Episodes

  • From Expertise to Authority

    From Expertise to Authority
    Feb 15 2026
    Learn more about Matty at The Indy AuthorPrefer to watch? I really enjoyed this conversation with Matty and though her new ventures focuses on helping entrepreneurs and those approaching retirement establish the next phase of their career, her advice works perfectly for authors hoping to grow their platforms.Like me! When I find an author who has managed to make this a full-time gig, I am all ears!!!If you’d rather focus on short stories— which is the main thrust of this platform, and where I am BUILDING authority — check out this podcast with my mentor, Mark Leslie Lefebvre and Matty Dalrymple where we talk about short story strategies.Now back to building authority from expertise!Here are some of the highlights from my chat with Matty:Angelique: Your project is called From Expertise to Authority. What’s the difference between those two?Matty: Expertise is what you know. Authority is when other people recognize you as someone to listen to on that topic. A lot of people—especially later-career professionals—have deep expertise, but they haven’t built the visibility, relationships, and platforms that turn that into authority. Authority isn’t just knowledge. It’s knowledge plus reach plus trust.Angelique: You work with a lot of experienced professionals, not just new writers. What are they usually trying to figure out?Matty: Many of them already have a book out. They’re retired or transitioning careers and want to stay engaged, share what they know, and be seen as leaders in a new or adjacent field. Their question isn’t “How do I publish?” It’s “How do I become known as a go-to voice in this space?” That’s the shift from simply having written something to building authority around a topic.Angelique: You emphasize starting simply. Why is that so important?Matty: Because it’s much easier to add than to take away. If you launch with a complicated system—paid tools, elaborate production, lots of deliverables—you can trap yourself in work that isn’t sustainable. I learned this with transcripts for my podcast. I started offering heavily edited transcripts, and when I had to stop for time reasons, it felt like I was taking something away from my audience. If I’d never offered them, no one would have missed them. Start lean. Build only what proves useful.Angelique: You talk about the three steps to building authority. Can you walk us through them?Matty: Sure.* Showing Expertise– This is where you share what you know. Written content is powerful here: newsletters, articles, posts that demonstrate your knowledge. You’re showing people your thinking.* Growing Connections and Trust – Now people get to know you. Your voice. Your perspective. This often happens through podcasts, interviews, and conversations where your human presence comes through.* Being an Authority – This is where people pay for access to your expertise. Courses, consulting, editorial services, coaching, client work. You’re not just sharing knowledge—you’re applying mastery to help others directly.Angelique: For someone with a strong niche—like mine in paid, no-fee short fiction markets—how do they grow without going broader?Matty: You don’t necessarily have to widen the niche. Instead, deepen your relationship layers. You’re already doing expertise-based work through written guidance. You’re building personality-based connections through conversations like this. The next step is exploring authority-based offerings—paid newsletters, consulting, editorial feedback, submission strategy help. That lets you be deeply meaningful to a specific audience rather than vaguely useful to a huge one.Angelique: You’re big on repurposing content. How does that fit into building authority?Matty: It’s essential. Every piece of content should do multiple jobs. An article can also be a podcast episode if you read it aloud. That article might become a chapter in a future book. An interview becomes both relationship-building and source material for your ideas. When you think holistically, you’re not creating ten separate things—you’re creating one idea that moves through multiple formats. That’s how you grow authority without burning out.Angelique: Let’s talk platforms. Why do you like newsletter ecosystems like Substack for this stage?Matty: Because you own the relationship. You have the email addresses. If a social platform changes or disappears, you can take your audience with you. It’s also low-cost, which matters when you’re in the building phase and not expecting immediate profit. It lets you experiment without heavy financial pressure.Angelique: How do in-person events factor into authority building?Matty: They’re powerful for two reasons. First, you observe your audience—what resonates, what doesn’t, what problems people actually talk about. Second, you build real relationships. You meet peers, speakers, organizers. Those connections lead to invitations, collaborations...
