Category Archives: Author Interview

Author Interview – Scott Finley

Today I interview an author of mystery novels who shares my interest in ships. We differ in the types of ships we love. He dreams of the grand ocean liners of yesteryear. I met Scott Finley at a bakery and tea shop, though we didn’t go there for the cupcakes. Leaves Bakery and Books, in Fort Worth, introduces local authors to the community. Scott and I participated in two panel discussions there. If you crave murder mysteries with smart female sleuths, you’ll enjoy Scott’s interview and his historical novels.

Bio

After graduating from the University of Texas with a degree in journalism Scott launched a 39 plus year career in broadcast news where he worked for all four major network affiliates. Following that was a stint doing training and corporate videos, and then he transitioned into doing media for non-profit entities, including the Alzheimer’s Association where he covered their media for the entire state of Texas.

Along the way, and despite his best efforts, he collected one Emmy® nomination, 19 Telly Awards, three Aegis Awards, two Addy awards and five Best Newscast in Texas awards from the Associated Press, as well as an honorable mention from PR News for blogging for a non-profit. Outside of media and broadcast, he is the author of “A Little Theatre,” a two-act comedy that has been produced by Texas community theaters with relatively few over-ripe tomatoes thrown at the actors.

Scott lives in Dallas, Texas with his legal counsel Gabrielle, two cats, and a neurotic dog.

Interview

Poseidon’s Scribe: How did you get started writing? What prompted you?

Scott Finley: I believe that early reading is the start to early writing. Once I learned to read, I burned through Dr Seuss and then anything I could get my hands on. From that it was a short step to writing my own material. My English teachers through the years encouraged this wasteful habit, with the result that I knocked out my first book in high school (and it’s staying locked in a drawer) and just kept going.

P.S.: What was it about Walter Lord’s book A Night to Remember that stirred your imagination—in sixth grade!—about trans-Atlantic luxury ocean liners?

S.F.: Ha! It was the fact that here was this great ship, a floating city with its own restaurants, amenities, medical facilities, all alone at sea except for the sketchy radio signals.

For some reason or other it absolutely fascinated me — and then there was the minute by minute account of the sinking. At the time I read it, in 1969, there were still survivors alive and I began to see little articles on them in the newspaper, tangible proof to my young eyes that this actually happened. I began looking at other ocean liners in books, and wanted one to put in my backyard. Sadly, growing up in Texas, ocean liners are scarcer than the amount of real estate it would have taken up in my backyard.

P.S.: In Shadow of the Queen, multiple murders occur and the ship’s nurse, Maeve Chandler, works to solve them before the killer can get away. Tell us about Maeve and what makes her different from female sleuths in other murder mysteries.

S.F.: First, Maeve is working on a tight deadline. When the ship reaches its destination, the killer is going to walk off and disappear unless Maeve can pin them down first. Maeve is a widow, her husband died in the influenza epidemic of 1919. Maeve also holds a degree in chemistry and has been looking after herself her entire life. She had a brother who died in the War (it was not called the First World War until there was actually a Second World War). Her parents were educators so she has had a lifetime of being curious. She is also a bit clumsy, usually at the most inopportune time. Maeve is also assisted by a passenger on board the Victoria in solving the crimes. In the first book, the passenger is a young Agatha Christie traveling to New York to meet with her publisher. In the second book, she is paired with up and coming diamond dealer Harry Winston.

P.S.: Tell us about the awards you’ve received working in broadcast news. They sound prestigious.

S.F.: I was fortunate to work alongside a lot of really talented people over my career in broadcast news. These were all team efforts – five Best Newscast in Texas awards from the Associated Press, multiple Telly Awards, a regional Addy award, an Aegis award, and one regional Emmy nomination.

P.S.: You’ve written a comedy play performed at some community theaters. Tell us about the play, and what it’s like to see your own play performed.

S.F.: The play is titled “A Little Theatre” and takes what is possibly the worst community theater in America through auditions, rehearsals, and opening night of what is possibly the world’s worst mystery play, “The Murdered Violin.” It’s been done multiple times in Texas, and each time I see it it’s like it’s brand new with different actors putting their own stamp on it. I find myself anticipating the laugh lines and it’s great fun watching the audience as they get caught up in the production.

P.S.: Your novel Queen of Diamonds finds Maeve once again solving multiple murders, possibly connected to a fortune in diamonds, with a locked room mystery as well. No armchair sleuth, Maeve puts herself at risk to solve the crimes. What is the toughest spot she gets herself into in this novel?

S.F.: Maeve just can’t keep from nosing about where she’s not wanted, and she comes dangerously close to annoying a professional gunman while on her search for a cache of stolen diamonds.

P.S.: Is it true you’ve done some acting, appearing in dozens of theatrical productions? What were those experiences like, and did they impact your writing?

S.F.: Yes, I’ve done everything from playing the Cowardly Lion in the “Wizard of Oz” to Mortimer Brewster in “Arsenic and Old Lace”, and it seems everything in between. The great thing about acting and writing is you learn proper pacing and timing in dialogue which transfers over to writing.

P.S.: What are the easiest, and the most difficult, aspects of writing for you?

S.F.: This will sound strange, but the easiest thing for me is doing rewrites. It’s like polishing a rough stone into something pretty. After that it’s all the historical research, which readers can partake of in the lexicon provided at the end of the book. Most difficult is getting that opening sentence down, and doing Maeve’s musing that is always found at the beginning of every chapter because it sets up the action that’s about to happen.

P.S.: You’ve said the ocean liner in your books, the Queen Victoria, is fictional. Still, you’ve researched real ships of the time to give your novels authenticity. Please describe the Queen for us, and tell us how that setting works in your stories.

S.F.: The Queen Victoria is based on the Queen Mary, which is permanently docked at Long Beach, California as a floating museum, social destination, hotel and convention center. She is the only survivor of the age of the great ocean liners. Launched in 1936, the Queen Mary is a fabulous work of art you really have to see to believe. She doubled as a troop ship during WW2, and still holds the record for most people packed onto a ship – over 16,000 for one voyage from New York to Southampton in 1943. You have to remember that the ship was designed to carry around 3,000 passengers and about a thousand crew. A reviewer said that the Queen Victoria is itself a major character in the books. The ship is a slice of social strata from 1929 forward.

P.S.: The book covers of your series depict a noir vibe. Maybe they also include subtle clues? Beneath the title Shadow of the Queen, there seems to be a shadow of something in the water. Beneath the title Queen of Diamonds, there are diamonds, but also a key. Are these things significant? If so, could you tell us how?

S.F.: Absolutely! The shadow in the water is a first class passenger’s body floating as the ship steams away. For Queen of Diamonds, the ship seems to be awash with real and fake diamonds — and the key represents the locked room murder mystery that Maeve must solve.

P.S.: Next up in the series is Queen of the Sky. Would you mind revealing a little about it?

S.F.: It’s March of 1930 and in the course of a normal voyage, the Queen Victoria picks up a medical distress call. As the nearest vessel, and the only one with a fully equipped surgery and medical staff, she answers the call. When they arrive at the location, there is nothing in the water — but floating overhead is the German Graf Zeppelin lighter than air ship. They have an emergency appendectomy case aboard, but the patient is too ill to transfer to the Queen Victoria. Instead, the Zeppelin lands gently on the water and Maeve and her ship’s surgeon cross to it in a lifeboat, go aboard and perform the surgery. Unfortunately for them, a weather incident is brewing and so the Zeppelin must leave the area – going in the opposite direction from the Queen Victoria. Trapped aboard, Maeve witnesses a man fall from one of the engine nacelles on the Zeppelin – but was it an accident or was he pushed? Throw in five nationalities and aspiring Nazis and things begin to heat up rather quickly.

Poseidon’s Scribe: What advice can you offer aspiring authors?

Scott Finley: Read! Old favorites and new material, it doesn’t matter. Somewhere you’ll see how someone turned a phrase or structured dialogue or description and it might just sneak into your writing style. I read books in my time period – not books written FOR the time period, but books that were actually written DURING the time period. Great source for slang and other things. This should go without saying, stay away from AI. I only use it to set off research strings. And once you are done reading, write! Set aside some time every day for writing. Call it training for your brain. You don’t have to write a perfect first draft. I highlight in red phrases or words I find questionable, but I keep writing. I come back to those highlighted items the next day. Writing is an art that must be practiced on a daily basis in order to flourish. It doesn’t matter if you just spent four hours producing one page, it still means you are on your way.

Poseidon’s Scribe: Very useful advice. Thanks.

Web Presence

Readers can find out more about Scott Finley on his website, which includes a tour of the ship, and on Goodreads and Amazon.

March 23, 2026Permalink Leave a comment

Author Interview—Tricia Andersen

At the ICON 49.5 conference in Iowa City last month, I met and sat with author Tricia Andersen at a book signing. Luckily, I stayed on her good side—she knows kickboxing and Jiu Jitsu. If you’re wondering how a skill in martial arts helps with writing fiction, particularly romance fiction, read on to see how Tricia explains it.

Bio

Tricia Andersen lives in Iowa with her husband and her three children. She graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts in English and from Kirkwood Community College with an Associate of Arts degree in Communications Media/Public Relations. She writes romance for all genres, from paranormal to historical to contemporary. She also has a couple of non-fiction historical titles and a few children’s picture books under the pen name, Lynette Andersen.

