Perspectives and reflections on the writing and publishing life. Mark Leslie Lefebvre, a writer, bookseller, digital publishing advocate, professional speaker, and publishing consultant explores inclusive and collaborative opportunities for writers and book publishing professionals via interviews, discussions, and reflections about the industry. (Mark's personal website is www.markleslie.ca)
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EP 416 - The Irony of a Woefully Inadequate Imposter Syndrome
Season 8 · Episode 416
Friday, May 16, 2025 • Duration 31:28
That pervasive feeling of self-doubt and insecurity you believe you are not deserving of your achievements and fear being exposed as a fraud known as imposter syndrome is especially common among writers and other creatives who often grapple with the vulnerability inherent in sharing their work with the world.
But perhaps your imposter syndrome is actually a positive sign about your progression as a writer.
That's the topic of this solo episode in which Mark reflects upon that.
This episode is sponsored by an affiliate link to Manuscript Report. Use code MARK5 at checkout and save $5.00 off your own personalized report.
The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.comand is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
EP 415 - April Showers Bring May Reflections
Season 8 · Episode 415
Friday, May 9, 2025 • Duration 42:37
In this solo episode Mark shares a personal update and some reflections about writing, publishing, and some marketing ideas.
This episode is sponsored by an affiliate link to Manuscript Report. Use code MARK5 at checkout and save $5.00 off your own personalized report.
EP 414 - Thanks for the Inspiration Nancy Kilpatrick
Season 8 · Episode 414
Tuesday, May 6, 2025 • Duration 19:49
In this episode Mark reflects on friend, mentor, and fellow author Nancy Kilpatrick.
Nancy Kilpatrick (May 6, 1946 – March 31, 2025) was a Canadian author who wrote stories in the genres of dark fantasy, horror, mystery, erotic horror, and gothic subculture and was perhaps best known for her vampire novels and stories.
EP 413 - Coming Home to Your Found Family with Aaron Fors
Season 8 · Episode 413
Friday, May 2, 2025 • Duration 01:10:11
In this interview Mark interviews author, actor, and narrator Aaron Fors about numerous aspects of his creative life.
Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, a personal update, and a word about this episode's sponsor.
This episode is sponsored by an affiliate link to Manuscript Report. Use code MARK5 at checkout and save $5.00 off your own personalized report.
During their interview Mark and Aaron talk about:
Recently hanging out at Superstars Writing Seminars
Aaron's creative life as an author, an actor, and a voice talent/narrator
How Aaron started acting when he was eight years old, and his supportive father who took a "sure, let's do this" approach when Aaron's older siblings talked about wanting to get into acting
Aaron's first scene doing a dark-themed dramatic monologue and how he fell in love with acting
The list Aaron created at the age of 5 which included being a famous actor, a rock star, President of the United States, and a basketball star
Being a voracious reader from an early age, with his favorite authors being Stephen King, William Shakespeare and Isaac Asimov
Latching on to "found family" style stories from science-fiction disguised as "bad ass robot movies"
Wanting to be a part of sharing stories that help remind people who feel alone or outcast that there's a place for them
Being a guest star on a lot of cop, doctor, and lawyer shows on TV and having to have read hundreds of scripts - and how that has played a role in studying story
Getting into writing books because of his sister C L Fors and her husband Jason Crawford suggesting it
How writing stories and novels felt a lot like "coming home"
The natural symbiotic relationship between performers of story and creators of story
Some of the fundamental storytelling aspects that translate well from screenplays to narrative fiction, such as the "camera's focus" on the relevant details in a scene
is a passionate actor, dialectologist, writer, and all around performer. He is a weaver of stories, with threads of magic, science, wonder, and love. He is a collector of information, skills, and wisdom. He also crafts with his hands, leather-working and woodworking. His two cats and wife (honorary third cat) love him very much, and are spoiled by his cooking. He does all the things. Want a thing done? He can probably do it. You can find Aaron online at
EP 412 - Books, Bookstores, and Community
Season 8 · Episode 412
Friday, April 25, 2025 • Duration 41:48
In this solo episode, Mark talks about the importance of indie bookstores to the local community and what he is doing as an author to help support/promote indie bookstores on April 26, 2025, Independent Bookstore Day.
This episode is sponsored by Draft2Digital.
Check out the full day of PRINT BOOKS FOR INDIE AUTHORS videos here.
EP 411 - Small Acts of Kindness in Every Little Thing With Janice Landry
Season 8 · Episode 411
Friday, April 18, 2025 • Duration 58:09
Mark has a conversation with award winning writer and veteran journalist Janice Landryabout her seventh book, Every Little Thing: How Small Acts of Kindness Make a Big Impact, her 2023 diagnosis of Lyme disease which was part of the inspiration for this book, Janice's life as a writer, how having lived adjacent to the ocean in Canada's East Coast has impacted her creative spirit, and so much more.
Prior to the interview Mark shares a personal update, comments from recent episodes and reads a word about two Canadian conferences taking place at the end of April 2026: Toronto Indie Author Conference and GritLIT. (You can use code gritLITfriends at checkout to save 25% off the cost of registration).
Mark and Janice talk about:
Being of the generation that spent their entire summer days outside and not-connected to anything except friends and the world around them
The old school-style desk Janice had when she was young and starting to write which was shoved up against a window that looked out on the ocean
Telling herself fictional stories to amuse herself when she was young
The ocean being one of the single biggest factors on Janice's creative life
The importance of Janice's 2022 book EYE OF THE OCEAN
Why it's priceless that we create and share Canadian stories
How so much of what we do is about all of the people who help us in our achievements and why it's one of the core messages in Janice's latest book
The dramatically debilitating side-effects of Lyme disease
Why small acts of kindness and sharing uplifting and positive stories is so important
The tiny thing (a tick) that ended up inspiring Janice to write the book EVERY LITTLE THING
Importance messages of hope and that you're not alone, which come from the book
A very special note that a teacher gave to Janice when she was 10 years old, and why she carried it around for fifty years
EP 410 - Writer Reflections at Lucifers Pizza with Robert J. Sawyer and Kevin J. Anderson
Season 8 · Episode 410
Thursday, April 10, 2025 • Duration 26:31
On Wednesday April 9, 2025, Mark had a pizza lunch at Lucifers Pizza on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. It was a place recommended by friend of the podcast Nikki Guerlain.
In addition to agreeing that this was fantastic pizza (with wonderful staff), Mark, Kevin, and Rob had a conversation about Writers of the Future, and various aspects about the business of writing and publishing.
Mark interviews Suzy Vadori, Calgary Bestselling author of The Fountain Series, the founder of the Inspired Writing Community, a Resident Writing Coach for Writers Helping Writers, and the host of the Show, Don't Tell Writing Podcast.
Prior to the interview, Mark shares a brief personal update and a word from this episode’s sponsor.
This episode is sponsored by the Show, Don’t Tell Writing Podcast with Suzy Vadori. In this weekly show, Suzy brings you writing techniques, best practices, motivation, inspirational stories from real live authors out there making it in the world, and actionable advice that can help you turn that book you’re writing into the bestseller you know deep down that it can be.
During their interview, Mark and Suzy talk about:
The last time Suzy was on the podcast in an episode talking about doing a book launch in collaboration with her local bookstore
A little bit about who Suzy is and what she is passionate about
Suzy's background that includes having a Commerce Bachelors Degree and being a Chief Operating Officer for a startup
Suzy's main superpower, which is to take enormous amounts of information, feed them into her brain, and then to determine a path forward
Applying skills that come from outside writing into the writing world
The Suzy Vadori umbrella and how that came about
The areas that Suzy is most passionate about helping writers with: the actual writing
The myth that writing talent is all your need to be successful
The free newsletter Suzy sends out to writers and some of the content that's contained within it
Some of the tools Suzy uses to evaluate a writer's manuscript
Suzy's "Show Don't Tell" Podcast
The book that Suzy is currently working on which aligns with the branding for her podcast
Advice that Suzy would offer to beginning writers
And more . . .
After the interview Mark reflects on something Suzy said about bringing in skills and experience from outside the writing world.
EP 408 - Definitely A Chat With Definitely The Real Alex Lifeson (AKA Tony Binns)
Season 8 · Episode 408
Thursday, March 27, 2025 • Duration 01:19:22
Mark interviews Tony Binns, an award-winning stand-up comedian and screenwriter whose feature #ROXY was nominated for 3 Canadian screen awards, 3 Canadian Comedy Awards, and took home Best Feature at the Ampia awards as well as Best Feature for Teens at the Kidscreen awards. Tony is also the man behind the parody profile on Facebook called Definitely The Real Alex Lifeson where he pretends to be a guy pretending to be the real guitarist from Rush.
