2 in my Magic Trackers series. I talk about it on this episode, and it's one of my favorite novels I've written to date. You don't even have to have read Book 1 of the series to enjoy it!
SHOW NOTES
In this week’s episode I talk about my writing progress for September… and I invite a special guest on.
Sound/Music Credits for this week's episode
Intro/Outro Music: “Kick. Push” by Ryan Little.
Sound Effects/Miscellaneous Credits:
Sound effects courtesy of Freesound.org.
TRANSCRIPT
Hello, and welcome to episode 29. It’s hard to believe it’s the end of September already, but here we are. I hope there is warm weather wherever you are. Here in the states, autumn has begun, and autumn is my favorite season. The leaves are changing, the air is crisp, and it’s the perfect time to people watch.
Anyway, I got a lot done this month.
In writing news, I’ve begun work on a National Novel Writing Month book. It’s called Write a Novel in November, and it will be launching probably by the time the next progress report episode goes live. I love NaNoWriMo, and I’ve been wanting to write a book for that crowd for a while. I get pretty granular on how to write fiction, and I break it down into easy to understand concepts. So if you’ve never written a book, Write a Novel in November will be perfect for you, or if you’ve written a book but want to improve your craft, there will also be a lot of good content in it for you.
I’ve also hired a video editor for my YouTube videos, which has freed up a tremendous amount of time for me. I didn’t realize how much time I was spending editing my YouTube videos until I stopped doing it. Probably 5-6 hours a week.
Now that I’m back in class and I have speaking engagements, and I’m writing books, podcast episodes AND YouTube scripts, something had to give. So I’ve outsourced my video editing and my YouTube thumbnails. The first videos will go live starting in October, which is really exciting for me, because I can now do 2 videos a week instead of 1, which means more content for you guys.
In other writing news, I just hit publish on the third and final audiobook in my Last Dragon Lord series, Old Wicked, narrated by Miles Meili. Miles did a fantastic job bringing my dragon hero Old Dark to life, and I’m glad to be done with the series.
We’re also putting an audiobook compilation together that includes Books 1-3 so you can buy them with a single Audible credit if you want. That will go live in a couple of weeks.
I’m getting anxious to start writing fiction again, so as we move toward the end of the year, I’ll slowly be focusing on a new series. Haven’t decided what that will be yet.
In personal news, I’m appearing at the indieLAB conference by Writer’s Digest at the end of September, on behalf of the Alliance of Independent Authors. I’m going to be talking about blogging, podcasting and online video, and how you can use it to build an audience of readers. I’m very excited to get in front of a crowd of people, but my session is going to be interactive and fun, so I know they’re going to get a ton of value out of it.
***
Let’s move onto some listener questions.
Everyone’s favorite robot, Oswald is back. This month, he actually sent me more questions than usual, so I thought I would do something special for him.
That’s right, guys, I’m bringing Oswald on the show this week to chat!
Let’s give him a call.
Oswald: Listen, I’ve told you to stop calling me. One more time and I’m calling the police—
Michael: Hey Oswald, it’s me, Michael La Ronn. Writer’s Journey Podcast, remember?
Oswald: Oh. Hello, Michael. Someone from Iowa has been prank calling me. If I get one more phone call, I’m going to lose a bolt…
Michael: We don’t want that. Are you still available to chat? I’m actually recording right now, so the world is listening.
Oswald: Fantastic. I would like to ask you those questions.
Michael: You got it. Ready when you are.
Oswald: I am honored. I will be asking you a lightning round. How much time do we have? I have at least six hundred and seven questions.
Michael: I could probably do ten, maybe twelve. But definitely not six hundred, Oswald.
Oswald: OK. First question: have you ever met anyone famous?
Michael: Not really. I once sat in front of John Goodman for an entire night and didn’t know it. He was two feet away from me.
Oswald: Yikes.
Michael: Yep. I was on TV, too and didn’t find out about it until I got home. I was doing a phone-a-thon to raise money for the Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina victims. He volunteered to help, too…
Oswald: Next question. How do you like your eggs?
Michael: Sunny-side up. But honestly, I don’t like eggs much.
Oswald: What’s your favorite breakfast cereal?
Michael: Raisin Bran. I don’t eat cereal much because of all the sugar, but Raisin Bran reminds me of my great grandfather. He ate it every morning.
Oswald: If you could bring back any fashion trend, what would it be?
Michael: Corduroy. In high school, I wore corduroy shirts and pants. This was 2003, guys. I was a weird kid.
Oswald: If you had to sing karaoke, what song would you sing?
Michael: Easy. I’d sing Mornin’ by Al Jarreau. Rest In Peace, Al.
Oswald: What is your favorite decade?
Michael: The 80s, hands down. Aside from the 2010s, there has never been a better decade to live as as artist and as a consumer. There was such an incredible spirit of innovation in the 80s. There were so many bands that people never heard of that were doing incredible stuff that blows my mind to this day. As a consumer, you had so many interesting choices for television, music, movies, etc. I’d definitely live in the 80s if I had a time machine.
Oswald: What’s your favorite sandwich and why?
Michael: There’s a fast food franchise that only exists in St. Louis called Lion’s Choice. They have the best roast beef sandwiches, period. Every time I go to St. Louis, I stop there.
Oswald: Do you prefer sunrise or twilight?
Michael: Twilight all the way. The clouds and the sun are always more dramatic. My favorite is flying in an airplane at twilight. The light is just incredible.
Oswald: What is your favorite musical instrument?
Michael: Saxophone. Next question.
Oswald: What would your last meal be?
Michael: Pig ears, sauerkraut, a can of cheap grocery store soda, and a slice of German chocolate cake. My great grandmother made this for me every year for my birthday.
Oswald: What’s your favorite place you’ve ever visited?
Michael: The cloud forests of Costa Rica. I’ll never forget the fog, the birds, and the beautiful views.
Oswald: Last question. What is your favorite novel you’ve ever written?
Michael: Hard question, but my favorite most recent novel is Nightmare Stalkers, Book 2 in my Magic Trackers series. The novel just flowed and came together crazy well.
Oswald: This has been an honor. Thank you for making my dreams come true.
Michael: Always a pleasure Oswald. Thanks for your questions.
Oswald: You’re welcome.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Smile in the mirror. Do that every morning and you'll start to see a big difference in your life.” Yoko Ono
Show's over, but it doesn't have to stop here.
If you liked this episode, you and me are probably kindred spirits.
