Luke Romyn -- Episode 66 -- Self Professed Pantser

Luke Romyn -- Episode 66 -- Self Professed Pantser Join us for part 2 of our entertaining interview with Luke Romyn, Amazon and USA Today best-selling Indie Author from Down Under. Luke continues to share with us his brave, and some might even claim reckless creative process. Luke confesses that his last few story lines terrified him. Trinity, recently released, is one Luke admits raised serious doubts about writing his way out. It is a psychological thriller that starts with his main character in an asylum with only memories of three murders. Self-taught photoshop maestro, Luke takes the same bold seat-of-your-pants "oh I'll figure it out" stance on his cover designs, that are as creative and powerful as the stories themselves. Like this one? Then give part 1 (Episode 47) a listen as well.

Sharon Anderson -- Episode 65 -- Best of Blondie and the Brit

Sharon Anderson -- Episode 65 -- Best of Blondie and the Brit


This week we bring you a Best of Blondie and the Brit episode that aired last year with author Sharon Anderson. She joins the program for an entertaining chat about her paranormal comedy books, her award-winning short story, and Thunderclap, a new away to promote your book. Join the fun with Blondie and the Brit.

Munir Bello -- Episode 62 -- The Best of Blondie and the Brit

Munir Bello -- Episode 62 -- The Best of Blondie and the Brit This week we revisit one of our podcasts in a new segment we call The Best of Blondie and the Brit. In this fascinating interview with Munir Bello, author of The Break up Recipe, he shares with us his bold marking strategies which included handing out hundred of book flyers on the London streets , encouraging readers to take selfies with his book cover, and sending 5000 emails to solicit interviews and reviews. Since this recording Munir's hard work paid off when he was offered a publishing book deal last year.

Arlene Gonzales -- Episode 61 -- Turning Tragedy into Triumph

Arlene Gonzales -- Episode 61 -- Turning Tragedy into Triumph

This week Blondie and the Brit introduce you to the inspiring journey of Arlene Gonzales. Spurred on by the death of her son, Arlene wrote her Out of the Dark trilogy that was just published by Limitless Publishing. She shares with us her journey from self-published author to being picked up by her publisher, her social media strategy, and series development. Arlene candidly shares how she will tackle her next project of her life story chronicling her healing process from an abusive relationship. Arlene is a lovely warm-hearted guest with an exciting writing future ahead of her.

Enter to Win a Copy of The Rejected Writers' Book Club

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Rejected Writers' Book Club

by Suzanne Kelman

Giveaway ends December 07, 2016.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Riding the Wrimo - An Author's Adventure into National Novel Writers Month

Outliners and Outlawers, Please Start Your Engines!

It's that time again! Time for the writing challenge “NaNoWriMo.”  

And as you sit there scribbling out a rough draft of the next greatest American novel, you’ll probably fit loosely into one of two camps as a writer. You identify either as an Outliner or an Outlawer. And whichever you are, now is the time to jump in.

Outliners like to prepare; they like to be ready. They have journals and graphs, extended character bios, stimulating scents and special writing music. And Outlawers–well, they don’t. Outlawers let ideas stew, sometimes for months—and the Fall is a fabulous time to get out the stew pot.

“Outlawers” is a made-up name, in case you thought for a second I was smarter than you are; it’s a name I have for all of us “out of the boxers.” Oh, that sounds naughty—but I guess you catch my drift, or my draught if you’re out of your underwear.

I am a hand-on-heart, confessed Outlawer or, as some people call us, pantsers. There is only one way I can writethe first words of a new project, and that is by running with my hands in the air, screaming, towards the amusement park of my imagination. I arrive at my keyboard on day one with a hundred different half-blown cobbled-together ideas, scenes and sketchy characters all brimming inside me like a stovetop full of pressure cookers ready to blow.

Then, once I start writing, there is no real rhyme or reason to my first draft. My process goes something like this: Okay, first the Rollercoaster…no, no, the Carousel, then the Ferris Wheel…then I have to tackle those high swings and, OMG, is that the Haunted House?

