Behind The Pen

Seriously, Jude could be a stand-up comedian. It was so much fun to chat with her. We talked about book covers, reviews how she used to have her own column in the local newspaper and when she left, the paper folded. With one book of a trilogy already published, book two will be in the hands of an editor very soon. Marketing yourself and your books is a hard job and Jude taught herself how to do it...

In this very special episode, I celebrate the 1st anniversary of the Behind The Pen audio podcast. My guest in this episode is the same person who started this journey with me a year ago and who I have become good friends with over the year. Amit Khadikar frontman and vocalist and guitarist for the rock band Hourglass Inversion and singer, musician, and songwriter for Akousitc Soul . We talk about...

I had a really interesting time chatting with Brendan, author of the historical thrillers, The Last Roman . It seems a crime to label these books as just historical thrillers as they are so much more than that. But you're going to have to watch the show to find out what I mean. We talk about his creative background, his love for EVERYTHING to do with history, and the writing, publishing, and marke...

One the first episode of the new year 2022, I chat with Rebecca Vigus, who has surpassed me with publications as she has 15 books published and she's revamping a few of them as well as writing some new ones. Rebecka is a poet and a fiction writer of the thriller/crime mystery genre and also children's books. We chat about her books and publishing and her business of being a writing coach. What doe...

My, when CJ and I got together for this episode we were like two gossiping neighbors. It certainly felt like I'd known this lady longer than the 40 minutes we chatted. It felt like I'd met a kindred spirit. We have a lot in common and I'm not referring to experiences or liking the same food. No, it's more than that, as you will hear from the podcast. CJ is an author of romance but covers nearly al...

In this episode, I get to chat with a fellow author I've known for years but never heard her voice until now. She is an award-winning author of the science fantasy series, Dragon Dreamer and even painted her covers. She's also published Winter's Childs which is a children's book snd she's published snowflake coloring books. We chat about what inspires us. Why do we hear voices in our heads and in...

I'm so excited for you to meet Talmage or Tal, as I call him. He's an artist of exceptional talent in a style I've never seen before. It was such a pleasure talking to him about his work, art in general, and his children's book. He's very witty as well, so we had a good laugh. Have a listen to the podcast and then check out his amazing work. And of course his book. https://www.amazon.com/Fernnie-F...

In this episode, we're traveling over to Italy to chat with Keyla Damaer, an author of Sci-fi. I applauded Keyla ( you'll hear me clapping) for holding on to her finished manuscript and waiting until she could afford to hire a professional editor. Most debut authors won't do that, as they want their manuscript out there immediately. Buy Keyla held on to the book until she could afford to get the b...

In this episode, I ch at with Leighton who started writing and got his first novel completed by taking part in NaNoWriMo which is National Novel Writing Month. Where you have from the 1st Nov until the 30th to write a novel, well, the first draft. I put my hand up and say that I have taken part a couple of years ago and managed to finish the book by the 30th. It was a strain. I won't do it again,...

There's me thinking I was going to be chatting to just another podcaster. But that was not the case.  Behind the Pen is for all artists that use a pen for work, and YaYa wears many hats. Yaya Diamond is as unique as her name. She's an actress, voice-over, author, filmmaker, podcaster/video and audio, and a technical advisor to the finalist in the USA team for the World Karaoke Contest.  ...

This episode is a little different from the normal interviews in today's episode. I talk with my co-author about our book Toxic, which is a dystopian sci-fi romance. We discuss how it all came together. How we worked out certain scenes. We had to have reason the world was dystopian, and where the Outcasts were living.  I've never known any author to do what we've done. Listen and find out why...

Tonya qualifies as an author as she has over 50 books published and three pen names.  You would think that with that many books and having her own podcast, that she would be all over social media platforms. But she's not. In fact, she's only now, learning about promotion and marketing. So late in the game. But better late than never. Come and listen to our chat. About living in a forest in th...