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    31 mins
  • Selling your Novel with Cherry Weiner

    Selling your Novel with Cherry Weiner
    Feb 8 2026
    Join my chat with Cherry Weiner as we go over…📝 How our editing process works📖 What the big publishers are looking for🧭 How long it REALLY takes to go from book deal → bookstore shelf💡 Smart moves that help authors build lasting careersI finished my first novel, City Lights to Country Nights, last February and signed with Cherry Weiner at Superstars 2025 last year. (This year’s con starts Feb 4 in Colorado, but I am missing it this year.)The only way to query Cherry is to meet her in person, and she signed a few of us from last year’s convention! It’s been a year of trying to sell my book, and here’s your chance to eavesdrop on our conversation as Cherry talks about me through the realities of the publishing world and the best way forward to success for an author.Join the next tier and read my cold email to Cherry before the con and the winning query letter!AF: A lot of writers imagine you write a book, get an agent, sell it, and a few months later it’s in stores. What’s the real timeline from book sale to publication?CW: Much longer than people think. First, editors can take months just to read submissions — three, six, sometimes nine months. If they love it, they still have to take it to an acquisitions meeting where sales, legal, and other editors weigh in. If it passes, we negotiate the deal, which can take a week or even months. Then, contracts take weeks to process. After the manuscript is accepted, publication is often scheduled up to 24 months later because publishers buy books years in advance.AF: I didn’t know about the acquisitions meeting. Does this mean an editor can love your book and still reject it?CW: Absolutely. An editor can be passionate about a book, but if the acquisitions committee says no, the deal is dead. Publishing decisions are business decisions as much as creative ones.AF: How has publishing changed since you started?CW: It’s much harder now. I used to be able to sell a book on three chapters and an outline. Today, especially for new authors, I need a complete, polished manuscript before submitting. Publishers are taking fewer risks.AF: How many major publishers are we really talking about now?CW: Very few. There are about four or five major houses left, plus some big independents. And many imprints under the same umbrella consult together, so if one says no, that often closes doors within that house.AF: What does a manuscript need today for you to say yes?CW: I have to feel like I’m not reading — I’m there in the story. If I can put it down easily, it’s a no. It has to pull me in completely and make me want to turn the page.AF: What’s a common character mistake you see?CW: Weak protagonists. Today’s readers and editors want strong, capable main characters — especially women. Not “wet noodles.” Growth is great, but they need strength from the start. (Authorial note: Cherry originally thought the main character in my cowboy romance was a “wet noodle” and was going to say no. But I convinced her to let me take another crack at it. And hired Bruce McAllister to help me. DM me if you want to learn more about hiring Bruce.)AF: Do editors still buy series from new authors?CW: Not the way they used to. I try to pitch series, but most editors will buy one book first and wait to see how it performs before committing to more.AF: How long will you keep submitting a book before giving up?CW: I keep going as long as I believe in the author and we have options. Sometimes we pause and try another project. I once worked with an author for six years before selling the right book — but it was in the genre she truly loved writing.(Authorial note: This eased my mind greatly. I was panicking about my book not being sold after a year of being pitched to editors. Cherry won’t give up on me if I don’t give up on writing. I am considering creating book #2 in this world. After I complete a million other projects, of course. Squirrel anyone?)AF: How important is an author’s platform now?CW: Very. One of the first things editors ask is about social media and audience. Discoverability is a huge issue, and having a following helps prove there’s a readership.AF: When does it make sense to use a pen name?CW: If you’re switching genres and don’t want to confuse readers, or if previous sales were weak. Editors can see sales history, so sometimes a fresh start with a new name helps.AF: What makes a great agent–author relationship?CW: Trust, honesty, and communication. It’s like a business marriage. You’re trusting me with your work, so transparency is essential.AF: What’s your best advice for writers pitching agents or editors?CW: Be natural. Don’t read a script. Put your best foot forward — and ideally, have a complete manuscript ready.Curious how I found my agent? Read my cold email and the winning query letter.Cherry Weiner only takes queries from authors she meets in person. I knew she was going to be attending Superstars ...
