Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

Mark interviews grammar educator Patty McGee about her new book NOT YOUR GRANNY'S GRAMMAR as well as how grammar should be approachable rather than feared. Prior to the interview Mark comments from recent episodes and related Stark Reflections content, a personal update, and a word about this episode's sponsor. This episode is sponsored by an affiliate link to Manuscript Report. Use code MARK10 at checkout and save 10% off your own personalized report. In the interview, Mark and Patty talk about: Talk about: Patty's background as a teacher and how she tried to make the experience as rich as possible for students The challenge of when she first approached teaching grammar Looking for a new time of entry point for grammar learning Grammar being more than just the traditional basics, including sentence construction and sentences types that can make our writing more fluid and better express what we want readers to experience in our writing How identifying parts of speech in grammar has often become a kind of gatekeeping element in how to use grammar Patty being a literary consultant but preferring to call herself a "traveling teacher" How a lot of adults carry a lot of baggage about grammar Removing the punitive nature of the way grammar is approached and taught Patty's use of grammatical manipulatives and being allowed to play with them Certain long-time rules such as the "comma splice" rule that might be going away due to common modern use How handwriting is one of the most useful ways of remembering and building skills by firing more neurons than typing does Things to remember about the discomfort and fear of grammar such as "grammar isn't rules, grammar is art" and "grammar isn't rules, grammar is style" And more... After the interview Mark reflects on a few things about the conversation and also interjects with something from his personal update that he forgot. Links of Interest: Patty McGee's Website Article: Survival Dance: How Humans Waltzed Through the Ice Age Article: With This Pen, I Thee Connect Patreon Version Substack Version Manuscript Report (Mark's affiliate link - use MARK10 to save 10%) Buy Mark a Coffee Patreon for Stark Reflections Mark's YouTube channel ElevenLabs (AI Voice Generation - Affiliate link) Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup) An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries The Relaxed Author Buy eBook Direct Buy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for Authors An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores Wide for the Win Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story) A Canadian Werewolf in New York Stowe Away (Novella) Fear and Longing in Los Angeles Fright Nights, Big City Lover's Moon Hex and the City Only Monsters in the Building Once Bitten (Novella) The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard Merry Christmas! Shitter Was Full!: A Trivia Guide to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation I Think It's A Sign That The Pun Also Rises Patty McGee is a nationally recognized literacy consultant, speaker, and educator passionate about transforming classrooms into spaces where language and learning come alive. With decades of experience as a teacher, coach, and advocate for delightful literacy practices, Patty has worked alongside educators across the country, partnering to unlock the full potential of their students through innovative and practical teaching strategies. Not Your Granny's Grammar is her third book. Connect with Patty at www.pattymcgee.org. The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Mark interviews Jeff Elkins, The Dialogue Doctor, about writing emotion and a new in person gathering he's organizing in Baltimore in late 2026. Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episode, a personal update, and a word from this episode's sponsor. This episode is sponsored by Author Nation, being held in Las Vegas Nov 13 through 14, 2026 Learn more about Author Nation and register at AuthorNation.live. During their conversation, Mark and Jeff talk about: Jeff's latest book in the Dialogue Doctor series on writing emotions How Jeff has never really done any marketing for his books Struggling with intense self doubt Co-authoring with JP Rindfleisch IX The concept of thinking about how a scene makes the reader feel instead of how the character feels How in a world of AI you should be the most human you can be and how it leads to the question: "What does it look like, what does it mean to write like a human?" Seven different ways you can manipulate the reader's emotional journey and how they've come from the coaching Jeff does with authors Recentering our story around the question of what our character's growth is The book THE ANTI-RACISM WORKSHOP The concept of the reader's ally character to either increase or relieve the pressure, or tension in a moment Jeff's in person gathering happening in Baltimore later this year And more... After the interview, Mark reflects on four different things from the conversation, and includes an additional personal update that comes with a reflection. Links of Interest: The Dialogue Doctor The Fiction Makers Conference (Aug 22, 23, 2026) Jeff's Previous Appearances EP 312 - The Dialogue Doctor Will See You Now With Jeff Elkins EP 266 - "Let's Talk Dialogue with Jeff Elkins," He Said Reflectively EP 157 - A Conversation with Jeff Elkins, The Dialogue Doctor EP 226 - Reflective Round Table - December 2021 EP 172 - Understanding and Navigating Gender Manuscript Report (Mark's affiliate link - use MARK10 to save 10%) Buy Mark a Coffee Patreon for Stark Reflections Mark's YouTube channel ElevenLabs (AI Voice Generation - Affiliate link) Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup) An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries The Relaxed Author Buy eBook Direct Buy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for Authors An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores Wide for the Win Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story) A Canadian Werewolf in New York Stowe Away (Novella) Fear and Longing in Los Angeles Fright Nights, Big City Lover's Moon Hex and the City Only Monsters in the Building Once Bitten (Novella) The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard Merry Christmas! Shitter Was Full!: A Trivia Guide to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation I Think It's A Sign That The Pun Also Rises Jeff Elkins is the founder of the Dialogue Doctor where he and two other passionate coaches help authors and provides free resources and a supportive community. He's the author of 13 novels, 5 books on the craft of writing, and over 100 short stories. He has worked with hundreds of authors over the years and helped thousands more via his many resources, his public speaking, and the Dialogue Doctor podcast. The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

