The StoryCentric Podcast

Posting horror stories anonymously on Reddit can lead to some unexpected places. For Marcus Kliewer, those places included a book deal and a Netflix sale. No pressure on your next post. In this episode of StoryCentric, Andrew Buckley sits down with Marcus to explore the winding road from growing up in Kelowna and experimenting with film, stop motion, and screenwriting to finding his creative home...

Hollywood is built to say no, and Thomas Dean Donnelly has spent 30 years figuring out how to keep going regardless. The screenwriter whose credits include Sahara and Doctor Strange joins StoryCentric to trace his journey from movie-obsessed kid to USC Film School, selling his first screenplay in his mid-20s, and surviving the highs, lows, and occasional chaos of a career in Hollywood. Tom gets ca...

Kindrie Grove builds worlds across books, paintings, illustrations, and bronze sculpture. The multidisciplinary artist and author joins StoryCentric to trace her journey from growing up on a horse farm outside Calgary to creating the expanding Stone Guardian universe. Kindrie shares her unconventional discovery-writing process, why paintings and sculptures often appear before the scenes they inspi...

Developmental editor and longtime publishing insider Tiffany Yates Martin joins StoryCentric to unpack what writers need to know about editors, contracts, publishing paths, AI, and the expensive hype authors should avoid. Drawing on a career that began in acting before taking an unexpected turn into editing, Tiffany shares how publishing has changed, what hasn’t, and why authors need to develop th...

A childhood pen grab, a plagiarism accusation, and a one-cent bank balance eventually led Zena Shapter to one important truth: the best career move is the one that keeps you closest to your real voice. The award-winning author joins StoryCentric to trace her winding journey from poetry-obsessed kid to trademark lawyer, copywriter, and novelist, including the moment she realized she’d “sold her sou...

TJ Klune ( The House in the Cerulean Sea ) is one of today's most beloved and acclaimed fantasy authors, however his path to success was anything but straightforward. In this episode of StoryCentric, TJ shares his remarkable journey from growing up in rural Oregon to becoming a New York Times bestselling author, revealing how perseverance and a refusal to compromise his voice shaped a career t...

In this episode of StoryCentric, Osric Chau (Supernatural, The Flash) shares his journey from martial arts prodigy in Vancouver to international actor, producer, and industry innovator. From training obsessively in Wu Shu as a kid to landing roles in Hollywood and China, he reveals how he built a career on his own terms, and why he's now focused on changing the entertainment industry from the...

In this episode of StoryCentric, author Andy Peloquin shares his journey from an adventurous childhood spent reading Sherlock Holmes in Japan and exploring myths, history, and fantasy, to becoming one of indie publishing's most prolific dark fantasy authors. Along the way, he transformed a love of storytelling into a thriving career built on compelling characters and a deep understanding of au...

Sci-fi author Jeremy Szal joins the Story Centric Podcast to talk about building a writing career when the odds aren’t exactly friendly (like debuting during COVID). He shares the unconventional strategies that helped him stand out, from leaning into community over competition to focusing on long-term platforms like podcasting instead of chasing short-term trends. We dig into his high-octane story...

This week, Andrew sits down with comic book writer and filmmaker George Michail (90’s horror kid, cinematic obsessive, and co-writer of the Knight Terror script) to trace the origin story behind the storyteller. George shares how a steady diet of slasher films, comics, and late-night movie marathons shaped his creative instincts, and why growing up in the shadow of practical effects and VHS-era ho...

On this episode of StoryCentric, Andrew sits down with Charles Melcher, founder of Future of StoryTelling, to explore how technology, neuroscience, and human biology are reshaping the way stories work. From immersive theatre and LARPing to AI characters and virtual worlds, Charlie explains why the future of storytelling is participatory and deeply community-oriented. They dig into the idea of “act...

Join Andrew Buckley for a conversation with Special Effects Makeup Artist Lanny Brown, whose work spans projects like Lucifer , Knight Terror , and Alien Earth . From a small-town Ontario childhood fuelled by curiosity, imagination, and a love of horror, Lanny carved a path into the film industry. In this episode, Lanny breaks down the real difference between special effects and special makeup eff...

In this special New Year’s episode of the StoryCentric Podcast, hosts Andrew Buckley and Finnian Burnett look back on the wins, lessons, and plot twists of the past year, and cast an excited eye toward what’s coming in 2026. From upcoming events like the Kamloops Young Authors Conference and the BC Federation of Writers Conference to tantalizing secret projects and personal writing goals, this con...

