Episode 184 - Planning a Novel with Greta Boris and Megan Haskell
May 2, 2023
This week on The Indy Author Podcast, I talk with Greta Boris and Megan Haskell about PLANNING A NOVEL. We discuss brainstorming, including planting the concept seeds, productive daydreaming, and feeding the subconscious; world-building, including how much is too much, giving the characters (and readers) an anchor, and letting world-building inform your plot; standalone or series, including which makes more sense for writers depending on whether they are looking to build an indie career or looking for a traditional publishing deal; and the story bible, including using a story bible to build your fan base. Greta and Megan also discuss their Kickstarter, Foundations of Great Storytelling: Preparing to Write.
If one of those topics piques your interest, you can easily jump to that section on YouTube by clicking on the flagged timestamps in the description at https://youtu.be/1SpnJKAotqc
If one of those topics piques your interest, you can easily jump to that section on YouTube by clicking on the flagged timestamps in the description at https://youtu.be/1SpnJKAotqc
Greta Boris is the USA Today Bestselling author of The Seven Deadly Sins Murders, a psychological suspense series, and The Mortician Murders, a paranormal cozy mystery series. She hails from sunny Southern California where—based on her books, which are all set there—things are darker than you'd expect. Her stories have been called atmospheric and un-put-down-able.
Megan Haskell is the award-winning author of The Sanyare Chronicles, an action-packed female-led fantasy adventure. Her other titles include the epic fantasy Forged in Shadow and the upcoming women’s contemporary fantasy, Aether Bound. A Southern California transplant, she’s living the dream of writing while raising her two daughters in Orange County.
Together, Greta and Megan founded The Author Wheel, a website dedicated to helping writers become authors and keep their stories rolling. With over twenty years of writing and publishing experience between them, they’ve made the mistakes so you don’t have to.
Megan Haskell is the award-winning author of The Sanyare Chronicles, an action-packed female-led fantasy adventure. Her other titles include the epic fantasy Forged in Shadow and the upcoming women’s contemporary fantasy, Aether Bound. A Southern California transplant, she’s living the dream of writing while raising her two daughters in Orange County.
Together, Greta and Megan founded The Author Wheel, a website dedicated to helping writers become authors and keep their stories rolling. With over twenty years of writing and publishing experience between them, they’ve made the mistakes so you don’t have to.
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Links
Greta and Megan's Links:
https://www.gretaboris.com/
https://meganhaskell.com/
https://www.authorwheel.com/
https://authorwheelpodcast.buzzsprout.com/
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorWheel/
Kickstarter link: Foundations of Great Storytelling: Preparing to Write
Matty's Links:
Affiliate links
Events
https://www.gretaboris.com/
https://meganhaskell.com/
https://www.authorwheel.com/
https://authorwheelpodcast.buzzsprout.com/
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorWheel/
Kickstarter link: Foundations of Great Storytelling: Preparing to Write
Matty's Links:
Affiliate links
Events
I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Greta and Megan! What is the part of planning a novel that you find most challenging? It might be one of the topics we discussed—brainstorming, world-building, making the decision about standalone versus series, or creating a story bible—or it might be something completely different. I’d love to hear what it is, and how you deal with it!
Please post your comments on YouTube--and I'd love it if you would subscribe while you're there!
NOTE: After several years of trying to cover the costs of producing the podcast with earnings from patronage and sponsorships, I finally had to acknowledge that, for now at least, The Indy Author Podcast is more a labor of love than an income stream. As a result, I needed to find ways to reduce my expenses, and the expense I finally decided to eliminate was the editing of the transcript.
However, it's valuable for me to know that you were looking for it! If you miss the transcript, please click here to drop me a note!
If you'd like to become a patron of The Indy Author, please click here.
When AI transcription improves to the point that it doesn't require the time and expense of a human edit, or once my earnings from the podcast enable me to cover the costs of a human editing, I will resume that offering!
However, it's valuable for me to know that you were looking for it! If you miss the transcript, please click here to drop me a note!
If you'd like to become a patron of The Indy Author, please click here.
When AI transcription improves to the point that it doesn't require the time and expense of a human edit, or once my earnings from the podcast enable me to cover the costs of a human editing, I will resume that offering!