In this episode Mark interviews Canadian writer Colleen Anderson about writing horror and speculative fiction and poetry as well as non-fiction articles. Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episode, a personal update, and a word from this episode's sponsor. This episode is sponsored by Author Nation, being held in Las Vegas Nov 13 through 14, 2026 Learn more about Author Nation and register at AuthorNation.live. In the interview, Mark and Colleen talk about: How they've known each other mostly online Colleen's editing of the Tesseracts Seventeen anthology which Mark had a story in The Canadian horror anthology that Mark and Colleen Anderson are going to be which is coming in December 2026 Colleen's forthcoming poetry collection (TO THE LAST ION) and the poetry collection she published last year How Colleen uses such things as an instance of alien abduction and body horror in one of her poems to illustrate societal observations about things like the way we do body modifications or live within a world of stereotypes The prevalence of body horror lately and how it's often about a loss of control A look at universal monsters in a recent article Colleen wrote A definition of what body horror is, and a discussion of the Bram Stoker Award winning novel Queen of Teeth The days of paper manuscript submissions and the logistics involved in that The open mic workshop that takes place at places like StokerCon for speculative and horror poetry How Colleen decides what format an idea is going to take Putting in her "poet brain" instead of her "fiction writer brain" in some instances The methods Colleen uses to find markets to submit her writing to and how some of them work Finding and applying for various grants for writers/artists/creatives Advice Colleen would offer to writers wanting to submit their writing to various markets Colleen's first experience doing a live reading Some of the conferences Colleen is going to be attending in the next little while Where people can find Colleen online After the interview Mark reflects on the value of writing and submitting short pieces and the potential earning. He also talks about CanCon and the way different music/sounds can stir up emotions and deep memories and even things like Canadian pride. Links of Interest: Colleen Anderson's Website/Blog Nov 2, 2025 Episode of The Creative Penn Podcast (Creating While Caring with Donn King) Manuscript Report (Mark's affiliate link - use MARK10 to save 10%) Buy Mark a Coffee Patreon for Stark Reflections Mark's YouTube channel ElevenLabs (AI Voice Generation - Affiliate link) Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup) An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries The Relaxed Author Buy eBook Direct Buy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for Authors An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores Wide for the Win Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story) A Canadian Werewolf in New York Stowe Away (Novella) Fear and Longing in Los Angeles Fright Nights, Big City Lover's Moon Hex and the City Only Monsters in the Building Once Bitten (Novella) The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard Merry Christmas! Shitter Was Full!: A Trivia Guide to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation I Think It's A Sign That The Pun Also Rises Colleen Anderson has been widely published across eight countries, with works appearing in publications such as Weird Tales, Cemetery Dance, Amazing, and Shadow Atlas. Rhysling Award winner for "Machine (r)Evolution" and a two-time winner of the SFPA's dwarf poetry contest, she has been nominated for Pushcart, Elgin, Rhysling, and Dwarf Stars Awards. She is a Canada Council, BC Arts Council and Ladies of Horror Fiction grant recipient. Her poetry collections include The Lore of Inscrutable Dreams, I Dreamed a World, Weird Worlds, and Vellum Leaves and Lettered Skins as well as two fiction collections A Body of Work and Embers Amongst the Fallen. Colleen freelances as an editor, and has served on the SFPA executive, as well as British Fantasy Award and Stoker juries. She lives in Vancouver, BC where she searches for mermaids. The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Mark interviews Donn King about his new book ANCHORED FOR THE STORM, about caregiving, and about creativity. Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episode, a personal update, and a word from this episode's sponsor. This episode is sponsored by Author Nation, being held in Las Vegas Nov 13 through 14, 2026 Learn more about Author Nation and register at AuthorNation.live. In the interview, Mark and Donn talk about: The difference between goals and missions How Donn has always been a writer of some sort and how that will always be the thing that stays even when he cuts other things back Writer's Block versus when the well runs dry Understanding how not being true to yourself can be something that leads to depression Thinking of yourself not as a speaker or a writer, but an expert in a particular field and which you can share those things through speaking and writing The recent passing away of Donn's severely disabled daughter Hanna and the 24-hour required care she had needed Donn's preferred 2 to 3 hours of uninterrupted time for writing . . . and how being unable to do that suggested to him that he could NOT write. And how that all changed when he found ways to get writing done in much smaller chunks, like 5 minute slots How there are currently roughly 50 million unpaid caregivers in the US today and yet how they can feel so alone Re-examining what it means to creative even for those who are writers or artists Being able to serve your person by taking care of yourself How when you are a caregiver you