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    37 mins
  • Writing for TV & Film with Chris Goldberg

    Writing for TV & Film with Chris Goldberg
    Jan 22 2026
    Don’t miss this raw and authentic interview with Chris Goldberg. He tells the honest truth about optioning IP for film and the current state of the industry.He’s rarely interviewed, so I am so grateful he’s chosen to share his story with us.Prefer to watch your interviews? See it on YouTube.Chris Goldberg is veteran in the film industry and is heavily involved the book-to-film world. He’s the founder and force behind Winterlight Pictures and is working on over 25 projects at places like A24, Netflix, Sony, Plan B, 87Eleven, and Lionsgate to name a few. He’s been been involved in huge hits like The Martian, and The Fault in Our Stars. Some of his projects currently in development include The Maid with Universal Pictures, and Biter staring Zöe Kravitz.Here is a notice in deadline.com about one of his projects which involves Patrick Hoffman’s The White Van.Black Label Media’s Molly Smith, Rachel Smith, Thad Luckinbill and Trent Luckinbill will produce alongside Chris Goldberg at Winterlight Pictures, who brought the project to Singer and Black Label Media, with Black Label also financing. Seth Spector will executive produce.Here are some of the highlights from the interview:AF: Can you tell people a bit about who you are?CG: You were one of the very first people I met on Substack when I started, so it’s really great to be here talking with you. I’m a producer and a writer. I started my career in New York as a literary scout, finding books to turn into movies for Fox. I did that for about ten years, reading constantly and reporting back to executives on what might work as film or television. After that, I moved to Los Angeles and worked as a development executive.About five years ago, I started my own production company, Winterlight Pictures, and at the same time I began writing again for the first time in about twenty years. Substack has been a completely unexpected experience for me. I didn’t go there with a big plan, but it’s turned into a creative home and a place where I’ve met people—like you—who share similar interests in storytelling, film, and the business behind it all.AF: What is Winterlight Pictures, and how does it fit into your work as both an executive and a creator?CG: Winterlight Pictures is my production company, and it really allows me to combine all the different parts of my background. When I was coming up in the industry, there was very much an attitude that being an executive and being a creative had to be separate. If you were a producer or development executive, you weren’t supposed to be a writer.For a long time, that separation shaped my life. I always wanted to write, but I was deeply immersed in developing other people’s work. Now, having my own company gives me the freedom to wear multiple hats. I can develop projects, produce them, and also create my own material. That balance works for me in a way that it never could when I was under a studio contract.AF: You’ve mentioned before that you stopped writing for a long time. Why did that happen?CG: When I was coming out of NYU, I was very focused on being a writer. I met director Whit Stillman when I was about twenty-one, and I asked him for advice. I told him I was about to take a job as an assistant and reader at Fox, and I asked whether he thought that was a good idea.“If you want to be a writer, go work at a gas station. Don’t take that job.” Whit’s advice to ChrisHis reasoning was that I’d be reading five-hundred-page books for studios every weekend, and the last thing I’d want to do afterward was sit down and write my own work. He was completely right. I took the job anyway, and I didn’t write again for almost twenty years.AF: So, should you have taken that job at the gas station?CG: I don’t regret it exactly, but I do think about it a lot. For twenty years, I worked with writers, read constantly, gave notes, developed scripts, and helped shepherd projects forward—but I didn’t write myself. When I finally came back to it five years ago, it felt like rediscovering a part of myself that I’d put away.At the same time, I gained an incredible education. I saw how projects really get made, how many drafts it takes, how notes shape a script, and how ideas evolve. So while I lost time as a writer, I gained perspective that I wouldn’t trade.AF: How did that background shape you as a writer once you returned to it?CG: My version of the “10,000 hours” was working at Fox. (Authorial note: Malcolm Gladwell famously said it takes 10,000 hours of practice to achieve true expertise.)Writing loglines, reading submissions, and getting immediate feedback from executives rewired how my brain works. You learn very quickly what makes an idea pop, what feels urgent, and what feels commercial.I also learned by watching writers revise. Seeing draft after draft, watching how notes land, and how stories change in response—that’s an education you can’t really get anywhere else. All ...
