Nothing About This Is Safe

Every writer is scared AI is about to bury them, and the internet only offers two useless answers: crank out two hundred books a year, or burn it all down. Jaime Buckley and author Alicia McCalla skip both and have the actual conversation. This is the fork every author is standing on, whether they see it or not: build a volume brand (hundreds of books, discoverability rented from the retailer) or...

Most writers want to know the secret formula. Post at this time. Use these hashtags. Write this genre. Follow this strategy. But what if the real secret is simpler—and harder—than that? What if success isn’t about cracking a code, but about showing up for years without knowing when (or if) the breakthrough comes? Eric Falden and I talk about the uncomfortable truth behind every writing career that...

Stop Blaming the Algorithm. It’s Not Sabotaging You. Writers love to blame algorithms. “The algorithm hates me.”“The algorithm buried my post.”“If only the algorithm would show my work...” Here’s the uncomfortable truth: The algorithm doesn’t care about you at all. It’s not out to get you. It’s not playing favorites. It’s doing exactly what it was designed to do—sell attention to the highest bidde...

Host: Jaime Buckley 💎 Guest: Lisa Norman (Deleyna Marr) Topic: What actually keeps authors trapped in the nearly-done stage, and what truth are they avoiding about themselves? Music: “Feel Good” by raspberrymusic Subscribe now Finish The Book. Stop Worshipping “Almost.” “Nearly done” feels like progress. It feels safe. It feels responsible. It can also be a holding pattern that keeps your book ou...

🎙 EPISODE 9 – What If “Imposter Syndrome” Isn’t the Problem…Identity Is? Visiting with Jon Howski. Most writers don’t stall because they’re untalented. They stall because their identity turns every page into a verdict. In this episode, Jaime Buckley sits down with Jon Howski (storyteller and software developer) to unpack what “imposter syndrome” is really made of: fear, comfort zones, old damage,...

Writing Is Creative. Selling Is Awkward. Let’s Talk Anyway. Most fiction writers don’t mind doing the work. What they struggle with is everything that comes after . In this conversation with Ann Kimbrough, we talk candidly about the unglamorous, often uncomfortable reality of selling creative work — platforms, payment systems, community, exposure, and the quiet pressure to “do marketing” without k...

Most writers treat genre like a cage. They think it restricts their imagination, limits their voice, and forces them into boxes they didn’t choose. But genre isn’t the prison. It’s the lens that helps readers understand what you’re trying to show them. Episode Overview In this conversation, Scoot and I break apart one of the most persistent inaccuracies fiction authors carry around: the belief tha...

Most writers treat genre like a cage. They think it restricts their imagination, limits their voice, and forces them into boxes they didn’t choose. But genre isn’t the prison. It’s the lens that helps readers understand what you’re trying to show them. Episode Overview In this conversation, Scoot and I break apart one of the most persistent inaccuracies fiction authors carry around: the belief tha...

Most authors think they’re preparing for the future of publishing. They aren’t. They’re documenting their past — one scattered bio, one half-finished website, one “I’ll organize this later” at a time — and calling it strategy. This episode tears that illusion apart and shows why fiction authors must write their record before the AI Librarian writes it for them. Episode Overview Alicia McCalla retu...

Writers are terrified of AI for all the wrong reasons. It isn’t here to replace you — it’s here to judge your record , and most authors don’t even have one. This episode forces you to confront a brutal truth: in the AI era, if you don’t teach the Librarian who you are… you’re invisible. Episode Overview This week, Alicia McCalla joins us with a message that isn’t warm or fluffy — but absolutely ne...

Intro/Outro Music: “Feel Good” by raspberrymusic Guests: Deleyna Marr & Scoot join me for a deep conversation about the mentality revolving around the ‘starving artist’, and how it affects us as writers. Subscribe now You’ve heard it before: “Real artists don’t care about money.” It’s the poison that keeps creative people broke and proud of it. In this episode, we pulls apart one of the most destr...

Intro/Outro Music: “Feel Good” by raspberrymusic Guests: Ann Kimbrough & Deleyna Marr—two powerhouse indie authors who’ve been living at the intersection of creativity, publishing, and technology long before most of us admitted AI was in the room. Subscribe now AI isn’t coming. It’s here. And the indie writers who learn to use it… instead of fearing it… are about to dominate the next decade of pub...

Intro/Outro Music: “Feel Good” by raspberrymusic Guest: Ann Kimbrough – author of The Harvey Girl Mysteries and Darkly. Find her on Substack at Tell Me a Mystery Ann Kimbrough is a storyteller who grew up in the shadow of adventure. Her father was a three-star general and pilot whose dinner-table tales helped form the daring spirit behind her fiction. Today, we dig into the blessing and the trap o...

Guest: Lisa Norman ( a.k.a. Deleyna Marr ) — writer, editor, and creator of The Joy Project , a new project being developed to help creatives rediscover joy in their craft. Can we be honest for a second? Most of us judged our entire future as writers based on the limp performance of our first project. We launched that debut book, blog, or series… and when it didn’t explode, we quietly decided mayb...