Interview

Poseidon’s Scribe: How did you get started writing? What prompted you? 

Tricia Andersen: I have actually been writing since I was young. My mom has a “book” I wrote in preschool when I was five. It’s something I have loved to do since I can remember.

P.S.: Who are some of your influences? What are a few of your favorite books? 

T.A.: I love books written by Karen Marie Moning. She made me realize that my voice and the way I write are a legitimate method. Before that, I felt that no one would want to read what I wrote because it wasn’t similar to what most authors sounded like. I also enjoy reading what my friends write. I think it’s important to support other authors.

P.S.: Thistle Tattoo features a man struggling with PTSD, on the edge of suicide, who receives help from a woman working in a tattoo parlor. Do you find it difficult to address the touchy issues of PTSD and suicide?

T.A.: I do. I was honored to help with Operation First Response, an organization that assists wounded soldiers. That experience opened my eyes to the issues that veterans face. While the original premise (and first couple of chapters) of Thistle Tattoo was a short story for an anthology, it was a challenge to continue to flesh out Rhett while being aware of the real issue of PTSD and veteran suicide.

P.S.: Tell us about your experience with kickboxing and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Do you engage in these sports for research, enjoyment, or what?

T.A.: It has been both research and enjoyment. I didn’t originally plan to get involved in martial arts. When I got my first publishing contract (Black Irish is the first book I published with a small publisher), I wanted to write a book as a sort of thank you for my dreams coming true. I wanted to write a book with a character that had the same disorder my daughter has, Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome. I needed a male main character who had a sports-type job that others would look down on. I settled on Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). I reached out to the owner of a local MMA gym to see if he would answer questions for me. He agreed. While I was waiting for a reply, I noticed they had kickboxing classes. I always wanted to try so I talked my husband into one month. That was in 2013. I paused my training at the start of the pandemic in 2020 but I hope to get back to it soon. I love every bit of it. I love the people I worked out with. I love the path it has put me on. I do have a bronze medal in jiu jitsu from a competition in Chicago that I took part in. It has also given me a great deal of knowledge that I put into my books.

P.S.: Congratulations on earning your bronze medal. In Welterweight, the first in your Hallow Brothers series, you give readers an MMA fighter who’s also a werewolf, and the story involves mysteriously appearing tattoos. Tell us about Meg Riley, the female main character, and also what ties the Hallow Brothers series together?

T.A.: At the beginning of Welterweight, Meg is the new ex-girlfriend of Caleb’s opponent, the fighter who is currently holding the welterweight belt. She is tough, sassy and can hold her own against a werewolf with a bad attitude. Their tension melts throughout the book as they fall in love with each other and learn the few little secrets that they didn’t know about their mate.

Each of first seven books of the series profile a brother meeting his mate, forming the mating bond and confronting whatever trouble is brewing against them. There is an underlying plot that involves the reincarnation of an ancient evil Egyptian magician and the artifacts he conjured to help him take over the world. These items, along with the current version of him, can give anyone who possesses them whatever they want. Oh, one last thing. The current reincarnation is a mate of a Hallow Brother.

P.S.: What are the easiest, and the most difficult, aspects of writing for you?

T.A.: The easiest part of writing for me is coming up with an idea. I can listen to a song or watch a show and come up with a plot. The hardest is to find time to get the words down and to keep myself to one story.

P.S.: Your novel Nature of the Beast, third in your Gods of DC series, explores love across an age difference—older woman and younger man. It also delves into Greek mythology, a common thread of this series. Without revealing any spoilers, tell us about Freddy and why he falls in love with Demeter.

T.A.: Freddy is one of my favorite characters. He is a leprechaun as well as the high priest for Ares, the Greek god of war. He works as the manager of Ares’ fight club, which is also the god’s temple in the modern world. He falls in love with Demeter at first sight despite her age. His feelings continue to grow as he gets to know her.

P.S.: How did you come to write four book series (The Hallow Brothers, Gods of DC, Black Irish, and Hard Drive)? Did you finish one series and move on to the next, or do you add a new book to a series when the mood strikes? Also, may each of your series be read in any order, or should readers start with the first book in each case? Are you expanding Fighting the Odds into a series as well?

T.A.: The Black Irish series was the first. I started the Hard Drive series while I was working on it as a huge thank you for my dreams coming true. I came up with the Hallow Brothers at the request of my second publisher. They wanted me to write a book about werewolves and required that there be a mating mark and they mate for life. I wrote what I thought was the most ludicrous thing I could come up with. They took it without hesitation. The Gods of DC came from a speed writing session on Facebook. The readers who were reading it as I wrote encouraged me to make it into a book. If I have a book about one Greek god, I have to keep on with the Parthenon.

Which book I write depends on my mood and what is going on in my head. The feedback from my readers also heavily influences what I write. If I write a cliffhanger, I don’t want them hanging on too long. Most of my books can be read in any order except the last three books of the Hallow Brothers series. Things might get confusing at that point without knowing what happened at the beginning.

I am hoping to get to the Fighting the Odds series soon.

P.S.: Apparently writing numerous novels, practicing Jiu Jitsu, and raising three children leaves you plenty of excess hours to make and sell embroidered tote bags. How do you squeeze that into your schedule?

T.A.: I squeeze them in by necessity. When someone wants one or I want to have bags on hand, I set aside other things I am working on to get them done. It helps that I have a very understanding family and that the machine that stitches them out works automatically without me. I only need to load the design, change the thread and make sure it doesn’t stitch on the wrong side of the bag. It’s a great time to work on writing while it hums along.

P.S.: What is your current work in progress? Would you mind telling us a little about it?

T.A.: As usual, I am working on two books at a time. My first is a sci-fi/horror with a little romance. It’s my first sci-fi and one of my first that is not heavily romantic. It is about a librarian who moves to Boston for her first job at the Boston Public Library. She meets a rather odd guy who spends all his time in the library reading archaeology books. She soon finds out that he is the vessel for an evil alien who sucks the blood out of humans to survive. She searches for answers – can she trust the real him? How can she help him? Does he want help?

The other one…I’m kind of keeping that one under wraps for a little bit longer. All I can say is there will be a lot of happy people when it comes out.

Poseidon’s Scribe: I guess we’ll have to wait for more news about that second one. What advice can you offer aspiring authors?

Tricia Andersen: Don’t give up. The publishing world, especially if you are an indie author, can be overwhelming. Approach each step one at a time. You can do it. Just don’t give up.

Poseidon’s Scribe: Thank you, Tricia. I love that advice.

Web Presence

Readers can find out more about Tricia from many online sources, including her website, on Facebook, Amazon, Bookbub, Bluesky, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Goodreads.

November 14, 2025Permalink Leave a comment

Author Interview—Rachel Aukes

Could you write a million words a year? That’s the equivalent of a novel a month. Meet today’s interview guest, Rachel Aukes, who aspires to write a million words a year and has already published over forty novels. I met Rachel at ICON (an eastern Iowa scifi conference) in 2023 and saw her there again in 2025. Buckle up for a fast-paced interview, one that barely registers in her million-word count.

Bio

Rachel Recker, writing as Rachel Aukes, is a bestselling author known for gritty science fiction and chilling horror that explore humanity at the edge. She’s written over forty novels, including 100 Days in Deadland—a zombie apocalypse retelling of Dante’s Inferno that was named a “Best of the Year” pick by Suspense Magazine—and The Lazarus Key, a high-octane sci-fi thriller featured by The Big Thrill magazine. One of Wattpad’s first Stars, her stories have reached over eight million readers around the world.

Rachel is a licensed pilot, former tech executive, and lifelong comic book collector. When not plotting the end of humanity, she hikes state and national parks with her dog.

Interview

Poseidon’s Scribe: How did you get started writing? What prompted you? 

Rachel Aukes: Like many writers, storytelling is in my blood. I was fascinated with stories as a child, and I wrote quite a bit. However, life led me on a meandering journey that eventually brought me back to my original passion. While I’m thankful for my life’s experiences, I’m so glad to be writing full time.

P.S.: Tell us about your comic book collection. Do you prefer certain comics, or a variety? Does your interest in that medium (high adventure, vivid graphics, brief speech balloons) influence your fiction in some way?

R.A.: Like most kids growing up in the 80s, I began with Marvel and DC. My childhood collection grew to over 3000 comics, though now I tend to read comics digitally to save physical space and invest in high-quality graded comics.

Comics have absolutely impacted my punchy, action-driven writing style. I can pack a lot of storyline in a scant ten pages.

P.S.: With over 500 ratings on Amazon, your novel Expendable, first in the Redline Corps series, has readers enthralled. Tell us about the main character, Liv Reyes, and the book’s premise.

R.A.: The idea of Liv came about from seeing a survey of Gen As who overwhelmingly aspire to be social media influencers (yikes, but that’s a debate for another day). So, I decided to create an influencer as a main character who gets drafted as a war correspondent with the task to put a positive spin on the war.

P.S.: Having published over forty novels, you’re one of the most prolific authors I’ve ever interviewed. Your website states your personal goal of writing a million words this year. That’s over 2700 words per day, well beyond the average for the (now closed) high-speed Nanowrimo challenge. Will you achieve your goal? How do you write so fast?

R.A.: Writing is my career, and I treat it like a job, setting regular hours and deadlines. I think some writers get into this mindset that writing should only take place while inspired, but that’s hogwash. Sure, story ideas and characters come from inspiration, but a story comes from hard work, craft, and dedication.