Prior to the interview, Mark reads comments from recent episodes, shares a personal update, which includes a few engagements he'll be speaking at in person and virtually:
VIRTUAL: (Online) The BookFest (April 6, 1:30 PM Eastern). Keynote: Writer, The World Needs You: Why Your Writing Is More Important Than Ever
IN PERSON: (Los Angeles, CA) Writers of the Future. Week of mentoring winning writers and Gala Dinner/Evening celebrating this year's winners on April 10, 2025
Mark then shares a word about this episode's sponsor.
This episode is sponsored by Toronto Indie Author Conference, taking place April 26 & 27, 2025 in Toronto, ON. The schedule appears below
Learn more about Toronto Indie Author Conference 2025 here.
In their chat, Mark and Tony talk about:
EP 407 - An Evening With A Drink And A Friend With Kevin J. Anderson
Season 8 · Episode 407
Thursday, March 20, 2025 • Duration 01:22:00
Mark has a virtual beer with Kevin J. Anderson while they talk through various aspects about writing and publishing. This episode is from a live chat that was hosted on the evening of Sunday March 16, 2025.
This episode is sponsored by Superstars Writing Seminars: Teaching you the business of being a writer which takes place in early Feb 2026 in Colorado Springs, CO and where Mark will be a guest speaker.
Use code: STARK100 to get $100 off your registration.
In their chat Mark and Kevin talk about:
The loss of author and poet Danny Peart, Neil Peart's brother and how the first story Kevin and Neil wrote together named the main character after Neil's brother
Mark and Kevin's Rush and beer connection
Kevin's "music starter kit" to his grand-kids
The significance of the Rush album Grace Under Pressure to both Kevin and Mark
How the Columbia Music Record Club is what led to Kevin discovering Rush (because he was looking for sci-fi style album covers and Rush's 2112 jumped out at him)
The back-story to Kevin's Terra Incognita novels
Writing a novel that was a tie-in to a Rush album
How Kevin has been able to leverage Kickstarter to produce products that no New York publisher would likely ever get behind
The way a tribute song "No Words" about Neil Peart led to a new friendship and collaboration with Kevin
The music behind the Terra Incognita trilogy
Kevin's Kickstarter for Terra Incognita funding in 14 minutes, but the ultimate goal of earning back the high investment he has already put into it
The number of novels that Kevin has written
Benefits of being able to order books directly from the author versus going through the multiple layers of traditional publishing
Superstars Writing Seminars, the conference that Kevin, his wife Rebecca, Dave Farland, Eric Flint, and Brandon Sanderson started more than 15 years ago
The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.comand is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.comand is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
How having a healthy relationship with rejection as an actor has been helpful to Aaron in his role as a writer
Having 17 auditions in person in a single day driving from 6 AM until midnight to get to the various offices and studios
The concept of when you are doing an audition you're actually performing in front of an audience that's right there in the room (even if that audience is one or two or just a few people) - and that you're actually getting to do your job - you got to entertain
Aaron's story "Best Foot Forward" which appeared in the anthology Weird Wilderness edited by Lisa Mangum
The first two full length novel manuscripts that Aaron has written
Aaron's work doing voice-over performances in various different categories
How the industry for doing voice-over and narrator roles changed during the pandemic which allowed for a lot more work-from-home-studio opportunities
The way that the narrator themselves add a layer of artistry to the manuscript they are reading
The fact that Aaron is a dialectologist who studied in Masterclasses with Robert Easton
And more . . .
After the interview Mark makes an offer to his patrons for getting a chance to work with Aaron and also reflects on three different things that Aaron mentioned.
The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.comand is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.comand is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Advice Janice would offer to beginning writers
And more . . .
After the interview Mark reflects on three different things that came up in the discussion.
Janice Landry has won four national awards for her writing and work. In March 2025, Halifax West MP Lena Metlege Diab presented Janice with the King Charles III Coronation Medal from the Government of Canada for her body of work, books, and longtime mental health advocacy.
