A sidestep into screenwriting led Ryan Hines back to writing short stories, novels, and flash fiction. He talks challenges and the Writer as a Thief of Life. That’s the best Quick Tip any writer can offer.

• Ryan Michael Hines is a novelist, podcaster, and screenwriter based in Los Angeles, CA, who loves the Southland sun but misses the beauty and mystery of the Appalachian Mountains every day.
• A graduate of UCLA’s prestigious MFA Screenwriting Program, Ryan has written several award-winning scripts. His TV pilot EASTSIDE OUTLAWS was developed under a First Look Agreement with Sony Crackle. His feature adaptation of EASTSIDE OUTLAWS won Best Crime Feature Screenplay at the 5th LA Crime and Horror Film Festival.
• Ryan is the author of MOONSHINELAND: A Tale of Haunted Appalachia and the writer / director of the MOONSHINELAND podcast. Connect to the podcast at this link: https://moonshineland.podbean.com/

Our Summer Writing Challenge has concluded, and in the last Check-In I offer stats and more. We open with a Quick Tip before Ryan talks writing challenges.

TIMINGS

• 00:40 Welcome and Quick Tip # 14
• 6:33 Interview with Ryan Hines
• 36:36 Final Check-In
• 38:30 Closing

Total Run Time = 39:28

LINKS

Ryan’s Site https://ryanmhines.com/

His podcast https://moonshineland.podbean.com/

Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2025/09/635-summer-writing-challenge-week-14.html

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.

Our current focus is Summer Writing Challenge, 13 episodes every Wednesday in June, July, and August, to achieve 65,000 words or 5K a week. We’ll have a quick tip on writing, interviews from writers on challenges, and check-ins. Here’s a link to the YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7KE2gUjunhC7MgkXmsLiQap

Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr

• You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters
• Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .

Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

Santa Barbara screenwriter Todd Goodlett talks scripts, drafting and revising, conflict, and more in this week’s episode of our Summer Writing Challenge.

• Todd Goodlett is a screenwriter and a playwright. He is the recipient of the 2019 Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship in Screenwriting. Todd is also the winner of the 2019 Final Draft Big Break TV Grand Prize. His plays have been developed and produced across the country including the Tony Award-winning Utah Shakespeare Festival. He lives in Santa Barbara, California.

Our last Quick Tip, # 13, is entitled the Writing Wonderland, and it feels like a Wonderland when I considered the statistics for our 13th Check-In. Our final Check-In will be the next episode.

On to our last August episode, with two more to come in September.

TIMINGS

• 00:40 Welcome & Quick Tip #13
• 04:25 Interview with Todd Goodlett
• 35:00 Check-In # 13
• 36:53 Closing

Total Run Time = 37:53

LINKS

Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2025/08/634-summer-writing-challenge-week-13.html

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.

Our current focus is Summer Writing Challenge, 13 episodes every Wednesday in June, July, and August, to achieve 65,000 words or 5K a week. We’ll have a quick tip on writing, interviews from writers on challenges, and check-ins. Here’s a link to the YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7KE2gUjunhC7MgkXmsLiQap

Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr

• You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters
• Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .

Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

Thriller writer Jeffrey James Higgins turns our interview into a smooth journey without any hitches in today’s episode. Located in the DC area, he helps writers with his salon, located at Elaine’s Restaurant , the literary hub of Alexandria, VA. If you’re in that area, do check out the salon.

• Jeffrey James Higgins is a retired supervisory special agent who writes thrillers, short stories, creative nonfiction, and essays. He has wrestled a suicide bomber, fought the Taliban in combat, and chased terrorists across five continents.
• Jeffrey received the Attorney General's Award for Exceptional Heroism and the DEA Award of Valor. Jeffrey has been interviewed by CNN, National Geographic, and The New York Times. He’s a #1 Amazon bestselling author with numerous literary awards, including the Claymore Award, PenCraft’s Best Fiction Book, and a Reader’s Favorite Gold Medal. He has been a panelist at ThrillerFest, Killer Nashville, Creatures, Crimes, and Creativity, and other conferences.
• Black Rose Writing published his first three novels, FURIOUS, UNSEEN, and THE FOREVER GAME. Severn River Publishing acquired Jeffrey's forthcoming Nathan Burke espionage series, which will launch in June 2025. Jeffrey is an active member of the Authors Guild, The Virginia Writers Club, International Thriller Writers, Sisters in Crime, and the Royal Writers Secret Society. Discover Jeffrey's writing at https://JeffreyJamesHiggins.com.
• The podcast for writers can be found at Inkandescent Radio http://www.inkandescentradio.com/ .

