The Casual Author

Adjusting Your Schedule When Life Changes (Homestead + Author Update) | Podcast Ep. 164Dan Kenner shares episode 164 (recorded Friday, February 20, 2026) about staying productive as an author when life changes force schedule adjustments. He explains a recent break in posting, his desire to keep the podcast going, and his ongoing interest in interviews. He gives homestead updates, including an unus...

Optimizing Non-Writing Time for Maximum Writing Productivity Buy my clean fantasy books www.dankennerbooks.com Join my Ream community for exclusive short stories and early access chapters! https://reamstories.com/dankenner In this episode of the Casual Author, Dan Kenner discusses the importance of using time outside of writing sessions to improve productivity during writing sessions. Despite a bu...

Summary In this episode, Dan Kenner engages with KimBoo, a seasoned author and productivity expert, to discuss her insights on time management and the writing process. KimBoo shares her unique approach to setting guideposts for her writing projects, emphasizing the importance of saying no to distractions and focusing on what truly matters. She reflects on her journey from fan fiction to original w...

Summary In this episode of The Casual Author, Dan Kenner shares insights on managing life as an author while dealing with the chaos of family and homesteading. He discusses the importance of keeping creativity fresh to combat burnout, shares updates on his authoring journey including the publication of his new book 'Dwarf Blooded', and offers practical tips for maintaining productivity and...

Summary In this episode, Dan Kenner discusses the challenges of managing overwhelm, particularly in the context of indie authoring and self-publishing. He shares personal anecdotes from his life on the homestead, updates on his publishing journey, and insights into the importance of setting realistic goals and taking breaks to maintain creativity and productivity. The conversation emphasizes the n...

Summary  In this episode of The Casual Author, Dan Kenner discusses effective time management strategies for authors, emphasizing the importance of celebrating small milestones and making progress in short bursts. He shares his personal experiences with productivity, the challenges of balancing writing with family life, and the significance of having a prioritized task list. Dan encourages listene...

Summary In this episode of The Casual Author, Dan Kenner shares updates from his homestead, discussing the challenges of cold weather and its impact on livestock care. He emphasizes the importance of authenticity in the author business, sharing personal experiences and insights on how being true to oneself can lead to greater success in connecting with readers and selling books. Dan also reflects...

SummaryIn this conversation, Charles Hack discusses his unique approach to time management, emphasizing the importance of working in 15-minute increments. He shares how this method allows him to balance various aspects of his life, including family time and personal discipline, ultimately enhancing his productivity. TakeawaysWorking in 15-minute increments can enhance productivity. Time management...

Keywords creativity, writing, self-discovery, authenticity, author updates, productivity, indie publishing, personal growth Summary In this episode of The Casual Author, Dan Kenner shares personal updates about his life on the homestead, including the challenges of managing animals and family activities. He transitions into discussing his creative journey, emphasizing the importance of understandi...

In this conversation, Dan Kenner discusses the challenges faced by aspiring authors and introduces the 'little by little' principle as a strategy for overcoming time constraints. He emphasizes the importance of defining personal success, setting clear goals, and recognizing that progress can vary for each individual. By focusing on small, consistent steps, writers can maintain motivation and satis...

Keywords productivity, sleep, health, writing, time management, authoring, work-life balance Summary In this conversation, Dan Kenner discusses the challenges of balancing productivity with the need for sleep. He highlights how many individuals, including himself, find that their most effective writing times are late at night and early in the morning. However, this often leads to a dilemma where o...

In this episode, I talk about the troubles of sleep when you are on night duty with the kids. I continue with progress on The Hidden Heritage series and how I'm right around the corner from publishing another book, and some of the potential expansions happening to our homestead in 2025. With Urmi, we talk about her passion for writing and how her journey started with blogging and is now on guides...

In this episode, I share more about life with seven kids and will continue to share more about family life. I dive into more homestead plans for the future, and some of the challenges with cows today. I talk about progress with the six book series, The Hidden Heritage and plans for publishing all the books in the future. With Douglas, we dive into the importance of reading for our ability to craft...

In this episode, I share more about running a homestead and some of the things you don't consider when you aren't on the inside doing the work. I share that my short story, Between Life & Death, is now available for free to any follower on Ream (https://reamstories.com/dankenner) With Artemis, she shares some sage advice for newer authors now that she is one day out from publishing her...

In this episode, I talk about the thaw and what kinds of things we'll be dealing with now that the weather is turning around. I discuss the writing of my series, The Hidden Heritage, and some of the exciting things and challenges around that. With Amy, we dive into her vision as an author and mother, and how she strives to help others who are experiencing similar challenges as she did as a you...

In this episode, I talk about some of the day to day things to consider when dealing with bitter cold weather. I talk about my progress on my authoring and changes I'm making to how I operate, i.e. using Patreon and Ream as a type of personal social media in place of other social media. With Dana, we talk about connecting with the right audience and being authentic from the beginning. We discu...

In this episode, I talk about managing the homestead in the coldest weeks of the year, which is where we are headed for the next fourteen days. I discuss my progress on projects and look forward plans for my author business. I realize the 'subscribe' button to the email list for my podcast has been broken (but it should be fixed now!) With H.H., we talk about her 25 year long story, the jo...

In this episode, I talk about the troubles of having a cow with mastitis, and how it turned out to be a lot more work than expected. I dive into my current WIPs and how those are going, in addtion to how I'm trying to hone in my time for a more effective 2025, part of that is leaving social media, at least for awhile. With J.D., we talk about his early writing career starting with ghost writing an...

In this episode, I catch up with where things have been for the past few weeks on the homestead and with my authoring. I discuss some of my hopes for 2025. I also talk about dealing with some of the winter challenges while having homestead animals. With Katee, we discuss what it's like writing with ADHD, how we handle the various challenges, and what are the pros and cons of writing with it. There...

In this episode, I dive into how I'm researching some of my favorite books to work on my own writing craft. I talk about the challenges we've had with getting our cow's hooves trimmed, and the effects of not having them trimmed regularly. I discuss progress on my work in progress and plans for the future. With Meghan, we discuss how she got into editing, and how and why she finds it to be a fulfil...

In this episode, I talk about managing winter on the homestead, from keeping water unfrozen to cleaning up pens. I dive into some additional challenges about having a flock of chickens and our gratefully increased egg production. From an author standpoint, I give updates about my writing progress on my next book, as well as a free guide that I'm working on to help you have the most stellar writing...

In this episode, I talk about the complexity of the daily homstead chores and how I had to optimize them so that I could go on a business trip this past week. I dive into writing the fourth book of The Hidden Heritage series and some of the challenges, both good and bad, with writing a character in first person that can read people's minds. With Paul, we talk about the turning points in his career...

In this episode, I talk about winter management on the homestead and what things we are thinking about as we take care of the animals day to day. I dive into the logistics of our goat operations around breeding and how we've had to shuffle them around a bit to make sure we have the right goat kids at the right time. There was a bit of a change of plants due to an annoying goat as well. With Elena,...

In this episode, I talk about the new newsletter for the podcast at www.thecasualauthor.com and how to sign up for it. You learn more about the ins and outs of winterizing a homestead when it comes to feed, water and shelters. Ginger's milk decreased alarmingly fast and unexpectedly over the past couple weeks and I tell more about that and what we had to to for her. With Leslie, we learn about her...

In this episode, I dive into some changes that I'm making to the podcast schedule and email list. I share about our homestead 'winter cleanup' efforts and talk about building a new structure for our cow to live in. I share some helpful resources for authors looking to upscale their authoring, primarily in podcast interviews that are helpful and Turning Pro , a book by Stephen Pressfield. Turning P...