Join hosts J.D. Barker, Jena Brown, Kevin Tumlinson, and JP Rindfleisch as they discuss the week’s entertainment news, including stories about Anthropic, Grok chats, and C-SPAN. Then, stick around for a chat with Brian McAuley!
Brian McAuley grew up in Weird NJ on a steady diet of Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark? episodes. He received his BA in Creative Writing and Horror Theory from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study before getting his MFA in Film from Columbia University.
As a WGA screenwriter, Brian has written five films for the Lifetime Network in addition to writing and producing the award-winning thriller Dismissed for BoulderLight Pictures. He sold his TV series pitch Affliction to Syfy Network in a pilot development deal and penned an episode of Fuller House for Netflix.
Brian’s debut novel Curse of the Reaper was named one of the Best Horror Books of 2022 by Esquire. His 2023 Christmas horror novella Candy Cain Kills received praise from Booklist, Library Journal, and Kirkus Reviews, leading to the 2024 sequel Candy Cain Kills Again: The Second Slaying.
His new novel Breathe In, Bleed Out will publish on September 2nd, 2025 from Poisoned Pen Press. His short fiction and non-fiction have appeared in various magazines and anthologies.
Brian teaches as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Screenwriting at the Sidney Poitier New American Film School of Arizona State University.
Anthropic Is Settling As Authors Claim to Win “Historic Settlement” – https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/anthropic-settles-class-action-us-authors-alleging-copyright-infringement-2025-08-26/
Hundreds of thousands of Grok chats exposed in Google results – https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdrkmk00jy0o?_bhlid=04ed1de7fb558110a8341fa97d98ecbbf8445c77
C-SPAN Launches Book Club Series – https://www.c-span.org/liveEvent/?americas-book-club
Check it out!
Brian McAuley: https://www.brianmcwriter.com/
Breathe In, Bleed Out: https://www.amazon.com/Breathe-Bleed-Out-Brian-McAuley/dp/1464238200
You Met Grandma at a Keg Party? The Rich Order $100,000 Memoirs for Family Only. – https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/retiree-ghostwriter-memoirs-8626ac8f?st=ZSZiSB&mod=1440&user_id=687040d3b20bac4cb0147e43
Focus Friend By Hank Green – https://www.yourfocusfriend.com
What Authors Should Know About The Anthropic Class Action Suit – https://www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-author-contact/
IngramSpark: https://www.ingramspark.com/
Author Anchor: https://authoranchor.com/
BookTrib: https://booktrib.com/promote-your-book/#
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
James Blatch – https://www.jamesblatch.com/
Kevin Tumlinson – https://www.kevintumlinson.com/
Dick Wybrow – https://www.dickwybrow.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.
Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week’s entertainment news, including stories about $100,000 memoirs, Focus Friend, and Anthropic. Then, stick around for a chat with Jeffrey James Higgins!
Jeffrey James Higgins is a retired supervisory special agent who writes thrillers, short stories, creative nonfiction, and essays. He has wrestled a suicide bomber, fought the Taliban in combat, and chased terrorists across five continents.
Jeffrey received the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Heroism and the DEA Award of Valor. CNN, Fox News, and The New York Times have interviewed him, and he’s appeared on CNN Declassified, National Geographic’s Narco Wars, and ABC News. He has a BS in Journalism and an MS in Criminal Justice.
He’s a #1 Amazon bestselling author who’s won the Claymore Award, PenCraft’s Best Fiction Book of the Year, and a Reader’s Favorite Gold Medal. His debut novel, Furious, is Black Rose Writing’s bestselling thriller, and The Forever Game was selected as one of the best medical thrillers of the 21st century. In 2025, Severn River Publishing will publish The Havana Syndrome, followed by three more thrillers in the Nathan Burke international espionage series.
Jeffrey owns Elaine’s Literary Salon in Alexandria, VA, where he counsels writers, interviews authors, and hosts a podcast. He’s an Authors Guild ambassador for the DC area and a frequent panelist at conferences and book festivals. Jeffrey’s an active member of International Thriller Writers, Sisters in Crime, The Northern Virginia Writers Club, and the Royal Writers Secret Society.
