Most Writers Are Fans

Terry gets real about why the podcast has been quiet and why he's not sorry about it. For the past several months, he's been navigating his grandmother's medical crisis, the labyrinthine nightmare of American elder care, and the financial brutality of a system designed to strip elderly people of everything they've worked for. It's been a lot. But this episode isn't just a p...

Episode Summary Terry revisits HBO's  Girls  as a long-overdue cultural blind spot and comes away with something more interesting than a hot take. This minisode unpacks what the show did and didn't do well, why Lena Dunham's approach was genuinely ahead of its time, and what  Girls  accidentally predicted about the content ecosystem we're all living (and creating) in today. What We...

What does it actually mean to write diverse characters, and who gets to do it? In this conversation, Terry sits down with Black romance author Rae Shawn to dig into one of the messiest, most necessary questions in contemporary fiction: when writers reach beyond their own experience, what separates authentic representation from tokenism, trend-chasing, or outright harm? Rae writes contemporary Blac...

We've been told that "main character energy" is a symptom of a screen-addicted generation that can't tell reality from performance. But what if the real problem isn't that we see ourselves as protagonists? It's that we've lost the understanding of what fiction is actually for. Using Megan Garber's  Screen People  as a jumping off point, this episode makes the case...

In this special minisode, a kind of proto-episode of the  Ink Over AI   series, Terry sits down with Rose Horowitch, staff writer at  The Atlantic , to discuss her widely-read article  "The Elite College Students Who Can't Read Books."  What begins as a conversation about struggling college readers quickly opens up into something much larger: a wide-ranging diagnosis of why students...

In this solo minisode of  Ink Over AI , Terry starts where a lot of good rabbit holes begin: a personal frustration. While working with Claude to spec out a new gaming PC capable of running  Dragon Age: The Veilguard , he noticed that RAM and storage prices were dramatically inflated, a direct consequence of AI companies gobbling up hardware at scale. That observation sent him down a research spir...

In this episode of  Most Writers Are Fans , Terry sits down with old friend and fellow teacher-author Cody Walker to talk about one of the most practical and often intimidating tools in the indie author's toolkit: crowdfunding. The conversation starts at the beginning, Cody's first campaign for a comic called  Noir City , launched in the shadow of the Sullivan Sluggers controversy, an earl...

In this minisode of Most Writers Are Fans , Terry steps back from writing craft to dig into something that's been on his mind as a lifelong comics fan: a phenomenon he's calling the Lost Generation Problem. It starts personally. Terry came to comics in college through Geoff Johns' Teen Titans — Tim Drake, Conner Kent, Cassie Sandsmark — and fell in love with the energy of younger heroe...

In this episode of Ink Over AI , Terry steps outside the usual solo format to welcome educator and author Patty McGee, whose book Not Your Granny's Grammar connects directly to a theory he's been developing: that teaching students to find and own their individual writing voice is one of the most powerful tools teachers have against AI in the classroom, both as a goal and as a form of inocu...

In this episode of Most Writers Are Fans , Terry sits down with Brent Lambert, Black queer writer, founding member of the Hugo Award-winning FIYAH Literary Magazine, and author of Necessary Chaos, to talk about community building, creative collaboration, and what it actually takes to put a short story collection together when the traditional industry doors aren't opening for you. The episode&#...

We know we're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but we also know everyone does. Getting a great cover is an important part of the publishing process. Terry shares his experiences getting covers designed, and he also reveals the cover for his newest book, Destined for Greater Things.

I've been having some thoughts about how it often feels difficult to create things when the world is what it is right now. Big line message: Keep creating. We have to tell the story of this world is right now. (00:00) - Intro (00:34) - How do you write with all that's going on in the U.S.? (3:26) - How fiction teaches us about reality (7:12) - Why writing during tough times matters "C...

Whenever most people dream about being a published author, they don’t often dream about writing tie-in fiction, journalism, or working inside someone else’s world. But for a lot of writers, especially early in their careers, flexibility is what actually keeps the lights on. That’s why I invited YA author and tabletop RPG designer James Sutter to join me on Most Writers Are Fans . James is one of t...

