The Adventurous Author | Finish Book, Writing Discipline, Creative Writing, Character Development, Christian Podcast

Want to get a book written but feel you don’t have enough time between school and sports and family obligations? Or maybe you’ve already done the school thing and now have a job that doesn’t leave you with much time for passion projects like book writing. Or maybe you listened to episode 40 and have scheduled yourself some writing practices, but you aren’t sure where to start and how to go about f...

Hey, friend! It’s fantasy fiction Friday, so I have another chapter of The Dragon Collector coming your way. Now one of the great things about writing fantasy is that you get to make up what the places look and feel like as well as strange characters or creatures that live in your world.  And no one can tell you that it’s not “realistic” because according to the rules of your world, that’s how thi...

Want to know what sets writers apart from ordinary people? Sneezes. Ordinary people sneeze, accept a kind “bless you,” and move on. A writer sneezes, has a crazy “what if?” thought, then turns the answer to that question into a book. That’s exactly what happened to today’s guest. I don’t want to spoil the fun of her book’s origin story, but I do encourage you to listen in to hear it directly from...

Hey, friend! Do you struggle to find time to write because you're busy doing all the things that come with being a responsible, well-balanced teen or young adult? I struggle to find time to write as an adult.  In order to maintain my sanity and stay healthy, I also need to make time to study my Bible, workout, hang with the fam, and have fun.  Oh, and record these episodes for you so you can learn...

Hey, Friend!  It’s Friday.  And that means it’s time for another Fantasy Fiction Friday episode.   I know.  I know.  I’ve missed the past few weeks.   First we went to Disney World.  Woohoo!  That was fun.  Then with the dawn of the new year and some new ideas for which direction to take this show, I got caught up in a project to revamp my website to get clarity on that new direction.  The website...

Are you an athlete who also enjoys writing?  I am.  I played volleyball, basketball and softball in high school, softball in college, and now run races of varying distances to feed my competitive spirit. During a recent writing workshop I was leading, it occurred to me that many of the writers I’ve worked with also play sports.  That’s when the “what if?” question got my creative brain churning. W...

Merry Christmas, friend! In this special episode, I challenge you to consider the character of the characters in the Christmas story.  What was it about Elizabeth and Zacharias, Mary and Joseph, the shepherds and the wise men that allowed God to show Himself strong through these people? Tune in to find out.  

It’s Fantasy Fiction Friday!   And this isn’t just any Friday.  It’s the eve of Christmas Eve and the Friday before Christmas.  If you’re looking for a last minute gift of entertaining adventure for the avid reader in your life, I recommend the Dragon Stalker Bloodlines Saga.  You can easily gift the ebooks to any Kindle via Amazon, and you can be sure the books will be delivered in time for Chris...

Engage with an Expert Thursday was so fun with Kara Walker last week that I split it up the interview into two shows and couldn’t wait until Thursday to share part II with you.  So here we are on the Tuesday before Christmas with another dose of Kara Walker, host of the Money and Mental Peace podcast.  Today she shares her story about how she graduated from college debt free with $10k in the bank…...

It’s Fantasy Fiction Friday! In today’s chapter of The Dragon Collector, Javan officially starts training to collect dragons.   At the outset of the chapter, Javan’s grandfather Ravier is Javan’s sole mentor.  And Ravier plans on being the only one to train Javan. But unbeknownst to both Ravier and Javan, Ravier’s wife and Javan’s grandmother Hannah has been on a mentor recruiting mission.  She’s...

It’s Engage with an Expert Thursday! This the part of the show where I will bring on a guest expert to discuss a topic that is directly or indirectly related to your success as an author. Today we will be kicking off this fun new aspect of the show with Kara Walker, host of the Money and Mental Peace podcast.  She is here today to talk about the importance of budgeting your money and how to get st...

Happy Friday, fantasy fiction fan!   Today I’ll be sharing chapter 21 of The Dragon Collector with you.  Now most of this chapter was not included in the original version of the book.  But after listening to feedback from my readers, I learned they were confused about who was who in Javan’s family.   I have to admit it does get a bit confusing since the people in Zandador have such long lifespans...

So you want to write a book.  But you’re young.  Maybe you haven’t graduated high school yet.  Or middle school. Your heart tells you to go for it, but your mind has some doubts. Am I good enough to be an author? Is my idea good enough to write about? Am I capable of writing a good enough story? Will my story ever be good enough to let anyone read? How will I know if my novel is good enough to pub...

