Episode 075 of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick features an interview with author Joyce Reynolds-Ward.
Joyce Reynolds-Ward (also find her on Twitter!) creates science fiction and fantasy works featuring themes of high-stakes family and political conflict, digital sentience, personal agency and control, realistic strong women, and (whenever possible) horses, frequently in Pacific Northwest settings.
Joyce is a Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off semifinalist, a Writers of the Future semifinalist, and an Anthology Builder finalist. She is the Secretary of the Northwest Independent Writers Association, a fellow member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, and a member of Soroptimists International.
Joyce writes in a variety of storyworlds, including The Netwalk Sequence, Goddess’s Honor, and The Martiniere books. She also has several stand-alone novels and other works out there in the world.
Our conversation covers why and what she writes, her definition of success and how close she is to accomplishing it, worldbuilding, character-driven storytelling, working around genre restrictions and expectations, the slow build of organic community building, managing ADHD with systems and structure, and a whole lot more.
This episode was recorded on March 15th, 2023. The conversation with Joyce Reynolds-Ward was recorded on January 18th, 2023.
Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode
- My day job? I’m a creative services provider helping authors, podcasters and other creators. How can I help you?
- Here is that episode of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick in which I discuss the perfect software application for fiction writers.
- Then again, maybe I’ve found it… but it’s going to take some tinkering. Learn about Obsidian.
- You’ll have to listen to the episode to discover why I mention the song “Thunder Island” by Jay Ferguson.
- Ursula K. Le Guin comes up a lot on this podcast. This time around, Joyce and I talk about Always Coming Home and The Lathe of Heaven, two undeniable classics.
- Joyce mentions Hovenweep National Monument.
- Want one of those easels Joyce mentions? Check it out.
- Joyce mentions Scrivener, a writing software application you’ve probably heard of.
- Some of the authors Joyce mentions as reference points for her own work include Ivan Doig, Willa Cather, and John Steinbeck.
- Joyce, like myself, chafes at genre expectations and restrictions. Here is the Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick episode wherein I really get going about genres and tropes.
- Joyce mentions The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather as having a beautiful descriptive passage.
- Joyce calls author Phyllis Irene Radford a mentor.
- What is a tickler file?
- TinyLetter is one of many choices for your e-mail marketing services provider. I prefer ConvertKit.
- Looking for a way to do direct sales of your books and other creative products? I talk about Gumroad.
- Turns out Joyce uses the same web hosting company I’ve used for the better part of twenty years, Dreamhost.
- What is Amazon Vella?
- Like Joyce and myself, you might consider Draft2Digital for self-publishing distribution.
- Maybe you would like to be a future guest on Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick? Learn more!
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- The Multiversalists patron member community receives the uncut, unedited version of every episode. Want in on that? Become a patron for at least $5.00 per month (cancel any time) and get a bunch of other perks and special access, too.
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