This was a really fun interview with Mark Leslie, one of the voices in indie publishing, for his Stark Reflections podcast. The best part of the interview was actually after it ended. Mark and Scott kept chatting and Mark told Scott about how he and his son have taken a yearly 'adventure trip' together and how he felt it's bonded them as father and son.
During their chat, Mark and Scott talk about:
How Scott started writing for himself four years ago after years of doing ghostwriting and working in advertising and marketing
The importance of discovering his own voice as a writer and how it took writing over one million words before he found his voice
The experience of a being at a "Fred Forward" conference at the Fred Rogers Center and how Fred Rogers talked about the importance of being in a bubble with a child and really engaging and attending to them and that space
Getting away to the wilderness with his son Åsmund, unplugging from the digital realm, and really connecting with one another and within nature
The desire of parents to want to "write these things down" when experiencing that magical time in their child's life where the fantastical and imagination are such powerful elements
Doing their first father/son book signing at Lake Placid
Writing on a 1956 Royal Quiet Deluxe typewriter
Discovering his own author brand and his persona in the same way that he had to discover his own writer voice
The scholarly 1858 expedition known as the Philosopher's Camp
Richard Louv's writing, his books The Nature Principal, Last Child in the Woods, and his ideas of a Nature Deficit Disorder
Being visited by Ralph Waldo Emerson's ghost in Scott's next book: The Philosopher's Ghost: Camping with Ralph Waldo Emerson
Scott being a huge believer in the 3-format author
A little bit about Scott's role at Findaway Voices
The experience of doing the audio for his first book, including auditioning himself as a potential narrator
The importance of having a simultaneous release with multiple formats to maximize your launch marketing effort impact
Some of the projects that Scott has been working on outlining
Being a big believer in the Rule of 3's
Creating book ciphers for his son as well as for marketing
And more...
After the interview in the podcast Mark reflects on Scott's work at writing millions of words before finding his voice, communing with nature, and the tactile experience of writing on a typewriter.