Don’t get me wrong; I don’t think my way is better. I actually have Outliner envy; how I wish I had all my scenes neatly typed up on a clipboard and knew everyone’s name, eye color and weight before I start. How much easier would my job be?

I did try to plot once; it was for a screenplay. It was beautiful, a fabulous shiny new storyline all ready to go, all 110 pages written out on little index cards. But the ink was barely dry on the words “Fade in” before the protagonist turned to me and told me to shut up and listen… and that was that. I have been chasing characters around ever since, writing everything they say like a frenzied reporter in a black and white film noir. I have very little to do with it. I just get out of the way and let them lead. I have more characters called ‘Jane Doe” in my first draft then a New York City morgue.

Alas, this is the creative brain I was given and, like a yarn factory broken into by a gang of mischievous cats, you know it’s all in there—you just have to unravel the whole thing.

Usually, what dictates the first tentative lines of my latest masterpiece is what shouts the loudest in the vaudevillian theater of my imagination. I can often start right in the middle of a story—some odd, unimportant scene that has been haunting me for weeks. It comes to me complete with a gang of derelict characters that I haven’t even met yet who have been following me around like a bad smell, hollering “me, me, pick me, write me!”

Now, I know some of you are nodding and smiling, and some of you have no idea what the heck I’m talking about, as you’d no sooner arrive at a first draft unprepared than at church naked.

Which is why NaNoWriMo and I are a perfect fit—like cheese and biscuits, coffee and cream, chocolate and anything. And for all you outlawers (and especially you outliners), the Fall is a great time to start stewing and plotting.

Na-no-what-mo? (you may be saying…) Well, there may be one last writer who hasn’t heard of National Novel Writing Month. And for that one person who’s just left the convent after ten years of seclusion, here’s a breakdown of what it is.

Every year on Nov. 1, crazed, wild-eyed, coffee-drinking writers bolt out of the gate like black Friday shoppers and race as fast as their pens can carry them to 50,000 words by the end of November. The idea is no editing, just writing; no over-thinking, just writing; no “bum leaving seat,” just writing.

Having run the Nano gauntlet four previous times, I’ve gotten used to the highs and lows of the month-long process, and having lots of ideas to draw from is an excellent way to get through the dreaded mid-November NaNo blues.

So, for all you “Outlawers” and maybe a few of you sneaky “Outliners” who are intrigued by running naked, just this once, pull up a desk chair and start dreaming up the next great American novel.

Suzanne Kelman is the author of “The Rejected Writers’ Book Club” and an award-winning screenwriter and playwright. Her accolades include The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences – Nicholl Fellowship Finalist, Best Comedy Feature Script -L.A. International Film Festival and Gold Award Winner – California Film Awards.

Riding the Wrimo - An Author's Adventure into National Novel Writers Month

Outliners and Outlawers, Please Start Your Engines!

It's that time again! Time for the writing challenge “NaNoWriMo.”  

And as you sit there scribbling out a rough draft of the next greatest American novel, you’ll probably fit loosely into one of two camps as a writer. You identify either as an Outliner or an Outlawer. And whichever you are, now is the time to jump in.

Outliners like to prepare; they like to be ready. They have journals and graphs, extended character bios, stimulating scents and special writing music. And Outlawers–well, they don’t. Outlawers let ideas stew, sometimes for months—and the Fall is a fabulous time to get out the stew pot.

“Outlawers” is a made-up name, in case you thought for a second I was smarter than you are; it’s a name I have for all of us “out of the boxers.” Oh, that sounds naughty—but I guess you catch my drift, or my draught if you’re out of your underwear.

I am a hand-on-heart, confessed Outlawer or, as some people call us, pantsers. There is only one way I can writethe first words of a new project, and that is by running with my hands in the air, screaming, towards the amusement park of my imagination. I arrive at my keyboard on day one with a hundred different half-blown cobbled-together ideas, scenes and sketchy characters all brimming inside me like a stovetop full of pressure cookers ready to blow.

