From Journals to Memoir: How Margot Stornelli Wrote The Big Red Suitcase — The Writing Coach Ep. 222
Kevin chats with his client Margot Stornelli, a retired librarian who turned a personal journaling project into a full travel memoir, The Big Red Suitcase.
How Magic Systems Create (or Destroy) Tension in Fantasy
A magic system rulebook is your behind-the-scenes blueprint for consistent worldbuilding. Use six foundational questions—source, access, cost, learning, limits, and regulation—to design magic that feels real, stays consistent, and holds up under plot pressure.
When to Break Your Own Magic System (And How to Earn It)
A magic system rulebook is your behind-the-scenes blueprint for consistent worldbuilding. Use six foundational questions—source, access, cost, learning, limits, and regulation—to design magic that feels real, stays consistent, and holds up under plot pressure.
The Magic System Rulebook: A Tool for Consistent Worldbuilding
A magic system rulebook is your behind-the-scenes blueprint for consistent worldbuilding. Use six foundational questions—source, access, cost, learning, limits, and regulation—to design magic that feels real, stays consistent, and holds up under plot pressure.
The Magic of Internal Consistency
There is a wonderful Disney+ documentary series titled Into the Unknown: Making Frozen 2, and I encourage anyone interested in the creative process to watch it. And given that Frozen 2 is a fantasy film, writers of fantasy and magic should especially check it out. One of my favourite quotes in the series is when…
Writing, Burnout, and the Long Game: Kevin Tomlinson on Building a Sustainable Author Life with VAs — The Writing Coach Ep. 221
Author Kevin Tumlinson joins The Writing Coach Podcast to talk burnout, AI, virtual assistants, and how writers can build a sustainable, human-centered author career without doing everything themselves.
How to Make Magic Feel Real in Your Fantasy Writing
As authors, we all want our fantasy writing to feel realistic and immersive. We want to create the kind of world on the page that gives the reader the sensation that they could step into if they just found the right wardrobe or picked up the right enchanted coin. The secret to that kind of…
Book Brush for Authors with Kathleen Sweeney — The Writing Coach Ep. 220
Kathleen Sweeney of Book Brush shares how authors can simplify visual marketing, stay on brand, and choose DIY vs done-for-you support.
Amy Suto on Writing for Money, Power, and Creative Freedom — The Writing Coach Ep. 219
Amy Suto on freelancing, paid newsletters, self-publishing, pricing, AI, and building a writing career with real autonomy—without gatekeepers.
Stop Mumbling Spells: How to Write Magic That Resonates
Details matter in writing as a whole, of course, but they are perhaps particularly important in fantasy novels, where world-building is central, and if magic is vague, stories falter. As a writing coach, I often work with fantasy authors. I am also a fantasy author myself (The Page Turners: Fantastic Realms launches later this year),…
