SPA Girls Podcast – EP125 – SAS Special Interview with Michelle Spiva
Mar12

SPA Girls Podcast – EP125 – SAS Special Interview with Michelle Spiva

It’s ALL about your readers!

This week we have another special episode from the 2018 Smarter Artist Summit, where Trudi Jaye sat down with the first male Deputy SPA Girl, Michael Anderle, and marketing guru and storyteller, the delightful Michelle Spiva.

Michelle tells us how to amp up your connection with your readers via your characters, so that you’re writing stories they can’t put down – not even to go to the  bathroom… She covers everything from using narrative arc, pacing, and other storytelling techniques, to understanding how to choose the right emotional tone for your characters and the story, in order to capture and keep your readers.

Michelle is a very smart author who manages to balance both the analytical and creative sides to her personality, and she’s able to use it in her writing career to great effect. She looks at storytelling in a different way to many people, and it’s fascinating to hear her talk about the techniques she uses, and understand how we could be using them for ourselves.

Another don’t-miss episode of the SPA Girls Podcast!

Find Michelle on:  Twitter

Find Michael at: Kurtherian Books

Read More
Episodes 100 – 200 List
Mar27

Episodes 100 – 200 List

200             What we’ve learned so far…                                                         

199             Interview with Adam Croft – Mindset and Marketing                                       

198             Find Your Sparkle – with Julie Schooler                                                              

197             Hack Your Muse – with Kelly McClymer                                                            

196             Public Speaking For Authors – with Alena Van Arendonk                                  

195             The Magic Pill – with Laura Van Arendonk-Baugh                                              

194             A Day In The Life Of A Writer                                                                             

193             Keep It Simple                                                                                                     

192             Interview with Skye Warren: Money Mindset and Facebook Ads

                   For Authors (Part Two)                                                                                       

191             Interview with Skye Warren: Time Management & Advertising

                   For Authors (Part One)                                                                                       