Then, once I start writing, there is no real rhyme or reason to my first draft. My process goes something like this: Okay, first the Rollercoaster…no, no, the Carousel, then the Ferris Wheel…then I have to tackle those high swings and, OMG, is that the Haunted House?

Don’t get me wrong; I don’t think my way is better. I actually have Outliner envy; how I wish I had all my scenes neatly typed up on a clipboard and knew everyone’s name, eye color and weight before I start. How much easier would my job be?

I did try to plot once; it was for a screenplay. It was beautiful, a fabulous shiny new storyline all ready to go, all 110 pages written out on little index cards. But the ink was barely dry on the words “Fade in” before the protagonist turned to me and told me to shut up and listen… and that was that. I have been chasing characters around ever since, writing everything they say like a frenzied reporter in a black and white film noir. I have very little to do with it. I just get out of the way and let them lead. I have more characters called ‘Jane Doe” in my first draft then a New York City morgue.

Alas, this is the creative brain I was given and, like a yarn factory broken into by a gang of mischievous cats, you know it’s all in there—you just have to unravel the whole thing.

Usually, what dictates the first tentative lines of my latest masterpiece is what shouts the loudest in the vaudevillian theater of my imagination. I can often start right in the middle of a story—some odd, unimportant scene that has been haunting me for weeks. It comes to me complete with a gang of derelict characters that I haven’t even met yet who have been following me around like a bad smell, hollering “me, me, pick me, write me!”

Now, I know some of you are nodding and smiling, and some of you have no idea what the heck I’m talking about, as you’d no sooner arrive at a first draft unprepared than at church naked.

Which is why NaNoWriMo and I are a perfect fit—like cheese and biscuits, coffee and cream, chocolate and anything. And for all you outlawers (and especially you outliners), the Fall is a great time to start stewing and plotting.

Na-no-what-mo? (you may be saying…) Well, there may be one last writer who hasn’t heard of National Novel Writing Month. And for that one person who’s just left the convent after ten years of seclusion, here’s a breakdown of what it is.

Every year on Nov. 1, crazed, wild-eyed, coffee-drinking writers bolt out of the gate like black Friday shoppers and race as fast as their pens can carry them to 50,000 words by the end of November. The idea is no editing, just writing; no over-thinking, just writing; no “bum leaving seat,” just writing.

Having run the Nano gauntlet four previous times, I’ve gotten used to the highs and lows of the month-long process, and having lots of ideas to draw from is an excellent way to get through the dreaded mid-November NaNo blues.

So, for all you “Outlawers” and maybe a few of you sneaky “Outliners” who are intrigued by running naked, just this once, pull up a deck chair and start dreaming up the next great American novel.

Suzanne Kelman is the author of “The Rejected Writers’ Book Club” and an award-winning screenwriter and playwright. Her accolades include The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences – Nicholl Fellowship Finalist, Best Comedy Feature Script -L.A. International Film Festival and Gold Award Winner – California Film Awards.

SJ Hermann -- Episode 60 -- The Heart of Social Media

SJ Hermann -- Episode 60 -- The Heart of Social Media

This week we are delighted to bring you our first ever recipient of The Blondie and the Brit Hero Award. SJ Hermann is not only a long time friend and supporter of Blondie and the Brit, but he makes a habit out of supporting Indie Authors everywhere. He is also an avid anti-bullying advocate. 

In this special episode Blondie interviews SJ where he shares his secret recipe for growing his following and getting the most out of his social media efforts including special author spotlights and contests featuring Indie Authors. He also talks about his Go Fund Me campaign to set his book on the road to the silver screen and updates us on his books including the much anticipated spring release of Terminus, the third book in the Morium series. 