Check it out!
Jeffrey James Higgins: https://jeffreyjameshiggins.com/
The Havana Syndrome: https://jeffreyjameshiggins.com/nathan-burke-series/#1
You Met Grandma at a Keg Party? The Rich Order $100,000 Memoirs for Family Only. – https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/retiree-ghostwriter-memoirs-8626ac8f?st=ZSZiSB&mod=1440&user_id=687040d3b20bac4cb0147e43
Focus Friend By Hank Green – https://www.yourfocusfriend.com
What Authors Should Know About The Anthropic Class Action Suit – https://www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-author-contact/
IngramSpark: https://www.ingramspark.com/
Author Anchor: https://authoranchor.com/
BookTrib: https://booktrib.com/promote-your-book/#
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
James Blatch – https://www.jamesblatch.com/
Kevin Tumlinson – https://www.kevintumlinson.com/
Dick Wybrow – https://www.dickwybrow.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.
Join hosts Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, Kevin Tumlinson, and JP Rindfleisch as they discuss the week’s entertainment news, including stories about Associated Press, book banning, and AI. Then, stick around for a chat with Lisa Gardner!
Lisa Gardner, a #1 New York Times bestselling thriller novelist, began her career in food service, but after catching her hair on fire numerous times, she took the hint and focused on writing instead. A self-described research junkie, she has transformed her interest in police procedure and criminal minds into a streak of internationally acclaimed novels, published across 30 countries. She’s also had four books become TV movies (At the Midnight Hour; The Perfect Husband; The Survivors Club; Hide) and has made personal appearances on TruTV and CNN.
Lisa’s books have received awards from across the globe. Her novel, The Neighbor, won Best Hardcover Novel from the International Thriller Writers, while also receiving the Grand Prix des Lectrices de Elle in France. She was also recognized with the Daphne du Maurier Award in 2000 for The Other Daughter. Finally, Lisa received the Silver Bullet Award from the International Thriller Writers in 2017 for her work on behalf of at-risk children and the Humane Society.
For a bit of fun, Lisa invites her readers to enter the annual “Kill a Friend, Maim a Buddy” Sweepstakes at LisaGardner.com. Every year, one Lucky Stiff is selected to meet a grand end in Lisa’s latest novel. Past winners have nominated spouses, best friends and even themselves.
Lisa lives in New Hampshire where she spends her time with an assortment of canine companions. When not writing, she loves to hike, garden, snowshoe and play cribbage.
Check it out!
Lisa Gardner: https://www.lisagardner.com/
Kiss Her Goodbye: https://www.lisagardner.com/books/frankie-elkin/kiss-her-goodbye/
Associated Press Ends Weekly Book Reviews – https://bookriot.com/associated-press-to-end-weekly-book-reviews/#:~:text=In%20a%20note%20to%20reviewers,business%20proposition%20are%20extremely%20tough.
Publishers, Authors, Win Florida Book Banning Suit – https://www.thebookseller.com/news/publishers-and-authors-win-us-book-banning-case-in-sweeping-victory-for-the-right-to-read#:~:text=Judge%20Carlos%20Mendoza%20of%20the,bans%20books%20that%20%E2%80%9Cdescribe%20sexual
AI Industry Warns That New Lawsuit Could Destroy It Entirely – https://apple.news/An9f2BC6tT7iQjCqP8t47AA
Check It Out!
Lisa Gardner: https://www.lisagardner.com/
IngramSpark: https://www.ingramspark.com/
Author Anchor: https://authoranchor.com/
BookTrib: https://booktrib.com/promote-your-book/#
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
James Blatch – https://www.jamesblatch.com/
Kevin Tumlinson – https://www.kevintumlinson.com/
Dick Wybrow – https://www.dickwybrow.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.