190             Dragon Wrangling with Scott Baker: secrets for                                                

                   Successful dictation                                                                                            

189             Interview with Patricia McLinn: Writing by the seat of                                      

                   Your pants                                                                                                           

188             Interview with Morgana Best: Writing & Marketing                                         

                   Cozy Mysteries

187             Interview with Geoff Symon: Wounds & Crime Scenes                                     

186             Interview with Natasha Bajema, WMD for Authors                                           

185             The Writer’s Detective with Adam Richardson                                                  

184             Keeping The Faith                                                                                               

183             Facebook Advertising with Maria Luis ~ Part Two                                             

182             Facebook Advertising with Maria Luis ~ Part One                                             

181             Learn dictation with Kilby Blades                                                                       

180             Interview with Brian Meeks, Mastering Book Descriptions                               

179             Interview with Tara Cremin, Kobo Writing Life                                                  

178             Interview with Larissa Reynolds – Newsletters Part Two                                                       

177             Interview with Larissa Reynolds – Newsletters Part One                                                       

176             Self Publishing Jargon                                                                                                                 

175             Wrangling Facebook: How To Make It Work For You                                        

174             How To Write A Regency Romance                                                                    

173             How Do You Identify Your Writing Weaknesses?                                               

172             Interview With Dan Wood, D2D                                                                         

171             Interview With Serenity Woods                                                                         

170             Get Your Head In The Game                                                                                           

169             5 Goals You Need To Make In 2019                                                                    

168             Jumpstart Your 2019 Marketing with 31 Quick To Dos for Jan.                         

167             Scheduling For Writing Success                                                                          

166             Our 2018 Roundup                                                                                              

165             He Said, She Said: Creating Dazzling Dialogue                                                   

164             Interview with Steffanie Holmes: Reverse Harem                                             

163             Interview with YA author Kelly St Clare                                                             

162             Launch Plans That Work                                                                                     

161             Cracking Christmas Promo                                                                                 

160             Amazon Excl v Wide – things to consider and how to market                           

159             Interview With Kathryn LeVeque                                                                       

158             Some Like It Hot – Or Not. Heat Levels In Romance                                          

157             Interview With Louisa George                                                                            

156             The Kindness Factor: Helping You Achieve More and Stress Less                     

155             Editing                                                                                                                 

154             The Power Of Four                                                                                              

153             Characters: From Cookie Cutter to Kapow                                                         

152             Interview with Tina Dietz: Audiobooks                                                               

151             Interview with Grace Burrowes                                                                          

150             Should You Prune Your Mailing List?                                                                 

149             RWNZ18 Interview with Damon Suede & Geoff Symon                                     

148           Interview with indie superstar, Bella Andre                                                                  

147             Top Ten Traits for Success                                                                                  

146             Write Better Faster with Becca Syme                                                                 

145             Newsletter Ninja Tammi LaBrecque                                                                  

144             Looking After Your Creative Health                                                                    

143             Interview with Carlyn Robertson from Bookbub                                                

142             Personal Branding For Authors with Lauren Clemett                                        

141             Ten Free Online Tools For Authors                                                                     

140             Tempting Taglines & Heartstopping Hooks                                                        

139             Findaway Voices with Kelly Lytle                                                                        

138             Get Your Writing Mojo Back                                                                               

137             Interview with Toni Kenyon: facebook live & serials                                         

136             Dealing with misinformation and change in Sp-ing                                           

135             Interview with Maria Luis                                                                                   

134             Interview with Kevin Tumlinson, Draft2Digital                                                  

133             Interview with Sara Rosett                                                                                 

132             Organization For Authors – how to keep track of your                                      

                   research and book details without losing your mind

131             Interview with Ricardo Fayet of Reedsy                                                             

130             Critical Care: Leveraging feedback for success                                                   

129             Brand You                                                                                                            

128             SAS Special: Interview with Johnny B. Truant & Sean Platt                               

127             Industry Insiders with Damon J. Courtney of Bookfunnel                                  

                   & Christine Monroe of Kobo

126             SAS Debrief with Jami Albright                                                                           

125             SAS Special: Interview with Michelle Spiva                                                        

124             SAS Special : Interview With Michael Anderle                                                   

123             Sports Psychology for Authors – Interview With Nate Vella                                                                                  

122             Using Sub Plots To Amp Up Your Writing                                                           

121             Interview with Scott King: Outlining Your Novel                                                

120             Pen-names Pros, Cons and Possibilities                                                             

119             Reader Engagement with Nalini Singh                                                               

118             Writing the Small Town Setting                                                                          

117             Handling Negativity and Naysayers                                                                    

116             Tough Mindset Questions For 2018                                                                   

115             Interview With Nicola Davidson: Sex and Sensibility                                         

114            Tropealicious

113            2017 Christmas Episode

112            Interview With Honoree Corder & Ben Hale: Write Like A Boss

111           Ten Health Hacks For Writers

110           Interview with Kathryn Burnett: Your Writing Audit For Future Success

109           Interview with Melissa Storm: What Readers Want

108           Interview With Zoe Dawson: Writing Across Genres

107           Interview With Dave Chesson, The Keyword King

106           Pros and Cons of Kindle Unlimited

105           Why YOU should do Nanowrimo

104           Ten Truths For New Self Publishers

103           Find 30 Minutes A Day EXTRA!

102           Your Christmas Presence: Maximizing the Holiday Season for Authors

101           The Writing Life: Interview with Katie Cross

100           100 Episodes!  Retrospective with funny moments; changing AO title

Read More
SPA Girls Podcast – EP363 – World-building with Nalini Singh
Sep27

SPA Girls Podcast – EP363 – World-building with Nalini Singh

A long-time friend of the SPA Girls Nalini Singh is here to talk about world-building, and if anyone knows how to do this–it’s Nalini!

New York Times and internationally bestselling author of the Psy-Changeling and Guild Hunter series of paranormal romances, Nalini also writes New Zealand-set thrillers, the most recently released of which is Quiet in Her Bones. Her contemporary romances include the Rock Kiss and Hard Play series, the latter of which revolves around a rugby-loving family in Auckland.

33 of Nalini’s solo titles have hit the New York Times Bestseller list (most recently Archangel’s Light, in November 2021). Her books have also hit the USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Wall Street Journal Bestseller lists. She’s received the Australian Romance Readers Award several times and won two Sir Julius Vogel awards. The first book in the Psy-Changeling series, Slave to Sensation, was named as one of the New York Public Library’s 125 books from the last 125 years that inspire a lifelong love of reading.

Born in Fiji and raised in New Zealand, Nalini was first published in 2003. Her books are both traditionally and indie published and have sold over eight million copies worldwide with translations in multiple languages.

Phew! Makes your head spin, right?

Every book you write is part of a world and you need to know as much as possible about the world before you start writing—but be prepared to pivot!

So how does Nalini tackle world-building?

Every book you write is part of a world and you need to know as much as possible about the world before you start writing—but be prepared to pivot!

This could include the history of the world / characters / weather seasons / politics / religion / culture and customs.
Keep track of your world in book bible or whatever makes sense to you.
Different genres require more, or less worldbuilding depending on what they are.  E.g., Contemporary romance requires less than paranormal. 

Nalini’s latest release is Storm Echo in the Psy-Changeling series, with Archangel’s Resurrection coming in October 2022.

Find her at www.nalinisingh.com – don’t forget to check out her advice for writers there too   

💗 The SPA Girls podcast is sponsored by everyone who supports us on Patreon. Thank you so much, we love our listeners and our patrons!

⭐ Join us at the $10 tier, and you’ll be invited to our private Self-Publishing Mastermind group for authors, where we discuss all things self-publishing, marketing and writing PLUS answer all your questions. Come on in and join us, we’d love to see you there! 

www.patreon.com/spagirlspodcast

✍️ Visit www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com for our FREE self-publishing resources, podcast episodes and info

Read More