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In this episode Mark interviews Paul Austin Ardoin about his new book OUTLINING FOR NOVELISTS WHO DON’T OUTLINE.
Prior to the interview Mark shares a person update and a word from this episode’s sponsors.
This episode is sponsored by Author Nation, being held in Las Vegas Nov 13 through 14, 2026
Learn more about Author Nation and register at AuthorNation.live.
In the interview Mark and Paul talk about:
- Paul’s previous non-fiction book for writers FROM ZERO TO FOUR FIGURES
- Mark’s offer of gifting 3 copies of FROM ZERO TO FOUR FIGURES by buying them from Paul and/or a local bookshop for listeners based on a random selection of comments for this episode
- Paul’s new book OUTLINING FOR NOVELISTS WHO DON’T OUTLINE
- How Paul wrote his first four mystery novels without using an outline
- The method Paul used to adapt strategies from outlining processes that a pantser could leverage within their own writing without having to sacrifice their strengths as a “discovery writer”
- How the book doesn’t talk down to pansters/discovery writers, but embraces and understands that perspective
- Discovering that all of his different novels that he pants were all exactly 27 chapters
- What a time-loop mystery is, the comparison to movies like Groundhog Day and Paul’s example with his novel A TIME FOR MURDER
- The mini flashlights that can help when a writer is “writing into the dark”
- Keeping the enjoyable element of discovery writing while having a plot concept to fall back upon
- Advice Paul would like more authors to know
- How Paul’s love for Milwaukee really comes through in his books
- And more…
After the interview Mark reflects on a few things that came up in the conversation and reminds listeners of the opportunity to win a free copy of Paul’s previous book.
Images Mark mentions he’d share:
Atticus (top) and Meredith (bottom) on the book chair in Mark’s home office
Pictures of Indy, our 13-year-old Golden on his last couple of camping trips this summer.
Shots of the home office construction of the new bookshelf extension (Liz recently added an additional three shelves that now go right to the wall and is creating a built-in sitting desk against the burgundy wall)
Links of Interest:
- Paul Austin Ardoin (Website)
- Paul’s Book: Outlining for Novelists Who Don’t Outline
- Paul’s Book: A Time for Murder
- EP 309 – From Zero to Four Figures with Paul Austin Ardoin
- Manuscript Report (Mark’s affiliate link – use MARK10 to save 10%)
- Buy Mark a Coffee
- Patreon for Stark Reflections
- Mark’s YouTube channel
- ElevenLabs (AI Voice Generation – Affiliate link)
- Mark’s Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)
- Stark Realities Book
- An Author’s Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries
- The Relaxed Author
- Publishing Pitfalls for Authors
- Wide for the Win
- Ghost Stories of the Great Lakes
- Mark’s Canadian Werewolf Books
- The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles
- Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard
- Merry Christmas! Shitter Was Full!: A Trivia Guide to National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
- I Think It’s A Sign That The Pun Also Rises
Paul Austin Ardoin is the USA TODAY bestselling author of The Fenway Stevenson Mysteries, The Woodhead & Becker Mysteries, and the author guides From Zero to Four Figures and Outlining for Novelists Who Don’t Outline. A California native, Paul holds a B.A. in creative writing from the University of California, Santa Barbara and an MBA in Marketing from the University of Phoenix. He lives in the Milwaukee area, where he enjoyed Milwaukee’s surprisingly excellent symphony orchestra and unsurprisingly excellent fried cheese curds.
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