The Write Focus

6:17 / Writers on Writing / Pamela Ebel

Pamela Ebel offers a wealth of wisdom in this interview for our writer-focused series. She pursues writing with the drive and curiosity and wit that she devoted to her previous careers.

Ebel has been published in Shotgun Honey, YELLOW MAMA EZINE, Kings River Life Magazine, The BOULD AWARDS 2020 and 2021 Anthology, Tomorrow and Tomorrow 2021 Anthology, and other venues. Her poetry has appeared in the Delta Poetry Review. A native of California, she now concentrates on tales from her original home state and tales from the highways of the South. She also knows, like the Ancient Greeks and the Irish, that as a Southern writer you can’t outrun your blood. 

She has turned to writing full time as of 2020, obviously either perfect or bizarre timing, and this will be her fifth career. She lives in Metairie, Louisiana, with her husband and two cats. 

TIMINGS

• 00:40 Welcome / Introduction
• 6:25 Writing for the Love of It
• 8:45 The Money that Writers Make
• 11:35 Treat Writing as a Business
• 14:35 Connecting with other Writers / SMART Plan
• 18:12 Submission Guidelines / the Shunn Format
• 23:40 Writing Tools
• 26:15 Traditional vs Self-Publishing / Writing is Competitive
• 28:15 Short Story Advantages / Opening up Creativity
• 33:30 Building the Writing Resumé
• 36:36 Last Words / Closing

Total Run Time: 38:47

 

LINKS

The Shunn MS Format https://www.shunn.net/format/

Pamela Ebel https://pamebel.com/

Website  https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2025/04/617-writers-on-writing-pamela-ebel.html

6:16 / Writers on Writing / Charlotte Morganti

Charlotte Morganti uses a variety of tech, tracking her words, editing to improve those words, and formatting, all the way into marketing and newsletters. She shares tech helps, including ones that I haven’t heard of, as well as her journey into indie writing and publishing.

Before turning to writing award-winning mysteries, Charlotte Morganti was, at various times, a burger flipper, a beer slinger, and a corporate finance/mining lawyer.

Her novels and short stories range from gritty investigations to lighter capers. She usually sets her stories in small towns that miraculously harbor both villains and the sleuths who pursue them. Find out more at https://charlottemorganti.com.

TIMINGS

00:40 Welcome / Introduction

03:05 Morganti’s Writing Journey

07:05 Going Indie

13:09 Tech and the Writing Basics

16:25 Editing Helps

21:15 Vellum / Atticus

22:55 Tracking Progress

23:40 Marketing Tech

27:45 Newsletters

30:35 Her Releases this Spring

33:08 Closing

Total Run Time = 34:08

 

LINKS

Morganti’s site https://charlottemorganti.com.

Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2025/04/616-writers-on-writing-charlotte.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 Writers on Writing, a series of interviews with active writers on technology, social media, process and productivity, and much more. Here’s a link to the YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7Kctg7OayipF1tU2xl6TKjy

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.)

6:15 / Writers on Writing / Joan Ramirez

A writer does more than work with words. The heart becomes involved, often draining us emotionally. The logical side of our brain helps balance out emotions. When we venture beyond our desks and interact as Writer with the world, the ways we present ourselves and the opportunities we explore enrich us when we return to our little corner desks.

Joan Ramirez discusses all of the above and more in this episode of Writers on Writing. Her guidebook The Write Rules covers the various aspects of speaking, writing, presentations, and representing our official “writer-dom” to the world.

Joan Ramirez holds a Master of Science in Business, Medical, and Technical Journalism as well as two others in English as a Second Language and Elementary Education/Autism. She has published on a variety of topics from cochlear implants to the economy and has conducted workshops –domestic and foreign–on the nuances of business communications for managers and start-up companies. She is the leader of her own enterprise with training programs (over twenty-five years of expertise) for entrepreneurs at all levels. For many years she trained the technical staff of a large engineering firm in the nuances of business writing and verbal presentations.