We’re winding down the last days of the Summer Writing Challenge with a Quick Tip on Cover Considerations.

Check-In # 12 and my novella is finally on the last portion of its journey, all smooth traveling now.

Let’s begin.

TIMINGS

• 00:40 Welcome and Quick Tip # 12
• 05:15 Interview with Jeffrey James Higgins
• 36:12 Check-In #12
• 37:42 Closing

Total Run Time = 38:42

LINKS

Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2025/05/633-summer-writing-challenge-week-12.html

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.

Our current focus is Summer Writing Challenge, 13 episodes every Wednesday in June, July, and August, to achieve 65,000 words or 5K a week. We’ll have a quick tip on writing, interviews from writers on challenges, and check-ins. Here’s a link to the YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7KE2gUjunhC7MgkXmsLiQap

Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr

• You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters
• Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .

Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

Can you see Autumn yet? I’m yearning for it, my special time of the year.

Autumn is the anniversary of this podcast, starting five years ago, and my publishing journey, 10 years ago. It’s always wonderful to me. I see no signs yet, but I’m definitely looking—even though it’s much too soon.

We can be that way with our writing: rushing toward the end, especially when we juggle multiple projects—that’s the focus of our Quick Tip this week

Our interview is with Michael Dabney, a former journalist now inspired to write about a private detective in mid-1980s Philadelphia.

• MB Dabney is a retired award-winning journalist whose writing has appeared in numerous local and national publications, including Indianapolis Monthly, the Indianapolis Business Journal, Ebony magazine, and Black Enterprise.com. He has co-edited two anthologies, and has published a number of short mystery stories.
• Michael’s latest novel, A Deadly Game: A David Blaise Mystery, is a prequel to his 2021 debut novel, An Untidy Affair. The third novel in the David Blaise series is scheduled for Fall 2025 publication. The father of two adult daughters, Michael lives in Indianapolis with his wife, Angela.

The Check-In closes the episode. Let’s begin.

TIMINGS

• 00:40 Welcome and Quick Tip # 11
• 05:35 Interview with Michael Dabney
• 37:55 Check-In # 11
• 40:20 Closing

Total Run Time = 41:21

LINKS

Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2025/08/632-summer-writing-challenge-week-11.html

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.

Our current focus is Summer Writing Challenge, 13 episodes every Wednesday in June, July, and August, to achieve 65,000 words or 5K a week. We’ll have a quick tip on writing, interviews from writers on challenges, and check-ins. Here’s a link to the YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7KE2gUjunhC7MgkXmsLiQap

Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr

• You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters
• Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .

Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

Into August and the last month of the Summer Writing Challenge with Week 10. Our interviews will stretch two extra weeks of September.

Delia Pitts gives us a wonderful interview with fantastic information to share.

• Born and raised in Chicago, Delia Pitts graduated from Oberlin College with a Bachelor’s degree in history. After working as a journalist, she earned a Ph.D. in African history from the University of Chicago. She is a former university administrator and U.S. diplomat.
• Her contemporary noir mystery, Trouble in Queenstown, was published by Minotaur Books in 2024. It features a Black private investigator who solves tough cases in her New Jersey hometown. The second book in this series, Death of an Ex, was published on July 15, 2025 by Minotaur Books.
• Delia is also the author of the Ross Agency Mysteries, a series set in Harlem. She has published several acclaimed short stories, including “The Killer,” which was selected for inclusion in Best American Mystery and Suspense 2021. Delia is an active member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Crime Writers of Color.
• Delia and her husband live in central New Jersey and have twin sons living in Texas. To learn more about Delia and her books visit her website, deliapitts.com.

We’re thinking Cocoons in the Quick Tip ~ it’s always wise for writers to think in metaphors, don’t you think?

My Check-In is all over the place as I’m finishing the Rough and Drafting the manuscript and working on this podcast, all at once.

Let’s begin.

TIMINGS

• 00:40 Welcome and Quick Tip # 10
• 03:51 Interview with Delia Pitts
• 36:38 Check-In # 10
• 38:39 Closing

Total Run Time = 39:40

LINKS

Delia’s site deliapitts.com

Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2025/08/631-summer-writing-challenge-week-10.html

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.

Our current focus is Summer Writing Challenge, 13 episodes every Wednesday in June, July, and August, to achieve 65,000 words or 5K a week. We’ll have a quick tip on writing, interviews from writers on challenges, and check-ins. Here’s a link to the YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7KE2gUjunhC7MgkXmsLiQap

Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr

• You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters
• Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .

Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

We’ve reached the end of July, two-thirds of our Summer Writing Challenge. How are you doing on your summer goal? Share your progress in the Comments.

In this week’s episode our talk is with cozy fantasy mystery writer Elle Hartford.

• Elle writes the award-winning Alchemical Tales series, a blend of cozy mystery and cozy fantasy. She has also published a spin-off series, Pomegranate Cafe Romance, and numerous short mysteries in anthologies.
• For other writers and authors looking to go “wide,” Elle is excited to offer coaching services and support. She made all the self-publishing mistakes, and you can learn from her experience! Check out her indie publishing blog at ellehartford.substack.com.
• When not writing, Elle is an active member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America. As a historian and educator, she believes in the value of stories as a mirror for complicated realities. She currently lives in New Jersey with a grumpy tortoise and a three-legged cat. Find free stories and more at ellehartford.com.

We start with a Quick Tip on creating Reader Magnets, and we conclude with our Check-In.

Let’s begin.

TIMINGS

• 00:40 Welcome and Quick Tip # 9
• 02:50 Interview with Elle Hartford
• 25:45 Check-In # 9
• 28:05 Closing

Total Run Time = 29:04

LINKS

Elle's website: https://ellehartford.com/

The Silver Deck Link: https://books2read.com/the-silver-deck *The ebook is still free for new newsletter subscribers! The purchase link is for anyone interested in the special print edition.

Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2025/07/630-summer-writing-challenge-week-9.html

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.

Our current focus is Summer Writing Challenge, 13 episodes every Wednesday in June, July, and August, to achieve 65,000 words or 5K a week. We’ll have a quick tip on writing, interviews from writers on challenges, and check-ins. Here’s a link to the YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7KE2gUjunhC7MgkXmsLiQap

Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr

• You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters
• Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .

Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

It’s Week 8 of the Summer Writing Challenge.

Eight is symbolic of two disparate meanings: 1] almost to completion, when completion is symbolic 10, and 2] a step beyond perfection, as 7 is the perfect number.

We’re not perfect. We’re not even a step before, let alone beyond. We do try.

After a Quick Tip on the 2 Requirements for Every Story, we have our interview with writer Paula Messina. Closing, as usual, is the Check-In.

• Paula Messina grew up on the site of the Ursuline convent and school destroyed by a violent, hate-filled mob on August 11 and 12, 1834. She writes contemporary, historical, and humorous fiction and essays.
• Her work has appeared in various publications, including Black Cat Weekly, Devil’s Snare, Wolfsbane, Indelible Literary and Arts Journal, and Ovunque Siamo. She is writing a novel set in Boston’s North End during 1944. She does not own a cat.

Let’s begin.

TIMINGS

• 00:40 Welcome and Quick Tip # 8
• 04:30 Interview with Paula Messina
• 20:46 Check-In # 8
• 22:55 Closing

Total Run Time = 23:55

LINKS

Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2025/07/629-summer-writing-challenge-wk-8-and.html

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.

Our current focus is Summer Writing Challenge, 13 episodes every Wednesday in June, July, and August, to achieve 65,000 words or 5K a week. We’ll have a quick tip on writing, interviews from writers on challenges, and check-ins. Here’s a link to the YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7KE2gUjunhC7MgkXmsLiQap

Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr

• You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters
• Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .

Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

Welcome to our mid-July week for the Summer Writing Challenge.

Our interview introduces Ron Katz, who brands his mysteries as The Sleuthing Silvers.

We open with a Quick Tip on Antagonists and close with a Check-In. I’m burning ahead to my goal—which is always a good place to be.

On to the episode!

• Ron Katz, a lifetime Baby Boomer, was a trial lawyer for over four decades. A Rhodes Scholar, in 2016 he was a Fellow at Stanford University’s Distinguished Careers Institute, which inspired him to start a new writing career.
• He has given a one-hour presentation, “Becoming a Mystery Writer at Age 74”, to numerous groups in person and by Zoom. For more information, visit his website https://www.thesleuthingsilvers.com

TIMINGS

• 00:40 Welcome and Quick Tip # 7
• 3:30 Ron Katz’s Interview
• 18:17 Check-In # 7
• 20:18 Closing

Total Run Time = 20:52

LINKS

Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2025/07/628-summer-writing-challenge-interview.html

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.

Our current focus is Summer Writing Challenge, 13 episodes every Wednesday in June, July, and August, to achieve 65,000 words or 5K a week. We’ll have a quick tip on writing, interviews from writers on challenges, and check-ins. Here’s a link to the YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7KE2gUjunhC7MgkXmsLiQap

Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr

• You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters
• Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .

Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)