I unfortunately won’t hit the goal this year due to a lot of personal changes in my life right now, but I definitely plan to hit it next year!

P.S.: Congratulations on earning your pilot’s license. Do you fly often? Has that knowledge and skill helped you in your writing?

R.A.: Thanks! I don’t fly often right now, but I use the ideas and concepts of flying through most of my books. Taking the “write what you know” literally, nearly every book has an aviator character.

P.S.: Your short story, “Three-Headed Problem” appears in Weird Tales #368 – The Occult Detective Issue. Tell us about this story and what prompted it.

R.A.: I was catching up with Jonathan Maberry (who’s a great guy and an amazing writer) as a recent conference, and he mentioned about my writing a story for Weird Tales, which is a magazine I adore. The next issue with an opening was the Occult Detective issue. I came up with the idea of Roy Stinson, the best damned detective in hell, who’s the most tenacious PI in the underworld. His day job takes a twist when someone steals Cerberus’s favorite bone. And without his treat, the hound refuses to stand guard at the infernal gates. So, all hell will break loose if Roy doesn’t solve the crime and fast. 

P.S.: Is there a common attribute that ties your fiction together (genre, character types, settings, themes) or are you a more eclectic author?

R.A.: I only write speculative fiction, covering primarily the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres. Other than that, I’ve written everything from current day apocalypse to far-future galactic wars. An underlying theme in most of my stories, though, is humanity on the brink of disappearing.

P.S.: What are the easiest, and the most difficult, aspects of writing for you?

R.A.: The easiest are the ideas. I have SO many story ideas that I desperately want to write, but don’t have the time, which leads to the most difficult part: finding the time and energy to write as many of those ideas as I can (and to write them as good as I can).

P.S.: You own your own publishing company, Waypoint Books. How and why did you come to create a one-woman publishing company?

R.A.: I wanted to have a corporation set up for my self-publishing activities. I also felt it looked more professional to have books listed under a “real” publisher than under my name, especially since I write under a pen name.

P.S.: What is your current work in progress? Would you mind telling us a little about it?

R.A.: I’m co-writing a progression science fiction series with JN Chaney that we’re launching in early 2026. The series, Infinity Upgrade, is about a blue-collar guy getting a highly advanced, experimental AI shoved into his brain without his consent. Needless to say, it brings a lot of problems with it.

Poseidon’s Scribe: What advice can you offer aspiring authors?

Rachel Aukes: Just write. It’s as simple as that. Don’t let anything else cloud your mind. If you want to write, then do it. The more you write, the better you’ll get. Let the complications, like deciding if you want to publish and then how to publish, come later. When you’re new at this game, focus on the fundamentals. And it all boils down to the writing.

Poseidon’s Scribe: Thank you, Rachel. Great advice!

Web Presence

I wish readers and fans the best of luck keeping up with Rachel. She writes faster than we all can read. You can learn more about her at her website, on Facebook, Amazon, and Goodreads.

November 6, 2025Permalink Leave a comment

Author Interview—Darby Harn

As fortune would have it, I shared a book signing table with Darby Harn, one of the guests of honor at ICON 49.5 earlier this month. Beginners like me can learn about selling books from watching a more experienced writer like Darby. In the interview below, you’ll read how his writing career stalled at one point, but he persevered. From that experience, he offers two profound words of advice—two—for aspiring authors.

Bio

Darby Harn is the best-selling, critically acclaimed author of Dead Malls, Stargun Messenger, a Self Published Science Fiction Contest Quarterfinalist, and Ever The Hero, which Publisher’s Weekly called an “entertaining debut that uses superpowers as a metaphor to delve into class politics in an alternate America.” His fiction appears in Strange Horizons, Interzone, Fantasy Magazine, and more. He is a panelist, moderator, and programmer, designing a variety of content modules for conventions, including his One Hour Short Story Workshop, featured at several major cons. He graduated from the University of Iowa and is an alum of the Irish Writing Program at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.

Interview

Poseidon’s Scribe: How did you get started writing? What prompted you?

Darby Harn: I don’t remember not writing. I was writing and drawing little comics at the dining room table when I was three. I just always wanted to tell stories and share them.

P.S.: Who are some of your influences? What are a few of your favorite books? 

D.H.: Star Wars is probably the single biggest influence in terms of what it did to my toddler brain but also how it inspired me to explore myth, anthropology, and the literature that inspired it. I don’t know about favorite books. How do you choose? My favorite writers include Seamus Heaney, Virginia Woolf, Chris Claremont, Michael Cunningham, Kelly Link, and so many more.

P.S.: In your book Stargun Messenger, your protagonist sounds fascinating. Tell us about her.

D.H.: Astra Idari is an android bounty hunter who pursues thieves of starship fuel. When Idari discovers that the fuel comes from the blood of living stars, her entire moral universe is upended.

P.S.: As a frequent book reviewer for FanFiAddict, please tell us about that site and why you review books by others.

D.H.: FanFiAddict is a great resource and community for sci-fi and fantasy reviews from trad to indie. My mom died in September, and I am really slacking in my contributions. I owe some people a lot, especially my thanks.

P.S.: Our sympathies about the death of your mom. Since shopping malls are dying around the country, Dead Malls seems an apropos title. Give us the premise of this novel. Is it really a choose-your-own adventure?

D.H.: CYOA is an element of the book, and it creeps up on you, getting super twisty, and I hope super fun. The book is about Sam, a security guard at a dying mall just trying to get through their shift. One night, they discover an intruder in the mall who claims to be the only survivor of a nuclear war that happened in 1983. Then things get weird.

P.S.: Sounds fascinating! It appears you got your start writing short stories and moved to novels. If true, why the change, and if not, tell us about your experiences with the various forms (lengths) of fiction and how your fiction has evolved.

D.H.: I was always primarily a long-form storyteller, but I came up while short stories were still the primary route into traditional publishing. You sell a few stories, get noticed hopefully, and get a book deal. That’s what happened to me in the early 2000s, though it got very messy after that.

I sold my first novel in 2006, and it was 2011 before I realized it was never going to come out. The entire experience derailed my life and career. I was so stymied I didn’t finish a novel between 2007 and 2015. For a long time, I didn’t think I would.

P.S.: Sorry you had that experience, but glad you wrote your way out of it. Your book, Ever the Hero, begins the Eververse series. Please tell us about this introductory book and premise, and world(s) of Eververse.

D.H.: Ever The Hero is what happens when you don’t pay your superhero bill. In this world, if you can’t afford them, they don’t help. Kit Baldwin is a regular person trying to get through the day. She gets powers, wants to help others, but it’s illegal; they make you pay. This leads to a huge conflict over who owes what to whom.

P.S.: Is there a common attribute that ties your fiction together (genre, character types, settings, themes) or are you a more eclectic author?

D.H.: I think the defining aspect of my writing is its elasticity. I’m a mashup of a lot of different interests and inspirations, ranging from Marvel Comics to Irish poetry. That results in genre fiction, which tends toward the poetic and the literary.

P.S.: We’ll get to your Ireland connection in a moment. First, you’re not serious about writing a short story in an hour, are you? Tell us about your workshop.

D.H.: The most common question I get is ‘Where do I start?’ After that, it’s usually ‘How do I get unstuck?’ My One-Hour Short Story Workshop is a way for aspiring writers to kickstart their stories by focusing on the beginning, middle, and end of a short story, having them write to a prompt, share, and hopefully leave the experience with the foundations of a story. It’s a joy to watch people create in real-time. I’ve conducted the workshop at major cons, including Twin Cities Con, GalaxyCon, and others.

P.S.: You seem to prefer places beginning with “I”—Iowa and Ireland. Did your time in the Emerald Isle inspire your book A Country of Eternal Night?

D.H.: A Country of Eternal Light doesn’t exist without Ireland. While I was a student at Trinity College in Dublin, I visited the Aran Islands. Like so many others, I was transfixed with the place. I always wanted to go back. Cut to twelve years later or so, my dad had died, I’m not writing anything, and I’m miserable in my very well-paying job. So, in 2014, I quit, moved to Ireland, and returned to the islands. The experience unlocked what became Country, and my career today.

P.S.: It sounds like Ireland inspired more than just one book! What is your current work in progress? Would you mind telling us a little about it?

D.H.: I have a few things going on right now, but progress is pretty slow. Next up on deck is the third book in the Stargun Messenger trilogy, followed by Eververse Book 5.

Poseidon’s Scribe: What advice can you offer aspiring authors?

Darby Harn: Never quit.

Poseidon’s Scribe: Thank you, Darby. The most succinct writing advice ever given.

Web Presence

Readers can discover more about Darby Harn on his website, and at Goodreads, Amazon, Facebook, and Instagram.

October 24, 2025Permalink Leave a comment

Author Interview—Jan S. Gephardt

I met Jan Gephardt two years ago at Demicon, the scifi conference in Des Moines. Since then, she often reposted my Facebook posts and read my blog. She even made a great Poseidon’s Scribe image for me, which I’ll show in a future post. That’s a real fan! About time I got around to interviewing her. In this interview, you’ll learn why she started her own publishing company, and how she’s made uplifted dogs the stars of her books. Here’s her bio: 

Bio

Jan S. Gephardt (pronouns: she/her) is a science fiction novelist, fantasy artist, publisher, and longtime science fiction fan from Kansas City.

