Douglas Lumsden is a writer and retired history professor. He sits down with Daniel Brown to discuss his latest novel, "A Specter Raps On My Windowpane," along with announcing a new series he is working on now.

An outspoken and well-known Internet figure among authors and creators, Douglas shares advice for young writers, lessons in self-publishing and marketing, and strategies for using social media effectively, along with insights from a long and colorful life and career that has included serving as a history professor and private college prep school history teacher.

Douglas also shares personal stories and details like his passion for running, which he credits in large measure to his wife Rita, whom he credits as his lead beta-reader and editor on all his projects (and who makes a brief cameo mid-conversation, along with Douglas's Instagram-famous cats Prince and Cinderella!)

Today’s episode is special, as I got to sit down for a good, long chat with one of my favorite humans.

Rostyk Wynnyckyj, Technical Sales Engineer at LAVA Computer MFG. Inc., joined me via video link from Toronto for a longform conversation on Ukraine, science and technology, and life as a Canadian-Ukrainian businessperson.

Rostyk is one of the brightest folks I’ve met, and possibly one of the busiest.

As if he wasn’t busy enough as a business co-owner and operator, technologist, and engineer, when he’s not traveling internationally for business, appearing in media to contribute expert insights on science and technology, or innovating new technologies, Rostyk also has undertaken a university-level program in psychology, part of his lifelong quest to understand the world better, particularly the people in it.

In part one of our conversation, Rostyk uses his unique, holistic approach to help tell the story of Ukraine and the most recent conflict, a war that actually has been active since 2014, along with the moving story of how his grandparents escaped WWII-era genocide and political suppression to start a new life in Canada.

In the meantime, if you’re curious to learn more, or would like to make a donation, there is an official donation stream set up at United24, the official fundraising platform of Ukraine, at https://u24.gov.ua/.

Douglas Lumsden and Peter Hartog have established themselves as successful authors, boasting high sales and unusually high quantities of positive reviews, all while eschewing the traditional publishing path. Douglas just released Book 5 of the mega-hit Alexander Southerland series (and is already hard at work on Book 6), and Peter has the audiobook for Pieces of Eight (The Guardian of Empire City, Book 2) coming out shortly from Audible, and he has multiple forthcoming projects in the works.

I joined them via Google Meet to find out more.

We discussed writing, publishing, and marketing advice, along with how to be a successful, happy author AND person (“Be nice,” as Peter teaches his kids), in addition to ways to navigate social media as a writer, promoting your work as a creative, and more. And yes, we got to discuss Douglass’s globally viral tweet, which personally inspired me in a dark time not only as a writer but as a person battling mental health issues and life challenges!

Douglas shares how to handle criticism, the skills he has learned creating an unexpectedly viral social media presence (“don’t feed the trolls!”), and the surprise of having 10’s of thousands of enthusiastic fans when he expected his first novel not to be read by anyone besides family members — not having “official” training as a novelist, he describes the process of writing (including “pantsing” versus outlining), editing, and revision.

Peter shares the journey of balancing a busy family life and grueling primary career alongside an increasingly busy writing career, the challenges and joys of raising teenage boys to be smart, strong, and kind in the modern era (“be nice!” he and his wife constantly tell them), and lessons learned along the way. He describes how the novels were initially written as D&D campaigns, and how this shaped and developed the stories and characters (along with enthusiastic gratitude for his lifelong friends and co-players), which of course reminded me of The Name of the Wind and its roots in Patrick Rothfuss’s enthusiasm for D&D.

This was a dream for me. I admire both of these writers, and Douglas Lumsden is genuinely one of my heroes, not only representing excellent writing skills but famously kind and decent to readers and fellow authors, establishing himself as a pillar of the writing community. These guys also have a great sense of humor, as you’ll see!

Oh, and there’s a special guest cameo by Rita, a distinguished cat tail, and Ollie the Golden Retriever, who completely stole the show.