• EP 389 - "Now You've Gone" with Cathy Rankin and Ken K. Mary
    Nov 22 2024
    Mark interviews Cathy Rankin and Ken Mary about Cathy's new single "Now You've Gone." On October 29, 2024, Cathy Rankin released her debut single “Now You’ve Gone,” featuring renowned musicians David Ellefson (formerly of Megadeth) Ken Mary (formerly of Alice Cooper) and John Ronson. The emotional track, inspired by deeply personal experiences, reflects on themes of love, grief, and ultimately hope. Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, a personal update, and a word from this episode's sponsor. This episode is sponsored by the 2024 Novel Writing Storybundle - Only available until the end of November 2024. In the interview, Mark, Cathy, and Ken talk about: Cathy's various family members who are musicians, her first exposure to music when she was young and how that impacted her creative lifeGetting into theatre, and acting, when she was little, but not having the confidence in music itselfThe first time Cathy had to perform a singing scene when she was acting in a filmThe difference between being a performing musician and being a live hostKen's background as a musician having toured with various different artists over the yearsHow being the lead singer might be one of the more difficult positions to be in, since the majority of the audience focus is on them (rather than, for example, the drummer)The concept of the instrument choosing the musician rather than it being the other way around - and how that's the way it was for Ken and playing the drumsHow playing drums was never "work" for Ken no matter what type of band he was inThe great producers that Ken has worked alongside over the yearsThe way that Cathy and Ken first met and started to work together (When Jon Ronson asked Cathy to interview Ken about his most recent album)Cathy showing some of her poems to Ken and getting some feedback on the option to produce one of them into a songHow everything in this production unfolded organically and the chemistry of Cathy and the musicians in producing the songThe delightful lyrical and musical Easter Eggs that appear in the songThe connection between Neil Peart's loss of his daughter and the loss of Cathy's nephew Christian and why the song is a tribute to both their memoriesWhat people who want to support the musical artists can do to help out After the interview Mark reflects on three different things that came up in the conversation, including the magic of organic creativity, the concept of playing a character when on stage, and the value of art, music, poetry, and prose in expressing deep emotion and forging connections. Clips from "Now You've Gone" have been used with permission. "Now You've Gone" is performed by: Cathy Rankin - Vocals, Lyrics Ken Mary - Drums/Percussion David Ellefson - Bass John Bronson - Guitar Produced and Mixed by Ken Mary/Sonic Phish Studios with contribution by Thomas Laufenberg Links of Interest: Now You've Gone (YouTube)Cathy Rankin (Website) InstagramFacebookYouTubeTikTokTwitter (X) Ken Mary InstagramFacebookYouTubeTwitter (X) Superhero (Band)Merchandise from Deko EntertainmentStorybundle.com/writingEP 388 - Unconditional Boundaries with Andy LidstoneEP 387- Rambling Reflections From The Disappointing AftermathOne Hand Screaming: 20 Haunting Years Books2Read Link Shop Local (Canadian Indie Bookstore Lookup)Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)Buy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark Reflections How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and LibrariesThe Relaxed Author Buy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover's MoonHex and the CityOnly Monsters in the Building The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard One look and listen at Cathy Rankin and her stellar high notes, and you know she was born to entertain. Whether on stage, on camera, or in any crowd, Rankin brings a strong female voice to her music on every level. Never one to take a backseat, this force-to-be-reckoned-with doesn’t just move fans with her powerful vocals, but also proudly reps the girls while holding her own with the guys. And, in Cathy's case, it's not just any ordinary "guys" that are part of her project, its renowned rockers David Ellefson, bassist (Kings of Thrash, Dieth, formerly of Megadeth), Ken Mary, Drummer/Composer/Producer (Flotsam and Jetsam, Great White, Fifth Angel, formerly of Alice Cooper and House of Lords), and guitarist John Bronson. This formidable line-up is on display on her new single, "Now You've Gone," with more music arriving soon. Cathy’s natural inclination for music and performance was evident from an early age when she vowed ...