Her XK9s Saga books feature a pack of uplifted police dogs. Her XK9 “Bones” Trilogy consists of What’s Bred in the Bone, A Bone to Pick, and Bone of Contention. The Other Side of Fear is a prequel novella. She’s now at work on a fourth XK9 novel, Bones for the Children.

Her stories are set in a far-future science fiction world, where the XK9s solve crimes and sniff out bad guys while seeking recognition of their own sapience. They live in a space station (inhabited by humans and several other sapient species) in a different star’s planetary system.

She and sister G. S. Norwood co-founded Weird Sisters Publishing LLC in 2019, after G.’s death in September 2024, her son Tyrell E. Gephardt joined the partnership.

She has exhibited her fantasy artwork at sf conventions since 1981. Since 2007 she’s developed a unique paper sculpture technique. Her artwork also has been featured in regionally-exhibited one-person shows, and juried into mainstream national exhibitions all over the United States. She’s a member and former officer of the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists (ASFA).

Interview

Poseidon’s Scribe: How did you get started writing science fiction?

Jan S. Gephardt: Science fiction was always kind of “there” all my life – one of the reading and viewing options. My first conscious memory of any kind of science fiction was a Saturday morning puppet show on TV called Fireball XL5 that I watched when I was in grade school. For anyone who knows, by that statement I have just revealed that I really am older than dirt.

I read voraciously the whole time I was growing up, and I started writing stories before I actually could read and write: I dictated a story to my mother at age four, and illustrated it with crayons. It was a tale of the adventures of a horse and a black cat who went in search of something, but I forget what. The important part, for me, was their journey and how they talked each other through problems. There are, of course, no themes there that relate to my later work (unless you count talking animals; a black animal; collaborative cooperation, adventure, mutual respect . . . )

P.S.: I doubt the “older than dirt” claim, but, moving on. Who are some of your influences? What are a few of your favorite books? 

J.S.G.: Early influences? Anything illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon, and The Chronicles of Prydain, by Lloyd Alexander. My sister and I would walk four blocks to our local bookstore to buy each new book when it came out. Then we’d take turns reading it to our mother.

Later, I was influenced by a wide variety of stories in a broad range of genres, from Regency romances by Georgette Heyer to mysteries by Mary Stewart, to sf by Heinlein, Asimov, and Poul Anderson. Can’t leave out fantasy, either. My Tolkien craze lasted quite a while. And of course I watched Star Trek, and later Star Wars (in movie theaters.)

My favorite books? You mean other than my own? (I confess, I do like what I write). But you probably mean by other people. Wow, there are so many!

In the past decade I’ve been reading a lot of what one might call “K9 Mysteries.” Probably my top favorite writer in that group is Margaret Mizushima, although I also follow Kathleen Donelly, Sara Driscoll, and Jodi Burnett.

Can’t get away from the mystery genre without also professing my love for Louise Penny and Deborah Crombie (the fact that Deb was my late sister’s best friend has nothing to do with my enjoyment of her Kincaid and James series. She writes a really good mystery!).

I’ve been loving the Legends & Lattes series by Travis Baldree in the fantasy field. I also enjoy the Innkeeper Chronicles by Ilona Andrews – they’re technically science fiction, but they read a lot like fantasy. I was charmed by the first Becky Chambers book, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. I thoroughly enjoyed Lindsay Buroker’s Star Kingdom series. I’m currently re-reading War for the Oaks by Emma Bull. I’d forgotten what a wonderful book that is.

I’ve also recently been fascinated by a trio of nonfiction books that really unlock a lot of understanding about why our world works as it currently does. They are: Why Nations Fail, by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson; The Wolves of K Street, by Brody Mullins and Luke Mullins; and Survival of the Richest, by Douglas Rushkoff. They explain so much!

P.S.: Tell us about your company, Weird Sisters Publishing. Sorry about the loss of two of its founding members, but it’s great news that your son has joined.

J.S.G.: Thanks. My sister Gigi (yes, the one who used to trek to the bookstore with me for Lloyd Alexander books) and I formed the company in 2019, about 14 years after the “third, honorary Weird Sister,” my late brother-in-law, Warren C. Norwood, had died.

When we created the company, I had just finished my first novel, What’s Bred in the Bone. I was looking at the pros and cons of trying to get traditionally published, but I could also try to “go Indie,” or become part of an author collective.

Gigi and I looked at her big pile of unpublished books, and at Warren’s backlist, to which Gigi had the publishing rights, and my ambitions for the XK9 books. We decided we could form a closely-held family LLC, our own little author collective, focused on only selling our own books.

So, that’s what we did. We called it Weird Sisters Publishing for several reasons. Gigi was a theatre major in college where she specialized in Shakespeare for her BFA. Also, we’d been fantasy and folklore geeks. Of course we knew about the Wyrd Sisters, the Three Norns, the Fates, and all their other incarnations. Plus, when we were growing up we were always the nerdy girls with the big vocabularies and the “encyclopedia brains.” We knew we were often looked at as “those weird sisters.” All in all, it seemed like a natural.

P.S.: Weird Sisters Publishing offers books by you, your sister, and (I believe) her husband. How do the three authors’ styles, genres, and subjects differ? Are there similarities?

J.S.G.: Well, we’re working on getting Warren’s books back into print. When Gigi died suddenly in September, 2024, the rights to his literary property reverted jointly to his daughter Margaret and the D.M. Willis Library of the North Texas University.

The Willis Library has a collection devoted to Texas writers that they’ve been building around Warren’s papers. When Gigi died my legal right to publish Warren’s work went “poof.” Lucky for me, Margaret and a representative for the Willis Library have verbally expressed enthusiasm for seeing Warren’s work back in print. I have long believed his books deserved a better fate than to be backlisted and then forgotten.

Most of Gigi’s finished novels were written in the 1990s, and they were supposed to be what we would today call “spicy” romances. However, romance publishers consistently declined to buy her intricately plotted, cleverly crafted stories about young women finding their true self-worth while also discovering and establishing mutually satisfying relationships with their life partners. One of the great joys of my life was bringing Deep Ellum Duet, a collection of Gigi’s first two “Deep Ellum” novelettes, into print as a book. Deep Ellum Duet was the only printed book with her byline that she got to see and hold in her lifetime.

P.S.: You’re not only a writer, but an artist as well, with a gallery of beautiful and evocative artwork. Do the two interests—art and writing—intersect, or do you keep them separate?

J.S.G.: Oh, golly. For a long time I tried to figure out “what am I going to be? A writer or an artist?” I never did decide. My undergraduate major was art with an emphasis in printmaking, and a heavy side of what we used to call “commercial art,” now called graphic design.

While I studied art, I also got a teaching degree. I came out of college in 1976 (yes, older than dirt) with teaching certificates in art K-12 and journalism 7-12. Just about the time I thought I’d settled into doing “mainly art” or “mainly writing,” a new door would open and all at once I’d be mostly doing the other. Thus, I’ve done a lot of marketing – both writing and graphic design work – teaching, and I had a brief career in journalism. The range of skill sets I developed has helped me a lot with my work for Weird Sisters.

I was originally a pen-and-ink artist, a proclivity that fit well with my intaglio printmaking emphasis in college. I’ve shown my 2D science fiction and fantasy artwork at science fiction conventions since the early 1980s. The paper sculpture came later, sparked by a “pop-up book” assignment I did with my art students. I showed my paper sculpture in national and international juried exhibitions, and I had several solo shows regionally.

The “art work” that currently fuels my passion is commissioning illustrations. After all my years in sf fandom, including participating on all those art-related panels, showing my work alongside that of other artists, and working as an officer of ASFA, the International Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists, I have become friends with a lot of marvelous illustrators. I love collaborating with them on both covers and interior art.

P.S.: How did you come to write about uplifted space dogs? Did you or do you have a dog of your own that inspired the idea?

J.S.G.: My books are built from my lifelong fascination with animals, animal intelligence, multiple cultures (my master’s degree is in multicultural education), future technology and societies, and mystery stories. I’ve had dogs all my life (lots of cats, too). Anymore, I tell my husband that “Professionally, I need to have a dog.”

It’s true that I regularly get inspiration from my current two, just as I have from all of their predecessors. Current canines in residence are an Australian Kelpie mix named Yoshi and one of Gigi’s dogs, an older Border Collie mix named Kata. My lifetime spent around dogs, plus recent research into canine cognition, fueled my invention of the “XK9s,” who are genetically engineered and cyber-enabled for communication.

P.S.: Is Rex the main canine character in all the XK9 books? What breed is Rex, and are his packmates of the same breed?

J.S.G.: XK9s are their own special breed. According to the story, they were developed from all the wonderful working and hunting breeds we know today. They have characteristics of Border Collies, German Shepherds, Belgian Malinois, Dutch Shepherds, Bloodhounds, Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, and many more. Many of my readers have dogs (including some who have one or more of the aforementioned breeds), and I imagine they recognize elements of their favorite breeds in some of the things the XK9s do.

Rex is officially the protagonist of the XK9 “Bones” Trilogy, the first three novels. But you could argue that his mate Shady rivals him for “primacy” as the protagonist, especially in the second and third books, A Bone to Pick and Bone of Contention. As to who is the “top dog” in the book I’m currently writing? That’s probably Shady, although Rex and a new XK9, a refugee from Transmondia, are both viewpoint characters, too.

