Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #121 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with Val Ries, author of the new book Chief Inspiration Officer: How to Lead the Team Everyone Wants to Be On.

Val Ries has spent years turning around struggling teams, uplifting low morale, and making sure that workplace productivity actually works. As the founder of Executive Muse, she has guided over 1,000 leaders in building their own top-performing teams at Fortune 500 companies and small businesses.

When it came time to write her first book, Val chose to work with me as her writing coach. As such, I am absolutely thrilled to have her on the podcast.

During our discussion, Val describes:

• How real-time feedback informed the drafting of the book
• Why both leadership and writing can evoke self-doubt
• The 4 biggest challenges she faced while writing the book
• How you can inspire those around you to be their best selves
• And more!

Listen to the full podcast episode:

Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #120 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with author Mia Romero.

Born in Spain with a far too long and unpronounceable name, Mia Romero’s proudest light-bulb moment is shortening her name so readers wouldn’t have such a hard time asking for her books! Immigrating to the U.K. at the age of four, her love of stories began the moment she picked up a ‘Rupert, the Bear’ book and still shows no sign of waning. Educated in London and New York, she is an avid fan of both British and American cultures.

Mia’s debut novel, Otherkind, with its British characters, landscapes and humour, as well as new and original supernatural beings, was inspired by her love of American books and shows, and her desire to help build the ever-growing British supernatural & paranormal fiction industry.

During our discussion, Mia describes:

• How American and British culture influences her work
• What she learned from writing in Charles Dickens style as a ten-year-old
• How she approaches scene-writing like a film director
• Why she recommends writing even if you don’t feel like you know what you are doing
• How she went from a pantser to a planner
• And more!

Listen to the full podcast episode!

Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work.

In episode #119 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with writer Carmone Harris.

Over the month of November, I ran my new group program, STORY PLAN INTENSIVE. The goal of the program was simple: rather than spend the month throwing together a stressful to create (and possibly disastrous) first draft of a manuscript via NaNoWriMo, the participants would instead spend the month planning their story, developing their macro-level story craft, and ultimately complete a rock-solid outline for their book that will set them up for long term success.

The program was a hit and I look forward to running it again before too long. (If you would like to participate in the next round of STORY PLAN INTENSIVE, reach out to me at kevintjohns@gmail.com.)

One of the participants in the program was Carmone Harriss. Carmone is a mother, embroiderer, and writer. When she’s not writing and being a mom, she loves to watch movies and television shows. She also enjoys reading and has a love for music. She’s a member of the Supernatural fandom and loves vampires and rock and roll. Her favorite book genres are  YA/NA Paranormal romances, fantasy/urban fantasy, horror, and a few other romances. 

Throughout STORY PLAN INTENSIVE, Carmone shared numerous resources with the group via our private forum. What impressed me about Carmone’s sharing was not just the helpful content she was able to find, but also the vast array of channels she was pulling content from. As such, I asked Carmone to be on the show to discuss the various sources she finds inspiration for her writing.

During our discussion, Carmone explains how writers can use:

• Role-Playing Boards
• Music
• Youtube
• TikTok
• Podcasts
• Pinterest
• And more!

Listen to the full podcast episode: