EP 219 - Learning Through Failure & Hidden Variables with Chris Racknor

Mark interviews Chris Racknor about his Shawn Ronin mystery series, about science fiction and about his experiences in both traditional and indie publishing.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares a brief personal update and a word about this episode's sponsor.

You can learn more about how you can get your work distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway.

In their conversation Mark and Chris talk about:

• The report card snapshot from the first grade indicating Chris had an affinity for writing
• The serialized blog stories on Chris's blog early on in the advent of digital reading
• The 2004 goal Chris set related to writing a novel, and how that came to pass in 2020
• Heading into the science discipline and wondering if it was for the science or for making the science-fiction more believable
• How Chris's mother, concerned that he was reading too many comic books, handed him a copy of a Robert B. Parker novel
• How science-fiction is about asking questions, while mysteries are about searching for answers
• Chris's experience of working with a publisher and coming to realize the sub-par work they had done on his novel
• The podcasts that Chris regularly listens to related to the business of self-publishing
• Preparing and launching the first three books in his mystery series via the indie route
• A bit of a background on the series and the main character
• Some of the personal situations from Chris's own life that have factored into the novels
• Strategies for launching three books at once, such as immediately making the first book in that series free
• Advice that Chris would give to his younger self
• And more...

After the interview Mark reflects on Chris's determination to not give up despite the challenges he faced with his first book, but instead, to take a different approach.

He also talks about the importance of asking and how you miss 100% of the shots you never take.

Links of Interest:

• Chris Racknor's Website
• Findaway Voices
• Universal Book Links Now Include Print (Announcement)
  • Haunted Hospitals
  • The Relaxed Author
• SelfPubCon 2021: The Writing Craft Conference (ALLI) - The Craft of Writing Short Books
• The 2021 NaNoWriMo Writing Tools Storybundle
• Patreon for Stark Reflections
• 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

 

Chris Racknor has a Ph.D. in physics and lives in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. He has been an astronomy teacher, physicist, motorcycle owner, competitive strongman, varsity rugby player, and stay-at-home dad. He is a family man, Data Scientist, sci-fi nerd, professional kilt-wearing tree thrower, Transformers toy collector, and sumo wrestling aficionado with plenty more stories to tell.

 

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