Andrew Bridgeman has sold everything from carpets to insurance, but like so many of us, his lifelong dream was to publish a novel. And now he’s done it. At the age of 59, he just released his debut, Fortunate Son, a political thriller with memorable characters and plot twists that will keep you reading through the night. On the pod, Andrew talks to me about the challenges of learning to write at a later age, the importance of persistence, and the unexpected twists in his publishing journey. Andrew also offers insights into his unique approach to character development and plot construction. This convo is a must-listen for aspiring writers and book lovers alike.

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This week is Banned Books Week, which draws attention to the number of book ban attempts in U.S. schools and libraries. So far, in 2024, the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 414 attempts to censor books, with 1,128 unique titles challenged. American Library Association President Cindy Hohl joins the show to talk about who is trying to rid people of reading these books and why. She also discusses what the ALA and other groups are doing to fight back.

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“Writing is my happy place,” says this week’s guest, bestselling mystery writer J.A. Jance. With 70 books under her belt, she’s spent a lot of time typing with a smile on her face. (That makes one of us) Her latest novel, Den of Iniquity, features the return of beloved private investigator J.P. Beaumont. How did this former high school teacher, who was told by her teachers, her ex-husband, and publishers that she couldn’t be a writer have such a prolific and successful career? That, my friends, is the mystery that we solve in this interview.

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William Cope Moyers, son of famed journalist Bill Moyers, thought he conquered his addiction demons after hitting rock bottom. But 20 years into recovery, prescribed painkillers triggered a relapse that challenged everything he knew about the path to sobriety. In this revealing conversation, Moyers opens up about his new book, Broken Open, sharing this experience with substance abuse and how it threatened to derail his life for a second time. His journey offers hope to those struggling with addiction and pushes for a more inclusive approach to treatment, even in the face of resistance from recovery traditionalists.

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Send a clever headline for this podcast and enter a chance to win a free copy of my new book, Write About Now. Submit titles to jonathan@writeaboutnowmedia.com

Conspiracy theories such as QAnon have had devastating political consequences as they’ve exploded in popularity. But what’s often overlooked is their heartbreaking effect on families. In her new book The Quiet Damage, investigative journalist Jesselyn Cook tells the stories of five American families shredded by true believers whose journey down the rabbit hole caused them to be alienated, suicidal, and often completely different people. Jesselyn shares fascinating insights from her three-year deep dive into the world of conspiracy theories, revealing:

• The surprising economic and educational diversity of QAnon believers
• The psychological needs that conspiracy theories fulfill
• Social media's role in spreading misinformation
• Why fact-checking and ridicule are ineffective in combating beliefs
• Effective strategies for reaching loved ones, including setting boundaries
  
  
  
  

Love it or hate it, AI is here to stay. Writers ignore it at their own peril, especially when it comes to marketing their work. Guest Gini Dietrich, a marketing and PR expert, has been proactive in her embrace of artificial intelligence, using it to enhance her work and its reach. Gini's media company and blog 'Spin Sucks' is a go-to source for staying up-to-date on the ever-changing PR landscape. In this interview, she breaks down effective tips for content marketing in the age of AI, including the importance of E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trust), the use of LinkedIn as a powerful platform for content distribution, and the evolution of SEO strategies in the era of AI and Google's changing algorithms.

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Hot off the presses, my new book, Write About Now: Successful Authors on Overcoming Obstacles, Finding Inspiration and the Birth of Their Careers, just dropped. The book features the inspirational origin stories of some of the most successful writers who have ever appeared on the podcast. In this episode, I share my recent appearance on The Bleeders podcast talking out the origin story of my book on origin stories. Host Courtney Kocak grills me on my journey from podcast host to author, common threads I discovered in surveying successful writers' beginning, my experience with indie publishing, the promotional strategies I'm using for my book launch, and how I hope these collected stories can inspire creatives.

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Will Selber is a former Middle East Foreign Area Officer with 20 years of experience in the intelligence community. He served for nearly 1500 days in Iraq and Afghanistan during heavy combat operations. How retired, his life's mission is to shed light on the current situation in Afghanistan and help many of the U.S.'s allies escape the country and the Taliban. It’s grueling and heart-breaking work that requires him to make Sophie's Choice-like decisions about who lives and dies. He now writes about his experiences for such publications as The Bulwark. In our interview, we touch on why he joined the Air Force, the horrors he saw in Iraq and then Afghanistan, the mental heath challenges he’s had to face, how writing has become therapy, his upcoming trip to Israel, what we don’t understand about groups such as the Taliban and Hamas, and his hope for the future of Afghanistan.

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