Monthly Archives: August 2026

Advice for Writers – from Writers

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Unless you belong to a writers group or are taking a class, you might be working on your craft all by yourself. Well, you’re not alone! Meet some members of your community who are at various places in their creative journey. Some are published authors with many books to their name, others playwrights who’ve seen their work produced onstage, and there are some who are still working toward completing that first project.

The voices you’ll hear in this episode belong to people who’ve been guests on the Write Like a Badass podcast. They share the wisdom they’ve gained from experience – no matter how much or how little writing experience they’ve had so far. I think we can learn from every fellow writer we encounter.

 In Open Mic Night at the Badass Writers Cafe, I read from a novel I just completed. Sort of. You’ll hear.

Want to learn more about the people featured in this episode? 

Connect with Don Davidson on Tiktok.

Find Ron Shaw at:

Trae Dorn is at:

  • www.trhonline.com
  • Trae’s Doks and comics & etc. include:
  • The Mia Graves Saga, a series of queer contemporary fantasy novels
  • The webcomic Peregrine Lake
  • The comic UnCONventional, a comic based off of their decades staffing conventions
  • Trae is also the creator of the Super Awesome Action Heroes Role Playing Game System

Barb Nessinger can be found on Facebook and on Instagram (Barb’s Instagram (Barbyness84).

Find out more about Dave Durham at: https://www.stagescreenandme.com/

Find out more about Tony Targan at: https://www.tonytargan.com/

hh rune is at:

Connect with Rebecca Wells Phillips:

The Write Like a Badass Podcast is by, about and for writers. Welcome to your tribe!

Turning Your Book Into an Audiobook

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In this episode, we get the inside scoop about how to turn your book into an audiobook – from audiobook narrator and voice actor Samantha Norbury. Samantha records books in many different genres, for indie authors and publishers. She explains the process, including how the authors she works with get a 15 minute sample of her work before she voices the entire book, to make sure that that they’re on the same page. Find out about the time it takes and the cost (there is a no cost option, by the way). Also: why the ai-voice narration drive is a big fat fail with listeners.

If you’re considering having your book turned into an audio book with a human voice doing the narrating, this episode is for you!

For information about Samantha Norbury, visit her website https://www.samanthanorburyvo.com

That webinar Samantha mentions is at: https://www.samanthanorburyvo.com/authors

Connect with Samantha on social media:
https://www.tiktok.com/@samanthanorbury_narrator
https://www.instagram.com/samantha.norbury_narrator/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcRefmRiSfbbOdiYkWQSpkA
https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-norbury-a69149240/
https://www.facebook.com/SamanthaNorburyAudio

The Write Like a Badass Podcast is by, about and for writers. Welcome to your tribe!

·        A video of the interview in this episode is on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WriteLikeaBadass

Writing through Truth, Healing through Story

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Interviewing survivors of Hurrican Helene for her book, Hurricane Helene: Resiliency After the Storm, turned out to be a painful process for Rebecca Wells Phillips (who was affected by the storm as well). Far from being reluctant to revisit their trauma, the people she talked to were eager to tell their stories, to be seen and heard. The result is a deeply felt documentation that one reviewer called, “a poignant account of a catastrophic flood and how a community was able to band together to both survive and heal in the aftermath.”

In addition to the book about Hurricane Helene, Rebecca has written two memoirs (Hating Self and Loving Self), a novel (Butterfly Blossoms) and a number of short stories.

Rebecca brings topics like authenticity, depression, suicidal ideation, abuse, racism, discrimination, destruction, and loss to her writing. She writes, she says, “to uplift and to turn a bad situation into a positive outcome.”

Buy Hurricane Helene: Resilience After the Storm at: https://a.co/d/0hsAkL3k

Connect with Rebecca:

www.rebeccawellsphillips.com

·         Facebook: https://facebook.com/beckywellsphillips

·         Instagram: www.instagram.com/gaphill184240/

·         X (Twitter): https://x.com/RebeccaPhi37526

·         TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rebecca.phillips53

·         YouTube: www.youtube.com/@rebeccaphillips231

·         Substack: www.substack.com/@rebeccawellsphillips

·         Threads: https://www.threads.com/@gaphill184240

·         LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccawellsphillips/

·         Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/gaphill1842.bsky.social

The Write Like a Badass Podcast is by, about and for writers. Welcome to your tribe!

All About the Booktok Indie Author Awards

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Ron Shaw writes dark fantasy / psychological fiction novels. He also puts a considerable amount of time and effort into the Booktok Indie Author Awards, which he founded. In this episode, Ron talks about why it’s importance to bring recognition to indie authors. He also discusses his own writing – and why readers are sometimes confused about the genre of his books (but they still read them and like them!).

Interested in entering your book or nominating someone else’s book for the 2026 BookTok Indie Author Awards? Go here: https://evocativeimpressions.com/booktok-indie-author-awards/. NOTE: The deadline for this year is August 31.

“I’m just a guy on a tugboat writing a book”

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Donald Davidson is writing his very first novel, a sci fi story. By the time you finish listening to this episode on the Write Like a Badass podcast – and hearing Don’s story – you are going to be out of excuses for why you can’t write. You don’t enough time. You’ve got to work, or drive the kids to school. All valid excuses, but…

Don is making steady progress on his work in progress in spite of the fact that he spends two weeks out of every four on a boat – and he can only write on a phone. He doesn’t own a laptop or a desktop. Naturally, when I encountered him on TikTok, I found his situation interesting and I thought you would, too.

Check out Don’s episode of the pod and other episodes, as well, for writing inspiration and information.

Happy writing!

“There’s some pretty intimate stuff in here”

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After turning 30, h.h. rune realized that she had allowed fear to shape much of her life. She resolved to lead an extraordinary life within the space of an ordinary one, and to urge others to do the same.

A lifelong creative, she used this realization to fuel a 25-year-long passion project, The Find Me- Extraordinary Life Seeker Series. (It’s not finished yet, by the way.)

Hear hh discuss her writing, her life and her unique distribution strategy for her books on the Write Like a Badass podcast episode: “There’s some pretty intimate stuff in here.” (Hint: like the characters in the books themselves, readers are encouraged to enter their names, locations, and date of reading in the backs, then pass the books on to others.