Janice is a veteran journalist and proud Haligonian. In May 2025, she released her seventh book, Every Little Thing – how small acts of kindness make a big impact, following her 2023 Lyme disease diagnosis. Janice has since fully recovered and wrote this “small book with big messages” to thank society’s many and varied helpers, including some of her own. Janice’s longtime publisher is Nova Scotia’s Pottersfield Press. Her last two books, Eye of the Ocean and Silver Linings, were both bestsellers.
Janice’s biggest inspiration is her family, husband, Rob, and daughter, Laura. Through her writing, she also honours her late parents, Baz and Theresa. Janice began writing longform non-fiction to tell the gripping story of her firefighter father’s national Medal of Bravery for his part in the near-death rescue of an infant from a harrowing 1978 Halifax house fire.
The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.comand is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.comand is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Suzy Vadori is Calgary Bestselling Author of The Fountain Series (The Fountain, The West Woods, Wall of Wishes). This fantastical series has received three Aurora Nominations for Best Young Adult Novel. She is represented by Naomi Davis of Bookends Literary Agency.
Suzy is the founder of the Inspired Writing Community, a Resident Writing Coach for Writers Helping Writers, a touring member of the Young Alberta Book Society (YABS) and a Program Manager for When Words Collide (WWC), a festival for readers and writers.
Suzy specializes in breaking down complex writing concepts for newer writers into manageable steps, to get the book idea exploding in their minds onto the page in a way that will make readers take notice. She works with both fiction and nonfiction writers, in Memoir, Mystery, Thriller, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Women’s Fiction, Romance, Middle Grade, and of course, Young Adult. Suzy is an Advanced Certified Book Coach from Jennie Nash’s Author Accelerator.
Suzy speaks to youth and adult audiences across Western Canada about how writing can unlock doors and help you achieve your goals, whatever they may be.
The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.comand is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
How Tony is a multi-faceted nerd who used to tape episodes of SCTV so he could play them back and memorize them
Being big into Monty Python and, of course, Rush
Always thinking that he was going to be an actor and his love of Shakespeare, but always getting the comedic parts
Being a good actor but not being so good at auditioning because he freezes when put in a pressure situation
Founding a comedy sketch troop called Obscene But Not Heard which was partially inspired by his love for Kids In The Hall
Evolving into doing stand-up despite being a shy person
Deciding to leave stand-up comedy around the time that Covid hit
The movie XROXY (a modern tale based on Cyrano de Bergerac) that Tony wrote after he pitched it to some producers he had done some other work for
Having a strength for dialogue but a weakness when it comes to plot
Being brought in to help punch up an episodic YouTube series that was a campy horror flick and make it funnier (TRUCKSTOP BLOODSUCKERS)
Tony's most recent script entitled SAVING MR. CHRISTMAS and how it evolved into a completely different movie than the one that he originally pitched
The "we love this, change everything" thing that happens with movies
Tony's WAITING FOR WAITING FOR GODOT which is a show about two women waiting for a production of the play Waiting For Godot which never happens, and how that play was inspired by the way that days could blur together for people, particularly as we get older and "become that guy"
Being a Rush fan since he first heard "Spirit of Radio"
How Tony was inspired to create a fake Alex Lifeson account on Facebook after he's seen a fake Geddy Lee account
The relation between ADHD and being "all in" on something -- like Rush, Monty Python and Rush for Tony
How, during Covid Tony did a one-man reading of Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Doing a Canadian overdub of Dragonball Z
Adapting a pilot from a Canadian novel called The Smeltdog Man by Frank Macdonald and leveraging the "Deadpool" style of breaking the fourth wall
Advice that Tony would give to the young nerdy Mark and Tony
How Tony used to write sketches even though he didn't have an outlet for them
The Dungeons & Dragons podcast that Tony is a part of called The +2 Rodcast
And more . . .
After the interview Mark reflects on a few things that came up in the discussion.
The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.comand is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
The Masters of Creative Writing with a focus on Publishing that Kevin teaches at Western Colorado University
The annual anthology that this program publishes thanks to sponsorship from Draft2Digital
The latest musical collaboration Kevin recently announced
Kevin coming to Toronto's Massey Hall for RushFest on August 1, 2025
What books Kevin and Mark are currently working on
Favorite advice for running a Kickstarter and the real costs of shipping and handling
Kevin's love of hiking and dictating when he writes
The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.comand is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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