The Write Rules, her latest publication, offers communications guidelines for becoming an entrepreneur. She has short stories in several anthologies and is working on a historical suspense trilogy set in WWII. She can be reached at writerjr1044@gmail.com.

TIMINGS

00:40 Welcome / Introduction

05:13 The Write Rules, a guidebook for English and Non-English Speakers

10:50 Importance of the Non-Verbal when Presenting Yourself

16:40 Writing The Write Rules

19:40 Writing Historical Fiction that Comes from the Heart

23:07 Opportunities Lurk Beyond the Job Description

26:32 Writing NonFiction vs. Historical Fiction

27:55 Venturing into other Writing

30:22 Closing

Total Run Time = 31:23

 

LINKS

https://www.facebook.com/joan.ramirez.98031

www,joansbookshelf.com

 

TWF Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2025/04/615-writers-on-writing-joan-ramirez.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 Writers on Writing, a series of interviews with active writers on technology, social media, process and productivity, and much more. Here’s a link to the YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7Kctg7OayipF1tU2xl6TKjy

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.)

6:14 / Writers on Writing / O'Neil de Noux

Does a life in law enforcement give a special insight into crime? It certainly seems that way to me after interviewing O’Neil de Noux.

His first books were police procedurals, following his career in law enforcement just outside of New Orleans. Now he’s writing about private investigators and semi-retired detectives … and pursuing his stories in historical fiction as a satisfying challenge.

Like many writers, O’Neil delves into many genres, following his curiosity into multiple stories.

O’Neil De Noux (www.oneildenoux.com) is a retired police officer, a former homicide detective, and former private eye with 49 books and over 400 short stories published. His writing has been awarded the SHAMUS AWARD twice as well as the DERRINGER AWARD and POLICE BOOK of the YEAR (www.PoliceWriters.com). Two of his stories have been featured in the BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES annual anthology (2003 and 2013). He is a past Vice-President of the Private Eye Writers of America.

TIMINGS

00:40 Welcome / Introduction

2:11 Historical Fiction vs. Mystery Fiction

10:10 Writing Mentors

15:00 Indies Control Everything: Idea to Cover Design

18:46 Ideas Drive his Character Selection

24:30 Inspiration from Titles

28:00 Newest Release

32:00 Using Downtime to allow Drafts to Percolate

36:48 Closing

Total Run Time = 37:48

 

LINKS

website: https://www.oneildenoux.com/

Latest book: https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Dandelions-Lucien-Caye-Private-ebook/dp/B0D5YVPVHZ

Amazon Author’s Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/ONeil-De-Noux/author/

TWF Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2025/04/614-writers-on-writing-oneil-de-noux.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 Writers on Writing, a series of interviews with active writers on technology, social media, process and productivity, and much more. Here’s a link to the YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7Kctg7OayipF1tU2xl6TKjy

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.)

6:13 / Writers on Writing / Randy Overbeck

Fellow Podcaster (and fellow former English teacher) talks technology, writing, and his Haunted Shores mysteries. We delve into ways to avoid anachronisms when writing historical fiction before venturing into his writing process, linear rather than a mix-match puzzle process.

Overbeck’s novel Cruel Lessons was categorized as “one of the best mysteries of 2023” and “ene of the best thrillers I’ve ever read!” Of his Haunted Shores mysteries, critics have called Overbeck a “master storyteller” who provides a “rollicking good” read.

TIMINGS

00:40 Introduction / Welcome

3:42 From Paper to Electronic

8:40 Authenticity with Historical Writing

13:30 Linear Story Writing

19:25 Podcast Creation

26:10 Echoes of Life in his 1^st Novel

30:50 Haunted Shores mysteries

36:15 Closing

Total Run Time = 37:15

 

LINKS

Randy Overbeck’s site https://www.authorrandyoverbeck.com/books

Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2025/04/613-writers-on-writing-randy-overbeck.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 Writers on Writing, a series of interviews with active writers on technology, social media, process and productivity, and much more. Here’s a link to the YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7Kctg7OayipF1tU2xl6TKjy

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.)

