EP 359 - Capturing the Flow with Aaron Palmer

Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

Mark interviews author, songwriter, musician, and podcaster Aaron Palmer.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update, comments from recent episodes, and a word from this episode's sponsor.

Learn more about this self-publishing/WIDE-publishing focused cruise.

In their interview Mark and Aaron talk about:

• Aaron being tested at an early age and it being determined that he had perfect pitch
• Picking up a guitar for the first time around 6th grade
• The first big concert he saw when he was in 5th grade was Van Halen - and he was convinced he wanted to do that
• A time in life when ambitions outweighed abilities
• How playing the guitar came pretty naturally to Aaron
• Being a pretty avid reader when he was growing up, consuming almost anything he could get his hands on
• The writing of Michael Crichton and the very cinematic way he had of writing prose
• Being in college and having a professor suggest he change his major to English
• Beginning to write short fiction shortly after that
• Aaron's podcast Native Tongues and the theme for the show
• Dealing with ADHD and also regularly multi-tasking
• How Aaron works through writing down log lines and concepts that are streaming through his mind to return to later to flesh out
• Finding out that Dave Grohl does something similar
• The initial concept of the podcast first coming out about five years ago, then beginning to develop the ideas for it in about August of 203 for a January 2024 launch
• Starting off with a concept or idea and then later fleshing out the characters and character development
• The idea of spending more time developing characters once you fully understand the world that they're in
• Reaching to the darker, more speculative or fantastical elements in storytelling out of a relatively mundane, safe, and normal existence
• Not taking himself very seriously as a writer or creative person
• Gravitating toward 12-year-old Bacoo rum
• Loving live music in multiple venues and forms
• How Aaron's podcast is helping to tie multiple creative aspects together
• And more . . .

After the interview Mark reflects on capturing the endless flow of ideas that can come to a creative person and the value of putting a creative work out into the world instead of just holding onto it.

Links of Interest:

• Native Tongues Podcast
  • Apple
  • Podbean
  • Spotify
• Native Tongues Instagram
• EP 358 - The Way of the Parable Writer with Donn King
• EP 353 - Tao Wong on the Toronto Indie Author Conference
• EP 349 - Edward Willett of Shadowpaw Press
• Cruising Writers
• Stark Publishing Support for Authors Via Margins Agency
• ScribeCount (Mark's Affiliate Link)
• Mark's YouTube Channel
• Buy Mark a Coffee
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
  • How to Access Patreon RSS Feeds
• An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries
• The Relaxed Author
  • Buy eBook Direct
  • Buy Audiobook Direct
• Publishing Pitfalls for Authors
• An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores
• Wide for the Win
• Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books
  • This Time Around (Short Story)
  • A Canadian Werewolf in New York
  • Stowe Away (Novella)
  • Fear and Longing in Los Angeles
  • Fright Nights, Big City
  • Lover's Moon
  • Hex and the City
  • Only Monsters in the Building
• The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard

Aaron Palmer has been described as this generation's Ernest Hemingway. Not because he can write majestic prose, but because he equally loves to drink lots of rum. Aaron enjoys writing screenplays in the horror and thriller genres in which he has an encyclopedic knowledge of. He hosts the podcast Native Tongues, where he talks to writers and musicians about where they came from and how that influenced their voice. He also plays guitar, is into fitness, travel and loves to read. Oh, and he's got a wife and kids he likes.

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0