In today’s Fantasy Fiction Friday episode, I’m coming at you with chapter 20 of The Dragon Collector, book one of the Dragon Stalker Bloodlines Saga. Before I wrote this chapter, I created a historical timeline of all the kings of Zandador.  The timeline has their names, what bloodline they are from, and how long they reigned as king.   You can check it out on the blog here if you want to see it f...

When I decided to be an author in 1999, I thought people who self-published did so because they were B-level authors who couldn’t get a contract with a “real” publisher.  To me, it seemed like cheating your way into publication. I also thought that getting a book deal from an established or traditional publisher was a privilege meant for an elite few who wrote well enough to be recognized by “them...

Ready for a fun Fantasy Fiction Friday episode?  Moving forward on Fridays, I’ll be reading you snippets of The Dragon Collector, book one of the Dragon Stalker Bloodlines Saga, and sharing behind the scenes insider secrets along the way. In The Dragon Collector, fifteen-year-old Javan believes he is simply an ordinary orphan abandoned by his mother at birth--until he is whisked away to another di...

So you’ve decided you want to write a book.  Fantastic! Welcome to the author community! But now you’re realizing that you’ve read short books and long books and in-between books.  How long does a book have to be to be considered a book?  Is an author who writes a skinny little story just as impressive as one who writes an epic tale?  Who determines how long your book should be?  And how do you fi...

And here we are on Day 21 of the 21 Days of Storytelling featuring The Dragon Collector, book one of the Dragon Stalker Bloodlines Saga. The story snippet of the day is chapter 18, The First Dragon Collector. Now I’m gonna warn you: this is not a chapter filled with action and adventure. I almost didn’t include this and the next few chapters because I just wanted to get on with the action, but the...

Welcome to Day 20 of the 21 Days of Storytelling featuring The Dragon Collector, book one of the Dragon Stalker Bloodlines Saga. The story snippet of the day is chapter seventeen entitled Omri’s Orders. In today’s Insider Tip, author DK Drake discusses the POV shift to Micah in the first scene of chapter 17.  Why shift the point of view character when the story has been told from only the main cha...

Have you ever had to make a this or that lifechanging decision?  I’ve had to make quite a few such decisions throughout my life.  One came while writing The Dragon Collector.   In today's Insider Tip of the Day, I'll share about that decision and how it prompted me to finish and publish The Dragon Collector. And here on Day 18 of the 21 Days of Storytelling, I'll be reading chapter 16 of The Drago...

It’s Day 18 of the 21 Days of Storytelling featuring The Dragon Collector, book one of the Dragon Stalker Bloodlines Saga. In today’s Insider Tip, Author DK Drake shares how her real life experience with breaking her nose helped her write the end of the chapter chapter fifteen entitled Captured.   Apply here for a Personalized Writing Workshop with Author DK Drake. Get Your Free DK Drake Starter L...

Welcome to Day 17 of the 21 Days of Storytelling featuring The Dragon Collector, book one of the Dragon Stalker Bloodlines Saga. The story snippet of the day is chapter fourteen entitled A Hint of Attachment. In this chapter, Javan is headed back to the portal with his mother, and she shares a bit of her backstory with her long-lost son along the way.  She also mentions the official names of some...

It’s Day 16 of the 21 Days of Storytelling featuring The Dragon Collector, book one of the Dragon Stalker Bloodlines Saga. The story snippet of the day is chapter thirteen entitled Return to Obscurity. Today’s Insider Tip from Author DK Drake explains how she dreamed up ways to describe the landscape and insects of Zandador. And if you haven’t yet secured your free digital copy of The Dragon Colle...

It’s Day 15 of the 21 Days of Storytelling featuring The Dragon Collector, book one of the Dragon Stalker Bloodlines Saga. The story snippet of the day is chapter twelve entitled A Smashing Return. Today’s Insider Tip from Author DK Drake why there is no magic in Zandador. Wait?  No magic?  In a fantasy novel?  That’s right.  Listen in to find out why the author made the decision to NOT have magic...

Welcome to Day 14 of the 21 Days of Storytelling featuring The Dragon Collector, book one of the Dragon Stalker Bloodlines Saga. The story snippet of the day is chapter eleven entitled Bargaining for Boundaroos. What is a boundaroo?  Glad you asked!  It’s an animal unique to the Land of Zandador, and you’ll have to listen in to learn more about this interesting animal that is completely fictitious...