Recorded somewhere between Kelowna and Calgary (mostly while stuck behind a very confused pickup truck), this special holiday road-trip episode wraps up our wild ride of a year. Join Andrew and Finnian as they look back at 2025’s biggest career highs, the occasional lows, and the deliciously messy middle bits of being working authors. We revisit the conferences we spoke at, highlight the moments t...

For the special 100th episode of StoryCentric, we sit down with Scott Lynch ( The Lies of Locke Lamora ) to unravel the winding, gloriously chaotic path that led him to become one of fantasy’s most beloved storytellers. Scott opens up about his Minnesota roots, his lifelong obsession with books, and the spark that eventually ignited the Gentleman Bastards Sequence. Along the way, he digs into the...

I sat down with Wakefield Brewster, one of Canada’s most dynamic spoken word poets, to explore the story behind the voice that moves audiences from classrooms to concert halls. From his roots in Toronto to his rise as a celebrated performer and community builder, Wakefield shares how rhythm, melody, and rap fused to create his unmistakable poetic style. He opens up about his creative journey, the...

Recorded live at When Words Collide 2025, this heartwarming and hilarious episode features Kelly Siskind, a romance author whose creative path winds from visual arts to cheese mongering to bestselling romantic comedies. From her early days in Toronto to running a cheese shop in Collingwood, Ontario, Kelly’s story is as unpredictable and charming, just like her novels. We explore how she channels h...

Recorded live at When Words Collide 2025, this episode takes listeners deep into the creative psyche of Stephen Graham Jones (Buffalo Hunter Hunter), a master storyteller who blurs the lines between horror, thriller, and literary fiction with effortless precision. From his roots in the dry, sun-baked plains of West Texas to his role in redefining the slasher genre, Jones shares how place, culture,...

In this captivating live-recorded episode from When Words Collide 2025, I sat down with acclaimed author Konn Lavery, whose creative journey spans from crafting immersive tabletop game narratives to publishing genre-defying novels. Together, we explore how early influences like World of Warcraft and Clive Barker shaped his signature fusion of horror and fantasy. Konn opens up about the challenges...

Recorded live at When Words Collide 2025, I sat down with author Bradley Somer for a wide-ranging conversation that moves from the classroom to the page, and everywhere in between. Bradley reflects on the teachers who shaped his early love of storytelling, the creative highs and lows that every writer faces, and his winding journey from archaeology to the literary world. They also explore the art...

In this episode, Andrew sits down with Lindsay Fray and Océane Picard to explore the story behind the Woven Words Sisterhood—a creative community built on connection, collaboration, and the courage to share stories. Together, they talk about the spark that ignited Woven Words, the evolution of The Frayed Page , and the creation of Enderby Lit-Con. From navigating the ups and downs of the publishin...

What happens when two author friends sit down in front of a live audience to talk shop? At When Words Collide 2025, Andrew Buckley and Finnian Burnett joined forces for Two Authors in Conversation , a heartwarming and laughter-filled session moderated by Heather Wilkey and recorded by Miranda Krogstad. In this special StoryCentric Podcast: BFF Edition , Andrew and Finnian dive deep into the art of...

What do tech giants, grumpy birds, and Comic-Con chaos have in common? Aaron Reynolds. In this episode of the Storycentric Podcast, we sit down with Aaron Reynolds—creator of the delightfully irreverent Effin’ Birds—to trace his wildly creative journey. From a photography background to working at Apple (yes, that Apple), to becoming the master of profanity-laced bird commentary, Aaron shares how h...

In this episode, we dive into the creative journey of TV writer Brian D. Bradley, whose childhood love for comic books sparked a lifelong passion for storytelling. Growing up in a small Midwestern town, Brian used his paper route earnings to fund regular trips to the comic shop—feeding an imagination shaped by the worlds of Marvel and DC. Though he once dreamed of becoming an artist, Brian soon re...

Actor, writer, and creative whirlwind Michael Coleman (Once Upon a Time, Supernatural, Stargate-SG1) took the stage at Collector Con to talk shop—his upcoming comedy series, a fresh horror film, and a Guy Ritchie-style action flick all born from his creative tribe of students and pros. It’s a wild ride of perseverance through genres, mentorship, and building a storytelling empire one project at a...