I recently learned that Kirkus Reviews will publish the Starred Review of my book Bone of Contention in the Dec.1, 2025 issue. That’s perhaps not a major literary prize, but they don’t just hand those out to any old body, especially not to Indies.

P.S.: Congratulations on that upcoming review! You’ve put a lot of thought into your space station’s design. Please describe Rana Station—where it is, what it looks like, and how it functions as the setting for your books.

J.S.G.: Rana Habitat Space Station is a space-based megastructure consisting of eight habitat wheels that counter-rotate in pairs to produce normal gravity for their inhabitants.

It occupies the L4 (LaGrange) point of the planet Chayko in an extrasolar system somewhere we haven’t discovered yet in Heritage Earth Year 2025. Rana Station was largely constructed using materials mined from M- and C-class Chayko trojans that had previously orbited in the L4 point where the station now has its own stable orbit.

Rana Station is also is the home of a multicultural, indeed, multi-species, society. It was jointly founded by a group of idealistic humans and a refugee subculture from a species called ozzirikkians. Neither could have created the station without the other. The ozzies” have their own two habitat wheels, calibrated to artificially create gravity compatible with ozzirikkian evolution, just as the human wheels centrifugally create 1G.

Rana Station is a fabulous place to raise your kids, but they still have crime. They still have politics. And they still need a police force. I did not “abolish” the Orangeboro Police Department (home of “The Orangeboro Pack”), but it does differ in some key ways from what we’re used to in our world.

P.S.: Regarding the XK9 trilogy, you’ve got three novels and a prequel novella. Will you be writing more in this series or starting something different?

J.S.G.: Oh, you bet I’ll be writing more in this series! Neither I nor my readers are tired of the XK9s yet! In fact, it’s humbling to realize how long and patiently they’re willing to wait for each new book. I’m almost finished with a fourth XK9 novel, Bones for the Children, and I have plans firming up for several more. As long as people keep buying them and I stay healthy, I’m not likely to run out of ideas. There are so many rich veins of possibility that I haven’t yet explored!

P.S.: Tell us more about Bones for the Children, at least what you can reveal.

J.S.G.: As noted above, it’s another XK9 novel, set a couple of months after the end of the Trilogy. As with all of these novels, it’s kind of an “ensemble cast.” Lots of moving parts, in other words.

There are six viewpoint characters, each with their own storyline and challenges in their own personal life. Rex, his human partner Charlie, Shady, and her partner Pam are all POV characters again in this one. But there also are two new viewpoints: those of OPD Chief Kwame Klein, and a new XK9 named See, who’s led a very different life from the ones Rex, Shady, and the rest of the Orangeboro Pack have had.

There’s a new mystery to solve in this book – or rather, a nested set of mysteries, wrapped up in a public safety crisis and complicated by a long history of political corruption and criminal enterprise. So, fun stuff! And loads of fun to write.

Poseidon’s Scribe: What advice can you offer aspiring writers?

Jan S. Gephardt: If you write, you’re a writer – no “aspiring” to it. But to be an aspiring professional, learn the craft and then persist. Put in those 10,000 hours of learning and growing and practicing the art and honing your skills. All through that process and long after it, don’t stop writing. Keep doing it, keep learning, keep putting your work out there. Be patient. Be humble. And don’t stop writing.

Poseidon’s Scribe: Thank you, Jan. Great advice!

Web Presence

Readers and all dog lovers can find out more about Jan Gephardt at her website, her publishing company’s website, her Amazon page, her Goodreads Author Page, her Facebook Author Page, her Facebook Artdog Studio Page, her Facebook Weird Sisters Page, and on Instagram, and Bluesky. Jan blogs at her art studio and at The Weird Blog on her publishing site. You may sign up for her bi-monthly newsletter, and get a free ebook, The Other Side of Fear.

October 20, 2025Permalink Leave a comment

Author Interview—Amanda Russell

Words can heal, and inspire others. Today let’s meet a writer who crafted poems to help her through a terrible experience, and whose words might lift you from a bad place, or just help you understand life through her insights. I met Amanda Russell at an Afternoon with Authors event at a local bookstore. In her responses to my questions, you’ll learn about travel, grief, book covers, gardening, and more. Here’s her bio:

Bio

Amanda Russell is an editor for The Comstock Review and webmaster for the Fort Worth Poetry Society. Her poems appear or are forthcoming in The Shore, Gulf Stream Magazine, Pirene’s Fountain and elsewhere. Her poem “The Blizzard of 1888” was a finalist for the 2024 Kowit Poetry Prize, selected by Ellen Bass. Amanda has two poetry chapbooks available.

Interview

Poseidon’s Scribe: How did you get started writing poetry?

Amanda Russell: I don’t know how young I was, but I wrote poems as a young child. Mostly to deal with the changes in family that result from divorce and remarriages. I continually felt lost and out of place as a child, both in the context of my own family and the communities I was nurtured in. I had trouble saying my thoughts out loud and writing came more naturally for me. I kept my poems to myself, but by the age of 14, I knew poetry would be a constant in my life.

P.S.: Who are some of your influences? What are a few of your favorite books or poems? 

A.R.: In 9th grade, my theater teacher gave me a copy of “Letters to a Young Poet” by Rainer Maria Rilke. There, I found my forever writing prompt. Rilke says to put into your poems the images and themes you find in your life and dreams, to approach the world as if seeing it for the first time every time. This is something I go back to anytime I feel like I don’t know what to write. It’s like Jane Hirschfield, Mary Oliver and Ocean Vuong all talk about, paying or investing attention. And I find myself drawn to writing like this.

The first poetry book I bought was Mary Oliver’s Dream Work. Then, Louise Gluck’s The Wild Iris and Stanley Kunitz’s The Wild Braid. My influences continue to broaden the more I read. There’s Jim Harrison and Marie Howe and Li-Young Lee who I love to read. A few of the poetry collections on my top shelf are Ellen Bass’s “The Human Line,” Ocean Vuong’s “Time is a Mother” and Ruth Stone’s “Simplicity.” And I just discovered Blas Falconer, who I am excited to read more from.

I love listening to YouTube poetry readings as well. In fact, that is how I usually discover new poets. One poet will mention another poet, and I go look them up. The journey is delightfully endless.

P.S.: You’ve lived, I believe, in Nebraska, New York, Florida, New Hampshire, and now Texas. Did your poems change character as you moved around? Was one state more conducive to writing poetry than another?

A.R.: I have never actually lived in Florida. But, I did connect with some poets from there during the pandemic through Zoom open mics while I was living in New York. I have lived in all those other places though. I grew up in East Texas, and if I had never moved away, I would not be the person I am and therefore would not be writing the poems I am writing.

Yes, the poems changed with each place! In addition to the changes occurring within me, each new place has different immediate surroundings, sounds, plants and animals. One poem from NH references the blue spruce I saw outside my window each morning on Mill Street, another mentions the neighbor’s dog barking. For east Texas, the red dirt, the pines. For NY, maples and snow. After moving to NH, I remember telling a friend from NY that I met a family of hooded skunks on one of my afternoon walks. He said that proves you are in a different ecosystem, and we got a good laugh. Oh yeah, and basements! That’s a NH reference for me since our rental had one. I experienced seasonal depression up north for so many years that I just thought it was normal. But I don’t get it as much in Texas. In Fort Worth, I find myself referencing trains and mosquitoes.

Also, with each new home, there are new poets. So, in Nebraska I discovered the work of Ted Kooser. In New York, I found a vibrant poetry community and attended their readings regularly. Moving to New Hampshire, I delved into the poetry of Jane Kenyon, even visiting Eagle Pond Farm and interviewing Mary Lyn Ray who knew Jane Kenyon and Donald Hall during their lives. That interview was published by South Florida Poetry Journal in February 2025. Moving back to Texas has been interesting. And I am still finding my way into the poetry community here. So, I hope no one place is better than any other for writing poems. I want to write poems regardless of where I am!

P.S.: I’m so sorry about your devastating miscarriage of twins. Your poetry collection Barren Years resulted from that. Yet others have described the book as consoling and even upbeat. Tell us about the process of writing the poems for that book.

A.R.: The oldest poem in that collection is “Sonogram” which came to me about 8 months after the miscarriage. I hadn’t been able to vocalize what had occurred. I had tried, but there would just be silence. When I wrote that poem, I slammed my notebook shut and threw it across the room. I never intended to share it. After moving to Nebraska, I was determined to gather my poems into some kind of collection. By the time I got to New York, I had whittled the group of 80 poems down to 25. I was still not sure if I would want to publish it. Then, I shared it with a friend. After reading it, she met me at a coffee shop and said, “I didn’t know we had this in common.” She said reading my poems helped her process her grief around the miscarriage she experienced years ago. She encouraged me to publish the poems so other people could read them and feel less alone. Maybe that is how it is consoling.

Miscarriage is not talked about as often or as openly as it needs to be. Because of that, many women go through years in silence thinking that they are alone. Every time I give a reading from Barren Years, people reach out to me afterwards to say, “This happened to me too.” And it’s like sharing a secret. There’s a deep and immediate understanding and healing energy that exchanges, strengthening both people. It’s life-changing to know you are not alone.

Barren Years covers a seven-year span of time and uses gardening as an external mirror for the process of healing though the writing of poetry. There’s many references to conversations. I’d say one of the themes— in addition to love, loss, grief— is communication. One thing about me is that I often get bored reading books, so variety is essential for my engagement. So, I think that’s how a book about a miscarriage can be also about many other things.

