Beyond the Draft

What does it look like when a person does not just study change, but becomes it? Brian Gorman started as an introverted Eagle Scout at Syracuse University, quietly trying to convince his school to change a mascot that had been there for decades. That one act of courageous, persistent refusal to accept things as they are became the opening line of one of the most extraordinary lives of purposeful t...

What if creativity was not a talent some people are born with, but a birthright every human being carries? Mark Firehammer has spent his entire life proving exactly that. He is a former touring musician turned systems thinker, wellness innovator, novelist, nonfiction author, and the founder of the Creative Humanity Alliance, an ecosystem built around one radical and urgent mission: to make creativ...

She looked successful on the outside. Behind closed doors, she was using alcohol to survive a toxic marriage, an impossible pace, and a private pain the world never saw. Then COVID came , and instead of falling apart, Rose Ann Forte made a decision that changed everything. Ninety days. A neuroscience-based coaching program. And a faith she had never truly unleashed. What happened next wasn't just...

Thirty years as an award-winning actor, playwright, screenwriter, and filmmaker. A professorship heading the MFA Acting Program at the University of Alabama. And then, in his 50s, a debut novel called Antique. Seth Panitch has spent a lifetime telling other people's stories on stage and screen. In this episode of Beyond the Draft, he talks about finding his voice across multiple disciplines, the i...

She has narrated over 30 audiobooks, written and published 8 of her own, and illustrated 6 children's books. Liza Jacob stands at the intersection of performance, production, and author intent, and she knows exactly where audiobooks succeed and where they quietly fail. In this episode of Beyond the Draft, Liza pulls back the curtain on the most heartbreaking mistakes indie authors make in audio pr...

She moved to America in 2018 to pursue acting. Over the next seven and a half years she lost all of her parents and grandparents in tragic ways. Instead of falling apart she went inward, and wrote. In Between is eight gender-neutral one-act plays set in the liminal spaces between life and death. No restrictions on age, gender, or ethnicity. Just raw, universal, deeply human stories about loss, pur...

She spent 35 years as a professor and creativity expert. Then she put down her research papers, picked up fiction, and became a beginner again. Nancy Napier is the author of A Case of Too Many Deaths and The Art of Lies; Murder mysteries set in genetics labs, courtrooms, and the vivid art world of Vietnam. In this episode of Beyond the Draft, Nancy pulls back the curtain on what nobody tells you a...

She published her first novel in 2017. She wrote dark fantasy, horror anthologies, and reproductive horror. And in the middle of building her own writing career she stopped, and built a community for every fiction writer who was struggling alone. Dianna Gunn is a novelist, anthology editor, and founder of Weeknight Writers, a social enterprise that has brought thousands of isolated writers into co...

Two years. Five thousand pages. Ten published books. One single epic story spanning science fiction, fantasy, and spiritual warfare ; A multiverse so vast it rivals the worlds of Robert Jordan and George R.R. Martin. Terrence Rotering did not write for fame or bestseller lists. He wrote because he wanted people to gain from his effort. In this episode of Beyond the Draft, Terrence pulls back the c...

She published her first book at twelve. Since then, Shanti Hershenson has written 38 books, built 50,000 TikTok followers, and proved that age is never the barrier, passion is. In this episode of Beyond the Draft, Shanti shares what it truly takes to write boldly, publish fearlessly, and never wait for permission. This conversation is for every writer, at any age, who has been putting their story...

What happens when a bestselling author gets miraculously healed and writes about it? Shilo Creed joins Beyond the Draft to share how faith, healing, and 42 novels built a movement of over 1.4 million readers. This conversation will strengthen your faith and completely transform how you write.

Introduction to Beyond the Draft