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    33 mins
  • Making Horror Movies with Robert Stahl

    Making Horror Movies with Robert Stahl
    Jan 11 2026
    Prefer to WATCH this interview? CLICK HERERobert Stahl is a long-time writing friend of mine and we met because he follows my monthly short story call lists. This Texan native also makes the most blood-chilling (and fun) little horror movies.Check them out! You Better Watch Out (trigger warning: gory)Trick (trigger warning: really spicy and gory)Think Robert Rodriguez.I saw his latest Christmas horror short on YouTube and decided a catch-up in 2026 was a must-do. Learn more about Robert at www.robertestahl.com.We also talk about his recent anthology Show Me Where It HurtsAngelique: One thing that really stands out about you is that you’ve actually made horror movies—something many writers dream about. Can you tell us about your short films?Robert: I’ve done two short horror films, both under ten minutes. I wrote and produced them and worked with a very talented local director. The first was a gay slasher short called Trick, and the second was You Better Watch Out. The second one won Audience Choice at a local film competition, which I’m very proud of.Angelique: Is filmmaking something you see as profitable, or is it more of a passion project?Robert: Those films were definitely passion projects. They’re more expensive to make than they are profitable. For me, they were a way to learn the process and train myself. I do have ideas for full-length screenplays, but with a full-time job, it’s all about finding the time.Angelique: Your production quality is impressive. It feels like the industry should be snapping this kind of work up.Robert: Thank you. I think it’s possible to get there eventually, but I have to focus on one project at a time. Right now, that focus is writing fiction.Angelique: Let’s talk about your short story collection. Why did you choose to work with JournalStone instead of self-publishing?Robert: I wanted the experience of working with a publisher. I liked the reputability and the extra validation. I shopped the collection around for about a year and a half, got plenty of rejections, and eventually connected with JournalStone after seeing other authors I respected working with them.Angelique: What did that publishing process look like?Robert: They handled formatting, cover art, ebook versions, and distribution. It was a very smooth process, and I’d recommend them to other writers.Angelique: Was it financially worthwhile?Robert: I’m not retiring anytime soon, but it did reasonably well. It’s a profit-split model, not an advance, and everything was very transparent. I’d happily work with them again.Angelique: There’s a lot of talk online about big numbers and writing income, but not much honesty about expenses. What’s your take?Robert: Exactly. There are many ways to lose money in publishing. My experience with JournalStone was straightforward and fair, but writing—especially short fiction—is rarely career-changing income.Angelique: Do you see novels or novellas as the next step?Robert: Definitely. When you go to conventions, authors with more books have more opportunities. I want to build my inventory—novels, novellas, maybe comics or screenplays.Angelique: Are you aiming to make writing your full-time career?Robert: I made peace with the fact that I do this for love, not money. If something big happens, great—but that’s not my focus. Having a day job lets me create without pressure.Angelique: I think we write horror for similar reasons—processing difficult things in the world. Is that true for you?Robert: Absolutely. I’ve had a dark inner world since childhood. Writing horror helps me channel it. My mother had dementia, and that experience directly inspired one of my stories, Family Time. Writing gives me a way to work through those emotions.Angelique: That comes through in your work. Your film You Better Watch Out barely has dialogue, which I didn’t even notice when watching.Robert: That was intentional. We wanted to challenge ourselves and rely on visual storytelling. There are maybe a couple of spoken lines, but it’s mostly pure action and atmosphere.Angelique: What’s your main focus going into 2026?Robert: Building more work—hopefully another short story collection, a novel or novella, and continuing to explore screenplays and comics. I just want to keep getting better.Angelique: And where can people find you?Robert: I’m on all the socials, and my website is robertstahl.com, where people can also sign up for email updates.If you want to hear my ORIGINAL interview with Robert, check it out here. He also reads his short story “Treats.” This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit angeliquemfawns.substack.com/subscribe
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    19 mins
  • Writing Stories with Eda Easter

    Writing Stories with Eda Easter
    Jan 6 2026
    Welcome to SEASON 2 of Read Me A Nightmare!We are shifting the focus of this podcast a little and focusing on interviews and insights to help YOU sell stories in 2026. The Last Girls Club is OPEN for submission right now.Prefer video? WATCH the interview here.Horror - Theme for Spring’s Issue: Haunted - Jan 1-15 - 2500 words or less - pay .015 cents per word, $15 USD max - sub sims welcome - no reprints.Haunted. In the night; in the dark. We’re going old school Shirley Jackson “and the furniture laughed” creeping dread. It doesn’t have to be a house, it could be a submarine, a tent, a treehouse, a rabbit warren, whatever. Save the monster until the very end. We want growing shadows, days lost, locked doors that are suddenly ajar, lost journals in random cabinets. Do your worst, but give us your best.More about this market: I want stories from the female gaze (think Aliens, Resident Evil, Hereditary, Tank Girl). I’m tired of reading what men want to do to us. I want to read what we want to do to them. Bring me smart female protagonists whose first inclinations are not to seduce the guard to get out of situations; they’ve got skills, they can get violent easily. I’m fine with them developing over the course of the story into someone like that, but please don’t revert to clichés unless you have your tongue firmly in your cheek. Please don’t use graphic rape for fridging purposes. If it’s part of a character’s backstory or development, fine, but don’t shoot the damn dog just to piss off your main character.My focus is horror, supernatural, and creeping dread. I’m not averse to extreme/slasher horror. I always love a bit of sci-fi or dystopia, but it’s not our focus, so if it’s your venue, make it scary. If you spackle a layer of women’s issues into it, even better; such as disenfranchisement, slut-shaming, violence against trans people, racism, misogyny, sex work exploitation, inequitable emotional work and housework, whatever exists in this world that pisses you off, feel free to put a metaphorical ax between its eyebrows.SUBMIT HERE(Listen to the podcast to hear more about this particular call.)I volunteer my time helping the short story world for free. But if you could join the next tier, not only will you get free books (with market insights), you get extra content to accelerate your fiction career!My Insights: I sold a story to Eda for the Fall 2021 issue, The Gay 90s, and through the editing process became fast friends with this truly gorgeous human being. There is only one Eda Easter in the world, and I don’t know if that is a blessing or a curse. I just know I absolutely love her. Lucy and the Cosmic Comet ride was my way of processing the Heaven’s Gate mass cult suicide. As always, I like to take something dark and put a positive spin on it.At the bottom of this post, you’ll find links to the last two episodes I recorded in Season One with Eda. This includes little excerpts from her writing, including a chapter from Killer RV.Cool things referenced in the interview.Last Girls Club PatreonVillian ClassAngelique: I’m here today with one of my favorite people, Eda Easter of Last Girls Club magazine. Let’s chat.Eda: We’re live!Angelique: You wanted to talk about the spring theme for Last Girls Club, which is “Haunted.”Eda: Yes—and haunted can mean a lot of things. Haunted treehouse, haunted suburb, haunted warren—I don’t care. I wanted to do something lighter, because the winter issue was secret police, ice, and desperate times.Angelique: Very dark. Very serious.Eda: Very boots-on-the-ground. So I thought, let’s shift toward something more Shirley Jackson–style haunted. Let’s lighten it up—which is funny, because that’s what counts as light for us.Angelique: I love it. Ghost stories are the most fun. The Haunting of Hill House is one of my favorite books and movies of all time.Eda: My favorite line is “and the furniture laughed.” That moment where you realize everything is coming for you—even the ottoman. An evil ottoman!Angelique: Now you’re staring at your ottoman, aren’t you?Eda: Absolutely.Angelique: So tell me, what is it about Last Girls Club? You really embrace the feminine gaze. Punk rock feminist.Eda: Angry women. I realized that’s the core of it. Angry women are not crazy. So many of my favorite characters are women who would burn things down—or had to be killed off or “fixed” so they could be happy and get married.That’s why I hated Cruella. They framed her as evil because she was ambitious, great at her career, and didn’t want to give it up for a kid. That really got under my skin.Angelique: Okay, note to self: don’t watch if I don’t want to be enraged.Eda: You should watch it because it’s enraging. Disney is insidious about enforcing norms for girls.Angelique: And we’re all Tank Girl around here.Eda: Always.Angelique: I love evil heroines. They’re my favorite. I spent so many years caring if...