P.S.: What common attributes (settings, themes, etc.) tie your poetry together or are you a more eclectic poet?

A.R.: I am disinterested in being a “certain kind” of poet writing a “certain kind” of poem. I am inspired by writing that discovers something. So, in that regard, I am more eclectic and always exploring.

P.S.: Regarding your poetry book Processing, one reviewer described it as brave, resolute, mesmerizing, and miraculous. Another said the poems reflect “deeply aching, beautifully rendered pleasures and pains.” Please tell us your thoughts on the book, and what themes link the included poems together.

A.R.: Processing to me is a book about my experience as a stay-at-home mom. It offers a different perspective than the mainstream idea maybe. For me the experience was lonely and difficult. It was like my life was on halt while I surfed this constant learning curve. And I don’t know how to surf either. And I did not have some huge career ambitions before having kids. I was just a cashier and was trying to write poems every day.

The thing is, I lost my identity when I became a mother. At first it felt natural, even unnoticeable, to let it go. But then, years passed. And I’d forgotten what kind of music I liked to listen to. I wasn’t enjoying my life because I wasn’t living my life.

So, Processing is the collection in which I venture back into the country of myself and find footing. I am looking for and reconnecting with myself. In these poems, I find the courage to speak about both the love and loneliness of motherhood and marriage. In my poems, relationships are important, and there is this sense that I am reaching deeper into my own life to hopefully connect with others as well.

P.S.: I’m intrigued by the covers you’ve chosen for your books. The mostly barren trees and lonely road make sense for Barren Years. However, can you explain the symbolism, if any, in the cover to Processing, with the woman (you) peeking around a door, and a stuffed panda on the ground?

A.R.: Actually, I cut the poem that references the panda from the collection. Like others that didn’t make it, it just was not finished in time and the collection felt solid without it. But, I chose to keep the panda on the cover because I liked him there. My son named him Tao Tao and used to wrestle him after school.

But when I decided to collage part of the inside of the house on the left side of the book, I used a sliver of my son’s room. His lamp, window unit a/c, footstool and panda were all there. I did not stage it. I wanted things to appear as they were.

And, the central image of me looking out the door was my concept photo for the book when I was beginning to write this collection. That’s the front door of our townhouse in Cornwall, NY. I did not have anyone to hold the phone to take the picture, so I used the front camera to make a short video. It was raining. I sat the phone in a pot of spinach and pressed play. That black part in the lower right corner would be green if the cover were in color. It’s a spinach leaf.

So, what you see is a screenshot out of that video. There is a whole story of how we got the image to something usable for the cover.

Also, I debated whether to put my face on the cover of my book. I decided to do it because one of the poems in the book is written in response to an article on mothers and autism and the concept of blame; and the mother in the graphic paired with that article does not have a face. I wanted to in some way put a face on her. It’s not her face, but it’s the only one I have. I decided to put my face on myself in my role, to claim it. I am just wearing whatever I was wearing, the fleece vest is pink and I still wear it often, lol. So in that way, it’s all quite candid.

P.S.: Where do you get the ideas for your poems?

A.R.: I get them from the edges of sleep and what I see as I drive from the gym to work. I get them from whatever pops into my head when I’m in the shower or cooking dinner. From what my kids say and do. It comes from what I long for or need to dig into. I find them in the mailbox or growing in the garden. From what I read. I often write immediately after reading. If I am stuck, I ask my subconscious to work on that while I sleep. I use prompts sometimes with varying results. Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones introduced me to timed writing sessions which I use because I am often pressed for time as a working mother of two school-aged children. I use it all, even tarot cards. Anytime a line arrives, I try to catch it on paper (or audio or email) without judging its potential because that shuts it down.

P.S.: You list gardening as an interest and many of your poems involve plants and the nature of growth. Do you do your gardening when stuck for words and find the solution to writer’s block there, or does gardening provide the initial inspiration for fresh poetry?

A.R.: Yes. Anything to get the blood flowing is often great for generating ideas. I love my garden. I love to sit in it and pretend to be a little plant. I go there for energy and encouragement, for consolation when I am down or company when I am happy. I read a question from Stanley Kunitz’s “The Wild Braid” in which he asks if it is any easier to deal with loss and death in the garden than in the rest of our life. I have pondered that question. I still ponder it. I think we could add to that, transition and blooming, sprouting and thirsting.

P.S.: What are the easiest, and the most difficult, aspects of poetry for you?

A.R.: The easiest part of poetry is reading other people’s poetry. Writing is difficult and full of hope and despair. I write because if I didn’t, I may entirely miss my life. Writing connects me more deeply to my life and the relationships that fill it.

P.S.: You’ve said some poems require little revision, and others take years. How many poems are you working on at any given time?

A.R.: LOL. Yes, I work on several at a time. Actually, I work on all the poems, all the time. There’s a saying that poems are never finished, just abandoned. I am not sure I completely agree with that, but if years later, I see an improvement I could make, I would consider it.

I strive to write poems which were not possible to put into words before they were written. As such, the process is often slow and iterative. Many times, I am trying to write something that I may not learn for several years. Andrea Gibson has a poem called “What do you think about this weather?” in which they use the metaphor of a mother knitting mittens for a child a size (or two) big so they can be worn longer. They say, “I feel that sometimes when I’m writing poems— like they don’t yet fit. Do you ever feel like the best of you is something you’re still hoping to grow into?” So, I approach the poem again and again. It’s not unusual for me to have 40 or even 60 plus revisions on a single poem. Some of those revisions are total rewrites.

I keep writing and rewriting until the poem speaks back to me. Once that happens, the process is that of listening, following, and trusting the poem itself more than “writing.”

Poseidon’s Scribe: What advice can you offer aspiring poets?

Amanda Russell:

  • Read widely. Write as much as you can.
  • Go to open mics in-person or online, listen to other poets, and share your work. Learn about revision.
  • Say Yes to any opportunities you are given.
  • Listen to constructive comments with the aim of learning more about crafting poems that work to their fullest potential.
  • Learn to listen to the poem when it asks you to go places and learn things that you did not anticipate.
  • Surround yourself with the people who encourage and inspire you.
  • Trust your voice. Trust your reader. Trust the process.

And I will end with one of my favorite quotes from Rainer Maria Rilke’s book Letters to a Young Poet, “[T]ry, like some first human being, to say what you see and experience and love and lose. … seek those themes which your own everyday life offers you; describe [them] with loving, quiet, humble sincerity … for to the creator, there is no poverty …” (Rilke Letters to a Young Poet).

Poseidon’s Scribe: Thank you, Amanda. That advice would work for prose writers, too!


Web Presence

Readers can find out more about Amanda Russell at her website, at the Fort Worth Poetry Society website, and on Instagram. A post by Brianne Alcala featured Amanda’s works, and Amanda read and discussed some of her poems on YouTube.

August 9, 2025Permalink

Author Interview—Rob Jolles

Change of pace today. Most often, I interview fiction authors. Today’s guest has done everything but write fiction. Rob Jolles coaches speaking and writing. He’s written several nonfiction books and hundreds of blogposts he calls “Blarticles®.” He hosts podcasts and was kind enough to interview me on his “A Book Finds You” podcast.

Here’s his bio:

Rob Jolles

A sought-after speaker and five-time Bestselling author, Rob Jolles has spent over three decades traveling close to 3 million miles in the air teaching, entertaining, and inspiring audiences worldwide. His books, including How to Change Minds, Customer Centered Selling, Why People Don’t Believe You, How to Run Seminars & Workshops, It’s a Blarticle®! and The Way of the Road Warrior, have been featured in USA Today, Investor’s Business Daily, Harvard Business Review, and Publisher’s Weekly.

Rob is also the host of over 500 podcasts including “A Book Finds You,” and “Pocket Sized Pep Talks,” a podcast he launched over four years ago, and now currently in the top 2% of downloads nationally.

Next, the interview:

Poseidon’s Scribe: Most often, I interview writers, but you’re more than that. You’re a speaker and, through Jolles Associates, Inc., you give talks to businesses and also coach the art of speaking. What got you started doing that?

Rob Jolles: Rather than being a writer who speaks, I’m what I refer to as speaker who writes. I was a trainer for Computer Sciences Corporation, Battelle Memorial Institute, and Xerox, and I loved it, but I dreamed of something more. One day a professional speaker was hired by Xerox and came in to deliver a presentation, and he had one thing I did not have; a book. I watched him carefully, and was the only other speaker on the agenda that day. My feedback scores were significantly higher than his and I thought, “I can do that!” So, 32 years ago I took the leap, and the first thing I knew I needed to do was start writing! Seven books later, I’m still writing. As for coaching others in the art of speaking, when you’ve actually done it for over 40 years, and written about it, it’s a natural fit.

P.S.: You coach people in both speaking and writing, two very different modes of communication. What aspects, if any, do you emphasize with your writing clients that differ from what you tell your speaking clients?

R.J.: It’s an interesting question because I don’t seem them as, “very different modes of communication.” Everyone has their own writing style, but here’s where a business book is a little different from a fictional book. I’ve always believed one of the best compliments you can get from a reader is to hear, “When I was reading your book, it was if you were here talking directly to me.” Of course, there are other significant differences such as the physical nature of speaking, the necessity to hold someone’s interest in your presentation, and the number of activities that support your message in a presentation. However, I coach both types of clients’ needs because both are necessary to make it as a professional speaker.