Michael has just released his debut novel. We talk about how the process was for him. The pros and cons the dos and don'ts. How one gets inspired and just how much effort, time and money goes into writing and publishing your own books. https://www.amazon.com/Freewilds-Book-One-Cult-Constable-ebook/dp/B09FZPJCH6

Tina is a musician that helps write the songs and plays lead guitar for her band, Cedar and Sage. I would describe the music as psychedelic melodies with haunting vocals. But Tina's main project, her life's work, up till now, is writing her thrilling adventure fact-fiction series Yah Struck. She currently working on book six. You have to listen to the show to find out what the disturbing subject m...

Now, if you love the vamps, whether it's the movies, books or tv shows like Trueblood, Vampire Diaries or the rest, then these are the next books you have to read. Not only does Karen have a series about Vampires but she lives in New Orleans and has based the series there. And for those that know or watch the Originals, we know how much vampire lore there is in that place. Also ghosts, witches, vo...

Michelle is an extraordinary lady. Not only did she start a publishing house and publish two anthologies, but it's also what these non-fiction anthologies are about and the people that have taken part, that makes these very special books. Come and meet the lady of the Lemonade Stand. https://www.facebook.com/groups/LemonadeLegend #NaPodPoMo #podcast #anthology #realstories #publishing #marketing #...

When Jennifer and I started talking about her book series, a dystopian sci-fi horror romance, we were both surprised with how similar our books are. My dystopian, Toxic had a different reason for why the world turned dystopian, to Jennifer's, and there are no monsters or Buku in my story. But there is a huge part of the plot that is very similar.  And if you ever watched Love and Monsters, Je...

The first thing you need to know about 'Babs' as we call her in the writing community, is that she has not one, but two pen names. She's known as  Alana Lorens for her romantic suspense trilogy and Lyndi Alexander for her fantasy and sci-fi work. Babs has over 20 books, for you all to feast on. I had such a laugh with this lady and we also have a lot in common. I was so surprised after the ch...

Day 16 of the #NaPodPoMo In this episode, I chat with Mark Smithivas, who is a blogger and also a podcaster. We talk about podcasting and the ideas he has for his blogs and to finally get a book out. Check out his podcast https://pod.co/mark-smithivas-personal #pocaster #podcasting #podcast #blog #blogging #blog #BehindThePen #MarkSmithivas #AuthorAssisr

You wouldn't believe this is the first time Christine has been on a podcast, she's a natural and I hope she continues to get on radio shows and podcasts and get her books out there. She is an author of a vampire fantasy series and a space opera sci-fi. We talk about how to get inspired, and how does she come up with the initial idea for her stories and lots more. Come and meet Christine - the woma...

I had a great chat with Justin. About his love for writing, his teachers, his debut novel, finding a publisher and his future plans. We had a laugh and talked about so serious stuff. He's a great guy and a fantastic author so make sure to check out his debut novel.   Fallen Revenge.  - available on Kindle Unlimited at the time of uploading. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09BJ75JF6 Justin Bri...

This was Michelle's first time on a podcast, and she quickly got comfortable and was able to take about the mistakes she's made as an independent author, the books she's currently editing and how bullying get her good material to base her thriller and a children's books about what she went through and teaching the older children, how to cope and what to do if they are bullied and if you're one of...

Martin is straight upfront honest about medical conditions he suffers from and it's these conditions that have conditioned him to be an extremely talented artist. I've seen his work and I hope you will too. He tells me about his time living in Paris and how he started off with his artwork. And tells me a wonderfully sweet story about how he met his wife. Martin has had to cope with so much and wou...

I've been lucky enough to have known Paul for many years. We met in a writer's group and have been friends ever since. But this is the first time we have seen each other (sorry you only get the audio) and talked to one another and as you can imagine we had a lot to discuss and laugh about. It was such a pleasure to finally meet Mr Paul White, who is extremely talented in all that he does and yet n...

Coming close to retirement, Jill knew she needed something to keep her busy. After taking a Masters course in Creative Writing, she decide she wanted to write plays rather than a full novel. So she started writing and hiring professionals to start recording audio plays. It's so different from an audiobook as she has the ambience to each scene with sound effects. I had a fascinating chat with Jill....