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    17 mins
  • 55 Strategies for Short Fiction with Mark Leslie, Matty Dalrymple and Angelique Fawns

    55 Strategies for Short Fiction with Mark Leslie, Matty Dalrymple and Angelique Fawns
    Nov 23 2025
    This episode was originally created for the Stark Reflections podcast and hosted by Mark Leslie. I’m rebroadcasting it here on Substack for my short fiction writing friends. If you're a short story writer, or would like to be, you can’t miss this episode!Mark and Matty wrote an absolutely wonderful guide called Taking the Short Tack: Creating Income and Connecting with Readers Using Short Fiction, and this conversation is based on advice from that book.I consider Mark one of my mentors, and I learned so much from a consulting session with him (you can book your own HERE). It was on his advice that I reused my shorts in collections and braved a Kickstarter.Matty is a new find for me, and not only have I fallen in love with her, but I’m also obsessed with her character, Ann Kinnear. (This protagonist solves mysteries AND talks to dead people.)Here is a bit of what you’ll hear…Mark’s Take: Short Fiction Builds Careers Over TimeMark started writing in the 1980s, when selling short stories to magazines was the way to break in. Editors looked for proof you could deliver clean, compelling writing in a tight format.But decades later, Mark still finds short fiction valuable because:* You can sell it multiple times (first rights, reprints, anthologies)* You can collect stories into themed mini-books* You can serialize audio versions on YouTube or podcasts* You can use them in Kickstarters or special editions* You can pair them with long fiction for reader magnets or bundlesIn Mark’s world, a single story has many lives.Matty’s Take: Short Fiction Serves Your Existing ReadersMatty didn’t start in short fiction—she added it after she had two suspense novels out. But she realized:* Readers wanted more stories in the same world* Short fiction let her keep fans engaged between novels* Standalone shorts sell surprisingly well as ebooks* Holidays & seasons create perfect mini-launch momentsHer readers binge a full series… and then can keep getting a fix with the shorts.Short fiction becomes continuity glue.But Angelique, I’m not ready to do a full novel series? (Yup, I’m not quite there yet either.)This is my method and how Mark grew his career:* Write a story* Start with the highest-paying markets* Work your way down* Track your submissions* Push for pro rates when possible* Sell reprints after first publication* Later, collect the stories into minis or anthologiesWhy this works:* You build credentials quickly* You build relationships with editors* You grow an audience organically* You can resell the same story multiple times* You keep building a library of IPA 3,000-word story at pro rate (8 cents/word) earns $240—as much or more than many books earn in a full year.Short fiction can pay.Matty uses short fiction a little differently:* Standalone stories for $1.99* Available on Amazon, her website, and especially Curios* Seasonal releases (Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc.)* Shorts tied directly to her existing series* Audio editions added for bonus valueWhy this works:* Readers already love her worlds* They will pay small amounts for more content* Direct platforms give better revenue splits* Audio + ebook bundles add high perceived value* No waiting months for rejections* No rights tangles, no contracts to decodeTools, Platforms, and ServicesHere are the most useful tools that came up in our conversation.So, I’d never heard of Curios before, but it’s Matty’s fav tool. (Here is her store) https://www.curios.com/creators/mattydalrymple-X449BRCURIOSPerfect for direct sales.* Writers keep 100% of the list price* Readers pay the fees* Has its own e-reader and audio app* Allows ebook + audio bundles without price-parity issues* Costs around $20/yearI personally use Gumroad, but in two years, I’ve earned a total of $3.74, so I’m not sure it’s working for me. BOOKFUNNEL Matty, Mark, and I use BookFunnel to:* Deliver reader magnets* Deliver short story collections* Send ebooks securely* Reduce tech headaches for new subscribers* Host downloads for Kickstarter backers* Track who actually downloads the bookDRAFT2DIGITAL For print copies of short stories:* D2D Print auto-builds your wraparound cover* As long as you reach ~24–30 pages, it works* Great for in-person events, swag, bundles* Extremely low print costThese are powerful as:* giveaways* Kickstarter add-ons* “buy-two-books-get-a-short-free” convention dealsRights, Risks, and PitfallsWatch out for:* Markets that count public drafts as “published”* Anthologies grabbing all rights forever* Ambiguous language around audio or film rights* Submission platforms that default to “public”If you want to learn more about short fiction contracts, Michael La Ronn has a great video HEREUsing Short Fiction to Build Novels Matty writes short pieces inside her Ann Kinnear world.Mark has reused stories across platforms for 20+ years.And I’m now writing my stories inside the universe of my novel-in-progress. (You can join the adventure! I’...