P.S.: Thank you for interviewing me on your “A Book Finds You!” podcast. How did you get started doing that, and what’s the meaning behind the podcast’s title?

R.J.: I got started podcasting close to six years ago with a business show called “Pocket Sized Pep Talks.” Almost all my guests are business authors and I found myself almost always asking the question, “I’m not going to ask you how you found this book; I want to know how it found you!” I noticed that every time I asked that question my guest’s faces would light up because there was always a story to tell. I approached the Writer’s Center in Bethesda first, because I teach there, but they wanted to go in a different direction with a show that never got off the ground. I then pitched it to the Maryland Writer’s Association, who loved the idea and away we went!

P.S.: You’ve written the book Why People Don’t Believe You…Building Credibility from the Inside Out. Since you asked me this question about my book, it’s my turn. How did your book find you?

R.J.: I do love that question! I had been volunteering for almost a decade for a group called, Career Network Ministry, and noticed an unusual pattern. People were learning elevator pitches, and star stories, but having trouble delivering them in an authentic manner. My working title was a little kinder, “It’s not the Words, it’s the Tune!” but I guess that wasn’t eye-catching enough and my editor changed it. But that book and title found me, and the wonderful people there allowed me to experiment with all kinds of different tactics that found their way into the book.

P.S.: Regarding Why People Don’t Believe You, fiction writers might not think that book would apply to them, since they don’t expect readers to believe their stories. Do you think fiction writers would benefit from this book, and if so, how?

R.J.: Of course fictional readers would benefit. I’m not asking them to believe in the fictional stories they write; I’m asking them to believe in themselves as writers. As a guy who interviews 100’s of fictional writers and poets I can tell you firsthand there’s a lot of imposter syndrome issues with these writers… and all writers for that matter.

P.S.: Another of your books, How to Change Minds: The Art of Influence without Manipulation, features a cat and mouse on the cover. That cover alone likely changes minds from “don’t buy” to “must have.” What is the most important thing fiction writers can do to change readers’ minds from casual perusers to loyal fans?

R.J.: Well, I’m not sure I make the same connection you have here with that cat and mouse, which is one of my favorite reasons for loving that cover. People see what they choose to see. That said, it’s a book that deals with the art of persuasion, and not being ashamed to push for an idea that you truly feel would benefit those you are interfacing with. One way to do this is to learn how to write a hook for the books that are written. I make that a requirement for being on the podcast, “A Book Finds You!” Even with a document that teaches guests how to write a hook, I’ve only had one author out of the 40 I’ve interviewed give me anything close to a hook. I get a synopsis, which I’m sure is interesting to the writer, and tells the reader what the book is about, but doesn’t provide a compelling reason why to read the book, or for my case, listen to the author talk about the book on a podcast.

P.S.: What are the easiest, and the most difficult, aspects of writing for you?

R.J.: The easiest part of writing is trusting my voice and message. I don’t write about things I don’t know about intimately. The hardest part about writing for me is to be patient enough to wait for an idea I’m so attached to, I can’t help but write about it. This is something you can’t wish for, or fake. That book has to find me!

P.S.: Many introverted fiction writers detest the person-to-person marketing aspects—speaking on conference panels, reading to an audience, and book signings. What’s the best piece of advice you could give them about how to engage with a live audience in an effective way?

R.J.: Imagine your book is one of your children. Remember, you’re not fighting for you; you’re fighting for your book. You worked too hard to create that book to not do all you can to give it the best life it could possibly live.

P.S.: You excel in person-to-person communication in several modes (speeches, podcasts, books, Blarticles®, social media, etc.) and for several purposes (persuasion, education, entertainment, etc.). Fiction writers focus on the narrow slice of writing books for entertainment, but you glide across the communication spectrum as if modes and purposes blend together. Do they blend into one for you, or have you mastered the techniques for each separate mode and purpose?

R.J.: Well, some tasks are easier and blend together better than others. For instance, podcasts allow me to not only extend my network, they allow me to, as you say, glide across the communication spectrum. But please note, like many will tell you, it’s not always a lot of fun. I was raised by a Marine, and that meant learning to fight like heck for what you believe in, and never, ever give up. It’s a marathon, and I just take it week by week and do the best I can.

P.S.: What is the next book you’re writing? Would you mind telling us a little about it?

R.J.: It took seven years, but a book found me about four months ago. I’d prefer not to go into much detail here, but I can tell you where it will be found in the bookstore. Business, Self-Help…

Poseidon’s Scribe: What advice can you offer aspiring writers?

Rob Jolles: Whatever dream you have in your mind that involves the joy you might feel from writing a book, the reality is even better. It’s an amazing accomplishment, and one that is deeply personal. We all have our own voice, and it’s a voice you need to believe in. You are good enough to do this. Just remember this, which I keep near where I write: Planning to write is not writing. Thinking about writing is not writing. Talking about writing is not writing. Researching and outlining to write is not writing. None of this is writing. Writing is writing.

Get that outline going, and start. Today.

Poseidon’s Scribe: Thank you, Rob. Great advice!

Readers can find out more about Rob Jolles almost everywhere, but specifically at his website, on LinkedIn, by reading his LinkedIn newsletter, through his “Pocket Sized Pep Talks” podcast, through his “A Book Finds You!” podcast, by reading his BLArticles®, on Facebook, on X, at his Amazon Author Page, on Amazon Music, and at his YouTube channel.

July 28, 2025Permalink

Author Interview—Fabiana Elisa Martínez

Today I interview an author who writes first drafts like nobody else. Read further to hear about her unique process. I met Fabiana Elisa Martínez at an Afternoon with Authors event at a local bookstore. A polyglot, she doubted her writing abilities at first, but started with one-word prompts and crafted stories that have won numerous awards. Here’s her bio:

Fabiana Elisa Martínez

Bio

Fabiana was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She graduated from UCA University in Buenos Aires with a Linguistics and World Literature degree. She is a linguist, a language teacher, and a writer. She speaks five languages: Spanish, English, French, Portuguese, and Italian. She has lived and worked in Dallas, Texas for more than twenty years. She is the author of the short story collection 12 Random Words, her first work of fiction, the short story “Stupidity,” published as an independent book by Pierre Turcotte Editor, the collection of short stories Conquered by Fog, also published by Pierre Turcotte, and the grammar book series Spanish 360 with Fabiana.

12 Random Words, in its three bilingual versions, has won ten awards, and two of its stories were selected to be read in February 2017 as part of the Dallas Museum of Art’s distinguished literary series Arts & Letters Live. The book was also among the six finalists of the Eyelands Book Awards 2022 and won first prize.

Six months after publication, Conquered by Fog became a finalist in the 2023 Global Book Awards, the 2023 Eyelands Book Awards, the Independent Author Network Award, and the Royal Dragon Fly Book Awards.

Her short story “Characters” received the Second Place Award in the Fiction for Adults Category in the 2023 Annual Abilene Writers Guild Contest.

Interview

Poseidon’s Scribe: How did you get started writing? What prompted you?

Fabiana Elisa Martínez: In 2014, invited by a friend who believed in me more than I did, I accepted joining a virtual writing group. I wasn’t sure that I could write fiction in English, or at least quality fiction. Reading is easier; I can read in five languages and always try not to read two books in the same language consecutively. However, I tried, and every month, I wrote a short story based on a random word the group organizer sent.

Magically, some of those stories became a book, my first book, called 12 Random Words. It was published in 2016, and it has been one of the best experiences in my life. Because from the fiction of those stories came an immense number of really beautiful events that enriched my life even more.

P.S.: Who are some of your influences? What are a few of your favorite books? 

F.E.M.: My life is shaped by literature and languages, so for someone who reads every day, it’s quite difficult to choose just a few books or authors that have influenced me, maybe not my writing, but the way I see the world. Of course, I have my favorite writers. I might be a little biased here, but I love Borges, Cortázar, Javier Marías, and Mario Vargas, to mention some titans of the Spanish language. In English, I love Jonathan Coe and Julian Barnes. In French, I admire Michel Houellebecq. In Portuguese, Jorge Amado and Carlos Campaniço. I admire for sure any writer who can make the reader turn pages with passion and curiosity, no matter the genre or subject. Ultimately, there are not as many subjects, but endless ways to discuss the few deep passions that human beings share: love, jealousy, hatred, fear, and rage.

P.S.: Regarding your book 12 Random Words, (with four marvelous story-linked videos on your website), how did that book come to be and what is it about?

F.E.M.: The videos that illustrate my book can be seen on my website and were conceived by my friend, editor, and movie director, Quin Mathews. We traveled all the way to New York City to film them. It was a wonderful adventure and a great way to make literature tangible.

As I mentioned earlier, the 12 stories in the book were inspired by a random word I was given, and I couldn’t dispute it. I leave it to the reader the freedom to connect those stories. Like any short story collection, the stories may be related beyond the writer’s conscious choice. Many times, readers come to me to comment on characters that appear in different stories and seem to them related in some way. I never tell a reader that their perception is incorrect. It’s exactly the opposite; the reader is always right, and I love to listen to the infinite hues and angles through which they can view a story. I believe that is the magic of literature: the solitude of the writer and the boundless interpretations of the readers.