are in constant crisis without any indication that it will ever end How Donn has been grieving as a parent for over numerous decades Donn's book of devotionals for caregivers who don't need another inspirational slogan, ANCHORED FOR THE STORM The question of "why do bad things happen to good people" and how it relates to the concept of a dog watching a human rushing about in their daily life without being able to comprehend what the human is doing and why the human is doing it The generic and stereotypical things people can say when addressing someone else's loss The value of not feeling alone and how that can help people drawing strength from one another The Andy Weir novel PROJECT HAIL MARY and the recent movie adaptation The Warren Buffett story about the idea of giving up things you really want to do in order to achieve the most important things that you want to do Being aware of how Donn lost his "best-earning years" Mark's recent "Publishing Wide But Shallow" talk Donn knowing how to do a proper book launch, but not having the capability of getting those things done Advice Donn would offer to others who are in a care-giving situation What to say when you're not sure what to say And more... After the interview Mark reflects on the value in connecting (even when that interview either wasn't recorded or wasn't "used" for anything other than a personal connection with someone else, on the incredible power writers have to ensure someone else out there doesn't feel alone, and the importance of being honest when you're not sure what to say to someone in a delicate situation. Links of Interest: Donn King's Website Anchored for the Storm Creating While Caring King's Chronicles (Substack) Pint and Portal Podcast: Find Success Beyond Amazon (YouTube) Manuscript Report (Mark's affiliate link - use MARK10 to save 10%) Buy Mark a Coffee Patreon for Stark Reflections Mark's YouTube channel ElevenLabs (AI Voice Generation - Affiliate link) Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup) An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries The Relaxed Author Buy eBook Direct Buy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for Authors An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores Wide for the Win Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story) A Canadian Werewolf in New York Stowe Away (Novella) Fear and Longing in Los Angeles Fright Nights, Big City Lover's Moon Hex and the City Only Monsters in the Building Once Bitten (Novella) The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard Merry Christmas! Shitter Was Full!: A Trivia Guide to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation I Think It's A Sign That The Pun Also Rises Donn King is an author and speaker who has spent years helping writers and speakers connect with audiences in authentic ways. Donn's books and podcast, The Alignment Show, explore how to live in courageous alignment with your values. He blends a warm, slightly playful style while still grounding his work in credibility. His goal is to prove that words, when used with honesty, heart, and craft, can shift lives. The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Mark interviews Orna Ross, an award-winning novelist, poet, creative catalyst, and founder of the Alliance of Independent Authors about her recent move towards focusing all her social media energy on Substack. Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episode, a personal update, and a word from this episode's sponsor. This episode is sponsored by Author Nation, being held in Las Vegas Nov 13 through 14, 2026 Learn more about Author Nation and register at AuthorNation.live. In the interview, Mark and Orna talk about: That one time in London at a Kobo device launch event when Mark and Orna were hanging out together Orna's background as a writer, a poet, and a freelance journalist Her experience in both self-publishing and traditional publishing The origin of wanting to create something to help support authors who were self-publishing, and the 2012 launch of ALLI (Alliance of Independent Authors) at London Book Fair The connection one of Orna's multi-book writing projects has to do with Irish poet W.B. Yeats Orna's experience with deciding to go "all in" with Substack One of the best things about Substack, which is how "everything" can be there (blog, socials, "patrons," serialization of a novel, poetry, self-development for creativists) How on Substack you can segment what goes out to different people Orna's recommendation for authors considering not doing it the way she did it, but instead picking a single lane and staying in it The main mistake Orna sees a lot of authors making on Substack How Substack is completely different than everyplace else on social media The difference between notes and posts on Substack The visibility of analytics of what's working, who is interacting with what, etc Advice Orna would give to writers related to "meaning and purpose" as well as understanding our value And more... After the interview Mark reflects on the idea of simplicity in execution, creating things that are "unmistakeable human" and how Orna describes herself as a "Creative Catalyst." Links of Interest: Orna Ross's Website Orna Ross on Substack Manuscript Report (Mark's affiliate link - use MARK10 to save 10%) Buy Mark a Coffee Patreon for Stark Reflections Mark's YouTube channel ElevenLabs (AI Voice Generation - Affiliate link) Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup) An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries The Relaxed Author Buy eBook Direct Buy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for Authors An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores Wide for the Win Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story) A Canadian Werewolf in New York Stowe Away (Novella) Fear and Longing in Los Angeles Fright Nights, Big City Lover's Moon Hex and the City Only Monsters in the Building Once Bitten (Novella) The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard Merry Christmas! Shitter Was Full!: A Trivia Guide to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation I Think It's A Sign That The Pun Also Rises Orna Ross is an award-winning novelist, poet, creative catalyst, and founder of the Alliance of Independent Authors The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0