80,000 Words in 3 Weeks: Johan Raubel on AI, Dictation, and Literary Restraint

Can technology actually make your writing more human? In this episode of The Writer's Chair, Lana McAra sits down with author Johan Raubel to discuss his character-driven novel, Hannah, and his unique approach to the "interior life" of fiction.

Johan shares how he broke free from the "exhausting" traditional advice of writing from beginning to end, instead discovering a liberating workflow that involves AI-powered dictation and cinematic thinking. If you’ve ever struggled with a slow first draft or found yourself over-explaining every detail to your reader, this conversation is a masterclass in trusting your muse—and your audience.

🎙️ In this episode, you’ll discover:

• The "Floodgate" of Dictation: How Johan used OpenAI’s Whisper to get 80,000 words down in just over three weeks.
• Voice vs. Hands: Why Johan believes the voice is the "creator" while the hands are the "editors."
• The Power of Restraint: Writing for a literary audience by favoring emotional truth over overt explanation.
• Cinematic Writing: How "camera positions" in your mind can help pace a slow-burn romance.
• Being Ruthless: The painful but necessary process of "killing your darlings"—even the scenes that make you cry.

📖 About Johan Raubel

Johan Raubel is the author of Hannah, a novel exploring intimacy, connection, and the risks of being seen. His writing focuses on quiet moments and the "reassembly" that follows grief. He is currently working on his next book, The Gentle Orbit.

✨ Connect with Johan:

• Website: [Insert Website Link Here]
• Book: Find Hannah on Amazon and Kindle.
• Mailing List: Join Johan’s list via his website to get the first chapter of Hannah for free!

This episode is sponsored by Vandela Publishing. Vandela Publishing is a collaborative, traditional publisher that acts as a strategic partner to build career authors. Visit them at VandellaPublishing.com.

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The Power of the Series - Building Worlds with Julie Robitaille

What’s the secret to keeping readers hooked for seven novels? According to Julie Robitaille, it’s all about creating a world so vibrant that it feels like home. This week on In The Writer's Chair, host Lana McAra welcomes the prolific author and former English professor to discuss the strategic and creative benefits of writing in series.

Julie, the architect of the Corey Marin Female Detective series, shares how her experience in the classroom and her background in screenwriting helped her craft a series that balances social issues with high-stakes crime—all set in the unique, moss-draped landscape of Gainesville, Florida.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

• The "Economic" Writer: Why writing a series is a smart business move, allowing you to focus your advertising dollars on "Book One" while enjoying a high "sell-through" rate for subsequent titles.
• The Series Bible: Why you must keep a meticulous record of eye colors, minor characters, and setting details to avoid the dreaded "continuity error" that eagle-eyed readers love to point out.
• Standalones vs. Spoilers: How to write books that can be read independently while still rewarding long-term fans with deep character growth.
• The Setting as a Character: Why choosing a unique, real-world location like Gainesville allows you to skip the "reinventing the wheel" phase and get straight to the story.
• Amazon Ads & Algorithms: A peak behind the curtain of how Julie uses targeted keywords and Amazon’s "also-bought" feature to keep her series in front of the right eyes.
• The Audio Advantage: Why making your entire series available on Audible is essential for reaching modern readers who "read" while gardening, cooking, or driving.

Instructive Insight: The "Read-Through" Funnel

One of the most powerful reasons to write a series is the marketing funnel it creates. Instead of finding a new customer for every book, you find one customer for the series.

• Entry Point (Book 1): This is where you spend your marketing effort.
• The Hook: Once a reader connects with your protagonist (like Julie’s Corey Marin), they are statistically more likely to buy the next book without any additional advertising from you.
• Compound Value: By the time you reach Book 7, the lifetime value of a single reader is significantly higher than that of a standalone novel reader.

About Julie Robitaille

Julie Robitaille is an accomplished author with over 11 titles, including literary novels, psychological suspense, and short stories. She holds multiple degrees in English and Creative Writing and spent over 20 years teaching at Santa Fe College. Her Corey Marin series is celebrated for its strong female lead and its immersive Gainesville setting.

Connect with Julie:

• Website: jwrobitaille.com (Sign up for her mailing list to get a free download of her short story collection, Trust Me: Voices from the South!)
• Shop: Explore the Corey Marin series in paperback, e-book, and audiobook on Amazon.

Connect with Lana McAra:

• Podcast: In The Writer's Chair
• Publisher: Vendela Publishing

Ready to start your own literary legacy? Subscribe to hear more from authors who have mastered the art of the "unputdownable" series!

What happens when a writer throws out ALL the punctuation and capitalization — and it works?

In this episode of the Fiction Writers Podcast, In The Writers Chair, host Lana McAra sits down with Robert Kamarowski, a retired computer programmer turned author whose debut novella Wind Dancing breaks virtually every rule of conventional writing — and does it beautifully.

Robert shares the fascinating story behind Wind Dancing, the tale of a Haitian man and a Cuban man whose routine voyage turns into a crisis. The book contains no capitalization, no punctuation — just variable spacing that guides the reader's rhythm and breath. What sounds unconventional on paper reads, as Lana puts it, like poetry.

In this conversation, you'll hear:

• How Robert "downloaded" three novellas in about a year and a half during one of the most difficult periods of his life
• Why Peter Matthiessen's Far Tortuga freed him from punctuation — and why he never looked back
• How he let the manuscripts sit for 20 years before rediscovering them in retirement
• The serendipitous path that led him to independent publisher Mountain Ash Press
• Why writers' groups gave him the confidence to stick to his unconventional vision
• The power of reading your work aloud — and a Microsoft Word trick that does it for you

Whether you're a rule-follower or a rule-breaker, this episode is a reminder that passion, patience, and the courage to trust your creative instincts can lead somewhere extraordinary.

📖 Find Wind Dancing on Amazon 🌐 Visit Robert at rkamarowski.com

Don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share with a fellow fiction lover!

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