P.S.: Which came first—your writing, or learning five languages? How have each of those abilities affected the other, if at all? (Aside from the fact that you got 12 Random Words published in 3 different languages.)

F.E.M.: Since I grew up in a bilingual family (Spanish at home and Galician at my grandparents’ house), I don’t have a conscious memory of learning a language. In kindergarten, teachers were already speaking English to me. Later in life, I chose to study literature and additional languages in college, which provided me with the opportunity to earn degrees in Latin and Ancient Greek, which opened the doors to other languages. I have been in love with French for many decades. I speak English at home and teach mostly Spanish, but French is the language I consider my private linguistic room. Like Virginia Woolf’s room but made of words. So, when I was initially writing the stories of 12 Random Words in English (and I want to make this very clear: I wrote all those stories in English from scratch, and that’s the only language I have written fiction in so far), it was only logical to make the first book bilingual in English and Spanish. The other two followed along—English and French, and English and Portuguese.

P.S.: For your book Conquered by Fog, what connects the twelve short stories in it? How does the cover image of a female Greco-Roman statue represent them?

F.E.M.: Again, I think these are questions that the readers might answer with a more interesting perspective. From my perspective, the stories reveal different aspects of the human condition at various ages and stages. I think all these characters look for deep connection, understanding, and love, which is what makes us human. My deepest conviction is that we humans are more similar to one another than different from each other: we all yearn to be loved, and we all dread dying alone. The cover of the book is also a picture taken by my friend, Quin Mathews, and it reflects the character of some of the stories, as well as their classical symbolism. It also illustrates the title of the book, which is the same as the title of the very last short story in the collection. But again, readers know better. We should ask them.

P.S.: We heard that you write in the dark. Is that true? How does that work and why do you do it?

F.E.M.: Yes, I have a peculiar ritual. Whenever I start writing a short story, I turn off all the lights. I close all the shutters and switch off every single monitor. I close my eyes and start writing frantically. My brain works in a different dimension at that moment, perhaps closer to a meditative state; I’m not sure. I only open my eyes when I feel that the story has reached a mature stage. Sometimes 40 minutes pass, sometimes an hour, but when I open my eyes, I know I have something of relative value in front of me, something imperfect but solid that needs to be properly corrected. That’s the second stage of my writing, and of course, it is done with the lights on.

P.S.: Some say I’m in the dark about writing, but they mean it figuratively. Moving on. You’ve titled a short story “Stupidity,” and gotten it published as a standalone book. What prompted this story, and what is it about?

F.E.M.: Stupidity was a given word I had to write about many years ago. It tells the story of an older lady who attends the funeral of someone she loved for decades. However, even at funerals, people can uncover new mysteries about those they thought they knew very well. Interesting surprises can emerge even at funerals.

P.S.: Where do you get the ideas for your stories?

F.E.M.: That’s easy. Ideas are everywhere. I feel inside myself, but also listen and observe. I have always thought of writers as very efficient antennas. People who know me are aware that whatever they say, remember, do, or complain about may end up in some of my writings. Ideas are like subjects. They are limited. It’s how we handle dilemmas, temptations, sadness, and passions that matter. So, I’m very fortunate to be surrounded by a constant flow of literary triggers.

P.S.: Two of your other books, Spanish 360 with Fabiana: Transcripts and Exercises – Podcasts 1 to 25 and the companion book for Podcasts 26 to 50 seem designed to teach the Spanish language to English speakers. How do these books differ from other methods of learning Spanish?

F.E.M.: Since my life is a blend of languages and literature, Spanish 360 with Fabiana is a project that aligns with my passion for teaching languages. The two books are transcriptions of our 50 podcasts, which are available for free on most platforms. The advantage of the books is that, in addition to the transcripts of each podcast, there are thousands—literally thousands—of footnotes explaining grammatical aspects not discussed in the podcasts but related to their dialogues and descriptions. Additionally, after each transcription, there are complementary exercises to practice the specific topics covered in each podcast.

P.S.: Reviews of your books on Amazon praise your writing style. One said “she paints with words” and another said of you, “she carries a museum in her head.” Another reviewer wanted to take a highlighter pen to each sentence. How would you describe your writing style and how it differs from other writers?

F.E.M.: Thank you very much for reading those immensely generous reviews. I’m not sure I’m the right person to describe my style, as my perspective is too close to reality. But what I do know is that I don’t want to write in a transparent way; I want to offer the reader some poetic mystery to decipher, not in the sense of a murder mystery but in the way we understand a poem through the magic and rhythm of words, metaphors, alliteration, and images. I don’t want to produce an easy text; I want to give my readers stories that I would love to read, texts that would be completed through the act of reading. Sometimes I worry that some readers don’t want to work too hard, but perhaps those are not the ones I write for. I believe literature is the only admirable lie—the biggest lie that hides the deepest truth.

P.S.: To say you’re an award-winning author is to understate the matter. It takes longer to list your awards than to list your books! Congratulations on winning all of them, by the way. Please choose one and tell us about your experience in winning the award.

F.E.M.: It’s difficult to choose from one of those awards because every one of them has given me in men’s happiness.

One of the best days of my life is not related directly to an award but to an event that felt like it. In February 2017, two stories from 12 Random Words were read at the Dallas Museum of Art by actress Constance Parry at an Arts and Letters Live Event recognizing Texan writers. Not only were my words, forged at home in silence with my cat on my chair, now in the voice of a talented actress, but I was also considered a Texan writer!

However, regarding awards, one that is close to my heart is the Eyelands Book Award, which 12 Random Words received in 2022. This is an international prize awarded in Greece, and the book was selected from among other short story collections by writers I admire. Every time I see that little tree-like, Greek clay sculpture on my desk, I’m reminded of how fortunate I am and how generous the literary world can be.

P.S.: What is your current work in progress? Would you mind telling us a little about it?

F.E.M.: I am working on what I think could be a novel. We will see. I would say that right now, it’s going to be more like a quilt novel or a story divided into short vignettes that will compound a map of a bigger, deeper narration. If you can imagine a Cubist piece of art, one of those paintings by Juan Gris or Georges Braque, it will be something like that, but with words. Like an atomized story shown through all those little shards of moments in time.

Poseidon’s Scribe: What advice can you offer aspiring writers?

Fabiana Elisa Martínez: My advice is very simple, although I am fully aware that I lack the authority to give any advice. However, if you want to write literature, first read a lot, then sit down and write. There’s no better class and no better teacher than a good book and a skilled writer (and sometimes a bad book that teaches you how not to write). There is no powerful writing class that can force you to write what is in your heart. There are no courses or literary gurus. In the end, it is always you and how brave you are in front of the blank page. Sit down and write. You will be surprised.

Poseidon’s Scribe: Thank you, Fabiana. I believe your advice will inspire that kind of bravery in others.

Readers can find out more about Fabiana Elisa Martínez at her website, on Facebook both here and here, on Instagram both here and here, on X, on Goodreads and on her Amazon page.

July 14, 2025Permalink

How You Can Give Better Author Interviews

As an author, you can expect to receive offers from people to interview you. Such interviews can be in person, or remote by phone or email. The offeror might broadcast the interview on TV, radio, podcast, or publish it in print or online in a blogpost. Today I’ll provide guidance about how to make the most of these interviews.

Images of microphone and pen from Pixabay

The Hermit Option

You may refuse interviews, of course. Some authors remain elusive, hidden from the world. They have their reasons, and that’s fine. I’m not aiming this post at them.

My Experience

I’ve been interviewed six times, which isn’t bad. But I’ve conducted almost seventy interviews of authors, editors, and poets. I’ve done all of these through email and posted them on this website. Just search for ‘author interview’ to find them.

Purpose

You’re trying to entice people to buy your books. Simple as that. All other reasons for the interview remain subordinate to that prime purpose. Make every sentence of every answer support that goal. What follows are my tips for giving author interviews with the aim of selling books.

  • Author Photo

Unless the interview gets broadcast on TV or radio, the interviewer may ask you for an author photo. Use a photo taken recently enough that your appearance hasn’t changed much. Choose a photo that portrays you in a good light.

  • Taglines

When answering a general question about one of your books, like “what is it about?” use a pre-prepared tagline. I alluded to this in a previous blogpost. You should craft brief taglines about each of your books, and practice saying them until you can do so in a natural way without stumbling.

  • The Comedian Mindset

This tip applies more to written interviews where you have time to polish your answers. Though you should strive for honesty, you’re not undergoing a police interrogation. You’re trying to sell books, so reject the first answer you think of and go for the unexpected.

When I advise you to think like a comedian, I don’t necessarily mean to go for laughs. Comedians become skilled at considering several responses to a question and selecting the one they judge funniest. You should select the response you judge will attract people to your book. Consider the odd, the quirky, the answer with a punch or a twist.

  • Well-Edited Answers

Again, this applies to written interviews where you’ve got time to hone your answers. Don’t just jot down answers and click ‘Send.’ If you’ve used misspellings, poor grammar, incorrect references, or awkward sentences in your answers to an interview, why would readers want to read your books?

  • Brevity

I’ve saved the most important tip for last. In any interview, short answers beat long ones. Think like a poet—not to rhyme, but to pack a lot of thought into few words. Write your autobiography some another time.

With those tips in mind, you’ll do well on your future interviews, especially if you’re fortunate enough to be interviewed by—

Poseidon’s Scribe

June 23, 2024Permalink