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • 54 To Be More Like Them & Edo van Belkom

    54 To Be More Like Them & Edo van Belkom
    Nov 14 2025
    Edo van Belkom shares his original YA horror story, followed by a candid and entertaining chat. They picked on the wrong kid… It’s not her face that’s scary. Plus, learn how Edo drove (literally) to writing success and a full-time career. And… why he chooses to hold down another job. We start this episode with a reading of “To Be More Like Them” performed by Karen Shute, one of our voice actor regulars. This short can be found in Death Drives A Semi.Then Edo van Belkom regals us with career anecdotes and writing advice. Edo’s first short story was reprinted in Year’s Best Horror Stories 20, launching a career that has produced over 200 stories and won both Bram Stoker and Aurora awards. He’s written more than a dozen novels including SCREAM QUEEN, BLOOD ROAD, MARTYRS and TEETH, plus a 15-year serial for Truck News Magazine following Mark Dalton, a former detective turned truck driver. His work spans horror, action-adventure novels for Harlequin’s Deathlands series, erotica, and three books on writing craft (Writing Horror, Writing Erotica, and Northern Dreamers). His Silver Birch Award-winning YA novel WOLF PACK inspired the 2023 Paramount+ series created by Jeff Davis and starring Sarah Michelle Gellar.Find Edo at https://www.facebook.com/edo.vanbelkomPack a lunch, climb on the school bus, and hang on tight. It’s time for a ride…If you enjoy these interviews, help me keep making them! Join the next tier. Kind of like one Starbuck’s coffee a month.AF: Listeners just heard your story “To Be More Like Them,” which is creepy and disturbing. Can you tell me the inspiration behind it?EVB: I convinced the publishers of the Wolf Pack books to let me do anthologies for young adults. The first one was Be Afraid, and my whole idea was to have teenage problem stories with a horror bent. I had no experience doing YA back then—my job was to sell books and get work, so I bullshitted all the time about my experience and abilities. I put out the call for problem stories with a fantastic twist, and I had to write one myself. At the time I was working part-time as a school bus driver. I’d go out in the morning for an hour and a half, then have a six-hour block in the middle of the day to write, then do the run at the end of the day. It was a great job—stress-free because when you parked the bus at the end of the day, you didn’t have to worry about that job anymore until the next day.AF: And the school bus kids inspired the story?EVB: When I was driving the school bus with these private school kids—who were supposed to be better and everything—they were absolutely vicious. If anyone showed a sign of weakness, they jumped on that person in a group. That’s all in the story, that whole experience. There’s nothing more cruel than a bunch of kids finding the weak one in the pack and just tearing them to shreds. The ending, which I’m very proud of, came from reading a similar ending somewhere. I often do that—I read a lot of stories and think, “Ah, that’s how you end this kind of story.” I said I didn’t know anything about young adult books, but that book was a Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book of the Year finalist and also won a Children’s Book Center Our Choice Award.AF: So this story was truly the inspiration for Wolf Pack?EVB: I have to give credit to my wife, who at the time was working as a children’s librarian. She was always saying I should do young adult. The adult career kind of stalled with my mass market paperbacks Scream Queen and Blood Road—whether they didn’t make it into stores or wasn’t the right time, sales decided maybe it wasn’t for me. So I moved on to young adult. The idea stemmed from Be Afraid—what if a forest ranger finds wolf cubs after a fire and brings them home, but realizes they’re werewolves, part human? I pitched it over the phone to the editor at Tundra Books, Kathy Lowinger, and she said it sounded great.AF: And it won the Silver Birch Award?EVB: It won the Silver Birch Award, which is voted on by elementary school children in grades four and five. There’s a list of ten books, and kids have to read a certain number before they can vote. To be on the list, you have to have 5,000 copies in print, so it went into a second printing immediately, and by the end of the year it had a third printing because all the schools in Ontario participating in the program had to buy a copy. I won by a landslide because I didn’t lose any of the girls, but all the boys loved it since it was an action adventure. One of my best experiences ever was at the award ceremony by the Lakeshore with thousands of kids bused in from all over. They’re all screaming, holding up your book like it’s a rock concert. I walked out on stage with a werewolf mask, tore it off, and they’re just screaming and cheering.AF: Amazing. For authors in the trenches looking at how they want their career to look, this is what success looks like.EVB: It...