Nicole Waggoner -- Episode 59 -- Best of Blondie and the Brit

Nicole Waggoner -- Episode 59 -- Best of Blondie and the Brit

We are excited to bring you our second Audience Choice Award-winning podcast guest, Nicole Waggoner. Nicole won "Most Creative Book Promotion" on our show. Please listen to this podcast chock full of great marketing advice from a really outstanding indie author. This is a Best of Blondie and the Brit podcast that originally aired in April of 2016.

Nicole Wagoner is a teacher turned Indie writer and she shares with us her journey to writing her book Center Ring, the first in the Circus of Woman Trilogy. It has been called Sex and the City with real-world problems. Nicole took on the difficult task of creating 5 view point characters and shares with us her process. She also talks about her social media presence, book launch, and how she organizes her blog tours.

Rachel Thompson -- Episode 58 -- The Human Element of Social Media

Rachel Thompson -- Episode 58 -- The Human Element of Social Media

We are excited to bring you the first of our Audience Choice Award-winning podcast guest, Rachel Thompson. Not only did Rachel win "Best Social Media Tip" on our show but she also won "Best Overall Podcast." In this show Blondie checked in with her to get an update on her many exciting projects and books. Rachel shared with us the key to success on social media – being authentic and adding the human element to connect with your audience. She also updated us on her change to a new publisher, and several new books in the works including her very popular 30 Day Book Challenge and new non-fiction book Broken People. Rachel gives us a behind the scenes peek on how she schedules her social media posts on multiple accounts. If you are promoting a book you don't want to miss this show.

Winners of Blondie and the Brit Awards

Winners of Blondie and the Brit Awards: Welcome to the first annual Blondie and the Brit Awards and Birthday Bash celebration! If you’ve grabbed you...

Winners of Blondie and the Brit Awards

	Welcome to the first annual Blondie and the Brit Awards and Birthday Bash celebration! If you’ve grabbed your party hat please don it and join in. Thank you for all of your votes, shares and support! This has been a fantastic five weeks of voting. We appreciate all of your support.

First things first. All of our winners will receive:

1.   A Blondie and the Brit award (pictured above), 

2.   The opportunity for a second interview on the show sometime in the next year,

3.   A widget for your website with your award announcement,

4.   A Best of Blondie and the Brit podcast with a quick interview update for those who make themselves available,

5.   Listing on our website under Awards Winners, and

6.   Eternal bragging rights. 

SJ Hermann Podcast Hero Award

 SJ Hermann

Our first award is one of our Blondie and Brit Hero Awards. Congratulations to SJ Hermann for being our first recipient of The Blondie and The Brit Hero Award. SJ’s is an emphatic supporter of Blondie and the Brit, both in reposting about our books and our supporting our podcast in general, he is also an encouraging advocate for all Indie Authors. One of our earlier interviews, his podcast has far surpassed any other in the number of downloads. S.J. is a writer of paranormal, science fiction, horror and urban fantasy novels. You can find out more about him here on his website. http://sjhermannauthor.blogspot.com/

Category 1 – Best Social Media Tip 

  

Our nominees for the Best Social Media tip are:

Rachel Thompson -- #MondayBlogs

Laurence O'Bryan -- Extending Your Book onto Your Blog

Joey Pinkney -- How to Present Yourself Online

Nicole Persun -- SEO Optimization

Claude Bouchard -- Twitter Growth

And our winner is:

Rachel Thompson

We loved this tip from Rachel Thompson about her #MondayBlogs creation. Rachel had so many great author tips it was hard to pick just one to feature. Congrats Rachel for the win! Please check out her website at http://rachelintheoc.com/.

