Ep.48 Death, Laughter and the Fallacy of Legacy w/ Steve Chandler

Steve Chandler is the author of over 30 books, well known public speaker and someone who has had a huge impact on my life. He is our second repeat guest on Darken the Page and is actually responsible for the title of this podcast. “Darken the Page” comes from advice Steve gives to writers who are blocked. He tells them to simply “darken the page”, don’t try and write a masterpiece, don’t worry about how it comes out, just write.

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Crazy Good by Steve Chandler
What To Do When I Die from Boodaism
Episode 1 of Darken the Page with Steve Chandler
Episode 39 with Fred Knipe

Visit our sponsor Stride Health! Here is a special landing page for Darken the Page listeners.
stridehealth.com/darkenthepage, also be sure to check out the 5-minute video of Alex Honnold at stridehealth.com/alex

Ep.47 Songwriting, Success and Pouring Out Your Heart w/Luke Wade

Luke Wade is a singer, songwriter and passionate man. Luke and I met a three years ago through our mutual friend Chris Hawkes and we played some gigs together. I’ve always admired Luke’s passion for songwriting and the way he pours himself into his music. He’s one of the most expressive performers I know.

Lately, he’s been on a wild ride. He placed top 8 in season 7 of The Voice and has been touring literally non-stop for the past 10 months. We sat down on a rainy day in Los Angeles to talk about how he writes, what moves him and he shares some of his most recent songs. He also plays one of them live, and it’s an instant classic. Don’t miss it.

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“The River” by Luke Wade (Including “til the Fighting Is Through”, song playing in the intro of the episode)
Luke’s website and tour dates
Follow Luke on Twitter
Support Luke’s new EP
Ep.44 Following The Muse, Songwriting and Creative Voicemails w/ Chris Hawkes & Miranda Dawn

Visit our sponsor Stride Health! Here is a special landing page for Darken the Page listeners.
stridehealth.com/darkenthepage

Ep.46 Copywriting, The Importance of Deadlines and the Perils of Publishing w/ Michael Ellsberg

Michael Ellsberg is the author of three books, The Power of Eye Contact, The Education of Millionaires and his forthcoming book The Last Safe Investment. He is someone who has a lot to say about the publishing industry and we talk about that, including some of the pros and cons he has experienced.

One of the things I love about these podcasts is how much I grow as a writer, and this episode was no exception. I got to realize how my constant tinkering is something I really want to let go of. More on that in the episode.

I also want to say how incredible Michael is at being real. He dives head first into a lot of topics that many people would never share about publicly. Drugs, depression, income, we talk about it all.

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Michael’s latest book: The Last Safe Investment
Work with Michael 1-on-1
The Education of Millionaires by Michael Ellsberg
The Power of Eye Contact by Michael Ellsberg

Ep.45 The Importance of Feedback, Courage and Being Yourself w/ Laura Jane Williams

Laura Jane Williams is a blogger, author and woman who empowers others to share their voice. Laura is officially the first repeat guest we’ve had on Darken the Page. Since we last spoke Laura has published an e-book, signed with a literary agent so we talk about how she did that and what she learned.

She is also part of this wonderful group of women who give a voice to the experience of women through her writing. This is the 3rd interview in a unintended 3 part series that included Jamie Varon and Emma Gannon, two good friends of Laura.

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Laura’s Blog Superlatively Rude
The Book of Brave by Laura Jane Williams
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
Ep.41 with Emma Gannon
Ep.42 with Jamie Varon

Thanks to our sponsor this month: The Write Now Podcast with Sarah Werner

What Do I Write About?

This is a special episode where Dave answers a question from a listener: “What do I write about?” We discuss how much we already write with the use of computers, the importance of journaling and Dave shares some of his favorite writing prompts.

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Check out the Write Now Podcast with Sarah Werner, especially episode 16 which relates to this topic of “what do I write”, her episode is about making writing fun again, and you can listen to it on iTunes or at her website.

 

Ep.44 Following The Muse, Songwriting and Creative Voicemails w/ Chris Hawkes & Miranda Dawn

Dawn and Hawkes. Chris and Miranda came together in 2010 both romantically and musically and have launched a beautiful career together that’s taken them around the world, on the TV show The Voice and I just adore their music and who they are together.

What I appreciate most about this conversation is the depth and in particular how Chris and Miranda experience their “muse”, how they find it and what they do when it’s not present.

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Dawn and Hawkes.com
New album “Yours and Mine” on iTunes
Music video for “Yours and Mine” filmed on highway 1 in Big Sur California
Comin’ To Austin (Voicemail Song)
Episode 10 w/ Aly Tadros

Thanks to our sponsor this month: The Write Now Podcast with Sarah Werner
Check out episode 22, “Was I Meant To Be A Writer?”

Ep.43 Loving the Creative Process, Self-Sabotage and Podcasting w/ Sarah Werner

Sarah Werner is the host of the podcast “Write Now with Sarah Werner” and she joins Dave Booda for a conversation about the creative process and about why they do what they do. Sarah and Dave share some of their favorite stories and bits of advice, as well as share their love for writing.

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Write Now with Sarah Werner (podcast)
Sarah’s website

 

Ep.42 The Anchor of Your Conviction, Freelancing and Marrying Commerce and Art w/ Jamie Varon

Jamie Varon is a freelance writer, graphic designer and creative consultant. She has been the west coast producer of Thought Catalog and joins Darken the Page to talk about the marriage of art and commerce, how she got started and what keeps her centered.

jamievaronJamie on twitter
Jamie’s writing on Thought Catalog
Jamie’s website
Ep.41 w/ Emma Gannon
Ep.26 w/ Laura Jane-Williams

Visit darkenthepage.com/99designs to see the logo contest.

Ep.41 Authenticity, Blogging and Freelancing w/ Emma Gannon

Emma Gannon is a journalist and blogger from the UK, she regularly contributes to many different publications like the Telegraph, Glamour, Evening Standard, Independent,The Daily Beast, ThoughtCatalog, and a bunch more. She runs girllostinthecity.com where she writes regularly about books, fashion, feminism, theatre, film, travel & culture.

We talk about blogging, being real in your writing and what her fears are as a writer.

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Emma’s blog
Emma on Twitter
Episode 26 w/ Laura Jane Williams

Ep.40 Daily Habits, Freelancing and Killing Your Darlings w/ my Cousin AJ Jacobs

A.J. Jacobs is an author, journalist, lecturer and human guinea pig. He has written four New York Times bestsellers that combine memoir, science, humor and a dash of self-help. AJ approaches his writing like his life, and experiments with both quite liberally. We talk about some of the habits he has, how he gets everything done with his kids vying for his attention and what advice he has for writers looking to make money through freelancing.

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Global Family Reunion
AJ’s Website
The Year of Living Biblically by AJ Jacobs
Collection of AJ’s Articles & Essays