EP 302 - Fat Vampires, Storytelling, and Empathy with Johnny B. Truant

Mark interviews Johnny B. Truant, the author of the Fat Vampire novels adapted by SyFy as "Reginald the Vampire" starring Spider-Man's Jacob Batalon. Prior to the interview, Mark shares a word about this episode's sponsor. You can learn more about how you can get your audiobooks distributed to retailers and library systems around the world at starkreflections.ca/Findaway. During the interview Mark and Johnny talk about: How Mark and Johnny have known one another for more than 10 years Young Johnny who had always wanted to be a writer and convinced his high school newspaper to allow him to write a column for them Orbiting the same circles as Sean Platt and how the two met via working via places like Copyblogger and the Blog World Conference How The Self Publishing Podcast came from Johnny wanting to interview (and talk and learn from) Sean Platt and David Wright about the co-authoring and self-publishing they were doing Where the spark for the idea of "Fat Vampire" came from (the old "after-show" podcast they did called "Better Off Undead" for horror fans Johnny wanting to explore the "sameness taken to the extreme" in Reginald, the fat vampire How not being exclusive to Amazon actually led to Johnny selling the option and license for FAT VAMPIRE to become the TV show "Reginald the Vampire" The expression "enthusiasm is free" What it was like watching the TV show "Reginald the Vampire" based on Johnny's novels Prepping for releasing a companion podcast to the TV series Spending three days on the set of the recording of the television program Johnny's views on the power of story and how they can help break through those psychological walls and the blocks that someone might put up to a different perspective by introducing readers to a "maybe they're just like me" train of thought And more... After the interview Mark reflects on the importance of storytelling in creating connections between people and empathy, sharing a few quotes from an articile in Discovery magazine, as well as the reality of when an author's work is adapated for media. Links of Interest:   Johnny B. Truant's Website Fat Vampire to Reginald the Vampire: The Journey so Far Sterling and Stone Website Discover Magazine Article: How Reading Fiction Increases Empathy... Findaway Voices Buy Mark a Coffee Patreon for Stark Reflections Best Book Ever Podcast Lovers Moon Podcast 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 Lover's Moon Hex and the City The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles   Johnny B. Truant is the bestselling author of Fat Vampire, adapted by SyFy as "Reginald the Vampire" starring Spider-Man's Jacob Batalon. His other books include Pretty Killer, Pattern Black, Invasion, The Beam, Dead City, and over 100 other titles across many genres.   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