6:12 / Writers on Writing / Denise Forsythe

Business by day, fiction by night, writer Denise Forsythe is constantly looking for new ways to bring her writing into the world. She’s pursuing her longtime dream of writing fiction around the corners of her world and finding the vast differences between fiction and nonfiction, writing short vs. writing long, pantstering vs. outlining. Creativity comes with all of it.

Denise Forsythe is an awarded and recognized writer of mystery, horror, and science fiction short stories under the pen name Denise Johnson. Her domestic suspense debut novel, MISCONCEPTION, is now available for purchase. A member of Sisters in Crime, Inc. and multiple Sisters in Crime chapters, she is a Charter Member of the Sisters in Crime Grand Canyon Writers chapter. Find out more about upcoming projects at deniseforsythe.com

TIMINGS

• 00:40 Introduction
• 1:20 Constant Writing Tools
• 3:27 Scrivener vs. Word
• 5:40 Search Engines: an Indie Writer’s Friend
• 7:50 Marketing / Distributing
• 8:50 Catchy Ways to Attract Readers
• 15:33 Writing Dream / Writing Short vs. Long
• 18:40 Pantstering vs. Outlining
• 25:45 Closing

Total Run Time = 26:46

 

LINKS

https://deniseforsythe.com/

Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2025/03/612-writers-on-writing-denise-forsythe.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 Writers on Writing, a series of interviews with active writers on technology, social media, process and productivity, and much more. Here’s a link to the YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7Kctg7OayipF1tU2xl6TKjy

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.)

6:11 / Writers on Writing / Paul O'Connor

Jam-packed with goodness is this interview with Paul O’Connor, a writer of short stories and novels.

You’re going to take tons of notes and bookmark this episode; the guidance is that fantastic. (No, that’s not hyperbole; that’s reality.)

Paul O’Connor came into writing after he left the data-driven gaming industry. Gaming’s focus on productivity, Agile Planning, Return on Investment, and more to determine a product’s profitability are ideas that he converted to his own writing. He shares the simple yet important ways he uses data in this interview and in a slide show.

Look for the Slide Show on Paul O’Connor’s page on the TWF website. Click the shareable link to copy, load into the URL of your browser, “go” and voila: the slide show.

Paul Ryan O’Connor is a frequent contributor to Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, where his debut short story, “Teddy’s Favorite Thing,” was voted a 2023 Readers Award. He has also been published by Mystery Magazine and Shotgun Honey. Paul is an active member of the Mystery Writers of America, and lives in Carlsbad, California, with his family and a borrowed dog.

TIMINGS

00:40 Welcome / Opening Info

02:50 Tech’s Job = Speed our Process and Increase Publication

09:25 Slide Show Begins / Writing Process

13:50 Word Count vs. Writing Log

22:00 Marketing Trackers and Platforms for Submissions & Agents

30:00 Progress / Idea Tracking / Productivity

33:40 Closing

Total Run Time = 34:40

 

#writing #writingtools #plotting #marketing #submissions #agents #progresstracker #revision #AI

Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2025/03/611-writers-on-writing-paul-oconnor.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 Writers on Writing, a series of interviews with active writers on technology, social media, process and productivity, and much more. Here’s a link to the YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7Kctg7OayipF1tU2xl6TKjy

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.)

6:10 / Writers on Writing / Deede Blake

First-time author Deede Blake shares the story of her first novel, The Russian Orphan. This epic thriller was a ten-year journey, required tons of research, and tells a story that demanded to be told. And we’re all over the world of writing in this interview.

Deede is new to publishing although she’s been working on writing projects for years.

While her training is in science, her greatest passion is reading, writing, traveling, history, and learning in general. Indeed, Deede has traveled to places on the globe that no American has ever been. She dabbled in writing poetry, essays op-eds and newsletters while practicing pharmacy until in her mid 30’s.

She is currently working on a sequel to The Russian Orphan, entitled We Were Lost. This novel will deal directly with the issue of human trafficking.

TIMIINGS / None

Total Run Time = 38:08

Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2025/03/610-writers-on-writing-deede-blake.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 Writers on Writing, a series of interviews with active writers on technology, social media, process and productivity, and much more. Here’s a link to the YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7Kctg7OayipF1tU2xl6TKjy

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.)