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    48 mins
  • 53 Hungry Waters by Robert E. Stahl

    53 Hungry Waters by Robert E. Stahl
    Jul 8 2025
    Today’s episode features a short story read by the author, Robert E. Stahl.Hungry Waters was originally published as the winner in the November (Halloween) 2024 issue of Flame Tree’s Flash Fiction Newsletter Contesthttps://www.flametreepress.com/newsletters/flame-tree-fiction-newsletter-november-2024-monster-masquerade/Robert E. Stahl recently released his first collection of short stories! We chat about the publishing process, the world of short (and long) story writing, horror movies, and meander down other ghoulish paths of creation.Learn how he made an award-winning short horror film, “Trick” for $2000!You can even watch it free, here. I provide most of my insights and interviews for free, but there are goodies for those who join a paid tier. Put on your swimsuit, and grab a tin foil hat. We’re going swimming in some dangerous waters. An interview with Robert E. StahlHorror author and movie producerAF: You're a full-time writer?RES: Oh, literally, like all day long.AF: That's hilarious. You must really love writing to then sit down and spend your extra hours back at the keyboard.RES: Oh, must I? Yes, I do. Sometimes the challenge is after a full day at work to find that urge to come home and do more writing. But that is why I'm here. I think that's why God put me on Earth is to write. So it's a blessing that I have that problem.AF: “Hungry Waters” won the Flame Tree flash fiction prompt, didn't it?RES: It did win. I submitted that for an open call that was called Monsters and Masquerade. It’s about a killer wave pool that's actually an alien in disguise and it's eating people. So yeah, I was happy to have that one picked up by Flame Tree. Super excited. That was my second win. Back-to-back in two months with Flame Tree. Which is an anomaly that I think rarely happens. And I've sent stories into Flame Tree since then and have not had them picked up. So my streak is officially over.AF: So let's talk about your collection. What made you choose a more traditional route versus indie?RES: Probably ever since I was a kid, I wanted to connect with a publisher. That was the white whale I'd built in my head of what I wanted for myself. I think a publisher can also give you a little gravitas when it comes to marketing—a little extra boost. They’re also a source that vets the stories. So they're curated.AF: So let’s talk about the incredibly visceral art you chose – or they chose – for it.RES: That is all me, girlfriend.AF: You have lovely teeth, and those teeth are pretty horrific.RES: You have to read the collection to understand why I chose teeth for the cover, but I was looking at some of the covers that JournalStone has done in the past. They do a great job with covers, but I wanted something a little different—something that would stand out, just being simple, a graphic and scary. So I landed on this idea of the teeth.AF: Have there been many pre-orders or how are sales so far?RES: I'm trying not to look at sales so far. It's only been on sale for about 10 days. So I'm trying not to just bog myself down with all that stuff. I'll check eventually, but right now I'm not really worried about it.AF: Let's talk about the movie making... tell me how that happened.RES: Sure. So I'd always been interested in filmmaking and I love movies and I love to write. About five years ago I started playing around with screenplays—just turning some of my own stories into screenplays just to see what it felt like. And then I got wind of a local film competition. It's in Dallas and for beginners. So, basically it's a competition where they give you a certain amount of time to make a movie. For example, three months. A short film that’s less than 10 minutes. So I started networking with some people that I met there, and all of a sudden I had a script. Then I had a director and a team. So the group of us just busted our butts. And in three months came up with a short film called Trick. We entered the competition, and to everyone's surprise, including mine—we won first place.AF: What sort of budget do you look at to make these kinds of movies?RES: Every little thing you do costs money. So you have (hopefully) some kind of funding. I funded a lot of it myself. I did a little GoFundMe and a lot of people contributed there also. And then I had some people donate their time—like some of the talent. The crew just donated their time to make this movie. I was lucky enough to find people that had a passion for film and we connected and shared the same passion and they were willing to do that with me. You always go over budget. It's really hard to manage all of that stuff.AF: So how much did Trick cost, if you don't mind me asking?RES: Trick was probably less than $2000.AF: What’s your next big writing goal?RES: Just to keep moving forward and taking on new things. I'm currently working on a comic book script. That's my goal for this month. I hope to do novels and novellas probably by the end of the ...
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    30 mins