Here is Rachel’s winning clip: https://clyp.it/yr2crcso

 Category 2 – Most Creative Book Promotion

 The nominees for the Most Creative Book Promotion Award are:

Caragh O'Brien -- California Drought
Ian Mackenzie -- South African Politics
Vaun Murphrey -- Science in the News
Amy Quick Parrish -- Web Series to Pilot to Novel Barbara Sissel Taylor -- Living on the Grounds of a Correctional Facility
Emily Drake Carpenter -- Ideas Form in the Bath 

Nicole Waggoner

Our winner in the category Most Creative Book Promotion is the amazing Nicole Waggoner. No surprises here! Her tip on how to pull a potential reader into a second book in a series was a great promotional tool. Both Blondie and the Brit are planning on using this one in their own upcoming books.  Check out her website http://www.nicolewaggonerauthor.com/

Here is the winning clip https://clyp.it/aagp4wv2 (Nicole)

Category 3 – Best Fangirl/Boy Story

Our nominees in this category are:

Camille Di Maio -- How she presented her book to Paul McCartney 
Tom Nichols -- Hollywood Hills with Tarintino 
Kim Hunt Harris -- Diana Gabaldon Ultimate Fan Girl
Edward Stanton -- Paul Stanley of KISS Fame Keeping his Identity Secret

Kim Harris

Congratulations to Kim Hunt Harris for winning Best Fangirl story. Kim’s interview was hilarious and we really loved hearing her story about meeting Diana Gabaldon. Diana is KJ’s favorite author so I agree with our audience on this one for sure. Thank you Kim for giving us a great interview with such a great clip. You can find out more about Kim on her website http://kimhuntharris.com/.

Here is the winning clip (Kim) https://clyp.it/ocyoowjm

Category 4 – Funniest Podcast 

 Our nominees for this category are:

Kerry Schafer -- Twitter Shenanigans
J.D. Lexx -- Lightning Round Hilarity
Sharon Anderson -- Phone a Friend
Luke Romyn -- Bicycle Underpants Story
Lynn Lamb -- Burning Down the House

J.D. Lexx

There were many podcasts we could have included in this award as we have had so much fun with so many authors, however we had to narrow it down and the winner in the category with the most votes from our podcast audience is J.D. Lexx with his incredible wit who kept us laughing through the whole interview. Learn more about J.D. on his website http://www.jdlexx.com/.

Here is the winning clip from J.D https://clyp.it/he1vz3v4

  

Susan Wingate Podcast Hero Award

Susan Wingate

We are honored to introduce to you to another amazing author who is recipient of our second Blondie and The Brit Hero Award. Susan Wingate is not only a fabulous writer but she is also a great support and resources for other writers. Over the last year we have felt Susan's support in so many different ways from helping us through our book launches and Facebook parties to interviewing us on her own podcast. Both a traditionally and Indie author she extents herself in so many way to support the writing community, through her classes, her online influence and her whole-hearted devotion to her craft. We can't think of a better choice for our special hero award. Thank you Susan for all you do. You can find more about Susan by visiting her website here: http://www.susanwingate.com/

Category 5 – Best New Author Story 

Our next category was Best New Author Story where authors shared how they were discovered. Our nominees are:

Darynda Jones -- Agent Beauty Contest
Susan Spann -- Ten Years of Tenacity
Patricia Sands -- Every Day is a Gift
David Estes -- Accountant to Full-Time Writer on the Beach

And the Winner is: Darynda Jones

Congrats! Darynda was our very first aired interview on October 1, 2015. Her story of being discovered by St. Martin’s Press after winning the Golden Heart Romance Award was a very inspiring. Thank you Darynda for giving us your time and talents for our debut podcast. You can find out more about Darynda at http://www.daryndajones.com/.Here is the winning clip from Darynda  https://clyp.it/notykb11

Category 6 – Most Helpful Writing Process

Nominees for the Most Helpful Writing Process award are: 

Melody Robinette -- The Pomodoro Method 
Graeme Ing -- Scrivener Software for Writers
Deb Lund -- Increasing the Conflict and Suspense in Fiction
Terry Persun -- Fostering Creativity in your Life to Enhance Your Writing 
Ellie Alexander -- Writing in Layers to Enhance the Story 

Melody Robinette

We are excited to announce the Most Helpful Writing Process winner is Melody Robinette. 

Our listeners deemed this as the Most Helpful Writing Process. We were so glad to meet this great author and KJ has already tried and used this writing tip successfully. Melody Robinette was our winner with her great Pomodoro technique. Find out more about Melody on her website: https://melodyrobinette.com/

  

Here is the winning clip from Melody https://clyp.it/whgefrkc

Category 7 – Most Inspired Storytelling

The nominees for our Most Inspired Storytelling category are:

Melody Robinette -- The Pomodoro Method 
Graeme Ing -- Scrivener Software for Writers
Deb Lund -- Increasing the Conflict and Suspense in Fiction
Terry Persun -- Fostering Creativity in your Life to Enhance Your Writing 
Ellie Alexander -- Writing in Layers to Enhance the Story 

 VaunMurphrey

Vaun Murphrey is the winner of the Most Inspired Storytelling with her description of what inspires her science fiction writing. I loved this clip where she shares the scientific articles that were the spark for two of her novels. Congratulations Vaun! We loved your interview and were glad you were able to stay up past 8:00 pm to talk to us. Check her out on her website http://www.vaunmurphrey.com/.

Here is the winning clip from Vaun https://clyp.it/lg0xzeqi

Martin Lastrapes Hero Award

Martin Lastrapes

We are so excited to introduce to you to our third amazing author who is the recipient of our Blondie and The Brit Hero Award. Martin Lastrapes was a great support to us and our podcast when we first launched and featured us on his Podcast for an in depth interview. Martin is an award-winning novelist, a Buffy enthusiast, and a podcaster. His debut novel, Inside the Outside, has been praised by readers and critics alike and in the spring of 2012 it won the Grand Prize in the Paris Book Festival.  You can find out more about Martin here on his website: http://www.martinlastrapes.com/

Category 8 – Best Professional Publishing Tip 

Nominees for the Best Professional Publishing Tip are:

Andrea Hurst -- How to Approach an Agent
Gisela Hausmann -- Advice for Contacting Book Reviewers 
Evan Marshall -- What Does an Agent Bring to the Equation
Jeri Walker -- How to Choose and Editor Carlie Cullen -- Common Writer Mistakes 

Jeri Walker 

Our winner for the Best Professional Tip is Jeri Walker! Congrats! Jeri joined us on the program to talk editing and we ended up learning a lot about blogging and other author marketing resources. Thank you for sharing your expertise Jeri! For more great book marketing and writing advice check out her blog http://jeriwb.com/.

Here is Jeri’s winning clip: https://clyp.it/hnrc3l20

BEST OVERALL PODCAST -- BLONDIE’S CHOICE 

The last category for us is our overall personal favorite podcasts. We both chose the one we had enjoyed the most over the whole year. 

I’m so excited to announce Blondie’s Choice award for my favorite podcast of the year. Rachel Thompson!

I chose Rachel’s podcast for this award because of the endless great advice contained within. We gave you her clip on #MondayBlogs but it truly was hard to choose the best one in the interview that we spread out into two podcasts because it was so full of great author and book marketing tips and advice. Rachel gives back so much to our author community with her #bookmarketing chats Wednesday nights, her great articles on her blog and endless great content and tips. 

Thank you Rachel! Stay tuned because next week we will have an update from Rachel on the podcast about all of the new and exciting things she is working on now.

Best Overall Podcast -- Brit’s Choice – Terry Persun

For the Brit, there was no contest for this award. This author was not only gracious, funny, and informative. He was also one of the most versatile and knowledgeable authors I have ever met. We ended up interviewing him twice for an hour each time and he had new and interesting things to say. I also had my writers “ahh” moment during one of those interviews. 

Terry Persun 

I am excited to announce that the Brits favorite over all podcast interview went to the amazing Terry Persun. Thank you Terry for all you do for authors and for the amazing creative spirit you are.  You can find out more about Terry at http://www.terrypersun.com/

Here is Terry’s winning clip: https://clyp.it/rrrkmyfd

Congratulations to all of our Winning Authors 

Thank you for all of your support of the podcast and Suzanne and KJ. 

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