6:09 / Writers on Writing / Kathleen Kalb

The mystery writer and seasoned audio broadcast pro Kathleen Kalb joins TWF for this episode. We have a wide-ranging conversation, touching on tech, the writing community and social media, her process, and changes in software. We end with her next release featuring Grace the Hit Mom, a consecrated assassin. That I have to read.

Kathleen Marple Kalb describes herself as an Author/Anchor/Mom…not in that order. An award-winning weekend anchor at New York’s 1010 WINS Radio, she writes short stories and novels including the The Stuff of Murder, and the upcoming Ella Shane mystery, A Fatal Reception, both from Level Best Books. The Stuff of Murder will publish this March.

As Nikki Knight, she writes the Grace the Hit Mom and Vermont Radio mysteries. Her most recent publication is Hound of the Bonnevilles, also coming out in March.

Her stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Black Cat Weekly, and others, and been short-listed for Derringer and Black Orchid Novella Awards. She’s served as Vice President of the Short Mystery Fiction Society and is a co-VP of the New York/Tri-State Chapter of Sisters in Crime. She, her husband, and son live in a Connecticut house owned by their cat.

 

TIMINGS

00:40 Intro / Clock-watching and More

04:17 Tech for Writing / the Writing Community

09:55 Instagram vs. TikTok / Writing Bibles in Tech / Tracking Changes

15:10 Outlining / Ideas File / Timelines

17:46 Avoiding Strict Strucure / Maintaining Character Voice

22:47 From Typewriter to Word

26:10 Grace the Hit Mom

32:00 Closing

Total Run Time = 33:05

 

#writing #writingtools #plotting #coverdesign #booknarration #AI

LINKS

Website: https://kathleenmarplekalb.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kathleen-Marple-Kalb-1082949845220373/

Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2025/03/609-writers-on-writing-kathleen-kalb.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 Writers on Writing, a series of interviews with active writers on technology, social media, process and productivity, and much more. Here’s a link to the YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7Kctg7OayipF1tU2xl6TKjy

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.)

6:08 / Writers on Writing / Rebecca Olmstead

The whimsy on a coffee cup is Rebecca Olmstead’s motto for her writing life.

In an interview about that technology that started with a tech failure—a laptop crash—Rebecca Olmstead begins by discussing her bravery in moving from Word to Scrivener to Atticus to bring the best experience to readers of her fiction and nonfiction.

Rebecca Olmstead is the award-winning author of the Gabrielle Dorian Mystery Series as well as several nonfiction books and multiple short stories.

Her stories and articles have appeared in Malice, Matrimony, & Murder anthology, The Cellar Door: Dark Highways #3, The Upper Room, Focus on the Family’s Clubhouse, Jr., Live, Now What?, and Houseboat Magazine. Her story “A Deadly Conundrum” appeared in MURDER NEWYORK STYLE: NEWYORK STATE OF CRIME this year.

She lives with her husband and the youngest of their five children in southeastern Washington with Sophie, their dorky black lab, Agatha, a black cat, and host of Jersey Wooly show bunnies.

TIMINGS

• 00:40 Intro / Tech Failures
• 02:25 Pacemaker and Tech Successes
• 6:03 Tech as a Distraction
• 11:10 Problems with Writing a Series
• 13:33 Beginning her Writing Career
• 18:45 Writing (like Crochet) Opens the Unconscious
• 21:37 the Gabrielle Doran series / Newest Release
• 24:42 Venturing into another Series and Nonfiction
• 28:18 Writers Thrive on Reviews
• 29:18 Closing

Total Run Time = 30:20

LINKS

www.rebeccaolmstead.com

www.watchgodwork.com

Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2025/02/608-writers-on-writing-rebecca-olmstead.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 Writers on Writing, a series of interviews with active writers on technology, social media, process and productivity, and much more. Here’s a link to the YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7Kctg7OayipF1tU2xl6TKjy

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.)