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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • EP 388 - Unconditional Boundaries with Andy Lidstone
    Nov 14 2024
    Mark interviews Andy Lidstone about the unconditional boundaries he talks about in his life coaching as the Uncondictional Coach. This episode is sponsored by the patrons who support this podcast at https://patreon.com/starkreflections and https://buymeacoffee.com/markleslie. Links of Interest: Andy Lidstone's Unconditional CoachEP 387- Rambling Reflections From The Disappointing AftermathOne Hand Screaming: 20 Haunting Years Books2Read Link Shop Local (Canadian Indie Bookstore Lookup)Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)Buy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark Reflections How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and LibrariesThe Relaxed Author Buy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover's MoonHex and the CityOnly Monsters in the Building The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard Andy Lidstone is the Unconditional Coach. Andy's biggest dream it to help other people reach their goals. And HIS goal is to help people of all walks of life make their dreams into reality. He believes the best communities are the ones made up of people that build each other up and help one another reach for the stars. The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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    1 hr and 8 mins
  • EP 387 - Rambling Reflections From The Disappointing Aftermath
    Nov 8 2024
    In this solo episode Mark reflects on how disappointed he is with the recent US election, and the importance of creators, artists, and writers to continue to do their work as storytellers and improving the world. This episode contains adult language, but only for a brief moment when Mark loses his cool when trying to express his anger and frustration. Links of Interest: Amie McNee's Website InstagramWe Need Your Art (Book) Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)Buy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark Reflections How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and LibrariesThe Relaxed Author Buy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover's MoonHex and the CityOnly Monsters in the Building One Hand Screaming: 20 Haunting Years Books2Read Link The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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    35 mins
  • EP 386 - Inside Every Poem, a Raging Sea of Writerly Advice with Liz Worth
    Nov 1 2024
    Mark interviews Liz Worth about her new poetry book Inside Every Poem, A Raging Sea. Mark skips the regular introductory matter to skip right to the interview. In their interview Mark and Liz talk about: How the book is about p laying with the idea of the cross-over or similarities between spell-writing and poetryThe way that every line, every word counts in each of themThoughts on what intuition really is as opposed to what many people think it isThe importance of having to know the rules before you break them and how that works in both divination and writingHow a lot of the poems in this collection were written in the depths of the pandemic when things were closed down, as well as when Liz's mother was living with dementia and in the last years of her lifeHer mother being a magical thinker and the influence her mother had on LizCertain lines and ideas that would come to Liz as she was going out on regular walksFilling up a notebook she had found on the curb with these ideas and poemsThe way a lot of writing happens for Liz not while she's sitting at her desk, but out walking or doing other thingsHow every piece of writing can have its own energy and have a life of its own that helps guide you when creating itThe unique interpretations that different readers can apply to a piece of writingThe recent popularity in horror-adjacent poetryRemembering that poetry can be rebellious and that it doesn't have to be academic or dryThe process of putting the book of poetry together and then pitching it to a publisherThe joy of working with a publisher like Book Hug PressThe type of light editing that happens with a book of poetrySpecific placement of poems within the bookA bit behind the title poem "Inside Every Dream, a Raging Sea"Some of the themes that appear in the collectionWhat Liz is working on nowAdvice Liz would offer to anyone wanting to try their hand at poetryAnd more... Links of Interest: Liz Worth's Website Instagram Book Hug PressEpisode 387 - Vulnerability in Writing....with Liz WorthOne Hand Screaming: 20 Haunting Years Books2Read Link Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)Buy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark Reflections How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and LibrariesThe Relaxed Author Buy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover's MoonHex and the CityOnly Monsters in the Building The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard Liz Worth is a poet, novelist and nonfiction writer. She is a two-time nominee for the ReLit Award for Poetry for her books The Truth is Told Better This Way and No Work Finished Here: Rewriting Andy Warhol. Her first book, Treat Me Like Dirt, was the first of its kind to provide an in-depth history of southern Ontario’s first wave punk movement. Her new poetry book, Inside Every Dream, a Raging Sea is published through Book*hug Press. The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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    48 mins