Join hosts JD Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week’s entertainment news, including Storiaverse launching a groundbreaking mobile entertainment app, IngramSpark Shareable Purchase Links, and how Meta stole everyone’s books. Then, stick around for a chat with author Anthony Horowitz!
Anthony Horowitz is one of the most prolific and successful writers working in the UK – and is unique for working across so many media. Anthony is a born polymath; juggling writing books, TV series, films, plays and journalism. Anthony has written over 50 books including the bestselling teen spy series Alex Rider, which is estimated to have sold 21 million copies worldwide and has been turned into a hugely successful TV series by Amazon Freevee. A third series has just been filmed and the fourteenth Alex Rider novel, Nightshade: Revenge will be published in 2023.
Anthony is also an acclaimed writer for adults and was commissioned to write two new Sherlock Holmes novels The House of Silk and Moriarty. He was commissioned by the Ian Fleming Estate to write continuation novels for James Bond with Trigger Mortis and Forever and Day, published in 2015 and 2018 respectively. A third novel in the series With a Mind to Kill was published in May 2022.
Anthony’s award-winning novel Magpie Murders was published in October 2016 to critical acclaim and was serialised on BritBox at the beginning of 2022 with Lesley Manville in the lead role. It will be televised on the BBC in 2023. The sequel, Moonflower Murders, will begin filming in September 2023. His new series featuring Detective Hawthorne and a sidekick called Anthony Horowitz has four books so far: The Word is Murder, The Sentence is Death, A Line to Kill and the recently published The Twist of a Knife. Anthony has just started work on a fifth: Close to Death.
Anthony is responsible for creating and writing some of the UK’s most beloved and successful television series, producing the first seven episodes (and the title) of Midsomer Murders. He is the writer and creator of award-winning drama series Foyle’s War, which was the Winner of the Lew Grade Audience award for BAFTA. DCS Foyle was voted the nation’s favourite detective in 2011. Anthony has also written other original complex dramas for ITV, particularly thrillers. Collision, a major five part “state of the nation” piece was transmitted on ITV1 in November 2009 to seven million viewers a night. He followed this with the equally successful legal thriller Injustice, also for ITV 1 – transmitted in June 2011. Foyle’s War returned in March 2013 as a Cold War thriller and was greeted with such critical acclaim and demands for more that he wrote one final series, bringing the show to an end in January 2015. Anthony’s series, New Blood, premiered on the BBC in 2016.
In 2019 Anthony became a Patron to Home-Start in Suffolk, a small local family support charity working with families across the Suffolk county, as they navigate through challenging circumstances such as mental health issues, bereavement, long term or terminal illness, isolation, domestic abuse, poverty and so much more. The valuable work the organisation does right in the heart of the community – bringing together trained volunteers into families lives to support them both practically and emotionally, helping them to grow in confidence and empowering them with the skills to raise their children to flourish – is why Anthony chose to support this dedicated and hardworking charity.
And in Anthony’s own words – “For me, charity begins at Home-Start.”
Anthony was awarded a CBE in 2022 for his services to literature
Check It Out!
Close to Death: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C3QHB2LH?asc_source=01H46KZS7Z76M2ZK5QX5J00ZCD&tag=namespacebran547-20
Storiaverse Launches Groundbreaking Mobile Entertainment App – https://finance.yahoo.com/news/storiaverse-launches-groundbreaking-mobile-entertainment-143700434.html
Share & Sell Your Books with IngramSpark Shareable Purchase Links – https://www.ingramspark.com/blog/get-your-books-into-readers-hands-with-share-sell-shareable-purchase-links
Meta Stole Everyone’s Books Because It Was Cheap and Convenient; Considered Buying S&S, But That Was Unnecessary – https://lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2024/04/meta-stole-everyones-books-because-it-was-cheap-and-convenient-considered-buying-ss-but-that-was-unnecessary/
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/
Anthony Horowitz – https://anthonyhorowitz.com/
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/
*NOTE: Some of the links are affiliate links.