Author Archives: Maureen Paraventi

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About Maureen Paraventi

Hi, there! I'm a published author, award-winning playwright, content writer and all-around English major nerd. I love to write. I also love to help other writers succeed, by polish their work and helping bring it to its full potential. In the Write Like a Badass Initiative, I take that a step further, by giving creatives tools they need to overcome self-doubt and blast through rejection.

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.

“You’ve got to learn to dance with fear”

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Grief over her father’s death had Alexandra Chan writing down stories about him. She ultimately realized that she was writing a book, which turned into the hot-selling In the Garden Behind the Moon: A Memoir of Loss, Myth and Magic.

Writing that book had a transformational effect on Alexandra, and reading it is – based on reviews – causing people to connect with it on a deeply emotional level.

Listen to Alexandra’s episode on the Write Like a Badass podcast to hear how this left-brained scientist discovered a whole other side of herself – one that embraces the magic and mythos that are ingrained in her family history and Chinese culture.

Alexandra Chan’s website is:https://alexandra-chan.com/

In the Garden Behind the Moon: A Memoir of Loss, Myth, and Magic is available from Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/34dsjccd

Slavery in the Age of Reason: Archaeology at a New England Farm offers a rare look into the lives of enslaved peoples and slaveholders in early New England.

Sign up for The Glimmering, a once-a-season community and newsletter for curious minds, eye-twinklers, travelers, and seekers and seers of magic. Get inspired and stay informed about Alexandra’s books.

Connect with Alexandra on Tiktok (Alexandra Chan|Author and Facebook (Alexandra Chan).

From Journalist to Mystery Writer: How Neal Lipschutz Made the Leap

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After retiring from a career that included being an editor at the Wall Street Journal, Neal Lipschutz embarked upon a new career: writing suspense fiction. Fans of his debut novel, No Write Way to Die, are eagerly awaiting his second (in a series), Long Arm of the Past, which will be published in August.

Listen to Neal’s episode on the Write Like a Badass podcast to hear how he develops stories and characters, what is was like to find a publisher and what he’s got coming up. You will also get a sneak preview of Long Arm of the Past, when Neal reads an excerpt from it for Open Mic Night at the Badass Writers Cafe.

Neal’s website is: https://neallipschutz.com/

Neal’s books can also be found at:

https://www.tuckerdspress.com/product-page/no-write-way-to-diehttps://www.tuckerdspress.com/product-page/long-arm-of-the-past

Connect with Neal on:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neal-lipschutz-3119b743/
and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/neal.lipschutz

How Self Doubt Derailed a Multi-Creative for 20 Years

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Lylanne Musselman is a poet, an artist, a playwright and a play director who lives in Eaton, Indiana. She spreads her love of writing to other by teaching – at the University of Indianapolis and Ivy Tech Community College. She’s also a mother, a grandmother and a furbaby mother. (How many cats do you have?) Her work has been featured in many literary journals and anthologies. She’s had six chapbooks published – so far – And she’s co-authored two books.

But Lylanne wasn’t always this productive. Listen to the Write Like a Badass podcast episode entitled, How Self Doubt Derailed a Multi-Creative for 20 Years to hear how Lylanne stopped writing at 18 – because she thought she wasn’t good at it!

Lylanne’s return to what she loves doing: writing and art, will inspire you. You’ll also hear how writing poetry and creating art helped her deal with caregiving for her unsupportive mother when her mother had dementia.

Her published chapbooks are:

Prickly Beer and Purple Panties (Bacon Tree Press, 2007), A Charm Bracelet For Cruising (Winged City Press, 2009), Winged Graffiti (Finishing Line Press, 2011), Weathering Under the Cat, (Finishing Line Press, 2016) and Red Mare 16 (Pink House Literary Arts, 2018); and Staring Dementia in the Face (Finishing Line Press, 2023), Consider the Doves (Local Gems Poetry Press, 2020). She has a full-length poetry collection, In My Life: A Pop Culture Poetry Memoir, which will be published by Chatter House Press in Autumn, 2026.

She’s written It’s Not Love, Unfortunately (Chatter House Press, 2018), and co-authored Company of Women: New and Selected Poems (Chatter House Press, 2013), and Marriage Maps and Driven Destinies (Chatter House Press, 2023).

Lylanne’s website is: https://lylannemusselman.wordpress.com/about/

Connect with Lylanne on:

How Getting Into the Flow State Can Help Your Writing

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As a studio exec at 20th Century Fox and Dreamworks, Steven Puri dealt with screenwriters who earned million dollar paydays for their scripts. Fascinated by these and other high performers, Steven set out to discover what gave them the ability to immerse themselves in their creative projects without letting distractions affect them.

The result: The Sukha Company, a website Steven created to help people tune out distractions and get into the “flow zone.” Listen to the episode of the Write Like a Badass podcast entitled, “How Getting Into the Flow Zone Can Help Your Writing.”

The Sukha Company focus app is at: https://www.thesukha.co/

Connect with Steven Puri on:

LinkedI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-puri/

The book Steven refers to: The Net and the Butterfly: https://www.amazon.com/Net-Butterfly-Practice-Breakthrough-Thinking/dp/1591847192