  • EP 385 - Rambling Reflections From The Road: Go West Not So Young Man
    Oct 24 2024
    In this solo episode, Mark shares a few thoughts from his hotel room in Victoria, British Columbia, on Canada's West Coast. This episode is sponsored by the patrons who support this podcast at https://patreon.com/starkreflections and https://buymeacoffee.com/markleslie. Links of Interest: One Hand Screaming: 20 Haunting Years Books2Read Link Shop Local (Canadian Indie Bookstore Lookup)Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)Buy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark Reflections How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and LibrariesThe Relaxed Author Buy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover's MoonHex and the CityOnly Monsters in the Building The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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    31 mins
  • EP 384 - Rambling Reflections From The Road: World Fantasy Con 2024
    Oct 17 2024
    In this solo episode, Mark shares a few thoughts from the hotel room at World Fantasy Con 2024 in Niagara Falls, New York. This episode is sponsored by the patrons who support this podcast at https://patreon.com/starkreflections and https://buymeacoffee.com/markleslie. From Mark's extremely detailed bullet points about what he wanted to reflect on: 1) Coming to WFC. 2) The nature of relationships in the writing world/community 3) Feeling like a real writer (via recent events) 4) But also feeling like a failure - afternoon at Indigo 5) Links of Interest: One Hand Screaming: 20 Haunting Years Books2Read Link Shop Local (Canadian Indie Bookstore Lookup)Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)Buy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark Reflections How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and LibrariesThe Relaxed Author Buy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover's MoonHex and the CityOnly Monsters in the Building The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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    44 mins
  • EP 383 - 20 Haunting Years
    Oct 10 2024
    In this solo episode Mark talks through the logic and reasoning behind a recent book launch by sharing a little of his own experience and publication history. This episode is sponsored by the patrons who support this podcast at https://patreon.com/starkreflections and https://buymeacoffee.com/markleslie. Mark shares the behind-the-scenes story of: Why he first self-published the book One Hand Screaming in 2004 The logistics and strategy behind making it fully returnable and why he was trying to push the envelope of publishing so early in the digital publishing revolutionA little bit of his experience as a writer in those manual "mail out submissions" daysThe reasoning behind wanting to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of this first published book by launching One Hand Screaming: 20 Haunting YearsWhy he invested into getting this self-published book into a traditional distribution warehouse in Canada with a sales team -- and what that meansCollaborating with a local brewery to create a tie-in beer One Hop Screaming Some of the marketing and branding logistics, reasoning, and strategies being used for the book launchProducts and marketing swag that Mark is leveraging, including a bonus "haunted beer" story to go along with the beer (QR code printed on the beer cans and the double-sided coasters Mark also shares a couple of new marketing tools that he has come across and been experimenting with that are designed to help an author maximize their ability to create sales copy, draft up press releases, provide comp author/comp title information, and more. Links of Interest: One Hand Screaming: 20 Haunting Years Books2Read Link Counterpoint Brewing One Hop Screaming (Beer - online order)One Hop Screaming and One Hand Screaming (Online order) "As One Hop Screams" (Haunted beer story)Mark's 2006 to 2011 Podcast: Prelude to a ScreamShop Local (Canadian Indie Bookstore Lookup)Marketing Tools Mentioned NoteBookLM (Google)ManuscriptReport.com (Manuscript Marketing Report)Social Media Content Generator Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)Buy Mark a CoffeePatreon for Stark Reflections How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and LibrariesThe Relaxed Author Buy eBook DirectBuy Audiobook Direct Publishing Pitfalls for AuthorsAn Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & BookstoresWide for the WinMark's Canadian Werewolf Books This Time Around (Short Story)A Canadian Werewolf in New YorkStowe Away (Novella)Fear and Longing in Los AngelesFright Nights, Big CityLover's MoonHex and the CityOnly Monsters in the Building The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and AutomobilesYippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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    1 hr and 15 mins
  • EP 382 - From Page to Platform: How to Succeed as an Author Speaker
    Oct 4 2024

    Mark interviews Matty Dalrymple and Michael La Ronn about their new co-authored book From Page to Platform: How to Succeed as an Author Speaker.

    Prior to the interview Mark shares comments from recent episodes, a personal update, and a word about this episode's sponsor

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    1 hr and 8 mins