What happens when two writing obsessives lock themselves in a room and start talking craft, money, madness, creativity, publishing, best (and worst) practices, and the questionable life choice known as “becoming an author”? You get this lively, funny, and honest conversation with Mike Robinson—a true Renaissance writer and editor whose career spans novels, short stories, screenplays, editing, coaching, and helping other writers turn rough ideas into compelling books.

Mike talks to Mookie about the real mechanics of writing improvement. What’s the difference between line editing and developmental editing? Why do so many beginners overwrite? Why do some science fiction stories have amazing ideas but no human pulse? How do you preserve a writer’s unique voice while still making the work better? Should writers chase the market or chase their own vision? Mike offers a sharp framework—one for me, one for them. Write one project straight from obsession, then write one with readers in mind. It’s not compromise. It’s survival with dignity.

From there, things get gloriously nerdy. Thomas Pynchon, Gravity’s Rainbow, James Joyce, experimental fiction, screenplay discipline, youthful creative energy, the mystery of inspiration, and why some geniuses eventually disappear into their own exhaust fumes. They explore where ideas come from, why some people have too many, why others freeze at the blank page, and how writers need to keep feeding themselves with books, history, philosophy, science, technology, culture, and real life. Mike also shares insight into his own fiction—work blending horror, speculative concepts, psychology, cryptids, metaphysics, and the unstable border between reality and nightmare.

The Guest

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Mike Robinson is the award-winning author of multiple novels and dozens of short stories, most of them speculative fiction. His work has appeared in Clarkesworld, The Strand Magazine, American Gothic Fantasy, Storyteller, ClonePod, December Tales II, Underland Arcana, Thirteen Podcast, Creepy Podcast and more, and has received honors from Writers of the Future, the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Maxy Awards, The BookFest, Kindle Book Awards and others. His novel "Walking the Dusk" was a semifinalist for Book of the Year in Publishers Weekly's BookLife Prize.

He is also the editor of J.P. Barnett's bestselling "Lorestalker" series, and Dr. Zo's award-winning "TimeOuts" middle-grade series. As a book coach and senior editor with Wordsmith Writing Coaches, he co-created the New Author Plunge, a workshop for beginning writers. In addition, he's a copywriter (he worked on the Webby Award-winning podcast "Books That Make You"), an illustrator and award-winning screenwriter with two produced credits including "Blood Corral," selected as Best Horror Feature at the Skyehouse International Film Festival. Otherwise, he hikes (often with dogs), swims, draws, and tries to learn the didgeridoo.

His Website & Newsletter

Sign up for my monthly Weird / Wondrous / WriteLife newsletter on the home page: https://www.mike-robinsonauthor.com/

Pre-order Mike's Next Novel

Want to be on the show? Have feedback? Send Mookie a text!

Support the show