In this video, I discuss how I learned about my ADHD diagnosis as an adult and how I have used writing as a way to manage it. Tyranny of the Fey by Terry Bartley is now available for hardcover, eBook, and audiobook. Read my stories now on terrybartley.com. Send requests to collab or comments about the video to contact@starlightkingpress.com

In this episode of Ink Over AI , Terry reflects on a small but unsettling moment: asking AI to polish an email, only to realize the result, while technically “better," no longer sounded like him. That experience opens a deeper conversation about what AI is quietly teaching us about writing, authority, and voice. This isn’t about plagiarism or obvious errors. It’s about sanitization, and what...

Whenever most people dream about being a published author, they don’t picture constantly posting about their book on social media. But the reality is that whether you’re traditionally published, indie, or self-published, a lot of promotion still falls on you. That’s why I invited YA fantasy author Brooklyn Quintana to join me on Most Writers Are Fans . I met Brooklyn at a bookstore event a couple...

In this episode of Ink Over AI, Terry dives into why serious creatives can’t afford to ignore AI ,even if it feels uncomfortable or unnecessary. If only people looking for shortcuts use AI, developers will optimize it for laziness and outsourcing, not creativity. Terry argues that by using AI as a thoughtful tool, we can shape its development to support real creative work, demonstrate meaningful u...

At least once a week, I find myself sitting at my desk at work thinking, “Is this my whole life?” The truth is, I love being an English teacher. But it’s exhausting to run an indie press, write a fantasy series, manage multiple social media accounts, produce and host a podcast, and still teach full-time. Sometimes it feels like something has to give, and I don’t want it to be my creative work. But...

AI doesn’t have to be a shortcut or a threat. In this episode, Terry models how students and writers can responsibly use tools like ChatGPT to jump-start their thinking without outsourcing their creativity. By walking through an actual story brainstorm, he demonstrates how LLMs can prompt deeper analysis, spark unexpected associations, and help you figure out what you truly want to say.

So you want to write a multi-part fantasy series? How do you get started? We hear stories about ideas coming to authors while they're on a train or walking their dog, and we imagine it's fully formed. As authors, we know that's not how it works. In this episode , host Terry Bartley talks to Ryan Gebhart . Ryan wrote the Jewel of Life series that just released the seventh and final nove...

In this episode, Terry shares a moment from a recent grad school meeting that hit a little deeper than expected. When his professor casually said, “Obviously, you’re a good writer,” it sparked an uncomfortable what-if: If AI had written that assignment, who was the compliment actually for? This episode dives into the quiet insecurities indie creatives carry: imposter syndrome, comparison traps, an...

As a speculative fiction author, it's really easy to fall into the trap that research doesn't apply to me. Obviously, fiction set in our world may require some level of research, but I get to decide what happens in the fantasy world I'm building? Right? Right? When I interviewed this episode's guest, Lee Clark, she reminded me that research is an integral part of any good fiction,...

In this episode of ⁠ Most Writers Are Fans⁠ , host ⁠Terry Bartley⁠ interviewed queer YA sci-fi author, ⁠ Michael Solís (⁠ This is Why They Hate Us ⁠). They talked about Michael's journey as an author, the opportunities presented by the expansion of self-publishing, and how to decide what path to take. They also talked about what defines dystopian literature and what makes a good dystopian stor...

A Most Writers Are Fans Series In this kickoff episode, Terry Bartley introduces Ink Over AI , a new series about how writers can use AI tools without giving up the craft of writing itself. Terry lays out what this show is (and what it isn’t): not a shortcut for copy-pasting essays or cranking out soulless prose, but a space for exploring how AI can act as a brainstorming partner, an error-spotter...

In this episode of Most Writers Are Fans , host Terry Bartley interviewed queer YA author, Aaron Aceves ( This is Why They Hate Us ). They talked about Aaron's journey as an author, finding the right agent, and getting traditionally published. They also talked about bisexual representation, since they are both bi men writing bisexual characters. Representation is something that feels easy. Make su...