Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week’s entertainment news, including stories about Anthropic’s Claude, David Ellison, and authors selling straight to readers. Then, stick around for a chat with Alexandra Bracken!
Alexandra Bracken was born in Phoenix, Arizona. The daughter of a Star Wars collector, she grew up going to an endless string of Star Wars conventions and toy fairs, which helped spark her imagination and a deep love of reading. After graduating high school, she attended The College of William & Mary in Virginia, where she double majored in English and History. She sold her first book, Brightly Woven, as a senior in college, and later moved to New York City to work in children’s book publishing, first as an editorial assistant, then in marketing. After six years, she took the plunge and decided to write full time. She now lives in Arizona with her tiny pup, Tennyson, in a house that’s constantly overflowing with books. Alex is a #1 New York Times, USA TODAY, and internationally bestselling author. Her work has been adapted for feature film and is available across the world in over 20 languages.
Check it out!
Alexandra Bracken: https://www.alexandrabracken.com/
Immortal Rose: https://www.alexandrabracken.com/immortal-rose
Authors Are Ditching The Algorithm And Selling Straight To Readers – https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesbusinesscouncil/2026/08/12/authors-are-ditching-the-algorithm-and-selling-straight-to-readers
Anthropic’s Claude Will Start Adding Invisible Watermarks to AI-Generated Text – https://gizmodo.com/anthropics-claude-will-start-adding-invisible-watermarks-to-ai-generated-text-2000797759
David Ellison Floats Hollywood Exit as States Threaten His Warner Bros. Deal – https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/11/business/media/david-ellison-hollywood-paramount-warner-bros.html?unlocked_article_code=1.5FA.fksl.vOJFEdnaxMOj&smid=url-share
Show Links:
Writers, Ink on YouTube! – https://www.youtube.com/@jdbarker_author/podcasts
J.D. Barker – https://jdbarker.com/
Christine Daigle – https://www.christinedaiglebooks.com/
Jena Brown – https://www.jenabrownwrites.com
Kevin Tumlinson – https://www.kevintumlinson.com/
JP Rindfleisch: https://shop.jprindfleischix.com/en-cad
BookTrib: https://booktrib.com/promote-your-book/#
TODAY’S SPONSOR:
AutoCrit – https://www.autocrit.com/jd (click this link to take advantage of our Writers, Ink special offer!!!)
Other Links
Best of BookTok – https://bestofbooktok.com/
Booktrib – https://booktrib.com/author/writers-ink/
Music by Nicorus – https://cctrax.com/nicorus/dust-to-dust-ep
Voice Over by Rick Ganley and recorded at Mill Pond Studio
Website Design by Word & Pixel – http://wordandpixel.com/
Contact – https://writersinkpodcast.com/contact/
Transcription: https://app.castmagic.io/share/2ffd7459-4a4c-440b-a4cd-32e0cface870?tab=transcript&ai_content=true&magic_chat=true
*NOTE: Some of the links are affiliate links.